"Celtic Wedding Prayer" by Design Works (Cross Stitch)

I finished this piece a few weeks ago for my sister's wedding.  The kit has been discontinued, so it is difficult to track down if you want to stitch this piece (I found it online from Rebecca's Crafts).  Overall, the stitching process was frustrating - the kit originally included two different colors of "light green" floss, and some of the colors were a weird synthetic material that knotted and twisted frequently.  To Design Works's credit, though, once I requested a new aliquot of light green floss, they sent me twelve strands of the same color within about ten days.  Also, the symbols on the chart are TINY and very hard to read!  I saved the chart because the overall project came out so well, but it was a heck of a road to get there.

The image banner at the top of my blog is a detail shot of the border of this pattern.

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - knotwork detail from border

Here are pics from along the way:

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - gold stitches in border only

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - lavender stitches added to border

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - light and dark blue stitches added

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - first corner finished

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - gold stitches in second corner

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - lavender stitches added

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - three corners finished

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - partially backstitched border.
The backstitching really makes the knotwork "pop"!

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - lettering and backstitching finished, unframed

"Celtic Wedding Prayer" - finished, matted and framed

"Byzantine Ornaments" by Teresa Wentzler (Cross Stitch)

These ornaments are two of a set of six by Teresa Wentzler.  They can be found in her Cross Stitch Christmas Collection book, which also has some gorgeous patterns for other Christmas projects.  I have worked all six of them, but unfortunately, I gave them away before I took pictures of the finished ornaments!  I will be making them again this year, though, so I will be sure to include pictures of the finished ornaments, as well as step-by-step instructions for how to make a pillow ornament from a cross-stitch project.

The finished designs are about 3" x 3" each (28-count linen over two threads), although the sizes vary slightly.  They include specialty stitches (mostly eyelets and satin stitches) and gold bead work.

"Byzantine Ornament #4" by Teresa Wentzler

"Byzantine Ornament #5" by Teresa Wentzler

"Egyptian Sampler" by Teresa Wentzler (Cross Stitch)

I'll start this blog with my main project for the past two years, which I completed in January 2012.  Teresa Wentzler is my favorite cross stitch designer.  Her designs are beautifully intricate and colorful, and they include specialty stitches and bead work.  This particular design, "Egyptian Sampler", has gold and black bead work and many different Egyptian motif panels.  It uses 59 different colors of floss (two skeins of some colors), so make sure you are stocked up before you start stitching!  It also uses Kreinik #4 braid in #002V (vintage gold), which can be tough to find.  The finished project is 14.25" x 11.5" (28-count linen, stitched over two threads), and I just bought a group-buy coupon to try my hand at framing!  I will post pictures when it is framed and wall-ready.

"Egyptian Sampler" by Teresa Wentzler

In the future, I will try to have sequential images of my projects as I work on them so you can see how the stitches fill in the picture as it is completed, but I just had to post a picture of this one because it really is my favorite piece ever.

Welcome to Less Bitching, More Stitching - A Cross Stitch Blog!

Hello, and thanks for stopping by my cross stitch blog!  This is my first venture into the world of blogging, mostly because I wanted somewhere I could post pictures of my multiple works-in-progress (WIPs), share tips for needleworking, network with other crafters, and show off the final products.  I spend most of my crafting time cross stitching, except during the winter, when I tend to knit more often, so expect to see a balance between those two needle arts.

A little bit about me:

• I am a 27-year-old graduate student, originally from Ohio (Go Bucks!), now living in Boston.
• For my day job, I am a veterinary resident and a PhD student in biological engineering.  I also do some database work for VIN, a veterinary website.
• I enjoy crafting, cooking, playing tennis, working out, watching movies, and reading on my Kindle.
• I have a 6-year-old male neutered orange tabby cat named Orange Julius Caesar (or Julius, for short).
• I also have an 8-year-old male neutered yellow labrador/springer spaniel mix named Brutus, but he lives with my parents and their two dogs in north central Ohio.
• I am engaged to a wonderful man who currently lives in Florida.  We are going to be married on June 8, 2013.  I will try to keep wedding planning off of this blog (and contained to my Pinterest page), but no promises.  :)

For you animal lovers out there, here are pictures of my boys:

Brutus

Orange "Julius" Caesar

...and now, let's craft!  :)