Ring O'Roses

Of my two new projects, I decided to stitch 'Ring O'Roses' first.

It all came down to laziness in the end. To start the deer cushion meant that I would've had to get the sewing machine out to do the edges of the fabric...and I was just feeling far too lazy for all that ^^;

I had forgotten one very important thing though... I HATE attaching things to scroll frames. It is just the most tedious thing ever and it takes so long for me to do. But I got over it and this is where I'm up to ^^

Yes, so hold on ^^; I didn't start this yesterday...sadly I don't have magical stitchy powers. I started this last weekend, which is how I've managed to get so much done. My post from yesterday was a scheduled one... so the 'time-line' for this project has gone a bit messy ^^;

Anyway, it's coming along nicely. I'm not 100% happy with the coverage. I don't know if it's my tension or the count of the fabric...but it looks a bit 'holey' in places. I've used the count specified in the instructions so it must be my stitching. I'm sure it will look lovely at the end ^^

I'm finding it very enjoyable to stitch as the holes are so big! Very little concentration is required *lol*

I've come across a small problem though! I have ran out of blue wool T___T

Ahh, the very trauma of trying to get more of this blue. There is a wool shop near my nan's that sells tapestry wool, so yesterday I went there and they no longer had it on display. But my mother, ever one for a scene, asked if they still stocked it..out comes the shop lady with some crates full of little bags of tapestry wool that we had to search through...they didn't have the colour I needed, but after such a fuss had been created I felt obliged to buy some anyway. We then headed to Black Sheep and whilst we were in the area I asked to go to Hobby Craft as I know they sell tapestry wool. Success! I get home...and to my eyes...the new wool is a different blue to the blue I have been using even though they are the same colour code. This morning I stitched a few rows using the new wools...and the difference is minor...but I can tell. I would say they are two distinct shades of blue. Soooo I won't be able to finish stitching this today, which was my aim :( I'm going to order some more from Sew and So (which is where I got the original blues)...if they are different again..well I'm just going to lose my sh*t D: *ahem*

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In other stitchy news! I have decided to join Zeb's (Keep Calm and Cross Stitch) Just Nan Stitch-a-long! I really like Just Nan designs and I've managed to amass quite a few this year (two more on their way!), and it was my aim to stitch one next year anyway, so joining the SAL will give me some extra motivation and I'll be able to see all the lovely things other stitchers do too! If you want to find out more about the SAL or to join please click the link above for more info. There is also a link in the side-bar too!

I have often seen the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe mentioned in blogs but I've never actually gone and had a look around. Kitten Stitching recently made a post about a give-away that was being held over at the Victorian Motto Sampler blog and a design caught my eye! Such pretty designs! I can't wait to see more of what they do *___*

I've entered the give-away myself - if you like what you see enter too! Maybe one of us will be lucky :)

♥

No self control

I just can't help myself. There is no excusing this type of behaviour. I simply have no self control.

Ever since last month's Cross Stitcher magazine, I have been on pins waiting for the new issue to come out. For one thing only. A cushion with a deer on it. A deer that is wearing a red bow. I have no defence against a design like this. So this happened...

(some threads and cushion pad not shown, because, in my excitement, I forgot them)

I cannot wait to stitch this. For some reason I was expecting it to be a large design, but the cushion pad is pretty small so hopefully it shouldn't take too long to stitch. I can't decide whether it needs a red pom-pom trim or not...

Whilst flicking through the magazine and advert caught my eye. It was for an online shop called Laa Laa Land. All I can say is, the lady who owns this shop certainly saw me coming *lol* Such pretty designs! I could stitch everything, no problem. I was going to buy a kit, but decided to buy just a chart and buy the materials separately. I actually ended up getting two charts, but this is the one I'm going to stitch first...

(naturally I had to buy a new tin to keep my wools in...)

The charts are sent to you by email as a pdf file that you can then print off or you can work directly from your computer/tablet. I'm so happy that I have a printer now (I've even bought some fancy paper especially for printing off charts)! It's not practical for me to work from my laptop so in the past I've had to give 'download only' charts a miss - now there are so many more things that I can stitch *yay*!

I also cannot wait to stitch this! I'm going to make this in to a cushion. I still need to decide on a backing fabric and to get some pom-pom trim and a cushion pad. 

I'll have to flip a coin to decide which one to start first!

♥

Two finishes (that aren't quite finished...)

So, I finally seem to be getting my stitchy-bug back little by little.

First up, I have finished the Jackalope from 'Storyland Cross Stitch' by What Delilah Did...

(please excuse my bed cover showing through!)

He was really fun to stitch - a nice easy shape and no colour changes. It was a little hard going at times using three strands of thread (sore fingers!) but it was worth it as it looks so dense.

He's not quite finished though... I have to finish finishing him ^^; I'm going to mount the stitching in a wooden hoop using the method stated in the book. I'm also going to bind the hoop using a black velvet ribbon to match the plushness of the stitching.

Next up, I have finished my tapestry cushion front 'Berlin Roses' by Anchor. It has taken me so long to complete this! I thought it would be a super-fast stitch but sometimes it felt like I'd been working away for hours and made hardly any progress :( This has actually been away for a few months and I only brought it out of hiding because I was going to need the frame for something new :D I decided that I may as well try and get a bit more done...and it was like I was on fire! Unbelievable hyper-speed stitching! I had stitched two leaves in one day. All of the bottom leaves were stitched last week. And it was so much fun! I think after using such a thin needle on the Jackalope, the massive needle I used for this was so easy.

It's not quite finished though... I need to make it up in to a cushion! I had previously decided to use an old bed cover for the backing fabric - a nice blue and red checked cotton - it would be perfect! I've never made a cushion with a tapestry front before so I was doing a little reading in books and the internets for some tips - and they all recommended using a heavy weight fabric...my planned fabric is soft and thin! So I'm going to find a new fabric (I'm thinking of a red and white gingham)

I had planned to do lots of 'making-up' last weekend but as I didn't have the fabric that I needed I'm going to save it all up and have a mammoth making session one weekend :)

♥

Oh poor neglected blog...

*ahem*

Yes, so I haven't updated in so long..sorry about that.

No TUSAL posts or anything :(

A few things happened.

I kind of lost my stitchy bug. I don't know whether it's having so many different projects on the go at once, darker and colder nights...I don't know, I just haven't felt like stitching at all :(

I was very poorly. Very poorly. I lost a week and a lot of weight. I slept a lot. At one point I thought Tar Valon witches were coming to get me...hallucinating is not fun.

A Very Important Book came out after a Seven Year Wait. It was ok.

Harry (my cat) has had to have an operation on one of his paws...so I have been very worried about that. He has gone back to the vets this morning to have his stitches out, so hopefully this will be the last visit for a long time.

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I have done a little bit of stitching ^^

I took part in the Halloween Blog Hop organised by Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching. I enjoy taking part in the blog hops. It's fun to have something to stitch for and I get to find a lot of new blogs to read :D And welcome to my new followers ^^ Sorry I've been an absent blogger ^^;

In an effort to motivate myself I decided to start a new project *bah*

I was going to stitch the Jackalope head from Storyland Cross Stitch with the free materials...but I knew that at some point I would want to stitch the full-bodied Jackalope...so I decided to just do the whole thing ^^

Here he is so far...

I am stitching him on 32count ivory linen (as recommended) from Permin using three strands of thread (as recommended)... it's quite hard going! The stitching does look nice and dense though...I think the gaps are only showing up on the photo due to the flash ^^; Trust me, it looks nice and plush in real life.

On the photo you can also see a fox brooch I made from a kit that came from Mollie Makes. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Foxes are the best :3

I'm going to try and do a bit more on the Jackalope today before I go and collect Harry.

♥

Halloween Blog Hop!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Here is my entry for Jo's (Serendipitous Stitching) Halloween Blog Hop!

My letter is... 'N'

The next blog in the hop is Colourful Memories!

Happy trick or treating ^___^

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 ^^ **

♥