Four finishes and a wedding!

Two weeks exactly since my last post and a lot has gone on! In the week running up to 'Our Big Day' things were so relaxed that I was able to finish a few things off. Firstly the scarf that I had started to knit.

Then I finished Official Crazy Cat Lady from Raise the Roof Designs.

This was stitched in the recommended over dyed floss on an unknown fabric, which has cat paws printed on it. I will probably make this in to a bell pull.

 

The next thing to be finished was the Spooky Greetings Bell Pull from Waxing Moon Designs.  I have the pull ware for this so finishing it off will be tonight's job.  Next up another scarf hit the knitting needles. Knitted in a different type of 'wool' this was a much easier knit than the previous scarf.

Anyway, enough of the finishes. Here are some photos of 'Our Big Day'.

These were taken by family and friends, the more arty ones by the official photographer. Next time I will post some photos from our Mini Mystery Honeymoon. Mystery, because I did not have a clue where we were going! It was all booked by the Groom and as you will see next time he did a good job.

Happy stitching!

A finish of a different type!

This weekend I finished my jumper. It is based on Sarah Lund's one from the TV series The Killing.

This is the first thing I have knitted in a long time and I really enjoyed doing it. So much so that I have another project on the needles.  This time a scarf.

I had a lot of school stuff to do last week so very little was done on White Nights, but every stitch is progress.

I have a couple of projects packed for the next two weeks, one of which is a new start, but with 'Our Big Day' only five days away now who knows how much I will get done!

Happy Easter to everyone. 'Our Big Day' pictures next time.



Update time!

Last Monday I switched on my trusty laptop so that I could show the world my stitchy progress and the Internet was down and remained so for most of that evening. I then got bogged down with marking, let's not go there, but it's that time of year again!

So, previously, it was the Christmas week on the rotation. At last, Joy to the World got finished.

At the end of that week we went up to Edinburgh, my second weekend there on the run. This time it was to pick up the kilt and various accessories ready for 'The Big Day'.  I was able to do some more stitching on Official Crazy Cat Lady.

Last week on the rotation was Halloween week and I made a new start.  The Spooky Greetings Bell Pull from Waxing Moon Designs.

This week it should be a free week on the rotation but instead I'm going to stitch  White Nights, as next week, it's usual slot I will be otherwise engaged with final preparations for 'The Big Day'.

Whilst in Edinburgh I was given the plate that we decorated on my Scottish Hen Do.  It came out better than expected. See what you think.

With a bit of luck, normal service will be resumed next week with the normal Monday post. Until then ...

Happy stitching!

Spring is here!

It's been two weeks since my last post and quite a lot has been going on on the stitching front.  Firstly, I finished Spring by Jardin Privé.

This was stitched on 32ct opalescent linen in the recommended DMC floss. The only change I made was that I used one strand of thread not two for that more delicate look.

Last week was the turn of White Nights. I was quite pleased with my progress the main buildings and border on the left hand side are finished, there is still some way to go on the right hand side though.

I also managed to do a little more on Joy to the World, which is back on the rotation this  week.

Last weekend I took the Heirloom Wedding Sampler to The Nimble Thimble to be framed. Whilst I was there I indulged in some stash enhancement, a Shepherd's Bush kit and Official Crazy Cat Lady from Raise the Roof Designs.

I stitched this on the train to and from Edinburgh, as this weekend it was my Scottish Hen Night. This involved doing something crafty, and hopefully, I will be able to show you what was created by five of us next time.

Happy stitching!

The Heirloom Wedding Sampler is finished!

As of today there are five weeks and five days to go until our 'big day'.  I finished the wedding sampler on Wednesday evening last week.  Here is the floral heart.

The design has two part rows of stitching at the bottom of the heart but I decided to leave these out as I thought they detracted from the heart itself.  The whole thing is too big to photograph in one go. I will have another attempt when it comes back from the framers.

So, for the evenings I had left last week I did some more work on Joy to the World.

This week is a free week as rotation wise, February seems to have had five weeks in it, strange I know.  So I have chosen to do something which should be quite quick, fingers crossed.  This is Spring from Jardin Privé, another design in the Maggi Co's Village range.

Next week it's back to White Nights as I should have six full evenings stitching!

Happy stitching!

Half term and Hardanger

Last week it was half term and a busy week it was what with spending a few days in Wales, at my mum and dad's, in Yorkshire and then back to Wales for the weekend.  Despite all this I managed to get quite a lot of stitching done.

Firstly the Heirloom Wedding Sampler. I had left it with all the Kloster bock set up for the Hardanger.  So armed with 'Basics and Beyond' and  'Fundamentals Made Fancy' by Janice Love I got going on the Woven Bars, Doves Eyes and Picots followed by Divided Wrapped Bars and a Curled V in a Fan.

As you can see I went on to do some partial and full Greek Crosses.

This section is now finished apart from adding three tear drop shaped beads.  In total, this was two days of stitching.  This weekend I was able to make a start on the final section, the floral heart at the top of the design.  This week is a free week on the rotation so I intend to do more work on this, starting with the remaining bullion knot rose.

In spare moments,  and for a change, I managed to get a few more stitches in to Joy to the World.

So last week on the rotation it was Halloween week.  Whilst in Yorkshire for a few days I was able to stitch the Happy Pumpkin Scissor Fob  from Shepherd's Bush. 

I wasn't too happy with the finishing of this, mainly the ribbon edging and how it was done, and I won't be doing any more of those unless I can find a tutorial somewhere that gives better instructions.  So that's my half term round up. I hope you all had a productive stitching week.

A quick round up!

So last week in the rotation it was 'Joy to the World'.  This is over half way there now, a lot of beading to do.

Not the best photo but the flash reflects off the paper too much.  At the weekend I was able to add a few more stitches to the Heirloom Wedding Sampler.  The next part really will be the Hardanger!

This week It was back to White Nights.  A couple of good stitching sessions have really moved this one on quite a bit.

This is a close up of the boarder.

It's fright night came back from the framers last week so here is this project in its bespoke frame.



That's a quick round up of my stitching fortnight. Next week is half term here in the UK so I have a week off work. On the rotation it should be a Halloween project, I will need to start a new one, and I haven't decided which one yet!

I hope wherever you are the weather is not too bad, it's freezing here and not looking good for the weekend, snow and more snow, not fun.

Happy stitching!

A romantic theme!

Last week I managed to achieve my aim with the Heirloom Wedding Sampler.  All of the Kloster blocks and other foundation work for the Hardanger section was completed by the end of Wednesday evening.

So what was I to do? I didn't want to do any more on this because, as I've mentioned before, stitching with white on white is hard work.  I had a late evening in school on Thursday and on Friday I was off across The Pennines to stay with my fiancee for the weekend.  So, like you do, I started something new!

As you can see I also finished it. This is the Potpourri Heart from The Sweetheart Tree.  This came in kit form and is stitched with DMC floss on 32ct opalescent raw linen.  The actual design is less than 4" x 4" and is really delicate. I might splash out and get this one framed professionally.

The reason for braving what turned out to be a horrendous journey on Friday evening, there was so much snow on one stretch of the M62 that they closed it, too late for me I was already trying, with difficulty to get through that bad section, was to go to York to pick up our wedding rings from the jeweller.

No prizes for guessing which one will belong to me!  This is the photo I like.

I'm sure there's something symbolic about it.

Back to Christmas stitching this week, fingers crossed Joy to the World will be finished, if not then nearly.

Happy stitching!

Next up is the hardanger!

I was pleased with my progress on White Nights last week. With three late-ish evenings at work and two nights of wedding stuff sorting This was my progress after two evenings stitching.

Over the weekend I was able to do a little more on my Heirloom Wedding Sampler but I noticed, when I had completed the first row Algerian Eyelets, (the second to last row on the photograph) that I had counted wrongly and was one thread out.  Where was the mistake? On the previous row so yesterday afternoon there was a major attack of the frogs as I had to unpick most of the weekend's work. Anyway, I managed to stitch it all back up and some more last night.

The next part is the big Hardanger section.  I am still yet to decide what to do on this, my fourth and final rotation week, so for now I am carrying on with this.  Mind you stitching with white on white is hard work and quite often I have to use the magnifier so I might intersperse the sampler with White Nights.  The again I might be tempted to start this.

It's the Finery of Nature, part of the Gold Collection by Dimensions. I have had this in the stash for years and was reminded of this kit when I saw that Daffycat has started it over on her blog. Anyway I haven't decided what to do but it is here on the sofa trying to tempt me!


Happy stitching!