I wanted to do some crafting and make handmade Christmas gifts this year so badly. Some happened, some didn’t! Everything that did get done was so.much.fun. I’m still amazed that I actually got some of it done because it was my first attempt on basically everything.

The First Project: The little wooden people that I posted about a few weeks ago. I have more waiting to be painted, but I’m happy to have this little group done and ready to go in their little “house” for Christmas!

A Cross Stitch for a New Friend – my Holiday Traditions Exchange 2009 partner :{She sent me the most fantastic ornaments – look for a post coming soon with pics and links to her tutorials on how to make them for yourself!}

I’ve never done a cross stitch before, so I was excited to attempt this. I am completely hooked! It got done in bits of time here and there, but mostly in the evenings after everyone else was asleep and I could sit quietly with some Christmas music, a cup of tea and the light from the Christmas Trees.

My First Official Sewing Project: DONE!

It’s not that I never learned how to sew, it’s just that I never really do it.  Plus, I’ve never actually tackled any sort of project – just buttons or trying to hem things, etc. So I decided {inspired by this post} to attempt bean bags and tote bags for Amelia and for my niece for Christmas. I was cutting it close, but I just finished today and I’m so happy with how they turned out. Plenty of little mistakes, but overall I think they’re adorable and just right for the girls who will receive them.

Play Silks Dyed with Kool-Aid: {More pics and tutorial coming one day soon}

I made them and gave them to Amelia and Nick already. I figured that they’re going to be so overwhelmed with things on Christmas Day that I gave them early for them to enjoy. Lots of enjoyment has been happening – they’re a huge hit already!

Bath Salts:

The easiest gift EVER. Some canning jars, a scrap of fabric, epsom salts, sea salt and a few drops essential oil(s). If I somehow find the time, I think I’ll make some eye/heat pillows filled with rice and essential oils with the extra fabric from the bean bags. You can heat them up and use them for more relaxation. {I have a feeling it won’t happen, though.}

What else was going on while i finished wrapping and getting gifts finished:

• The presents have all been bought.
• Everything is wrapped.
• The Reindeer Food is waiting.
• Plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are set.
• John is officially done with work and on vacation for 11 days officially in one minute.
• There are only 2 nights left in the Advent Calendar!

I do believe it’s officially CHRISTMAS VACATION!!!

It is hard to believe that it’s just a little over a day before it’s Christmas. Fortunately, there isn’t much left to do. Christmas cards are sent, presents are bought, food is in the fridge and most importantly, my stitching is all set to go. What more could a girl want for Christmas?

Today I have pictures of our Stitching Book, which is a workshop that will end in January. Not all of the pages are done yet, most of them are stitched, but the assembling will have to take place at one time. My mom already has put together 2 pages to show how it would look, the rest will have to wait till the designs are drawn and the stitching is done.

This page says: Where the needle goes, the thread follows

It’s a wonderful project, time-consuming but worth every minute (or hour) of it. Once it is all completed, there will be a design with finishing instructions available, but that might take a while.

Next one up is, very apropriate for the season, a Christmas WIP. This is the three Santa’s design in our Christmas book of the year: Sint Niklausbuch by MWI Stickgaleri. We discovered this book in June and it’s been a smashing hit ever since. This is a book of which I could stitch every single design that’s in there. As you can’t see any faces yet, it’s a wee bit hard to distinguish the 3 santa’s, but believe me, they are there.

That’s it for today, I have a great WIP lined up for tomorrow. Gotta think about which one I’ll save for Christmas day. Maybe a Christmas project that I start on Christmas day? It’s been a tradition to start a Christmas project on December 25th for quite some years now. And trust me, it’s not for lack of projects hanging around the house, screaming to be started. They sometimes remind me of the Mandragora’s in the Harry Potter movie. Some of them are really loud you know .

I’m posting this from my bedroom in my mother’s house in JB! We arrived yesterday evening, had a scrumptious dinner in honour of my birthday at Pekin Restaurant which made me very very happy because we had salted-egg crab as one of the dishes, and then we came back and crashed in exhaustion. We took the girls on board the MV Doulos yesterday morning and they had a good time touring the ship. I have photos but can only upload them when we get back to Singapore.

In the meantime, here are two Christmas ornaments to share. The first one was made by Edda in Iceland for me, and the second one was made by me for Linda in Singapore.

Little House Needleworks' Winter Woodland design from JCS 2004, finished as a felt backed ornament.

I stitched Midsummer Night Designs' freebie called Snowman Quaker for Linda, and also finished it as a felt-backed ornament. I had some problems with making my ornie, because I stupidly did not check which way was up for the snowman and ended up making a mistake with the orientation of my ribbon. But it turned out OK in the end.

We will be making pineapple tarts, and the rest of our relatives are making their way here today, so a big dinner is planned at Sizzling Stone Grill this evening. I hope you and yours are having a very merry run-up to Christmas!

Edited December 22nd:

for some reason I saved this as a draft instead of publishing it. So I’ll just publish it tonight and have another post tomorrow . Enjoy.

I just realized that there are only 5 more posts left, I’d better go look around to the best WIP’s I have to share . Which means if you do the math, that there may actually be more than 25 WIP’s in this house. Hmmmm, food for thought for 2010.

This is a good oldie, Jeannette Douglas’ s Stitching Treasure. Beautiful, beautiful design, lush silk threads and heaps of specialty stitches. I got more or less stuck with the over one stitching. Which is a pity coz I have seen this one finsihed with the embellishments and the box and let me just tell you it is drop dead gorgeous.

OK, I have no idea why this picture looks so weird. I’ve uploaded it twice and it doesn’t seem to make a difference. You’ll have to believe me that the original is much, much better looking .

I need to think some more about the next four WIP’s. There are at least 2 that I know I want to share, as for the other 2, I’ll have to make a choice. The good thing is that one of the WIP’s shown in this series is no longer a WIP anymore. It’s all done, but I can’t show it for a while.

I began cross stitching nine years ago. I had tried the craft back in 1996 but found it too difficult and my ambition to learn how to stitch quickly evaporated.  In 2001 I flew to China for the first time and was desperate to find something to keep myself occupied during an 18+ hour flight. I had never flown further than the length of the East Coast before so I was terrified at the thought of flying “all the way” to China.

I was all about the crocheting in 2000 but that was an awful lot of bulk to pack for China (and for a business trip there is no checking of luggage – you need it, you haul it). I had  to have something small to fiddle with in case the two paperbacks I brought along were boring!

I picked up a small cross stitch kit, a hoop and teensy scissors and somewhere over the Pacific Ocean I set to my task. I had already finished one of my paperback books (I’m a fast reader) and we weren’t even halfway to China.  I had to save the second book for the flight home!!

I read the instructions conscientiously and began my cross stitch journey. By the time the plane landed in Seoul, South Korea I had a small grouping of perfectly laid stitches. I worked on the projects (apples in a basket surrounded by a blue checkered border) for the rest of the trip and proudly presented it to my Mom as a gift.

She was intrigued and impressed and wanted to learn to stitch herself.  Over the past years we have slowly explored the stitchy joys available to us and I still love learning or finding some new treasure!

This year I made some major leaps in my stitching. I had never stitched on anything but Aida cloth and had only experience using 14ct, 16ct or 18ct. Aida.

 I tried my first project on Evenweave this Spring and managed to complete Terea Wentlzer’s Futurecast on 28ct. evenweave.

I enjoyed this pattern because it let you select you own colors (and provided guidance on how to do so!)

I used teals, greens and yellows with a pop of purple metallic for his crystal ball!

I promised myself that if I was able to complete the Evenweave project that I would tackle a Nora Corbett Fairy or Pixie design on linen. After much internal debate I decided to begin work on Nora’s Halloween Fairy from Cross Stitch and Needlework September 2008 magazine. Even though that is her official name I still like to call her Trick or Treat!

 She was stitched on 32ct. Belfast linen in Precious Metals by Silkweaver. This was my first time stitching on linen and it was a slight adjustment but I fell in love with the way my needle flew through the fabric with so little resistance.

It was also my first project that was extensively beaded and I found that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would (after the investment in some beading needles that is!)

I worked on Trick or Treat all through the summer and had her finished (but not framed) in time for Halloween. I was very proud of myself for this accomplishment since it was my first linen and beaded project!

I began Solaria Gallery’s freebie of Venetian Girl with Mask last November. I finished her in time for my niece’s 19th birthday in August. I framed her up in a chunky, black frame and left plenty of white 14ct. Aida around her to act as a built-in matte. “Purple Girl” was funky and fun – just like my niece. I hope she loves it as much as I loved making it for her.

 I love finding freebie patterns on-line and have built up quite a collection over the past year.

It is a nice (inexpensive) way to experiment with a particular designer. For example it was nice to find out that Solaria Gallery doesn’t rely on lots (if any) backstitching. So for those of you that hate backstitching go check them out!

I personally enjoy backstitching. I feel like I am seeing the hidden design come to life right before me.

The little accents and curves placed at just the right spots make my stitches jump right off the cloth. Call me crazy but I like it.

Sometime in the Spring I worked on Passione Ricamo’s Fairy Celebration II freebie on Saphhire Sky 28ct linen. I did her in Ecru DMC and found a frame in the exact same color (and it was on sale!) This was part of my birthday gift to my cousin.

Joan Elliot’s Fairy Alphabet helped me make a quickie bookmark with a touch of blending filament and beads for my sister’s birthday.

 My grandmother received my knock-off Brittercup Kitty for an Easter gift.

I didn’t have the pattern so I free handed it from a picture of the completed project.

Not perfect, but close enough for me!

Dragon Dream’s Tale of Wonder was such fun to do. I used my own color pallete for this one and my Dad made the solid oak frames for it and the pink castle.  

I made the castle pattern in PC Stitch using JC Penney’s Princess baby bedding as an inspiration since both pieces were for a nursery.

I did Stitchy Kitty’s Meow Spoken Here (another Freebie!) on 28ct. opalescent Lugana in Ocean by Silkweaver. It got whipped up during my SAL group’s weekend SAL in DEcember. stuck to the pattern except I used two peridot beads for the eyes instead of french knots in DMC 3371. Kitties need green eyes not brown ones! You gotta draw the line somewhere!

Another quickie scottish thistle bookmark on Oatmeal Aida for my grandmother’s birthday in June. What better bookmark for the trashy Scottish bodice-ripper novels I bought her than this?

My last finish of the year is also the last one in this post. A cute little penguin from the Cross Stitcher December 2008 issue’s alphabet. I modified the pattern so the penguin’s letter of the alphabet is not included. He got stitched on 28ct. opalescent Lugana in Karma Sparkle by Silkweaver. And I am definitely going to be reordering that color again. Very cute!

He is also my first machine finished ornament with my new sewing machine! My older niece Colleen is getting this with her Christmas presents this year. I hope she likes it as much as I do. Because I REALLY enjoyed having him on my tree for his photo opportunity! I think that is all of my finishes for the year! Now on to 2010!

Love, love the rain and wind! I get to listen to my windchimes and the rain… Life is good. Ok, so now that I was able to give my presents to friends, I will show you what I have been working on at home.

Blue Butterfly

 and in another colorway -

Red Butterfly

The reds are hard to get a good picture of but I can tell you they are beautiful. I had a really good time stitching these pieces, but I really do wish that designers would make sure their instructions match the pictures on the front of the patterns.

Anyways, tomorrow I will try to get a picture up of Sweet Pea. I finished the skirt on her yesterday and if I get the chance today, I hope to finish her legs.

Today I get to take some kids shopping. And maybe get some stitching done after that. We are watching G-Force right now. It is a cute movie. Not the greatest, but cute.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Coat Closet Designs wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

May it all be full of new stitching and designing and adventures!!

Presents are wrapped, cookies made, the house decorated.  All we need now is to go over the river and thru the woods to Grandma’s house for the year to be complete!

I will leave you with just a few pics:

    The year’s worth of cross-stitch ornaments.  I have stitched at least one ornament a month for the past 8 years!

 This year’s painted ornaments for the special kids in our life.

 The cabinet with all the hand-painted santas and angels from years ago, and finally, our norfolk pine tree, with the kids ornament trees waiting to be decorated.  The pink Barbie tree is my daughters!

All the best of the New Year to you and yours.

Ned Kelly Kitty is for The Missus.  She asked if I could put our names on the front rather than her initials. 

 This is a teatowel bag requested by The Missus to keep her Ipod bits and pieces in.  The cross stitched cup cake in the middle looks larger in rl. 

This piccie has decided NOT to play nicely.  It is fuzzy when turned sideways.  It is the emboidered  blocks from Gail Pan’s Christmas BOM finished as a wall hanging…..minus one block.  I’m convinced the block “Merry” was possessed.  If a block was going to be misplaced, it was this one….more than once.  It trimmed up wonky – 2 inches on one side and 1/2 inch on the other and crooked….I’m sure it was shifting under the ruler!  I do like the way it looks, though.  It fits perfectly on a long narrow wall next to the bookcase in the lounge.  I can see it from here, now….the right way up!  This was the first BOM I’ve taken part in and I had fun.

I’m starting this one sometime in the next few days using Japanese fabrics.

If I have added everything together correctly, that makes a grand total of 57 finishes this year.  I may be able to squeeze one more in, but that will be it!  I didn’t set out this year to finish so many projects…..until I got close to last year’s total and I had one of those “I wonder if    (I could beat last year’s total by one)” thoughts….I had a ball doing it.

A lot of what I make is on a whim.  I like making lists AFTER the fact, not before.  This means no concrete “to do” lists for next year.  I’ve been cross stitching for 25+ years, so I can’t see that stopping anytime soon!  I can see myself playing with my sewing machine more next year….foundation piecing and applique quilts….plus a bag or three!  On the knitting front…There is a good possibility I will have a go at knitting socks.  My feet are freezing in the winter during playground duty….so a pair of warm handmade socks will go down well!  I may teach myself to crochet next year.  I’m left handed, but plan on teaching myself how to crochet right handed….same way as I taught myself how to knit.  I’ll be doing a bit of scrapbooking and cardmaking, too.

This will probably be my 2nd last post for the year……one more with something which may be of interest to the cross stitchers (not any more FO’s! lol).  The only hint I give is that FOSAL may become part of your vocabulary next year.   

I’ve had a ball in Blogland this year and look forward to more of the same next year.  I wish you and your families all the best for the festive season and the New Year.

Ok, so I have been a little busy lately. Stephanie told me I needed to update my blog, so here is an update…

I have been working on Hawaii Mandala Garden -

Hawaii

I finally finished this stupid corner! Here is Heidi’s progress on her Hawaii. I can’t get over how different they look on the different fabrics -

Heidi's Hawaii

and to finish off today’s, so I can get to work, here is a future stitcher -

Kendra stitching

Have a great day!

Geometry in blue and gold

Traditional embroidery design, 14-count in whole cross stitch, hand made, from Macedonia, Greece. It took a while a complete. This is an ideal project for experienced and patient stitchers who enjoy the challenge of the gold thread.

Embroidery is perhaps that most important part of craft occupied by textile art. In the past there was no village or a house in Greece that women did not know how to embroider.

It is said that Greek costumes and embroidery designs are among the most beautiful in the world. Definitely, they are among the richest; usually the whole fabric is covered by fine and bright colours. Geometric designs – like the one we present here – were very common, especially in northern Greece.

A closer view

I collect Santas – but not little statues.  Mine are cross stitch charts, the Prairie Schooler Santa series.   The link will show you this year’s Santa, and if you click on the red years available at the bottom of the page you can see previous Santas.

I believe I have them all.  The first two charts were purchased from a cross stitch shop near my home and stitched as a Christmas gift for Mother.  (I was hooked!)  The shop moved a few miles away, and there I purchased the next two years.  That shop closed its doors, and for a number of years we made a pilgrimage to Accents in Stitches in Kenner, LA (near the New Orleans Airport) for the Prairie Schooler fix.  We generally made a day of it, and I typically purchased a year’s worth of cross stitch supplies.  Finally, we have a cross stitch shop in Baton Rouge once more, and the pilgrimage is no longer an all-day outing.

DH and I mused as we flipped through the collection this morning that the early charts were $1.  One year doubled the cost to (gasp!) $2, then the price hovered at $3 for many years.  This newest one is $4.  DH, as Patron of the Arts, says he’s good for the cost.

Dear Patron has made another valuable contribution to my collection.  Each year I present him with the current chart on a 5 x 7 card.  In due time he will scan it for me (after all, he knows I have many to choose from should I be overcome with an urgent need to cross stitch Santa).  Then I’ll discover on my desk, like an early Christmas present, the original chart and the scanned copy enlarged to full-page size.  They go together in a page protector and then the collection notebook.

It’s a great life!

WOW, did you see the snow in Sydney yesterday?  Yep, I caused so many miracles yesterday, I even made it snow!  The first miracle was that I actually put needle to fabric and did a few stitches on Saturday … and in the end, more than a few, by the time last night came around!

Unfortunately my poor Mirabilia Mermaid has been neglected, and my stitching slump has seen my 10-hour rotation slot dragged out across two entire months … here’s the progress over the last two months – just pitiful!  First up on the left is how she looked on 31 October – followed by how she looked a month later on 22 November:

And now, how I left her before I put her away on Saturday night – I figure I’ve pretty much completed my 10 hours stitching on her, and fingers crossed the next time I pick her up my stitching mojo will have returned a bit more and I’ll get a few more stitches done in my next 10 hours!

After I put her away, I managed to get a LOT more stitching done on Bent Creek’s Summer Snapperland – I’m really loving stitching on this one, although I’m not overly keen on the fabric, as it’s quite ’stretchy’ on my scrollrods.  I do, however, really love the colour (the 2nd photo is a lot nearer the actual colour as I took that this morning in semi-daylight), and think it’s a much better choice than the ugly one recommended in the chart.  I can’t guarantee this one will be finished in 2009, as I’ll be pretty close to my 10 hours on it soon – I figure, though, that I’ll keep working on it a bit longer, as so far I’m really enjoying it … I’ll probably stop after completing both of the ‘boxes’ on the right … maybe :)

I haven’t quite met my stitching goals this year, in the fact that I have only stitched 10 out of planned 12 ornies … but who knows, maybe I can squeak in a couple of quick ones before the year’s end, heck I have a whole week left to do it in! LOL – yeah, sure … maybe not.

I think my goals this year were relatively realistic, and were as follows:

1. Complete at least 3 of my existing WIP/UFO projects (Works in Progress/UnFinished Objects) - DONE – Completed 5 projects
2. Complete at least 10 of my kitted up projects - DONE – Completed 11 projects
3. Complete at least 12 Christmas ornaments - FAILED – Completed 10 out of 12 as at 21Dec09

Next year I think I’ll keep the same goals, as they seemed to give me the freedom to stitch what I wanted to stitch, with a mix of both new and old projects … and I probably would have met the final goal if I’d been stitching as ‘normal’ over the last two months. 

It has to be said, though, that any amount of stitching that gets some actual stitches into fabric is a positive year, all-in-all, and I’ve had some pretty decent finishes over the course of the year, even if the last two months has seen a major decline in stitching action

I stitched these and then made pillow ornaments.

  BTW, its the 7th day of Christmas, so here are some swans a-swimming.

I took this last week off from stitching to give me arms a rest….boy, was I itching to stitch something, anything!!  LOL.

Amazing how you can be SO tired from a project and don’t want to stitch anymore, that when you don’t have anything to do, you’d pick it up in a heartbeat. 

Since, I took a small vacation, I suppose its back to work now.  I do have another bookmark order to start, 15 green mini-bookmarks to stitch and I’ve got a new chart almost ready to send off to www.PatternsOnline.com  I’ll see what I can accomplish this week before Wednesday (that’s when the holiday craziness will begin in full force), but really get some serious work done after the weekend-I’ll have a whole week “free”.

It has taken me over 6 months to find a supplier for Bohin Milliner needles in the US to offer these superior quality needles to you.   I am persistant when I want something….

Bohin is well-known for producing quality needlework supplies, and their needles are no exception. Favored by many expert needleworkers, Bohin needles are smooth, sharp, and long-lasting. The needles are not always easy to find in the US ( especially the Milliner needles ).  We are pleased to offer a small selection of these fine needles for your stitching needs. Supplies are limited, though, so order yours now!    Milliners,  Tapestry and Chenille in assorted size packages.

Milliner needles for Brazilian Dimensional embroidery with EdMar rayon thread can be used with other type threads and embroidery.

Tapestry and Chenille needles for Cross Stitch, Hardanger, Bargello, Canvas work, Huck or Silk Ribbon embroidery

It is a pleasure to offer you this high quality brand of needles for your needleart.

Available at:    www.ThreadsinBloom.com

Stitching keeps our souls content,

Sharon ~ Threads in Bloom

So here we are, 5 days until Christmas and to be honest I’m not doing too well. I’ve sent some knitted pieces of silliness off to various nice people that I’ve never actually met but as far as gifts to my nearest and dearest are concerned I am not only behind schedule but I’m getting it wrong… very wrong.

Most of my sister in law’s present is OK but foolishly I tried a bit of sewing which took 4 times longer than it should have done and quite frankly it is not very good. Was meant to be delivering the presents tomorrow but I might leave it until next week and see if my sewing “Guru” (aka Mum) can help me sort it out…I also can’t get my neice’s scarf to uncurl so that I can sew it up, will have to block it properly and that’s going to take time to dry.

My other sister in law’s shawl has hit a big snag and Husbands present is currently a ball of wool

So instead here are some bad photos of things that did actually work…

Husband, looking over my shoulder has just poked me on the arm and told me to cheer up, it doesn’t matter, and by the way James May is on telly…

Pattern Name:   Klimt Sea Serpents
Pattern Price:  $3.99
Stitch Count:   200 x 200
Size in inches:  14” x 14” (34.5 cm x 27 cm) on 14 count fabric
Colours used:  27

Well, thanks to all the snow that we got here in Northern Virginia, I was able to get some work done on my mom’s Christmas presents.  The snow here is at a level I haven’t seen since I was in elementary school back in ‘96!  Here’s just a couple views of our street and our house after about 3 hours of shoveling snow.

Because of all this insane amount of snow that we had — accumulated in only one day — I was able to get to start my mom’s other Christmas present while the one that I started originially had to sit because she would know what it was when she saw it.  I’m making her the MancalaMia from knitty [here].  I’ve gotten the base of it done as well as one of the large bowls.  Here’s the progress so far.

On top of that, I have been working on a great cross stitch for her as well.  For those of you unaware, my mom is a huge quilter.  I found in one of my cross stitch books a pattern for a “quilt block of the month” cross stitch sampler.  I began by completing each block, but quickly realized that the best way would be to get all the colors except white and the outlines and I have gotten much more done, although I still have more than half of it left.  It really does look great!

I have been working furiously because we’re leaving for Pittsburgh on Tuesday and I won’t be able to work on her presents if we’re together for it all, so I really only have about 36 hours to get these two done.  Hopefully I can get to it all before then.  At least it will give me the car ride there and the car ride back to finish everyone else’s presents.  I hope everyone enjoys the snow around here and, from what I hear, up and down the east coast.

It seems that the snow around here is a work in progress as well. If I thought that driving away through 50cm of snow on Friday was bad, try driving away through 35cm of frozen snow instead on Saturday. Definitely not my cup of tea. I managed to park the car yesterday evening, courtesy of a snow shovel that I got from mom and dad, otherwise I really don’t know what I would have done.

Last night and today it has been snowing on and off and I think we gained another 15cm. Needless to say, I didn’t went outside to actually measure the amount of snow > It’s been pretty crazy, no buses outside, hardly any cars, it’s really quiet and I think most people stay inside. I just got settled on the couch and stitched.

As for my WIP’s, here are another 3 to share with you. First one up is Indigo Rose’s Folding Cross Needlebook. I haven’t touched this one in quite a while, so it might even be a UFO, but I found it in my drawer and just labelled it as a WIP. There’s a bit more to do, I really should sit down and get it done.

Second one is from Indigo Rose as well, it’s a free graph called Cranberry something. It was in one of our newsletters and apparently, I started stitching it and then….. Well, I don’t really know what happened after then. Just another one of those projects that need a wee bit more time. This one even less than the first one.

And finally a project that is not an Indigo Rose one, but one by a dear friend, Lisa from The Primitive Needle. It is called Yule Sampler and has an alphabet and lots of motifs. I started this last year in October after I got back from St. Charles where I met up with Lisa. As you can see, I still have quite a bit to go. There is an uppercase alphabet, a lower case alphabet and numbers 0-9. You do the math, this one will take me a while to get done.

Miss Murphy sends her best wishes, she’s too busy catching up on beauty sleep to come to the blog herself. With all the sleep she’s getting, she’d better be a gorgeous kitty cat when all this snow is over.

I am all caught up now, will be back tomorrow with day 21.

Well my plans for a blog post a day have already fallen over…

Never mind… have managed to use needle and thread every day…

Zen de Jour

Friday night at Mum’s I finished stitching the Winter Carnation stocking – this means I’ve finished my commitment  for Yoyo’s Christmas Design SAL for this month, though I may try to start another of the stockings by the end of the month.

Blackbird Designs, By The Chimney with Care, Stitches and Spice Wintered Marble 32ct Belfast Linen, The Gentle Arts Thread, Apple Cider, Antique Rose, Avocado, Cornhusk

And because I was still in a cross stitching mood, on returning home and loading up the VCR with more X files episodes, I continued on with South Seas Lace, that I am doing as a SAL with Claire and Sandra.  Completed another long side – only problem is I can’t remember which side is up, and it doesn’t really matter design wise, except I suspect my stitches are angling different ways!

Reading de Jour

The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts – this was a re-read, the final book in the Sign of Seven Trilogy.   I was telling a friend about them awhile ago, and she asked to borrow the series.  Found the first two books on my bookshelf, Blood Brothers and The Hollow – but couldn’t find the last book, until I found it when searching for something else the other day.

This trilogy tells the story of 3 boys, all born on the same day, when celebrating their 10th birthday together unwittingly unleash demonic forces on their town.   For seven days every seven years, strange things happen in Hawkins Hollow.    Each book focuses on one of the 3 men 21 years later, and the women that come into their lives to help stop The Seven.   Typical Roberts romance with a good mix of paranormal suspense.   This is not the best of the trilogy… the first two books are better, but still a great holiday read.

Work in Progress Show n’ Tell

I realised I hadn’t posted a photo of a recent block finish.   I’m recieving Rosalie Quinlan’s It’s a Redwork Christmas each month from Under the Mulberry Tree, and finished Block One’s stitchery ages ago, but forgot to post photo.    Will get the block put together when Mum is here with the machine first week in January.

This was great fun, even though the blanket stitch (which is actually all back stitch) took an age – and all of the 9 blocks have this trim!!!   I’ve discovered I enjoy stitching (and cross stitch) where you are just working with one colour rather than constantly having to change colours.

Have blocks 2 and 3, and want to get stuck into those, but need to get my Holly Jolly Christmas Swap blocks finished first – which is what I’ll be working on for the next little while.

After another week with little news (the boss-man gave me a tin of roses for xmas, we took A’s Mum shopping in town on Thursday night, posted all our parcels and cards yesterday – too late, I know), here’s some knitting stuff.

The scarf I started for Ali at work was finished in plenty of time, and it’s really pretty.  Hard to get across in a picture though:

It’s beautifully drapey and smooth, and sort of metallic-ish.  A described it as ‘like chain mail, only purple’.  I hope Ali likes it – at least it is her colour. 

Christmas presents out of the way, I’ve picked up my languishing not-for-xmas projects again.  My happy socks now have turned heels.  It has been so long since I turned a heel from the toe-up, I had to look it up in a book!  But that’s done, so now it’s just knit-knit-knit until the yarn runs out. 

The shawl of doom has re-appeared from hibernation, again.  Unfortunately, I found two loose threads hanging out of it, where I wouldn’t expect to find loose threads.  I suspect a stitch got caught on something and pulled until it snapped, but I’m not sure.  For now I have tied them together and I’ll try to work out where they have come from and where they should go when I’ve finished the border.  Speaking of the border – it’s back on.  I took the shawl with part-done border to Knitting in the Library on Weds, and everyone agreed that it works.  It was the demons in my head saying it might not, so I’ve started on it again. 

The cross-stitch pictures I had finished have now gone out into the world to find their new homes.  At least as far as A’s Mum’s house, anyway.  I’ve done a bit more on Amy’s picture, but I’m not really into it all that much.  Maybe it’s the knitting bug taking over again.  Maybe it’s because I feel a bit pressured into doing it.  Who knows. 

Anyway, that’s about it for today.  Except I’ve finished work for the xmas break – hooray!  I’ve got 4 days of leave next week, then work shuts down until 4th Jan.  Two whole weeks of nothing.  Except for the christmas bit in the middle…which kind of gets in the way, you know?

Everything’s on track for Christmas Day. I picked up Rufus (the traditional name for the turkey – handed down from my grandparents to my parents to myself) yesterday. The Missus is in charge of wrapping presents Anything I wrap looks like it has been completed by a substance abusing club-footed reindeer. The cards are written and posted where necessary. The Christmas pudding is in the cupboard. (Thank you Big Sister!) We are picking up the ingredients for the salads early on Christmas Eve. We will prepare those and cook Rufus on the same day. I can’t remember being this organised for Christmas – EVER! That must mean it is time to sit down with a cup of tea, a slice of Christmas cake, the cricket (Aussies vs. Windies test match here at the WACA) and some blog reading.

These Jim Shore’s Heartwood Creek Christmas ornaments sit on a hardanger embroidery table runner made by The Missus’ dad. He was a very talented needle worker. All the stitches and cutting are exact.

These are the biscornue I had sitting in the “to be finished” pile. The brown one makes me think of Walker’s shortbread….must be the time of year and the thistles.

Mum and Dad came for a visit on Tuesday and were held up for an hour, which gave me the perfect opportunity to whip up these Halloween cushions. Then it was just a matter of stuffing them while sitting in front of the Evil Dead trilogy last night with The Missus.

The Christmas placemats are on the back burner until I get some wadding. They will be ready for next Christmas instead. I will be ahead. This year I made the two snowflake biscornue in the earlier piccie, a cross stitched ornament and a small Christmas angel quilted table topper. That is plenty of crafty bits.

Everything’s on track for Christmas Day. I picked up Rufus (the traditional name for the turkey – handed down from my grandparents to my parents to myself) yesterday. The Missus is in charge of wrapping presents Anything I wrap looks like it has been completed by a substance abusing club-footed reindeer. The cards are written and posted where necessary. The Christmas pudding is in the cupboard. (Thank you Big Sister!) We are picking up the ingredients for the salads early on Christmas Eve. We will prepare those and cook Rufus on the same day. I can’t remember being this organised for Christmas – EVER! That must mean it is time to sit down with a cup of tea, a slice of Christmas cake, the cricket (Aussies vs. Windies test match here at the WACA) and some blog reading.