2010 up and running

New Year celebrations now come and gone and the shops are full of Easter eggs. Have they forgotten Valentine's Day I wonder? Probably not, we'll soon have the luscious red hearts all around us. Oh to be young again and wonder if anyone would send me a card (perhaps not I was nearly always disappointed and used to tell myself it was lost in the post!).
Still to not so gloomy thoughts----I have been catching up with Papillon 'Castles in the Air' as I was about 2 1/2 months or so behind I was having an internal panic that it may arrive on the UFO pile. That is of course if a SAL can be a UFO I have not done too badly with the catching up but those who are really good at spotting errors will see I got carried away with the 'arches' on the right hand side I was on a roll when I discovered I'd done two to many so enter the January frogs ( I thought frogs could have at least hibernated for the Winter). Any how since I took the picture I have frogged the offending arches and have also completed a little more and I am quite pleased with the progress. (Next photo I'll take it of the stand and unroll it so you can see it all.)



At weekends I have been stitching on Yoyo's Christmas SAL. I wish the new side arms I've ordered for my Symphony frames would hurry up and arrive so that I can put it onto a frame instead of using my hoop. I rang the supplier and they tell me they could take up to 7 days to arrive, the only problem is they forgot to say when they had despatched the parcel. My fabric for the 12 Days of Christmas has arrived so I need to get that sorted for stitching as well because that is my second Christmas stitch for Yoyo's SAL.




I've made a little progress on my UFO for Jen'sI've Started so I'll Finish . It looks better now there's a little colour on it. I'm dreading the trouser part as there is just a lot of rather boring tan and dark tan. I stitch this when I go grandchildren minding in the middle of the week as it's not to difficult to pick up and put down, so progress will be a bit hit and miss. Trouble is I haven't got a clue what to do with it when it's finished, I suppose at sometime I'll come up with some idea or other.



Now to a design my great sister gave me as part of my Christmas gift. it's by Displaymates and is called Window Wreath. It comes with a deep display box and should look very effective. I forgot to take a photo this time of the actual kit pic so I'll do that next time. It's stitched 1 over 2 and gives quite a good looking finish.


I'm away now to make our evening meal so to all of you who pop in 'Many Thanks' and hope you call again.

Happy stitching to you all

It's Freezing! More time to Cross Stitch

Happy New Year to you all out there in 'Blogland'

The weather here in the North-West of England has been rather out of the ordinary this year. The area I live in doesn't usually see snow for more than a day (I live by the coast) I haven't been passed the front door for four days now, this is mainly because the pavements are like an ice-skating rink and so are the roads. Fortunately my hubby is able to keep upright and he's the one that went up to the Dr's for the old medications that keep us both ticking over. We have a pond in the garden at the rear of our home and I know it won't be much ice to some of you in varying parts of the world but to us it is just strange I decided to take a photo of it. It looks like a whale's under neath the water.



At least it's not all doom and gloom I've managed to finish two items since the turn of the year. One it the Freebie Christmas Mandala 2004 by Chatalaine designs. I have altered bits and bobs on this to suit myself. I have beaded the Christmas trees with Mill Hill seed beads 02019 instead of gold French knots. I am not the worlds best at French knots so I asked my sister if she would have a go at them for me. She did and they looked quite uninspiring so enter Plan B and out came the bead box. I have also used the same small bead on the black 'wall' round the outside instead of 00557 so that I didn't end up with too many different bead types. I have used the beads stated for the outer iron work and also on the bushes, must admit I have not put the gold(00557) bead on the gate iron work because I thought they looked too clunky against the delicate backstitching. The last thing I've altered is the gold work on the plant pots, I could not get it to look good so I changed the way it was done (enter another bead). Any how I'm pleased with the finished result, I just have to frame it and that could be another problem!!!



My second finish is the Jim Shore Southern Snowman by Mill Hill . This one that should be on paper but I am doing all the four snowmen on even weave 'Babbling Brook' this is because I'm going to have them framed as a foursome (some time in the distant future). I also like the Jim Shore Santa Collection but I have yet to purchase any of them, they're on my wish list.



I've actually made a start on my UFO forI've Started so I'll Finish not exactly a great deal of progress as I had to frog what I'd done so that I could restart on a roller frame. and work up and down the length of piece instead of side to side (sounds a bit crazy but that's rather like me). I've discovered that it's another hand drawn chart and for some reason I find them quite difficult to decipher(perhaps it's blotting pens that cause the problem)



I have just put me Papillon designs, Castles in the Air, on the frame as it is months since I did any and I think I really must do a bit a catching up with it. Hopefully there will be a Picture next time.

Well that's it for now. Thanks for visiting---Keep Warm

Happy stitching to you all.