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....

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!

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....

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!