A finish and frogs!

Yesterday I finished Open House!


This was stitched as charted with DMC floss on28ct lilac cashel linen. The buttons are from Just Another Button Company and are the ones suggested. The only button I've missed off is a pumpkin one which covers the stitched pumpkin by the steps. I have the companion piece to this, called Three Gables but I will not be starting it until the summer. Here is what it will look like. I will be doing mine on the lilac linen.


My next spooky stitching project is going to be this.


This piece is called Witches Riding By and is from Lavender Wings, it was a Christmas present from 'The Other Half'. It is stitched on 36ct linen using two strands of floss. I've not stitched on this count before. Will two strands make the work look bulky? Two strands have to be used as some of the colours are blends. So do I go with the 36ct or change to something bigger? Any advice would be appreciated.

I thought I would give you an update on my UFO. Michael Powell's Tuscan Gardens ll.


The backstitch really does make a difference. Next week it's back to the Green Santa. However, I know some evenings are going to be taken up with school stuff as it is the last week of term so I'm not expecting to get as much stitching in as normal.

Finally, spring has arrived and the pond is full of frolicking frogs!

Open House is almost there

This week I stitched on Open House. There's not much to do now, only the leaves, the gate and the white parts.

Five things and a finish.

This weekend I felt a little bit strange in the stitchy department, maybe it was caused by eating too much Five Minute Chocolate Cake (see previous post). As a result I actually stitched on five things!

On Friday evening I reached my goal for the week and finished Part 3 of Barnabee's Quest. In order to give myself a head start the next time this appears on the rotation I started on Part 2 on Saturday morning.


The finishing kit for this project, ordered from The Silver Needle, arrived last week and I have the Just Nan pull ware for it. I'm hoping to finish this before the summer. To tell you the truth I could have continued to stitch on this but no, Saturdays are Christmas Design SAL days and that is what I moved on to next. I'm now starting to think that when I have finished the cross stitch on this one I will have a go at actually finishing off both this ornament and the blue one.


Sunday was UFO day. I made a start on Tuscan Gardens and then got side tracked in the stash room, looking for my small hoop, as my next handbag project is going to be the Anniversary Biscornu by Just Nan. I actually spent an hour stitching on this but put it back in the handbag has I was feeling guilty because I wasn't stitching the UFO. Now I thought that Tuscan Gardens was the last one, WRONG! Whilst looking for the hoop I came across yet another UFO. So I stitched this one instead! Now there was a method in my madness. This newly unearthed UFO, although stitched one over one, was very small and actually took only a couple of hours to finish.


This keyring kit was on the cover of Cross Stitch Collection Jan/Feb 1996, although I'm pretty sure it's not been a UFO for that long. The picture of the finished keyring is in the 2010 Gallery in the sidebar.

I did eventually get round to stitching Tuscan Gardens and was quite pleased with my progress.



This week on the rotation there is a gap, so I could start something new. Instead I'm going to stitch on Open House, which some would class as another UFO as it's not been worked on since October/November. However, this is definitely a WIP in my book as it has never been 'put away'. I'm over two thirds of the way through with this one. This is where it was left.



Have a great stiching week.

I was good ...

... very good in fact. Instead of starting something new this week I stitched on unfinished projects.

Firstly Mary Wigham got an extra evening.


I have also spent two evenings, well one and a half really, on Open House.


What with one thing and another it's been a busy week with not much time spent stitching. The weekend is rather looking that way too as it's another 'Railway Weekend'. I'm Guard on the train on Saturday and this time the destination is Lapland!

Families travel on the train, with Father Christmas, to Lapland. The adults get sherry and a mince pie whilst the children get a gift from Father Christmas. Last year, at about this time, during a Monday morning lesson, one of the pupils in a class asked me If I had done anything interesting at the weekend. I said that I had taken lots of children to Lapland to see Father Christmas. Well, the comments came back like 'wow!' and 'really?'. My reply was, 'Yes, in fact, I went three times.' Only then did it dawn that, maybe, I hadn't been to the real Lapland!

As promised here is some more Christmas stitching. 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' by Joan Elliot. The chart appeared in 'World Of Cross Stitch' about two years ago.


Even if you don't get to Lapland I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Not much to show

As far as stitching goes this has not been a good week. Well it's not really been a week, in reality only Tuesday evening, as last night was spent making the Christmas cake and Monday evening was spent doing this blog! So, for what it's worth here is my stitching so far this week.


This is Simply Christmas from Waxing Moon Designs and was a birthday gift from my Mum. Before we went away I stitched a little more on Open House which is now entering in to the rotation.


This weekend is a Railway Weekend so I am going for a stitchy Saturday at my Mum's. Fingers crossed I have more to show next week!

Off to put a few more stitches into Santa!

Spooky finishes!

This weekend I've managed TWO spooky finishes!
Here is Horrid Halloween.


Here is is before finishing.


As mentioned in my last post I changed some of the colours for Glow in the Dark ones. This was a really fun stitch. You can order the chart from Faby Reilly Designs here.

It is my sister's birthday today so yesterday I set about stitching this biscornu based on the Boo needle book from Just Nan.


I finished this one this morning. I also did some domestic stuff between the stitches and, yes the needle was glowing by the time I was done! Unfortunately, what with postal strikes and things over here, my sister will not get this in time for Halloween Sorry Sis, but your prezzie does look good in my Halloween display!

With all this biscornu stitching Open House has not had a look in since Thursday evening. Here is the progress to date.


This Halloween stitching sure is fun! Off to wave my magic wand around the house. OK, reality check, it's a duster!

Happy stitching!

Spooky Update

Before the spooky stuff here is the November Calendar, and it's still not finished. Why? because I ran out of one of the Kreinik ribbon colours with about twenty stitches to go. I hunted high and low and could not find any stray big pieces that had got transported around the house on my clothes. So a quick email to Mill Hill and some more ribbon is being sent in the post.


So now for the spooky stuff. Here is the Horrid Halloween Biscornu by Faby Reilly. I made a few floss alterations. Firstly I used a blend of DMC 321 and E321 for the wording, to give it a bit of sparkle. I also used Kreinik Glow in the Dark #4 braids for the brew in the cauldron, the white parts and the border.


This next photo is not too good. Open House looks more like the house that Jack built!


I picked up Midnight Ride from the framers today. It took ages to choose the frame. In the end I chose black. I do not know how good Glow in the Dark threads are behind glass so I went without it. I think she looks really good.


This picture isn't the best either, maybe I need a new camera? Off to write a letter to Father Christmas, or does he do email? Better still I wonder if he has a blog? Now that would be COOL!

She has a roof ...

... well half one!

Not much stitching got done this weekend. The progress on 'Open House' was achieved on a long car journey on Friday afternoon.


We were off to Pickering in North Yorkshire, one end of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. This weekend no train travel was involved. We were attending a carriage restorers convention. Although I own a carriage myself I'm not really in to fixing them, until it gets to near the end when they require curtains and stuff. This was not always the case, but having fallen through the floor in one of The Other Half's derelict vehicles, he has many, I'm not quite so keen!

All these carriage restorers needed feeding and I had volunteered to help out with the catering. So on Saturday three of us laid on all day coffee, tea and cake. A buffet meal for 82 people and in the evening we put on a four course dinner for 26. On Sunday we did another buffet but for half as many.

The kitchen was in railway carriage and was about 5 to 6 foot wide and about three times as long. Not only did we cook on gas, a six ring gas hob, with gas cooker we also had a gas plate warmer and the two fridges were gas cooled. It was hot! The washing up facilities consisted of a domestic double sink unit with single draining board. OK for normal pots and pans but too small for the commercial variety. All I can say is that I am glad the whole thing was not on a train that was moving. Here is a picture of the facilities!


It was the first tome the kitchen had been used to cook in and there were some teething problems which will need to be fixed. Not least how to stop things like dirty dishes and the clean ones on the drainer falling onto the floor whilst the train is in motion.

Anyway despite the heat and the lack of space good fun was had by all. We were complemented on our efforts on a number of occasions. One I found particularly amusing. I was complemented on my egg sandwiches. Now I do not eat eggs and have, to my knowledge, have never made an egg sandwich in my life until this weekend.

Back to the stitching. On the way home I stitched on the Horrid Halloween Biscornu until, despite using 'glow in the dark' threads, I was forced to stop.

Spooky Stitching

At last I have started my spooky stitching! Here is a quick update on progress so far.

Open House.


This really is fun to stitch.

My handbag stitching is the Horrid Halloween Biscornu from Faby Reilly. I am doing this on 32ct Crystal Peach linen as I have a lot left over from the Over the Top and in the Tin project. I am going to change some of the colours for Kreinik 'Glow in the Dark' ones as I have them in my stash.



I also managed to spend an evening on the November Calendar.


I hope everyone has a happy stitching weekend!

The Pale Blue Santa has a face!

Here it is.


So far this week I have managed to complete all the cross stitching on him. Last night I started the backstitch. I still have two more evenings to go on this so it will be interesting to see how much further I get.

My Mum and Dad have come to stay for a few days and my Mum brought me this:


From The Cross-Eyed Cricket the chart is called 'Open House' and I have to say I am tempted to drop everything and start it tonight as I have all the DMC floss needed and some suitable linen. Anyway the decision has been made. After next week the rotation stops and I'm just going to do spooky stuff for the whole of October!