Hobby Log(gy)

A place to log my hobbies (I just know that there will be a lot of WIPs and wishful thinking lol)

[hobby-log]

Cross-stitch: Beautiful Flowers 3 (WIP) Part 4 (June, July)

^ 24 June 2026 Colours worked: #23

^ 29 June 2026 Colours worked: #23

^ 2 July 2026 Colours worked: #23

^ 5 July 2026 Colours worked: #23, #19, #1 Finally cleared all of the red cells! A knot with a large loop formed while I was working on #19 in the bottom right corner and I didn't notice it until I'd already worked way too many stitches to backtrack and try to salvage it. Since #1 is worked where the end of the loop would be if I stretched it taut, I switched to #1 and made sure to secure the loop in the back with it so the #19 stitches wouldn't come loose if the loop ever unknotted itself.

^ 6 July 2026 Colours worked: #1, #19

[hobby-log]

Cross-stitch: Beautiful Flowers 3 (WIP) Part 3 (May, June)

^ 28 May 2026 Colours worked: #18, #17

^ 2 June 2026 Colours worked: #17, #3

^ 4 June 2026 Colours worked: #3

^ 8 June 2026 Colours worked: #3 I'm not sure what happened with the thread this day but it knotted itself at least 6 times. I couldn't resolve at least 2 of those knots and had to cut them out.

^ 18 June 2026 Colours worked: #3, #23 Finally started on colour #23! The red of the printed canvas for this colour has been a bit of an eyesore haha

[hobby-log]

Cross-stitch: Beautiful Flowers 3 (WIP) Part 2 (May)

^ 7th, 12th, and 14th May Colours worked: #2, #8, #4, #22, #21, #10

^ 18th and 19th May Colours worked: #10, #25

^ 21st May Colours worked: #26

^ 25th May Colours worked: #26, #18

[hobby-log]

Cross-stitch: Beautiful Flowers 3 (WIP) Part 1 (April, May)

^ 0% progress Canvas is 14 ct, worked with 2 strands of floss.

^ 4th, 13th, and 23rd April 2026 progress photos Colours worked: #12, #14, #24, #29, #28, #13, #6

^ 27th April and 4th May 2026 Colours worked: #16

^ Latest: 28 May 2026 Colours worked: #18, #17

At this rate I’ll only be done with it next year :’)

Intermediate progress shots continued in part 2 due to 10 image limit.

Thoughts thus far

Initially the plan was to start with the lightest colours and work my way to the darkest. But currently I'm just trying to get the colours with scattered stitches out of the way first so that I can just mindlessly stitch in contiguous patches towards the end.

I only learned about the pin stitch after finishing with white, which is why it travels so much on the back of the canvas. I'm hoping that the remaining stitches will secure the travelling threads on the back.

I also only learned about railroading after learning about pin stitches, so the earlier stitches aren't the cleanest. But hopefully the fact that I've ensured that the stitches have all been made in the same direction since the start will make up for it.

The amount of thread provided for most colours seems to be almost double what's needed, with the exception of colour 18. I've already used half of it on about half of the colout 18 stitches. I hope I don't run out. I'd like to keep some length of each colour after the project is done as a keepsake.

I can't wait to get started on the orange and red stitches so the front of the canvas looks less like a desert haha (the back is coming along nicely in terms of colours, but the messiness leaves a lot to be desired lol)

For future plans, there's a kit with a pattern where a crow is knitting that I really want to get but the shipping just to the forwarding warehouse is like 50% of the cost of the kit itself...it's mostly done in flat colours (not as much shading and gradients as this one) so I think it would be a much faster project.

[hobby-log]

Projects overview

Current projects (WIPs)

Cross-stitch: H769 山花灿烂三 / 3808 Beautiful Flowers 3

- Approximate progress: 20% - Size: 84W x 122H (14 ct) - Source: Kit bought from Shopee (~$5) - Kit includes: * Thread (30 colours, unknown providence) * 2 needles * Printed aida * Paper pattern

Crochet: Rat dissection

- Approximate progress: 15% - Lower body + inner skin completed - Hook: 3 mm - Source: Kit bought from Taobao (~$3) - Kit Includes: * Video tutorials (in Chinese) * Yarn (unknown providence) * 1 double-ended 3.0 mm/4.0 mm crochet hook * 1 plastic tapestry needle (straight) * Some ball head pins * ~4 stitch markers * Short length of hot glue stick - Notes: Pattern (not free) later found listed on Ravelry

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Stashed projects (in hand, not started)

Needlepoint (long-stitch): Shearer from Country Threads (by Fiona Jude)

- Size: 30 cm diameter (14 ct) - Source: Kit bought from Spotlight ($20 on clearance) - Kit includes: * Tapestry wool * Canvas * 1 tapestry needle (size 18) * Stitching instructions + chart

Knitting: Helppo pitsihuivi (Easy lace scarf)

- Yarn: Hjertegarn Wool Silk (in 3017 Persimmon) * 75% wool, 25% silk - Needle: 4.5 mm - Source: Kit bought from Vallaton Villa in Finland (~14 EUR) - Kit includes: * 2 balls of yarn * Printed pattern (in Finnish)

Crochet: Chunky bunny

- Source: Kit bought from Taobao (~$6) - Kit includes: * 12(!!) 100 g balls of chenille yarn (unknown brand) * 1 double-ended 3.0 mm/4.0 mm crochet hook * 1 plastic tapestry needle (straight) * 3 pairs of plastic eyes (black, needs to be glued on) * A couple of stitch markers * Hot glue stick

Crochet: Zootopia Judy & Nick amigurumi

- Source: Kit bought from Taobao (~$3) - Kit includes: * Video tutorials (in Chinese) * Yarn (unknown providence) * 1 double-ended 3.0 mm/4.0 mm crochet hook * Some stitch markers * Short length of hot glue stick * I haven't really looked into the package itself to see how many stitch markers were provided, or if it includes a tapestry needle - Notes: Pattern (free) found on Red Note

Embroidery: Miscellaneous jellyfish

- Source: Kits bought from Taobao (~$13 for 5 designs) - Kits includes: * 1 plastic round frame (unfortunately not 1 frame per design) * 5 pieces of black fabric * Thread * Needles * I haven't really looked into the package itself to see how many needles or if other tools were provided, but the listing says that scissors and a needle threader are included too

Embroidery: 仙鹤延年 (literal translation: red-crowned crane prolong life; I'm going to go with Longevity Crane)

- Source: Kits bought from Taobao (~$3) - Kits includes: * 1 plastic round frame * Blue fabric * Thread * Needles * I haven't really looked into the package itself to see how many needles or if other accessories were provided

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Potential projects

Knitting: Xyris by Audrey Borrego

- Yarn: to acquire, likely tencel or other lightweight cooling yarn - Needle: depending on yarn weight, might need to buy smaller needles (smallest currently owned needles are 3.0 mm) - Will definitely need to acquire blocking materials (foam board, comb, pins--preliminary Taobao search suggests they can be acquired for ~$15 total)

Cross-stitch: Knitting crow

- Source: Kit from Taobao (~$4 with shipping) * Several shops selling kits of the same pattern, with different types of canvases and threads - Kit I'm eyeing includes: * 28 ct canvas/14 ct aida (not printed) * R thread * Paper pattern (unfortunately I don't have access to SAGA so I can't go for the kits with SAGA-only patterns)