skater43 stitches Zelda games

[skater43]

This is it folks: the homestretch. Last WIP pic and just a couple of weeks until we see the final picture. Moved the hoop up today at the end of stitching time and that's the last time we'll move it. At this point, we have a bit to do on the top of the head (I've been saying lion head based on who the boat is, but dragon head is prolly what is intended. Of course, this is all make believe, so I can call it whatever I want. Therefore, I only have a bit left on the top of the wallaby head) and the horns and that's it. Doubt I'll finish by the end next week, so we're looking somewhere around the 15th or 16th maybe. But for all intents and purposes, we've got the main characters/features of the picture done: Link and the boat, and I really like how it all looks. Looking forward, of course, of seeing the final thing and what decisions we make regarding framing it and all that.

So, of course, the question will come up: what are my next plans. First project after we finish this is to do this year's SGDQ prize for myself. Pretty quick project, about a month, but I like how the pattern came out, it's a good homage to some of the key series of the NES, so we'll do that again so I can have a version to hang on my wall. After that, I plan to do my AGDQ 2024 prize (have an idea picked out for that already). We're obviously quite a ways from January, but figure we'll get it out of the way now (well, this summer) so that we don't have to pause our next Zelda project (or can stitch it longer continuously without a break). As for that next Zelda project, we have two options. Got a couple of the good folks on these boards working on a Spirit Tracks pattern for me (http://www.spritestitch.com/forum/viewt ... 15&t=21780 Feel free to chime in/help out). So I figure by the end of July or so when I finish the aforementioned two projects, I should have a pattern for that game that I like. If so, that'll be our next game. However, if a pattern isn't ready yet, I do have one already for Minish Cap, so that'll be our next Zelda project instead. So we'll see how those shake out. Either way, those will occupy the rest of this year and most/all of 2024, which will give us time to find/create a pattern for Phantom Hourglass.

[skater43]

Okay, so that took much less time to finish up than I thought. The Artery was closed today, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to turn it in, but the stitching is done. And frankly, if I hadn't had something yesterday, I would have done a little extra just to finish it up and get it turned in earlier. But no worries, easy stitching time today to wrap things up, plenty of time tomorrow to turn it in and discuss matte colors and such. But I enjoyed working on this, wasn't nearly as long or complicated as Twilight Princess, but had spots, especially around the edges, where we had to really pay attention and make sure we didn't miss anything. Had some people comment on the bright colors, to which, of course, credit goes to @mfay for picking. But I agree that they picked some great colors. Nature of the game is much brighter and happier and less dark than Twilight Princess, and that is reflected not only in the look of Link, but also the colors involved (we did not have 15 versions of grey this time around). And for those a bit creeped out by Twilight Princess/didn't like the darker tone of it/the game, you'll be happy to hear that our last three Zelda games to stitch (Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, and Phantom Hourglass), follow the more cartoon-y look of young Link seen here. So we'll have more of the bright, vibrant colors.

Meantime, though, tomorrow we will also begin stitching this year's SGDQ prize, but this time, for myself. Took about a month last time, so we've got a pretty good idea of when we'll finish. Because it's a fairly short amount of time and you've already seen what it all looks like, we'll likely skip a WIP pic and just wait until it's all complete, but we might take a pic after a couple of weeks. So that'll take us to the first part of June. And then we'll begin our AGDQ 2024 prize, which I'll reveal once we get closer to starting it. But that'll take us to the end of July or so (maybe not even that long), and then we're back in Zelda mode for the next 7, 8 months. And we'll figure out which game it'll be once we get closer to starting and seeing how our patterns shake out.

[Firehawke]

Fantastic job!

[skater43]

Thank you. I do like how it came out. Got it dropped off on Tuesday, so looking forward to seeing the final product. Went with a different frame than usual this time, one that'll add a little something to the picture I think.

[Soychai]

Omg that is so awesome!!!! Great job!!!!

Okay, so that took much less time to finish up than I thought. The Artery was closed today, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to turn it in, but the stitching is done. And frankly, if I hadn't had something yesterday, I would have done a little extra just to finish it up and get it turned in earlier. But no worries, easy stitching time today to wrap things up, plenty of time tomorrow to turn it in and discuss matte colors and such. But I enjoyed working on this, wasn't nearly as long or complicated as Twilight Princess, but had spots, especially around the edges, where we had to really pay attention and make sure we didn't miss anything. Had some people comment on the bright colors, to which, of course, credit goes to @mfay for picking. But I agree that they picked some great colors. Nature of the game is much brighter and happier and less dark than Twilight Princess, and that is reflected not only in the look of Link, but also the colors involved (we did not have 15 versions of grey this time around). And for those a bit creeped out by Twilight Princess/didn't like the darker tone of it/the game, you'll be happy to hear that our last three Zelda games to stitch (Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, and Phantom Hourglass), follow the more cartoon-y look of young Link seen here. So we'll have more of the bright, vibrant colors.

Meantime, though, tomorrow we will also begin stitching this year's SGDQ prize, but this time, for myself. Took about a month last time, so we've got a pretty good idea of when we'll finish. Because it's a fairly short amount of time and you've already seen what it all looks like, we'll likely skip a WIP pic and just wait until it's all complete, but we might take a pic after a couple of weeks. So that'll take us to the first part of June. And then we'll begin our AGDQ 2024 prize, which I'll reveal once we get closer to starting it. But that'll take us to the end of July or so (maybe not even that long), and then we're back in Zelda mode for the next 7, 8 months. And we'll figure out which game it'll be once we get closer to starting and seeing how our patterns shake out.

[skater43]

Thank you. Current project will likely be done the end of next week/weekend of July 1/2, so we'll see if they have this finished by then, or nearly so so I can see how it's shaping up. I've decided to go ahead and do MInish Cap next and that's going to be another pretty epic one along the lines of Twilight Princess. Actually, more involved because of so many more colors (roughly 90 in total). But looking forward to giving it a go. And after having turned in, or will turn in, 4 projects in the past 3+ months, I'm sure The Artery will appreciate a little bit of a break.

[skater43]

Posted this in my other thread, but we'll have it here, too, as the kickoff to our next Zelda project.

Which as I mentioned above, will be Minish Cap. See the attached for what we will be stitching. This is another big one, comparable in size to Twilight Princess (this is 125x235, TP was 136x200). However, I do have a plan that will save at least a few hundred stitches. All around the stained glass is white. Pattern calls to stitch all that, but I figure if I just use white cloth, I can save those stitches. Along the top edge, there is some off-white stitching in a pattern to add color/texture/whatever and I do plan to stitch that. But the rest of the background we'll skip at the start. I think I actually need to do it, it doesn't look right or whatever, we can go ahead and stitch it, too. But with all the colors (which I do have. Was actually able to buy all but one color in one shopping trip, and picked up the last color while I was getting the extra blue I needed for Zanac) and the main part of the picture still being quite sizeable, we are looking at finishing sometime the middle of next year. But because I have the next 8 months free, I'll be able to make a lot of progress and be able to keep track of where I am without interruptions for the smaller projects. Doubt we'll finish before we need to work on our SGDQ 2024 prize in March or so, but we should be able to knock out a vast majority of it. But looking forward to giving this a go. Lot of colors, so imagine we'll be doing a lot of switching, which takes extra time, but we'll see. Does seem like there are quite a few chunks of colors, so we aren't doing stitches here and there like TP. So tomorrow will be a busy day in the stitching world: dropping off one project to be framed and beginning a new one.

[skater43]

So here's Wind Waker all framed up and finished. Went with a black frame like usual here. But as you should be able to see in the bottom left corner, the frame has some texture/is rippled. Like waves. Like one might see if one was sailing around in a boat traversing Hyrule. So this was a chance to try something a little different with the frame, even if we went with the usual black.

Few hours into Minish Cap and unfortunately, discovered our first mistake. Guess better to catch it now, rather than later. But I didn't catch that there is overlap on the pattern, a couple of lines are repeated as you go from page to page. Which is handy to help keep track of where you are flipping between pages of the PDF, but I didn't realize that was the case. The good news is most of my work thus far has been confined to one page,so all that is still good. Most of the work I did going up to the other page was a few columns of black, so those should still be fine. Have to check I didn't go too high and such, but should be fine. Main problem is I did some horizontal black on the second page and all that will have to come out because it's two lines too high. Prolly the fastest way to correct this is do some cutting and take out the horizontal sections. Columns were two stitches wide, so stitched up one side, then down the other and branched off to do the horizontal sections, so I'd otherwise have to find the end and undo a bunch of the vertical parts, too. Which should be fine, as I said (little bit of color on the far left I may have to undo a couple of stitches, but we'll check that out after we deal with the black horizontal bits). Otherwise, we were making good progress. With so many colors, not surprising that many are very similar, so it's hard to tell them apart after stitching them. Bottom of the picture also has long straightaways of one color, so counting stitches can be tricky. Main reason I was working on some of the black is because the sections are smaller, so easier to count/keep track of. And then I could use those parts to help keep my place for some of the other colors. So guessing most of tomorrow and Tuesday's stitching time will be spent undoing stuff, which is a bit of a bummer, but now we know how to read the pattern and should be ready to resume stitching later this week.

[Firehawke]

Wind Walker looks fantastic!

Have fun working on Minish Cap...and good luck fixing that!!!

[skater43]

Thank you. I agree that it came out great and I've had one other person tell me it's their favorite so far. Personally, not sure what my favorite would be. As I've said, I think Twilight Princess is the most impressive looking one I've done/would be the one I'd use to show off if some one asked about my hobby. A Link to the Past is my favorite game of the series and while the inventory screen I did for that is indicative of the game, it's not action packed or all that exciting. If forced to choose a favorite, I'd prolly go with Link's Awakening, because I got to use some of my music knowledge to modify the pattern slightly and got to learn/use some different stitching techniques.

Good news is the mistakes were less extensive than I thought. Took a little over an hour to undo the stitches and I actually had some time left over yesterday to do some re-stitching. Today, I found another 7 or 8 stitches I had to take out, some of which would have been easier without yesterday's progress, but we have them taken care of and should be good to go. Back may not look as pretty as it could, but the front's the important part and think we're good there (and not that the back looks terrible, just not quite as clean).