November Friday - Monday SAL

[Debbie Kluge]

Thanks. I just love these brilliant colors set off by the really dark shadows.

Debbie, you got your black hole filled in beautifully with those lovely, vibrant reds! It's hard to believe that you've reached the 15% mark already. You seem to keep very detailed statistics!

I didn't used to, but I've found that keeping an Excel spreadsheet on progress serves as incentive for me. And as long as I'm relatively good at updating it regularly, it's not hard to do. I have the spreadsheet set up to calculate stitches complete by page of the pattern. I do sheet per page and set up blocks that match the pattern. So a standard block on the pattern is 100 stitches I work with a page until it's either completely stitched or, if I'm marking progress on the pattern with colored highlighters, until I've used all of the colors and have to start duplicating them, and then I transfer the highlights to the pdf file and transfer the number of completed stitches to the spreadsheet. All of the pages sum to a summary page and that's where the stats calculate. I've included a copy of what the summary page looks like.

As for progress from this weekend, I can't report much. I didn't have the chance to work on Night Cafe on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Just too much going on. Friday was consumed by contractors, as we had the large window in our living room replaced. And Saturday and Sunday was consumed with shopping trips and preparations for decorating the house for Christmas. Yes, you can definitely tell we are into the holiday season. A challenge to work on an old HAED WIP had me pulling out Winter Wings Owl Storykeep for a Monday session only to remember why I had taken it out of rotation back in November 2015. I was working this on 25 count Zweigart Colmar fabric 2 x 1 and it was awful. I just hated the fabric. I was about 2,300 stitches into it but after about half an hour I decided that I was never going to finish it if it remained on that fabric. So I pulled out my 25 count DMC Magic Guide, recut the fabric, junked the old version and started over. I got 150 stitches completed before heading to bed. So nothing really to show for the work over the weekend, but at least I now know I've got a pattern that I really l like started of a fabric I'll be happy with, so it's all good.

[Lucette]

Hello all, here are my before and after photos. I have reached the end of the sky and will reach the end of the row soon. So excited to move to the second row!

[WendyLee]

Debbie, I'm glad you're enjoying your new start with the different fabric! It's fascinating to hear how you keep track of your progress. I could never do it, myself - sounds like too much work. But ... I can see the benefits!

Lucette, what fabulous progress! I can see that chimney, as well as the building you've started. You're into new colours, although they are still dark ones. Yay for a row finish! You'll be well on your way with the new row for the New Year.

Here's my David. My long runs of the same colour have ended, unfortunately, and I'm remembering what confetti is like. It will be slower going now.

[Lucette]

It looks like you’re nearing the end of that piece of fabric! Looks great!

Yes, they are still dark colours but it’s not sky so that’s alright. I will try to finish the row this week rather then switching to my other project.

[Tamarack29]

Lucette it must be nice to move onto something a bit different from the sky for a little bit. It does look gorgeous though!

Wendy I always find it nice to alternate between stretches of lots of one colour and confetti. It helps keep it from getting boring or frustrating. The confetti gives so much more depth to something, but it gets annoying.

Here are my pictures from the last 2 weeks. I got quite a bit done filling in the holes. I am sorry for the cat fur in my photos. It will be a little less from here on out as we ended up having to have our big guy put to sleep yesterday. I woke up to Chewie having a seizure. We got him in for tests at noon and took him home, but 3 he had deteriorated and could not really move. So we phoned and got him back in. They said his kidney tests showed they were gone and they also suspected he had a couple of strokes. At 14 he was an old man. He survived being hit by a car in when he was in the womb and again at about 2 years old. He lived a good, full life and I have a Wookie sized hole in my heart today. I included the last photo I got of him in his favorite spot in the new house. He slept with his head on the still water dish and his bum on a heat vent. We still have his brother from the same litter and his step brother who is just as old as the other 2. All I can think is that Chewie went first and will lead the way across the Rainbow Bridge for the other 2 just like he did for everything in life. He was a good boy.

Before: After:
Cat tax:

[Debbie Kluge]

Tamara, I'm so sorry to hear about your boy. Losing one of our furbabies is always hard. But he's at peace now, with no more pain or confusion, and I have no doubt he will be waiting not only for his siblings, but also for his human family when the time comes.

[WendyLee]

Oh Tamara, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. They work their way into our hearts and souls, and leave such an empty space when they are gone.

Thank you for your comments on David!

Your empty spots are filling in beautifully and it looks like your row finish will be coming soon!

[Lucette]

Tamara, I am very sorry to hear about your loss.

Thank you for your comments.

You have done a lot on yours! It’s looking really good!

[WendyLee]

Good morning all! SAL time again! I will continue on with David - I won't have a page/row finish this week, but it's getting closer and closer. Will anyone be joining in?

[Lucette]

I will join in with Cafe Terrace at Night. I am aiming to finish my row and move on to the next one. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!