Progress on Big Red Ship of Life

Cross stitching has been my main crafty focus for a few years now.  Although I used to cross stitch when I was young, I picked it up again after finding all sorts of intresting and modern patterns on Etsy!  I started working on a few fan art projects and then moved on to some more intricate designs.  I found a wonderful cross stitch community on social media which also helped with the obsession!  Currently I have 31 works in progress (WIPs) that I am working on.  

One of my most favorite projects is Big Red Ship of Life.  This beautiful pattern was designed by Ink Circles.  Here is a cover photo of the finished piece:

I started this in 2017 and have been working on it here and there over the years.  Instead of stitching with one color thread for a monochromatic look, I chose to create a colorful ombre' using Fiberlicious silk flosses in the Ocean Sunset collection.

I worked my way from the bottom up, changing colors every 25 rows or so.  I also feather slightly so that there isn't too harsh of a line between the colors.  I have completed 2-3 colors a year so far and currently am about half way done!  Beautiful reds, oranges and yellows are left to fill in the top.

Before I started stitching, I planned out the ombre effect.  I took the vertical stitch count and divided it by the number of colors I wanted to use.  That number gave me the stitch count for each color.  I stitch 23 rows of each color.  To take the harsh line between colors away, I choose a few stitches above and below the line to intermix with the next color.  I call this feathering.  The next picture is a closer look so you can see this.

I am excited to get back to this!  I am currently trying to complete some of my projects (WIP down) so that I have around 20 current WIPs.  30 just seems like too many!  Once I WIP down a few more, I will pull this project out again.  I am in no hurry to finish it!  I absolutly love working on it and hope it lasts forever! :)

Do you have any projects that you will be sad to finish because you love working on them so much?

-Tess

Supplies:

Big Red Ship of Life by Ink Circles

Antique White 32 count Linen by Wichelt- a full yard

Fiberlicious Silks- Ocean Sunset Collection

Crochet Baby Yoda

Anyone else have a pile of crafts they started during quarantine???

I am sure there are some people out there who can relate when I say I had a moment of start all the things in my craft room!  One project that I had been wanting to make was this cute little crochet amigurumi piece featuring The Child (Baby Yoday).  I might be a little obsessed with Baby Yoda, lol!

I found this adorable pattern on Yarn Society through Pinterest.  Her instructions are amazing!  Pictures of many steps plus you can scroll through so you don't forget your place.  Many of her patterns also include a full video tutorial on YouTube.  Like I said- she is amazing!

I found yarns in the correct colors at Michaels- it was the only local store open at the beginning of quarantine.  I chose Rich Mint and Almond Crisp.  Almond Crisp has three different tones of brown so I had the cream and tan in one skein.  I used an E crochet hook for my Yodas.  I picked up safety eyes in an assortment from Amazon.

I ended up creating two of these- one as a gift and one for myself.  I would say a beginner could do it with the help of YouTube for unkown stitches or terms.  I hadn't crocheted in many years and had a pretty easy time getting the hang of it.

Creating Baby Yoda has jumpstarted my love of crochet again!  I will have a few more crochet projects to share soon- like I said, I had a crazy case of start all the things, lol!

-Tess

Yarn Society The Child pattern

Disney Love- Epcot, December 2019

Over Christmas we travelled to Disney World for an improptu holiday trip.  We needed a little holiday Disney magic!  Over the last three years, we have spent time at Disney over the holidays so we were expecting the crowds and long wait times.  We are usually okay with that since our schedules only allow for travel at Christmas time or summer.  

We stayed at the Coronado Springs resort for our first time.  The new Gran Torino Tower was beautiful!  I loved the architeture and details!  We enjoyed the lobby and surrounding areas very much.  Our room was in an older area but seemed like it had also been recently updated.  We loved the Three Amigos theme!  It also had an amazing pool area.

After arriving and unpacking a bit we headed over to Epcot.  Epcot is usually our first day choice because we don't feel like we need to have a long day in this park.  Our favorite thing about Epcot is the food!  During the holidays they host the International Festival of the Holidays and we enjoy walking around to all the booths to try different things!  

We have a few favorite rides in Epcot including Soarin' and Mission: Space but I prefer to spend time walking around in Epcot.  We only rode a few rides this time around.  Since we travelled early, we also went back to the resort before the fireworks.

It was a great first day in the parks!  We loved all the different foods we tried- especially the poutine, asian fries, and sushi.  We can't wait to see what our next trip to Epcot looks like- hopefully we can plan a trip soon!

What is your favorite Disney park?  Do you have a favorite time to visit Epcot?

-Tess