
skater43 stitches Zelda games
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Thank you.
Yeah, very pleased with how Spirit Tracks is coming so far. As I say, having nice big patches of color is nice because the stitching goes much faster than having to stop and switch colors. Flipside of that is we get a picture like Minish Cap that used 90+ colors and the subtleties in the color shades really adds to the picture. Typically go with a wooden frame for these projects, but the metallic shine and vibrancy really fit with the look and feel of the picture. I surprised myself with the photo. Usually glare and such is an issue (I've seen the set up they have at The Artery with basically a cubby with white sides and bottom and a small hole to fit the phone/camera to cut out reflections, so they get really nice pictures of their frame jobs), but not much this time. And I didn't spend a lot of time trying various locations in the house or anything, so just happened to pick the right spot and the sun in the right position and all.

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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Quite pleased with our progress these past three weeks. 57 hours in now, including today's work, so a long ways to go, but we also have a good chunk done. The top of the pen cap is roughly the halfway point going up the side of the picture. Have a little bit to do below that point, but we've done a lot above that point as well. We say 50ish hours to get up to that point means 50ish hours to get to the top of the picture. Picture is a square, so we're looking at really 4 columns, so total time 400ish hours? I think all said and done, likely to be closer to 425-430, just because stuff happens, detail work in the middle will take longer and such, but that gives us a rough idea and something to shoot for. Initial estimates were closer to 450 hours, so I think we're going to come in under that. And while 425 or 450 hours is a lot, the difference between them is a little over three weeks' work, so there's a significant difference. But, we'll keep plugging away and see how things shake out. Edge of the train is taking shape and we can see some of the grass and sky in the background off to the left. Smokestack will be in a few hoops, but we are getting to the top of the train. Pink and purple in the upper left of the hoop is the lower portion of Zelda's dress, so next hoop, we'll be working more on her so you'll have something concrete to look at and identify. While this pattern doesn't have nearly the number of colors of Minish Cap, it still has enough for some details and subtlety. For example, while maybe not obvious, Zelda's dress has two different light pinks in it that I've stitched. Looking at the real thing rather than just a picture prolly makes it easier to see that difference, but it's there. Think the sky is made of a color of blues as well, so we'll see some variety when we get there, too. Which, of course, is a credit to @blackmageheart for making the pattern and converting the original picture into a workable pattern.
- Firehawke
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
It's looking fantastic already! It's so fun watching this one grow! And I love the fact that you are able to estimate how many hours it will take...that's something I can't do with my projects! Happy stitching!
"May we maintain the courage to defy the consensus. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong." - President Thomas S. Monson
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- Rank 6 - Tanooki Mario
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Thank you.
We are moving right along with this. Have some small detail stuff with a few color changes, but lots of open spaces or other areas of single colors so I can stick to one color for a whole day or more. Doing an hour a day, besides giving me a chance to make good progress without feeling burned out, especially on these longer projects, also makes it easy to keep track of how long I've been working on a project. So I can see how long it has taken me to get where I am and estimate how much of the picture I still have to go and then math things up. This far out, obviously, it's a rough guess as there might be areas to come that are a lot more detailed/will take longer to stitch, or more open and go faster. Mistakes happen, unfortunately, so there could be time loss correcting those (though we've done pretty good last couple of projects not having to really undo/redo much). The bug unknown, though, is when will I finish calendar-wise. 350ish hours left would put us at next November if I worked straight through. But February/March, I'll be taking my usual Zelda break to do GDQ stuff, so depending on how long those take will affect when we finish this. Early 2026 seems like a pretty good ballpark. Which would actually work out well, because I could then go straight to GDQ stuff, then after I finish those, start up Phantom Hourglass without having to start that then pause it. But we'll see.

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- Rank 6 - Tanooki Mario
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Things continue to move right along. Minor glip in I had about a half dozen stitches I had to undo/redo, but considering I first thought I had a whole block of color I had to redo, 6 or so stitches isn't so bad. 78 hours in now, including today's work, and as I said, things are progressing. For one thing, we have stuff to look at now! Most of Zelda's body is done, though we'll have to move the hoop up to do her face. Other than a dozen or so stitches, we have the left side of the cab of the train done, or at least we can see where the top of it is/what Zelda is sitting on. To the right of Zelda, we have done a bit of sky that is poking out between things. To the right of that bit of sky will be the smokestack. As long as I had my blue thread loaded, though, thought I'd start knocking out some of the sky on the left edge of the picture. Everything between the edge of the picture and Zelda/the train is sky, so we've got a big chunk to fill. At least three colors will be used to fill that patch, so we will have to change colors a couple of times. But as I was saying last time, those subtle color changes really add to the picture, even if they aren't obviously noticeable. But because the left side is just big patches of a small number of colors, filling that area should go relatively quickly, maybe by the middle of the week? Which means it is entirely possible we're moving the hoop up before our next WIP pic.Looking at where we are/what we've done, there's roughly 30 rows to go to the top of the picture. So we finish doing a bunch of the sky on the left side of the picture, I'll then see about doing stuff with the train in the lower right corner of the hoop. And end of next week or so, we'll move the hoop up to get to the top. Hoop won't be done/filled, but I don't need to move it up much to get the upper left corner. So more than likely, I'll then focus on doing more sky, just so we can define that corner and see where the top of the picture is by the next WIP pic.
And in other stitching news, turned in my prize application for AGDQ 2025 yesterday. For those that don't remember, this was the ending screen from Flipull, our cute little intertwined slimes. So, now we wait. As always, no reason for it not to be accepted, just gotta wait for the official word.
And in other stitching news, turned in my prize application for AGDQ 2025 yesterday. For those that don't remember, this was the ending screen from Flipull, our cute little intertwined slimes. So, now we wait. As always, no reason for it not to be accepted, just gotta wait for the official word.
- Firehawke
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Love Zelda's colors! And hope you get word soon on AGDQ...just so you can have that crossed off your list!
"May we maintain the courage to defy the consensus. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong." - President Thomas S. Monson
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- Rank 6 - Tanooki Mario
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Points for @blackmageheart She picked the colors.
But I agree, they are really nice. Have done the sky left of Zelda up to her waist and a bit above, though today we were doing little bits in the lower right corner of the hoop. Plan to spend some time working here in anticipation of moving the hoop up, though we'll likely knock out more of the sky left of Zelda before we do, too.
Always seems like a scramble around/just after Christmas to get my prize shipped off to AGDQ, so hoping we hear soon get it to them before the madness of the holiday mailing season.

Always seems like a scramble around/just after Christmas to get my prize shipped off to AGDQ, so hoping we hear soon get it to them before the madness of the holiday mailing season.
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- Rank 6 - Tanooki Mario
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
At exactly 100 hours now, including today's work. As you can see, we got the hoop moved up to finish off the upper left corner. Had two goals with moving the hoop up/to finish before this pic and that was to define the upper left corner and do most/all of Zelda's face. Accomplished both of those. Obviously have a lot of sky to fill in to the left of Zelda, but made it a point of going up the side so we could see where that corner was and get a feel for where the top of the picture is. Then this past week+, we've been working on Zelda's head and face. Today's objective was to do her eyes because she looked rather creepy with two blank white spots in her face where her eyes would be. Ghost Zelda is cute. Zombie Zelda is creepy. So we finished her eyes today, got most of her arm, things are moving along. Have work to do on her hair and crown/tiara, but you can obviously tell what you are looking at. My guess is much of this week will be spent finishing Zelda up, then we'll start knocking out the sky. Because the sky will go relatively quickly (and the patch to Zelda's right is two big chunks of single colors), I think moving the hoop right just before our next WIP pic is possible. Lot to stitch still, so maybe not, but we'll see. And showing how much our remaining time estimates can fluctuate, if I finish this hoop in about three weeks and if finishing it marks about the 25% completion point (picture is a square, so 4 hoops to a side or thereabout), then our latest completion time would be about 480 hours, which is much more than previously estimated. But we've had a lot of little things with Zelda and her clothing, so this may just be a lull point and the rest will go quicker. With our GDQ break, we're maybe going to finish the end of 2025, but January 2026 may be more likely. But, one day at a time, one stitch at a time, we'll see how things shake out.
Speaking of GDQ, haven't heard anything about my AGDQ 2025 prize yet, but plan to shoot them an email this week just checking the status. Event starts January 5, so we still have a little time, but we know what shipping things can be like this time of year. Already had my SGDQ 2025 pattern figured out, but last week, put one together for AGDQ 2026. So Februaryish, when we take our break from Spirit Tracks, we've got our patterns all ready to go. Need to check thread colors and all that, but the patterns are set. Looking at next year's calendar, our WIP pics would be January 5, 26, February 16, so we'll probably pause at that point, make sure we have enough time to finish our SGDQ prize and get it framed and back and all, since that's on more of a deadline. Really like what I came up with for this year and no, it is not as complex as King Zora was. Need to buy a piece of cloth that isn't white or black, but it'll save me a bunch of time not having to stitch background. And, keeping true to form, what I have planned for AGDQ 2026, when we aren't under a time crunch, is much simpler and I can prolly bust out in a couple of weeks.
Speaking of GDQ, haven't heard anything about my AGDQ 2025 prize yet, but plan to shoot them an email this week just checking the status. Event starts January 5, so we still have a little time, but we know what shipping things can be like this time of year. Already had my SGDQ 2025 pattern figured out, but last week, put one together for AGDQ 2026. So Februaryish, when we take our break from Spirit Tracks, we've got our patterns all ready to go. Need to check thread colors and all that, but the patterns are set. Looking at next year's calendar, our WIP pics would be January 5, 26, February 16, so we'll probably pause at that point, make sure we have enough time to finish our SGDQ prize and get it framed and back and all, since that's on more of a deadline. Really like what I came up with for this year and no, it is not as complex as King Zora was. Need to buy a piece of cloth that isn't white or black, but it'll save me a bunch of time not having to stitch background. And, keeping true to form, what I have planned for AGDQ 2026, when we aren't under a time crunch, is much simpler and I can prolly bust out in a couple of weeks.
- Firehawke
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Congrats on hitting goals!!! Love Zelda's face!
Good luck getting just the right piece of fabric....can't wait to see your future projects!
Good luck getting just the right piece of fabric....can't wait to see your future projects!
"May we maintain the courage to defy the consensus. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong." - President Thomas S. Monson
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- Rank 6 - Tanooki Mario
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Re: skater43 stitches Zelda games
Good to have goals.
Thank you. Yeah, Zelda came out nice. Have since finished the lower half of the gap to her right and all but a half dozen stitches of her head/tiara. So we'll do those first thing tomorrow, then start knocking out some sky for the next week+. Based on what I've done so far, I fully expect to have moved the hoop to the right and started cleaning up some of our loose threads by the next WIP pic.
Cloth shouldn't be too hard, just need a light blue. Used the same color for my SGDQ 2020 project. And while I don't have enough left from that, I can doublecheck the color name or maybe even find my old order to get another piece. But yeah, looking forward to not only getting in a couple more updates of Spirit Tracks, but also showing off my other 2025 projects.

Cloth shouldn't be too hard, just need a light blue. Used the same color for my SGDQ 2020 project. And while I don't have enough left from that, I can doublecheck the color name or maybe even find my old order to get another piece. But yeah, looking forward to not only getting in a couple more updates of Spirit Tracks, but also showing off my other 2025 projects.