Poe Sampler update

Dearie me, it's been so long since I've updated!

I've not actually done any stitching this week so the progress photo I'm going to share is where I was up to last Sunday. I've completed all of the sky section now so you can see how my colour substitution has worked out ^^

It's not as subtle as in the original version but I'm still really pleased with how it's turned out ^^ I've also stitched the moon in silver metallic thread from Madeira. It's nice and sparkly but it's not very nice to work with...

As you can see, I have also begun to stitch the verse ¬___¬ I had stitched all of 'Once' and was having a wonderful time of it. I can't remember if I've ever stitched 'over-one' before but it was nice :) I started to stitch 'upon'... it was no longer nice. Yessss...epic miscounting. Unpicking over-one stitches is not a pleasant experience. I seriously expected to rip a massive hole in the fabric...it was very stressful T___T I still have to unpick the 'O' and then I can start again, counting very, very carefully. And then count again.

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In other stitchy news, my copy of the Just Cross Stitch DVD arrived this week :D I got my copy from Crafty Kitten (which I highly recommend as Dawn is just lovely). I have spent most of my spare time this week looking through the issues. There are quite a few thing's that I'd like to stitch ^^; I love the technical articles, although now I'm in a state of angst as to how I use my thread...I think I've been scared off using my beloved loop-start *lol* I have also discovered that I have a major obsession with Gail Bussi designs. Every time I saw a pretty design that made my go 'awwww'...it was Gail Bussi o___o

You can get digital subscriptions for JCS quite cheaply, which I'm considering as you also get access to back-issues, however I don't know if you can just 'view' the issues or if you can download them to your computer to read whenever...

And YouTube! Gaaah. I love to watch YouTube videos but if I want to comment on a video it wanted me to make a channel (which I didn't want) using my real name (which I certainly didn't want - one of the main reasons I don't have a facebook). I've finally found how to have a username after much searching and getting needless upset with it D: Sooo...if you have a crafty channel and MissLillyStitches comments...'tis I ^^

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I'd like to make a re-start on the Poe verse today but I'm quite into reading at the moment...and I have a deadline to finish my current book by...not enough time in the day ^^;

♥

And now for something completely different...

This week I took a small trip to York!

Initially we hoped to go abroad but I think we left it too late to book anywhere decent...

I thought I'd share a few photos of my trip ^^

(please note... I am awful at taking photographs ^^;)

First up, here is where I stayed - the Guy Fawkes Inn. A really pretty place with an awesome cooked breakfast :) When we arrived on Wednesday there was a man playing the piano where the man on the bike is. I could hear a familiar singing voice...it was only Jamie Cullen jazz singer :O

On Wednesday I forgot to take photographs of most places we visited :/ We visited the York Dungeon, the Yorvik Viking Center (very cool) and Yorvik Heroes. We also had a walk around Fairfax house. I did get some photos from the Merchant Adventurers' Hall..

In the evening we went on the York Ghost Hunt with a very snappily dressed tour guide.

On Thursday we were up early to admire the beautiful York Minster *___*

 After that was Clifford's Tower, York Castle Museum (not a museum about castles *grrr*) and then the Roman Bath - the guide for the Roman Bath was a really nice chap who knew his stuff and was so enthusiastic :D

I shall finish with a photo of a street called the 'Shambles'...

More streets should be like this :)

I hope you've enjoyed the photos from my trip. I know it's not cross stitch but I wanted to share my excitement :3

** There is a Crafters Trail that you can do in York if you ever visit - you can pick up map in the Visitors Center that takes you around the craft shops of York ^^ **

♥

Petits Bonheurs part one!

At the weekend I completed the first panel of 'Petits Bonheurs' by Madame la Fee.

It's so dainty!

The blue dots were an absolute pain to do D:

I've had a few...issues with this :(

First, the colours aren't as vibrant as they look on the preview picture on the chart. They are much softer and muted and it was the nice bright colours that attracted me to this design in the first place. I was quite down about it at first *lol* but as I stitched more on this panel I became happier with it. Still not 100% but a lot more that I thought I would be at the start ^^;

Second, the back-stitch. In the chart there is a separate sheet showing the outlines for the back stitch and other details. I thought this would be like the one you get with Bothy Threads kits. Oh no :/ I got a little confused at one point so I consulted the main chart to see if it was a little clearer...and there was lots of back stitch on the main chart that wasn't on the back stitch chart D: At least a little disaster was averted before it became much worse ^^

Despite my complaining. I'm still enjoying this project. The next panel to be stitched is full of cakes! 

♥

Edgar Allen Poe Sampler

Ahhh, I remember when I was a one project lady...and now it appears I've become a three-timer! There's just so many lovely stitches how can I possibly limit myself to just one?

I've decided to make a start on the Edgar Allen Poe Sample featured in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween Special 2013. I've also decided to be a little adventurous and make a few changes *eek* As much as the original design caught my eye, I couldn't help feeling that it might look even more awesome if the sky was blue-toned, rather than orange. I think the theme would suit blue a lot more and I kept getting drawn to the word 'midnight'... So, I turned to the internet for some help as I've never substituted colours like this before so I didn't know where to start! A few sites mentioned things such as tones and colour families...so I pulled up a picture of a DMC colour chart and located the colour family that the oranges were in and found the corresponding tones in a blue colour family...they looked all wrong! D: I used this theory anyway and found a really nice set of colours in the grey family. Perfect! Luckily I had most of the colours I needed so I only needed to order the fabric, the brown thread for the tree and some new needles. I felt so smart! *idiot*

Until last Sunday!!! *dramatic music*

My supplies actually came earlier in the week but I'd had a pretty nasty cold so I'd been going straight to bed when I got home from work. Sunday was the first day that I'd felt up to much of anything, so I thought I'd kit everything up for this project. As I was making my thread organiser I knew something wasn't right... the replacement colours I had chosen were far too light... they looked more like a cloudy day than a nice clear night ;___; Back to the colour chart. This time I just looked for a set of blues that I liked...I think I've come up with a nice set :)

I'm using the same fabric as in the magazine - 32 count natural linen from Wichelt. I've never used this brand before. The fabric is a lot stiffer than Zweigart, but it doesn't seem to fray as much and it smells really nice too ^^

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I've actually made a start on this since I drafted this post ^^

The fabric is really a dream to stitch on *__* I can't think of any other way to describe it other than 'it holds itself well' :/

After I'd taken this photo this morning I started adding some of the sky. So far, it's looking good :)

♥

TUSAL September

A little late as always, here is my TUSAL for September...

My jar is very nearly full!

I've taken to having a little tin to make my collection more portable and then filling my jar when the tin is full - much easier than moving the jar around all the time ^^

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I just couldn't resist!

So, I've seen this popping up on a few blogs recently...and I just couldn't resist any longer! I had to get a copy myself ^^

Yes, the Just CrossStitch 2013 Halloween special.

It was a bit tricky to track this down! I found that Country Designs seemed to have it in stock so I placed an order on Monday and it arrived on Friday. I was getting a little worried as I didn't get a dispatch notice ^^;

Anyway, the magazine is lovely! I really like Halloween. I love how in America they really go to town on Halloween (based on what you see on films and TV *lol*). I wish we had more Halloween themed stitching here in the UK but there's always like one chart in the magazines before Christmas designs take over, so getting an entire magazine dedicated to spooky stitching is a real treat!

There are so many awesome designs, but the one that has caught my immediate attention is the 'Edgar Allen Poe Sampler' by Pullen Designs.

I'm really impressed with the quality of the magazine. This is the first Just CrossStitch magazine I've seen and based on this issue I'm going to try one of the regular issues and see what that's like.

My mum is a huge Halloween fan. Decorating the house for Christmas is a last minute thing, but Halloween decorating is Serious Business. So I just know she's going to be beside herself when I show her this ^^

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Cats update!

Here is an update to 'Cats, Cats, Cats'.

The second panel is now complete and it is much, much cuter than the evil cat monster.

I really enjoyed stitching this one. Such pretty kitties. Someone should really get round to creating a breed of floral-print cats =^.^=

I had a bit of a nightmare with the yellow kitty! I just kept miscounting D: About five times! I don't think that watching Thor and The Brothers Grimm helped matters, but still, five times is ridiculous!

Where it says 'meow!' - this was something that you could personalise. I think maybe they meant for you to put your cats name...but there was no way I could choose one of my cats! I only have Harry now and it would be mean to my dead cats if I picked him...and then which of my dead cats would I choose! D: Terrible times. So I just decided to go for a nice and simple meow, that way, no-one feels bad ^^

I forgot to mention on my previous update the particulars of this design...

It is a kit from Janlynn and is designed by Sandy Orton of Kooler Design Studio. It is stitched on 14 count white aida using DMC threads.

I'm going to take a break from this for now and start 'Petits Bonheurs' - très excité!

♥