Finishes and New Starts.

Here we are almost at the end of March. The weeks are certainly flying by and I don't like it!! I am so not ready for the hot days of summer as, if previous years are anything to go by, it'll be way too hot for me! Winter and Spring I can cope with quite happily but when it gets too hot I hate it. I guess I will just have to accept what comes :)

So what have been up to since my last post. Plenty of stitching of course and some reading. Not as much reading as there should have been as I have discovered a new game ( Hidden City Mystery of Shadows) and instead of reading before I go to bed I'm playing that instead. Sigh! Last night I made a point of being good and picking up my book instead! My current read is Guards, Guards from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and oh boy it is good! 

Better get chatting about my stitching! I have had two finishes this month so I am quite happy. It's good for my Stitch from Stash ( I'm taking part in a group on Facebook) although I have spent so little I don't really need any credit from finishing! I am going to have a little splurge though when some Nashville releases hit our shores. I so hate having to wait but postage from the States is so ridiculous but then because the pound has been struggling the exchange rate isn't so good so charts etc are getting more expensive here. It's a good job I have plenty to keep me going really! It's not likely to stop me from buying if I really, really want something though!

Anyway the first of my finishes is this sweet little lamb!

Just Nan Lorelei Lamb

32 count white evenweave

DMC

Started 17th February 2017

Finished 17th March 2017.

She was so fiddly to put together I'm actually surprised that she looks like she should!

Second finish is this cutie.

Stitchers Anon Designs Season of Joy

32 count raw linen

DMC

Started 21st February 2017

Finished 23rd March 2017.

I won this chart in one of Gaynor's giveaways so would like to let someone else stitch it and pass it on and we'll make it a travelling pattern. Please say in your comments if you'd like to stitch it. 

As I had finished my piece for my sheep SAL with Barb I had to have a new start didn't I?! I have a few charts with sheep on them ( no surprise really!) and, after much delberation, I decided to start Midsummer Night Designs Bloom which was a gift for my 50th birthday from Lisa in Scotland. I am stitching it on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen and am using good old DMC. It is charted for Anchor so I went online and converted it to DMC.

Monday's Barb and I have been stitching on Winter but she has finished hers and is now starting another one of the seasons. I am still stitching away on mine but, hopefully, I should have it finished soon.I don't know what I'll be stitching once it is finished but we'll still be SAling even if we're stitching different things.

I have been quite bad and had two more new starts. As you know I got HAED Guardian out again for the challenge on the HAED Facebook group. Well as excited as I was to be stitching on it again I have ended up not enjoying stitching on any of my HAEDs. Three is just too many to have on the go at one time so I made the decision to put Guardian away again until one of my others is finished. If I end up hating stitching them I may well never stitch another again and I really don't want that. After all we are supposed to enjoy our hobbies aren't we? So I had a new start in Guardian's place. I have been itching to get started on this since last December. Well, actually, probably since I bought it God knows how many years ago. This one is Atelier Perdu The Magic ( no longer available). I am stitching it over one on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha. Yep I did say over one! That is what it says on the chart. It is fine unless you have a visit from the frog! Getting those little stitches out is not easy and at one point I did think shall I just throw this piece and cut another but I didn't want to waste it! So out it came and I managed to get the bit restitched. 

My other new start was at craft group yesterday. I had been stitching Season of Joy there so, as that is finished, I started LHN My Lady at Christmas. I had ordered Chromatic Alchemy Cassa-Rose ( my last splurge before the start of the New Year ) especially to stitch this one. I didn't get a massive amount stitched but it's not bad for 2 hours including chatting and a tea break!

I have also been doing some finishing. I had 3 things sewn up ready to put trims etc on and they've been sitting there for a few weeks. One of them is Mouse's ( very late) birthday gift. I was telling my girls yesterday how awful I felt ( to be fair I didn't start stitching it until after her birthday because I struggled with what to stitch ) and Abi said when is her birthday. I said January! Jess had this look on her face that said "What?!!" and Abi burst out laughing. So I was shamed into doing something about it! So Mouse your very late birthday gift will be in the post tomorrow! I will show it next time I blog. Here are the other two finished!

Sotto La Neve is coming along nicely and should, hopefully, be finished soon. I think I will be sick of stitching white at the end of it though. I am almost done with the white in the trees then I have to do the ground in white and then all the snow falling! I know it'll be worth it.

Of course no post would be complete without Mini Jolly Old Fellow and my dragon! I don't know if you can see where I've stitched on Mini Old Fellow as it's all light thread but I should be stitching some blue next week! The dragon is going well too. I'm feeling better about these now that Guardian has gone away again. 

That is all my stitchy news for now. Thank you for visiting me and for all your lovely comments. 

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

March?!

Well here we are in March! Really??!! It hardly seems like 5 minutes since last Christmas. Oh how I wish time didn't go so fast! It also hardly seems like 5 minutes since I did my last post. I don't seem to be getting any better at keeping up with it all but never mind. At least I keep trying I guess.

So since my last post I've finished something that I can't show. It needs making up but my enthusiasm has been non existent. Maybe this weekend I'll give myself the mighty push I need and get it done. No other finishes but I am hoping to have the odd one or two this month.

However I have had a page finish and a couple of new starts. The page finish was on my lovely Father Christmas. It's been a long time coming but page 5 is finally done so I just have 4 partial pages. Doesn't seem much when I say it like that but it's still plenty lol.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to start Just Nan's Lorelei Lamb which Chris bought me for my birthday in 2015. Well start it I did although I haven't got a massive amount done. I just hope it actually looks like a lamb by the time I have finished!

My other new start is Stitchers Anon Designs Season of Joy which was one of the charts I won in Gaynor's giveaway on Facebook. I am stitching this one at craft group and am loving every single stitch.

I have some determination to get Sotto La Neve finished. Last week I ended up frogging quite a lot of one of the trees as I had miscounted so I was not a happy girl. This week it went much better and I've started filling in bits of red on the trees. Hopefully it won't be too much longer but there is a LOT of white to stitch!

Winter is coming along nicely. I'm leaving the back stitching until last and just concentrating on getting the cross stitching done. I started the door this week. Barb is working on the W.

I am still stitching a bit each week on Guardian but I doubt very much that I will manage to finish the challenge of a page finish. I am not even half way yet and there is only about a month to go. I should have known really that just stitching on it one evening a week would not be enough but I'm not stressing about it! If I manage it I do and if I don't, no worries!

Finally it's progress on the final page on SK Dragons History. I am so over this WIP! I will finish it but I'm just not feeling it anymore. When it's done I'll be making it into a bookmark for Abi. 

That's all my stitching news for now. On the book front I set myself a challenge on Goodreads of reading 15 books this year. I really need to get more read if I'm going to do that! I am doing a little better now. At the moment I'm reading Alice by Christina Henry. I bought it last year after seeing it in Waterstones then  after reading some reviews I wasn't sure if I really wanted to read it. However I started it last weekend and am really enjoying it. It's very dark and disturbing, not my usual read, but it is very good.

That's all from me for now. 

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

Birthday Gift For Barb

Hello again. I know it's been a couple of weeks but, to be honest, it wasn't worth me posting as I didn't have much to show. My dear friend Barb had a birthday coming up and I had decided before Christmas what I was going to stitch for her and when I started it in January I thought I had plenty of time to stitch it. Of course I didn't realise just how much stitching there was so I ended up eventually dropping just about everything else except for my Monday SAL with Barb and I was still stitching on our sheepy SAL on a Friday as well as it was sheep I was stitching for Barb! I am so happy to say that Barb loves her gift ( and to be honest so do I!!!). So let me show you what I stitched for her.

Hands on Design Wool Block Party

28 count Zweigert cashel Smokey Pearl linen

DMC

Started 20th January 2017

Finished 12th February 2017

Birthday gift for Barb.

This was just so nice to stitch and I am just delighted with how it turned out. I always get a bit stressed and panic when deciding on what to stitch for gifts so it's lovely when the recipients really love them.

A couple of weeks ago I managed to get page 3 of SK A Dragon's History finished and gridded the final partial page ready for when I pick it up again ( hopefully tomorrow evening). If things go to plan I should have this and Mini Jolly Old Fellow finished this year!

Although the page I'm stitching on Mini Jolly Old Fellow seems to be taking forever! I know I will get there in the end but I'm getting a little frustrated!

Last night I finally got Sotto La Neve out again. It hasn't seen the light of day since before Christmas so this is another one that needs to get finished. I must admit I am dreading stitching all the snow on the trees, the ground and the falling snow! I can't seem to get a good photo of this one today so please excuse the crappy photo.

Final WIP is Winter which is my Monday night SAL with Barb. I am loving this piece so much. It's such a fun piece to stitch. 

I have a few new starts in the pipeline. This evening is sheepy SAL with Barb so I've kitted Just Nan Lorelei Lamb to start. Chris gifted me the chart for my birthday in 2015. I'm looking forward to stitching it and hope that when I make it up it actually looks like a lamb! I kitted The Magic by L'Atelier Perdu back at the end of November with the intention of stitching it in December but it didn't happen. So I'm hoping to start that at some point as well. So much stash to stitch!

As you may well know I am doing stitch from stash through a group on Facebook. Last month I only spent 32 p on a DMC thread that I needed ( local shop is selling them off ) but this month I have spent a little more. I am not feeling too guilty as I am within my monthly budget plus I had finishes that I had credit for. Anyway I bought 2 Stitchers Anon charts as Gaynor is closing her Etsy shop on 1st March and I couldn't miss getting parts 2 and 3 of Holmsey Hare's Winter Wonderland. I got part 1 when Gaynor  had it up for free on her Facebook page a while ago. I definitely won't be having too many purchases this year as I am determined. 

That's all my stitching news for now. I hope I'll be back sooner than I was this time!!!

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

Productive January

Can you believe we are almost at the end of the first month of 2017?! Where has it gone? Thankfully I have had quite a productive month and have had 5 finishes! Yes I did say 5 lol! I showed CCN's Merry Christmas My Deer last time so I'll show the other 4 now!

My lovely surrogate sis Lisa had a birthday the other Monday and I stitched this for her.

The Nebby Needle True Friend

40 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

GAST

Started 4th January 2017

Finished 5th January 2017

Birthday gift for Lisa.

I am very happy to say that she loved it :). I am also happy with my finishing!

My lovely friend Chris also had a birthday this month and this is what I decided to stitch for her. 

Lizzie*Kate Little Cups of Friendship from the Tea Crazy leaflet.

32 count Nougat linen

DMC

Started 6th January 2017.

Finished 12th January 2017.

Birthday gift for Chris.

Chris loved it so that made me happy and I was also happy with my finishing.

You may remember I had my usual New Year's Day new start and that is now finished :) I just love this and as it was a gift from my Dad a few years ago ( with DH's help as it was from my Christmas list ) it is very special to me. 

Lizzie*Kate Sweet Simple Things

30 count Natural linen ( came with the chart )

DMC

New Year's Day New Start SAL, SAL with Lisa, New Start, Old Stash SAL.

Started 1st January 2017

Finished 19th January 2017.

Final finish was my Christmas Eve spur of the moment start! I have really enjoyed stitching this lovely little piece and it was so easy as it came with the threads so I just had to find a piece of fabric that was suitable.

Plum Street Samplers A Bowl Full of Merries Merry Two.

36 count Lakeside Linens Pearled Barley

Started 24th December 2016

Finished 25th January 2017.

So that is my stash down a little bit lol! One thing I really want to try and do this year, as well as getting my chart stash down, is fully finish off things I have stitched as soon as I've stitched them if I can. One thing I hate is having a massive pile of finishing as it makes me not want to do it. So, hopefully, I'll get these 2 fully finished next week if I get chance.

You may have noticed that I have started to put start and finish dates on my finishes again. I did this for quite a time before until someone said it looked like I was showing off so I stopped doing it. It's not showing off as it's more of a record for me so I've decided to start again. Let's face it some things take me ages anyway!

I am stitching another birthday present at the moment and once that is finished I'll be starting something new and bringing Sotto La Neve out again.

I did consider not bringing out HAED SK A Dragons History just yet but I knew if I didn't it might turn into a UFO and I really didn't want that so here it is! Not much to stitch for a page 3 finish then onto the final page!!

Barb and I are still stitching away on Winter. I wish I could get a decent photo of the fabric as it is so pretty. I didn't seem to get much done on Monday but the I is finished except for the star on the top.

Of course I am still getting on with Mini Jolly Old Fellow. I was so fed up with this on Tuesday as it seems never ending with odd stitches etc. It slows me down and it's so frustrating. He will be worth it though and I'm hoping to get this page finished very soon then I'll only have 4 partial pages to go.

Final WIP is my HAED challenge piece which is, of course, Guardian. I don't think there is any way that I'll complete the challenge but I'm not bothered. It's just nice to have him out again.

I am very much enjoying doing stitch from stash again and haven't been tempted at all. OK it is only the first month but I think what is spurring me on is getting through some of the lovely charts that have been neglected in my stash. I am sure there will times when I'm very tempted and have to give in to something that I must have but as long as I don't go mad I won't beat myself up about it. I have just put my January report in and all I've spent is 32 p on a skein of DMC ( my local shop is selling everything off as the lady who does the craft side is retiring but her husband is carrying with the art side and framing ) and I have £28 credit for my 4 finishes. I am sure February won't be so productive but it's a good start!

In my last post I was talking about the possibility of snow. Well snow it did and it was lovely just to watch it fall. There is something so magical about it and I just love it. Unfortunately it turned to rain very soon and by the time I got out for a walk there wasn't much in the fields at the mere which is where I wanted to take photos so I was very disappointed. Some parts of the country got loads. It has been bitterly cold this past few days but no snow. Apparently they are forecasting the next cold spell at the end of February. I think Winter is going to be another let down!

Well on that note thank you for reading. I know blogging seems to be dying off a bit so I'm happy that you are still here with me, Going to catch up with you all now.

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxxx

December SAL is Finished!

Here I am with my very first post of 2017 and I have a finish!! Well I actually have 2 but I can't show that one as it's for a birthday present :) I'll be able to show it next time I blog though.

I am happy to say that both Chris and I have finished our December SAL and I love it! It looks so pretty, even though I say so myself, and I now need to decide how to finish it off. I still haven't finished off our last 2 December SALs ( hanging head in shame! )

Country Cottage Needleworks Merry Christmas My Deer

32 count Zweigert Petit Point linen white/natural.

DMC, Classic Colorworks & GAST

Started 1st December 2016

Finished 6th January 2017.

In between Christmas and New Year my rotation went out of the window and now I'm trying very hard to get back to some sort of one. Barb and I are putting the ornament SAL on hold until later in 2017 and at the moment Mondays are being spent stitching on this.

I am loving stitching this! It is just so much fun to stitch and really puts a smile on my face. I think Winter may be over by the time we finish it but it'll be well worth it!

The official Heaven and Earth Designs Facebook group have started another challenge on the 1st January. I wasn't too sure whether to join in or not as it meant I'd have to start something new as it had to be a full page and I don't have full pages left on my SK or mini but then I thought why not get Guardian out so that is what I have done. I've signed up and if I complete the challenge then way to go me but if I don't I'm not going to beat myself up about it! When I last picked it up I was on page 14 so I've left that and page 15, which was a partial page, and started page 16. I think we have until early April but as I'll probably only be stitching one evening a week on it I doubt I'll get it done but we shall see. 

I want to try and get Mini Jolly Old Fellow finished and also keep going with SK Dragons History as I don't want them to be put away. Once Mini Jolly Old Fellow is finished the dragon will move to that slot in my rotation and Guardian will go to the dragon's slot! 

I had my usual New Year's Day new start. As I said in my last post it's Lizzie Kate Sweet Simple Things. Both girls were at work that day so it was just me and my DH once his auntie had gone home  after we'd had dinner so I stitched the afternoon away and then did the same in the evening while Abi played Tomb Raider  ( Jess got her some of the old classic games for Christmas from a retro games shop ) then we watched Sherlock. I haven't stitched on since but, hopefully, I'll be able to get back to it soon.

There is so much I want to stitch! I have so many lovely charts in my stash so still hoping for a good year with lots of new starts and finishes. Lol! 

The weather is turning chilly and it looks like we might just get our first taste of proper winter weather. I keep looking at the forecast and the map says we'll get snow on Saturday but I'm not holding my breath, Some areas up in Scotland have it already so I'm quite jealous. I'm itching to get out with my camera as since I got my first decent camera we haven't had a decent snowfall! Typical!

That's all my news for now. I will catch up with you all soon to see what you're stitching. I hope I won't get enabled as I'm being good :)

Take care everyone.

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xx

Soon Be The New Year.

Well it won't be long now before 2017 is upon us. Where did 2016 go? It is so scary as it hardly seems like 5 minutes since this time last year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We had a brilliant time with just the 4 of us for most of Christmas Day then DH's auntie came for tea. We laughed a lot, ate too much, didn't drink any alcohol and just generally enjoyed spending precious time together. On Boxing Day my sister and her husband came for dinner which was lovely as they rarely come. It was spoilt a little though by Jess having to work. I won't get on my high horse as I'm sure many of you know already how I feel about Boxing Day opening for retail and I think all shops should have to close. Anyway we made the best it though and still enjoyed ourselves but it wasn't the same without her. I miss the days of them being at school etc when they had 2 weeks off but time moves on and things change. Both girls are working New Year's Day.

I wasn't going to have anymore new starts until New Year's Day but I couldn't resist the temptation and started this on Christmas Eve.

I bought this last year so it's time I stitched it!

However I have chosen this for my New Year's Day start and my Dad bought me it ( with my DH's help ) about 5 years ago! I belong to a couple of groups on Facebook that are having New Year's Day starts so thought I'd join in. I usually do have a new start that day but it's nice to join in with others.

Just before Christmas I decided to get the rest of my ornaments from this year made up and on the tree. These are the last few and they are not very good as I did them in a bit of a rush! I still have my December one to stitch yet but I'll get around to that in January if I have time.

I haven't stitched on Mini Jolly Old Fellow since before Christmas but I did make some good progress on it with Barb and I stitching for a week on one thing. I am really pleased with what I have achieved on this as when I picked it up again at the beginning of the year for the first HAED challenge I had only stitched about 30 rows on page one and now I've almost finished 5. I'm aiming to get it finished in the first half of the 2017! 

Chris and I have been stitching away on our December SAL. It'll become a January SAL I think but I've got more done than I expected I would. It'll be coming out again this evening.

I have stitched a little more on Winter, which is my SAL with Barb, but I forgot to take a photo of it.

I received some lovely Christmas gifts from my stitching friends. They really are too kind to me and I can't say enough how stitching friends are simply the best. I feel very cut off and lonely sometimes ( partly my own fault ) so all those friends I've "met" via stitching and blogging are my lifeline sometimes.

First of all a simply gorgeous needle minder from my lovely surrogate sis Lisa. Just look how Robin sparkles! Thank you so much Lisa. I love it.

From my lovely friend June I received this beautiful Robin ornament which went straight on my tree! Thank you so much June. He is so sweet and I will treasure him always.

From my lovely friend Michelle this gorgeous wool to knit a snood, which will be lovely and warm, and a beautiful scissor fob/ key chain/ handbag charm with my name on and a sheepy! Thank you so much Michelle. I love them.

Last but by no means least from the lovely Christine a lavender pouch ( which smells divine ) and some Anchor threads. Thank you so much Christine. I love to have lavender on my bed side cabinet so that is where the pouch will be going. 

So soon I will be starting Stitch from Stash again and I am hoping to do well and only buy fabric and threads if I need them and NO CHARTS other than my auto ship for Snow Place Like Home. I've signed up for the first half of the year then I will see how I feel. I am really hoping to get through a lot of the charts I have in my stash. I didn't do quite so well with finishes this year. I had 32 finishes ( not many compared to other years ) and 11 of those were ornaments from the JCS mags and not charts from my stash! However I have worked on my HAEDs more so I guess something has to give. Maybe next year I will do better!

All that is left now is to wish you all a very Happy 2017. May it be happy, healthy, prosperous and stitch and stash filled ( unless you're doing stitch from stash like me!! ). Thank you for sticking me and see you all in the new year :)

With much love.

Sally xxx