Thursday 18 December 2008

The road to hell...

...is paved with good intentions. Haven't managed to pick up a needle in a week, let alone iron back the penguin or make the bag charm. Will try again when the latest baby growth spurt is over!

Friday 12 December 2008

Pick up a penguin...







Finished the penguin bag last night! There were four stitched penguins in the corners but after stitching the top right-hand one two squares too far over I decided I didn't like him anyway and replaced him with a button I found in my stash. Just need to iron vilene onto the back and then he's usable.

I'm also going to add a bag charm - which involved rediscovering eBay and all the wonderful things there are out there! I probably didn't need 25 silver penguin charms, and I definitely didn't need the ladybird beads, the daisy beads and the mobile dangles but I'm sure they'll come in useful....honest.

Started another Margaret Sherry free kit last night as well - a cat in a hammock - but now that Tove is sleeping for longer I'm going to try and get Maggie finished.

Friday 5 December 2008

Penguin bag

Have almost completed the baby penguin at the centre of the bag's aida panel, and having decided that I need some kind of border I'm thinking about what. The options are - plain stitching, small penguins in the corners or something else, maybe a 'wave' effect or fish or something watery. I'd hate to do the border and then decide it looks wrong so am thinking carefully...

Thursday 27 November 2008

Inquisitive Kitten


This freebie from Cross Stitcher has been in the stash for about 2 years I think - one of the few cover kits I've kept rather than passing on via the forum or to friends. Quite fiddly to do as the fabric was too small for a hoop and I'm too lazy to tack it onto another piece of fabric :-). Not sure what I'll do with it yet as I'm not doing cards this year. Head start on 2009 maybe!
Have started the large bag today - decided on a cute baby penguin from the David & Charles Polar Bears and Penguins book. Will need to add a border, maybe snowflakes or something like that.

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Latest finish - Love Bug

Completed the Love Bug bag and backed the stitching with interfacing so anything in it doesn't catch on the stitching. Haven't started the bigger bag as I'm waiting for inspiration for a design (perhaps a knitting motif for my mum or a cat for the MIL? Or a penguin for me :-) ) so I've been occupying what time I can find with cover kits. Currently working on a Margaret Sherry one from Cross Stitcher a couple of years ago called Inquisitive Kitten, of a ginger kitten hanging on a wreath.

Sunday 16 November 2008

Love Bug update

Haven't got much done in the last week as Tove has been putting on a growth spurt - every time I picked up my stitching she demanded food! I have managed to finish the stitching on the Love Bug bag, only the back stitch to go. Trying to decide whether to do the same design on the bigger bag or whether to look for something else that will fit the larger panel better.

Thursday 6 November 2008

Been shopping

Hit the stash sites this week and treated myself to the 'Love Bug' ready-to-stitch bag from Wimble Bees and the Humphrey's Corner 'Angel Sampler' from sewandso. as well as some fraycheck and an emery for my needles (what a great thing!). Everything arrived today so I've made a start on the bag instead of a free kit.



I think the bag may get appropriated by my elder daughter so I may have to get the big version as well....any excuse :-)

Cul-Purr-It - finished!

Finished Cul-Purr-It last night, BS took most of the day. Here's the completed pic and a close-up of the face.




Think I'll do a couple of little cover kits as 'portable' projects next, easily pick-up-and-put-downable. I give most of these away ot various people as I know I'll never do them, but I do keep the Margaret Sherry ones and some Christmassy ones.

Monday 3 November 2008

Back!

Finally managed to pick up my stitching after 12 days - nothing ambitious like the BS on Maggie, just finishing the 'ground' on Cul-Purr-It and starting the white infill on the cat, but I have missed it! Think Maggie will be on hold again until we settle back into a routine - my plan to finish her before the baby came went out of the window when she arrived 5 days early.

Someone wise once said that man makes plans so God can laugh....

Friday 24 October 2008

A finished WIP!


...Tove Bliss, arrived 11am on 22 October 2008.

Tuesday 21 October 2008

Time to dot the 't's and cross the 'i's...

Finished stitching Maggie last night - now for the back stitch, which I really enjoy. The detail in this kit is amazing, but there are none of the dreaded metallics after all (hurray!), although there are a variety of colours and flosses used....here she is before I start!

Monday 20 October 2008

Lazy day? Lazy weekend!

Only on the stitching front! On Thursday I went to the theatre in Southend as a belated birthday treat - we saw David Essex's musical All the Fun of the Fair, which was much better than we expected and definitely worth a trip if it comes to your local theatre. Check it out here http://www.allthefunofthefairmusical.com/ for more details - the man might be grey these days but he's still twinkly! I also hit Bluewater (now there's a place crying out for a decent stitching shop) on Friday to do some last minute baby shopping, and after a reasonably quiet day on Saturday Daisy had a birthday party to go to on Sunday. She had a great time playing with other people's toys and when we got home she used lots of parcel tape and paper to 'make Daddy's present'.

This all left very little time for stitching, but I did fill in some of the gaps on Maggie and am only left with a few small areas to do before I start the mammoth BS task. It looks so cold and windy outside today that if Daisy has a nap I might indulge this afternoon.

Wednesday 15 October 2008

Lazy day today


Suffering with a sore throat and late pregnancy niggles so haven't felt like working on the big project in the last couple of days - have been working on Cul-Purr-It instead as I can curl up on the sofa and feel sorry for myself! Most of the main cat is done, only the ears and the white left on the body, then there's the flower and the BS to do. I love the BS on these cats.

A visit from the frogs last week meant unpicking the top of the head. Then the eyes were in the wrong place....etc etc etc. Fortunately I noticed it before doing too much of the infill. I hate those frogs!
On a whole different note - I saw Coleford (small town in Gloucestershire where I had my first date) on the 6 o' clock news today as it already has it's Christmas lights up. 71 days to go...how depressing!

Sunday 12 October 2008

The end is in sight!

Got really fed up of doing all the fiddly colour changes and blends and half-stitches that seem to make up most of the bottom left quarter of Maggie and decided to do all the black and white areas that I usually leave till last. Seem to have made a great leap forward which has made me feel much more optimistic about finishing her (at last!).

Spot the dog!

Friday 10 October 2008

Random thoughts...

...can it still be a stitching blog if you're too busy blogging to stitch??

Demob happy!

Just finished work for maternity leave - no wrestling with rush hour for a few months at least. On the downside, I lose my quiet time - that 40 minute slot on the train listening to my mp3 player, stitching away without my darling daughter 'helping' me! The one problem I find with stitching on the train (apart from there being no handy sofa arm to stick needles in :-) ) is that it's occasionally hard to count accurately, particularly on evenweave.

The pic shows how far I've got since Monday, the basic outline of the cat is there.
No progress on Maggie this week, but now I'm off work I have a cunning plan - I'll be digging out my floor stand and stitching while I sit on the birthing ball in the hope that the baby will get into position! Assuming Daisy will let me have the ball as she's appropriated it already....


Wednesday 8 October 2008

WIPs


This is Maggie the Messmaker, a huge Dimensions Gold kit that I started in March 2006. This pic is from August 2008, as you can see I'm 3/4 of the way through. Poor old Maggie got put down quite early on while I concentrated on being a mum and then on getting through PND in 2007, but I have picked her up again this year after much teasing from my OH.

I was hoping to have her finished by the time the new baby arrives, but with less than three weeks to go this latest pic shows it might be unlikely! I may get the main stitching done and then I'll just be left with the details and backstitching - and there's lots, including couching and metallic thread which I really hate using. The detail in this is amazing, and there are lots of colour changes and blends as well. Definitely a challenge.


My second WIP is a Margaret Sherry design called Cul-Purr-It, from the Heritage Stitchcraft range a few years ago. I've done a few of her designs and I love the way the backstitching gives a great furry effect - and also the expressions on the cats' faces. This is my 'portable' project that goes with me to work - I stitch on the tube in the mornings and really don't mind the delays!

Let me please introduce myself....

....not a man of wealth and fame, but a 30-something mum of one and a half looking for a way to share my stitching bug with others.



I've been cross stitching for 14 years now - I started by accident when I couldn't find a Valentine card I liked enough to send to a boyfriend! I saw some on the front of a magazine, bought the stuff and that was it...kept the hobby, got rid of the bloke and think I got the better end of the deal! I like Flower Fairies, cats (especially Margaret Sherry) and things that catch my eye. My stash is hidden under the bed (hey, it's supporting the bed!) and latest additions are the new Bothy Threads kit 'Row of Ladybirds' and a couple of ready-to-stitch toys. I try and pick up Nimue kits when I'm in France, as well as some of the lovely Celtic ones you find out there.

New finishes are the Black Medick Fairies from DMC and a ready-to-stitch ladybird toy, a present for my older daughter from the impending arrival.

Ladybird & close up of bib!