Autumn 2021 Update

Hello all,

It's been quite a while, hasn't it? 

After my last post, I was busy busy applying for new jobs and I wasn't feeling quite myself with all that was happening around Covid, things started to affect me more than they usually would for a couple of months. After quite a few job applications from October to December, a bunch of rejections and a couple of interviews, I managed to find a new role shortly after Christmas.  Between that and my daughter being older now, there hasn't been a lot of downtime - the last thing I've wanted to do is sit at a laptop after working from home looking at data all day and running around doing drop-offs and pickups.

However, I've not been just sitting around.  I do have pretty little x's to show you, and a couple of finishes, yay!

First up is the Positivity Rules piece from Caterpillar Cross Stitch - all finished! This was a great stitch during the early part of the pandemic, and great to just concentrate on good words instead of negative ones.

Secondly, Cagliostro, a stitch along from Mr X Stitch.  It is such a massive piece that I fell behind with it quickly as I don't tend to stick with one piece as I like to choose what colours I'm working with depending on my mood.

Next, another Caterpillar Cross Stitch finish - Hello Pumpkin.  This is one of a set of 4 seasonal pieces.  I've begun working on the summer one next, but it's nice to see this one finished, it was very enjoyable and easy to pick up and do a little leaf or character and then put it down until the next day.

As it got towards Halloween, I realised I'd had the patterns for this stuck in my stitching box probably for about 10 years or so and never got round to buying the materials for it.  So I was happy to get started on it this year.  This is Boo Club by Lizzie Kate.

And finally, a bit of an update to this Dimensions one that I worked on a little during StitchMaynia this year.

So that's it from me for now.  I hope that you and your loved ones are all ok.

Until next time!

Jo

Autumn is here!

The weather has turned cooler, hooray!  I am happy to get out my cuddly jumpers and coats and boots and go for autumny walks in the crispy leaves.

Also, I reminded my daughter on the way to school this morning that it's getting close to halloween, and so almost time to get all the fun things out from under the bed.  She perked right up and skipped into school.  So lots to look forward to in the next couple of months I hope.  

I've not done any halloween stitching this year, because, well, I'm not very organised and have many other things to finish.  I've mainly spent my free time this month working on the kit I bought from the RSN, it's almost there so I hope to have a photo to post here soon.

For now, here's Positivity Rules month 2 that I've completed...hoping to crack on with the rest once my RSN kit is finished.

I hope you are all safe and well! Happy Thursday!

Stitch Maynia 2020

Hello!

Firstly, I hope that you are all well.

Secondly, I know, I know, I'm very very late!

But on the positive side, Maynia this year has worked out pretty well.  After a period of furlough and being at home with my little one, I discovered that while I supervised her school work, I could sit by her and stitch for a couple of hours a day!  Although I didn't make major progress on any one particular thing, I did do plenty of stitching, which was better than I expected.

So, here's a photo update:

The Big One - Moonlit Waters (Julie Fain)

Bluebell Lane (Derwentwater Designs)

Magazine stitch (can't remember which mag)

Dolphin's Domain (Dimensions)

Ugly Duckling (Dimensions)

Tea Ceremony - Snipz (Paine Free Crafts)

Hello Pumpkin (Caterpillar Cross Stitch)

from an old Cross Stitch mag

Margaret Sherry cats, from a coaster set by Heritage Stitchcraft

Cagliostro (Mr X Stitch)

I hope that those of you who also did Maynia this year enjoyed it just as much.  I look forward to catching up on all of your posts, which I should now have a little more time to do.  

Have a lovely week :)

Strange times

Hello everyone.

It's quite the odd time we are living through right now.  No school, working at the dining table, trying to juggle all sorts and yet still needing to get some things like stitching and exercise in to keep on top of the mental health.  I hope you are all well and safely tucked away at home.

I am super behind with the updates.  As I scrolled back through my photos to dig out the stitching ones, I scrolled past endless kids parties, Christmas, school project work, carvery lunches and brunches and days out with my little one.  So apologies for being so absent, but with the work and the travelling into London, by the time I picked my little one up from after school club, did our evening routine, ate and sat down again, I just couldn't face turning on the laptop.  Weekends had been full of sports activities and then trying to fit in fun as well so it didn't seem like we were just running on this machine of a routine.

However, I did manage to squeeze in a bit of stitching during the commute and in the Xmas break and an occasional hour at the weekend.  I'm not complaining at all about the lockdown, we are safe at home, my hayfever is not enjoying the blossom at the moment anyway, so I'm pretty happy to be indoors.

Anyways, here are the photo updates of my stitching :)

Hello Pumpkin (month 2) - Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Holodeck Finish! (happy dance!) - Star Trek Cross Stitch book

Seas the Day (month 6) - Caterpillar Cross Stitch

One more thing... in a moment of madness (given how many projects I already have on the go) I decided to sign up to Mr X Stitch SAL001 - Cagliostro.  Still waiting for fabric, but the first month landed yesterday.  It's a biggie!  Here's the link:
https://xstitchmag.com/shop/xstitchalong-001

I also haven't forgotten Maynia is on its way... still debating what to do this year, a number of last year's starts are still unfinished!

Stay safe and hope to be back soon!
Jo

Star Trek, Seas the Day and Hello Pumpkin July update

The last month has flown by pretty fast and I meant to update before now, but I've managed to get a fair bit more stitching in than I expected to on some of my main projects, although I'm still a bit behind on the SALs.  Here are my July updates!

Firstly, the two SALs I'm doing from Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Hello Pumpkin (month 1)

Seas the Day (Month 5)

And then a couple of photo updates of my Star Trek Holodeck piece - I'm mainly sewing this one while travelling on the tube, since I get a seat some of the way sometimes!  But every stitch helps get nearer the end, and I'm almost done!

Stitch Maynia Weeks 3-4

Ok, I haven't managed to stitch daily during the last half of May, but I switched to some of my WIPs for a nice little change, and actually had a lot of enjoyment from them. 

We also spent a couple of days away with friends during the school hols and I've been interviewing for a wonderful job, so it's been a super busy time.

Anyway, back to the stitching updates... here they are!

Bluebell Lane by Derwentwater Designs

Dolphins' Domain by Dimensions

Holodeck piece from Star Trek Cross Stitch book

Seas The Day part 4 by Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Seashore piece by Dimensions

Tea Ceremony (Snipz) (Esmira) by Paine Free Crafts

Ugly Duckling by Dimensions

A little bit here and there and I'm really happy... lots of different colours, so it's hard to be bored with these!  Hope all of you that were joining in enjoyed Stitchmaynia 2019!

Stitch Maynia 2019 Week 2 Update

Hello again,

Lots of stitching has been happening, but life got in the way of my post last week.  For week 2 I moved onto a combination of cats and boats.  Mainly because it was easy to pull the colours together quickly, and I thought it would be handy to make progress on the cats since I'd started the first one more than 10 years ago I think!

Also, I wanted to try again stitching on evenweave with some small projects.  I always think that the end result looks somehow more neat and polished than Aida. However, the counting is so much harder.  Luckily, the boats don't have any gaps, the whole thing is filled.  I'm not sure how I'll fair on a different project.

I haven't managed to do too badly, out of 15 days, I've managed to do 14 new starts, which is more than I expected.

Until the end of May, I'll be stitching on WIP projects. Look out for the next update.
Have a great week!
Jo

Stitch Maynia 2019 Week 1 Update

I've impressed myself with the fact that I've managed to start a new stitch every day except for 1.  I'm starting with a set of flower pieces in a stained glass design. These were in The World of Cross Stitching magazine that I used to subscribe to years ago and I thought they would give me a good start and also a stash of spares to make cards so that at the end of term I'm not up until midnight putting stitches into teacher cards. 

I think the colours are lovely and bright and I've used up a piece of grey fabric that I didn't know what to do with.

I'll continue with these in the second half of May, but for now, it's on to the next ones!

Stitch Maynia

I came upon this last week.  I've joined the facebook group.  The premise (if you were to follow the original idea) is 15 new starts thorough the first 15 days of May, although I think it's more flexible if you wish it to be.

I've just been through my stash and discovered so many pieces of fabric that I bought many many years ago, presumably at a stitching show.  There are a lot of unusual colours plus a bunch of neutrals.  Not all are big pieces.  But I'm thinking that starting on some new smalls would be nice, I could handmake a few cards ready for birthdays or Christmas.   It really makes me feel bad that it's all just sitting there!  Plus, it's a good chance to try out different materials, counts, use up some scraps of thread etc.

Ok, I'll admit, I've been sucked in by all the other pretty planning everyone else has done.  I'm gonna do it.  I'm not so organised to work out every project more than a day or so in advance and perhaps not all new starts, but definitely some.  Watch this space for updates.  Who else is joining in?

April Stitching Update - Seas the Day

And so it continues...the latest instalment of Seas the Day by Caterpillar Cross Stitch dropped into my email box this morning, and by some miracle I'm up to date with part 3 and ready to get stuck into part 4.

Here are some photos of my completed part 3.

I also spotted this fab idea on someone else's facebook post - the amount of times I have to go back and look up which symbol is which colour - well, I'm hoping it will help save me a big chunk of time to stick the list on the box!

Part 4 looks amazing, so I'll be back with a further update soon I hope!

March stitching update

It's been a busy one with plenty of stitching.  So here's a progress update!

I've completed part 2 of Caterpillar Cross Stitch's Seas the Day... Part 3 is in my inbox waiting to be started tonight!

I've picked up a little card from the Nutmeg Company that I hadn't touched for a few years and found again - I really dislike the metallic thread but it looks so pretty because of it...A bit more edging to go yet.

And finally, a bit more progress on the Star Trek Cross Stitch piece.  Loving the blocks of colour and it looks really striking on the black.

February Update

Hello!

Time for an update, this time with photos as I feel like I'm actually making progress with things!

Last week I went to the first meeting of a new craft group in my local area... I took my 'out and about' stitching piece from the Star Trek Cross Stitch book... It's easy as they are blocks of colour.  Despite all the chatting, I managed to finish the wording at the top.  Hard to stitch on black but better because it was a daytime stitch group.  Nice that there were a variety of crafts to look at, with people bringing crochet, knitting, embroidery and card making pieces to admire.

I'm also making slow progress on the 'Seas the Day' Caterpillar cross stitch SAL... I know a bunch of the SAL group are already through month 1 stitching, but I'm dragging it out to make it last... and Endeavour starts again this weekend which I love to watch while I'm stitching in the winter! It means I get a good solid chunk of time and an interesting story to watch while I do it.

Finally an update on the Ugly Duckling... A little bit further!

Thanks for dropping by!

January Update and starting a new SAL

Hello everyone,
A bit late in the month but Happy New Year! We stayed in and had a quiet one this year as we were meeting friends on 1st January.  I just about made it to midnight but it was hard work to keep my eyes open.

Lots has been going on over January it seems.  I am continuing with the KonMarie clearout (after binging the entire series on Netflix). I've tackled clothes and books now... and the next category I'm dreading as it is papers.  It's not that they are scattered over the house, they are actually contained only to a couple of places but there are so many old letters and things, that I have kept since I was a teenager, and then all the adult things like bills and payslips.  I don't know why I still have them! I started looking through them at the end of last week and decided it needed a full week at least to sort through them.  Which things do you keep hold of?  I was big on penpalling back in the day...so you can imagine what a lot of things I have.

It has also been busy with birthday parties for little ones. Something every weekend!  I had heard that it is quite full on when they start school, and it certainly is! 

I've been trying to relax in the evenings and make some stitching progress... it's all going well, there will be things to show soon.  I'm not sure who made me aware, one of you lovely folks whose blog I read I think, but over Christmas I saw a few people stitching a 'Caterpillar Cross Stitch - 12 Days of Christmas' piece.  Not knowing the brand, I followed them on Facebook and was happy to see a new SAL starting yesterday.  Luckily, I have a giant box of all the thread colours which was a gift from my hubby years ago, and the perfect coloured piece of fabric, so I ordered 'Seas the Day' and began work on it today.  It is spread out over the next 9 months.  for more information or to join in, take a look here. It is the most beautiful site and the colours in this SAL or so bright and colourful that it is a welcome change from the brown, yellow and green I've been using for the last few months!

Well, I'll sign off here... well done if you made it this far.  Enjoy the rest of January!

Quick Stitching Update

Not a huge amount of progress since I was on a bauble frenzy and I'm still fighting a headcold so stitching is the last thing I've been thinking of picking up, but a couple of updates of things I've stitched a little on... Most of my stitching energy has gone into this 'Ugly Duckling' piece:

Still a little way to go with it but it's getting there.

Also a tiny bit more on Bluebell Lane:

I'm debating whether I can try and squeeze in a stitched card for my Daughter's school for Christmas... I shall give it a go and see how I get on... wish me luck!

IHSW October

Hello everyone!

Time for a very late IHSW post.  That's International Hermit and Stitch Weekend for those of you not familiar with this term.  You can find out more about it HERE!

I was away over the week starting with IHSW so it stretched a bit to a train journey either side of my travels with an evening in the middle of the week.

So, this IHSW I worked on my baubles for the Mr X Stitch project some more as the deadline was 31st October... Of course I stretched it right until the deadline date.  I am really pleased with them and they were a nice straightforward stitch that I was able to do when I was travelling or just pick up for a short time at home to relax.

Here are my results...I hope they look as striking when they are all framed and hanging in Standen House!  For more information about the project, here's the link.