stretch before blogging...

i definitely feel like i need to do some serious stretching after my not-so-short blog break. this might be rusty, but i'm flying right in!

first, and most importantly, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support. this has been an incredible journey, and thank you for giving me space to find my footing so this little bird could make its way back to the nest. 

^ that made sense....right? i was going for a bird-flies-back-to-the-blogging-nest metaphor there. 

more on my personal journey later. for now, i will give you an update and photo dump for what i've been working on lately!

i had this petei santa in my stash and luckily was able to snag a stitch guide and threads from the french knot! i'm on a big kick right now trying to work through everything that i have a guide and/or threads for before i move on to any new projects.

after completing the face, gloves and boots, i was ready to move on to the coat. the first layer called for an scotch stitch in alternate directions

there were some areas that were painted off-center, so i paid more attention to my counting.

the next layer was filling in the remaining red areas with a satin stitch in neon rays. it forms a cross-like shape, but i love how the different threads and shapes play off each other!

next came the silver layer, which called for a rice stitch combination in kreinik. 

his coat is starting to look so cute!