More Max!

With the end of summer in sight (sadly!) and the humidity returning to a level that's not too uncomfortable to be outside, I have been trying to catch up with all the chores in  the garden.....the weeds are taking over! 

With all this work in the garden, it means that I haven't had as much time to stitch as I would like to (again!) this week. Max was picked up and dusted off.....

I really want to get him finished off quickly as I have so many things on my "I-want-to-stitch-this" list and I know that if I put him aside he probably won't get picked up and finished for, well.....who knows how long! :)

I was also working on some crochet this week. We have a new baby arriving in our family soon and there's no better excuse to get the old crochet hook out!

I found this adorably soft chunky wool in a colour combo that I thought would be just a tad different for a baby. The pattern that I had seen called for three balls of a chunky baby yarn, but when I saw this one I fell in love with it. 

It crocheted up beautifully. Unfortunately in my haste to get on with the blanket, I didn't check the length of yarn in each skein.....BIG mistake. Yeah, I ran out of the yarn. Thank heaven for online ordering!

Since we don't know if baby is a boy or a girl, my plan was to pick one of the bright colours, maybe the orange or the green and do a couple of rows of the solid colour as an edging all the way round.

Buuuuttt.......you knew there was a 'but' coming there, didn't you? :) The new yarn that arrived was a totally different colour! I know that you can expect a slight shade variation, but this was awful, as you can see.....

I have emailed Lion Brand about the significant colour variation, but as yet (a whole week later!) I still haven't had a response from them. Needless to say, I'm so disappointed and kind of at a loss as what to do. I don't want to risk buying any more yarn as I can't be sure what colour I'll get. 

I guess the moral of the story is to buy more than you think you'll need.

Think I'll use that motto for cross stitch supplies too!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

It's unheard of!

Can you believe it....I've had a week without stitching! Crazy uh? 

Hopefully I'll make up for it this week and have lots to show you in my next post.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Lots of little bits!

It's been one of those weeks where I have been flitting from one project to another! I blame the heat....it's too hot and humid to be able to concentrate on any one thing for too long :)

I was also a bit naughty this week.......a new kit just happened to come home with me from the craft store....I have absolutely no idea how that happened * wink * wink* !

And of course when you get a new kit, you just have to start it....it's a rule. 

Unfortunately, this kit doesn't come with the threads all pre-sorted....and we all know the pain of having to distinguish all the different shades of threads. Luckily Design works give you the DMC equivalents of their threads, but even that wasn't a help for some of the colours, so I ended up just using DMC threads from my stash. At least the kit wasn't expensive so I don't mind doing that.....so much easier than having to unpick half way through when you realize the colours are wrong.

Anyhoo, I think this might be a design that I stitch for my Dad as he's been talking about getting his kitchen redecorated, so a cross stitched picture will be nice to add to the newly painted walls....when I eventually get it finished!

Max made a brief appearance this week too!

Slow progress with this poor kitty, but progress nonetheless.

And the last of the little 'bits' that I worked on this week is, quite literally just off the hoop.....

Yup, another Christmas card all stitched up! This was a fun design to stitch and was completed really quickly. Of course, the hoop mark will be ironed out. It will be added to my ever growing pile of things to be 'finished'. Maybe one rainy weekend I'll get round to that mammoth task!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Watching the sun rise

Well I was all set to post yesterday till I realized that the SD card from the camera was missing! DH had left it in his laptop after looking at some pics.....needless to say, I called him a few choice names! :) 


Last week, hubby and I decided to have a few days away so we headed off to the New England coast. The weather was wonderful, and although it was really hot the beach breeze kept it comfortable.  

My birthday was spent watching the sun rise over the Atlantic...

Another item crossed off the bucket list!

I did enjoy the New England sense of humour. The signs were honest funny.....

...and another one that made me giggle....

So no stitching was done while we were away, but I did manage to finish off the 'ugly' Christmas jumper when I got home...yayyy!

...a close up of the jumper...

 ....and the little coat hangers for (eventually!) finishing it off ...

The hangers aren't exactly what I thought I had ordered......next time I will take more time to read the description of an item! These will work though....I'll make them work ;)

So quite a few items to be finished ....maybe I'll spend the weekend  just 'finishing' all the recent stitching. Wish me luck!


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona 

It's been a busy week.....

....but not with stitching! 

For one reason or another,  this past week hasn't been a good one for stitching. Hey ho, that's life!

I did manage to get a little bit more done on my cute, but ugly, Christmas jumper....and I do mean a little bit....

Not as much progress as I would have liked to have made....but it is only August, so it's not as if I'm running out of time! :)

Max was a bit of a guilty stitch for one night....I felt so bad that I had come so far with him and then put him on the back burner so to speak!

This was where I was last time he made an appearance...

....and this is him now...

I should try to do a bit of him at least one night per week, but I'm just not that organized ......or disciplined! :)

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

More Christmas stitching!

Who would have thought that 2016 would be the year that I (finally) get organized early for Christmas!

Here's another Christmas design started.....

....the good old 'ugly' Christmas jumper!

Seems a bit strange to be stitching a Christmas jumper when its 95 degrees outside!

Can't wait to get this, and some of the other ugly jumper designs, finished and made into cards....or maybe more Christmas ornaments? Ooooh, the possibilities!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

More little gnomes!

Oh my goodness, I'm having way too much fun ....and getting organized with my Christmas stitching at the same time!! These little gnomes are such fun to stitch......

 ....my plan was to stitch just one little gnome, but got carried away and did two.....

...they're quick and fun and with just the right amount of detail to keep it interesting...

....my little family of gnomes....

Mmmm, can't decide if we shall have a bigger gnome family or not!!!


Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Time to be brave.....

....and get the sewing machine out!

Me and the sewing machine don't always get along. To be honest, the sewing machine terrifies me! All those hours of cross stitching can be ruined in minutes by a  misbehaving sewing machine. But the time has come to be brave and get the Santa's Snack mat finished. I just have to wash the stitching and then face my fears.

And being a true procrastinator, instead of getting on with the snack mat, I decided to start something else! A cute Christmas gnome.....

...another one of my own designs all stitched up. This one was published in The World of Cross Stitching magazine last Christmas. The little gnome was part of a larger picture and I thought he would look cute as either a small card or little gift tag. Thankfully finishing this one off requires double sided tape and no sewing machine! Phew!!!

Time to face my fears with the sewing machine.....wish me luck!

Until next time....happy stitching!
Rhona

The wonders of back stitching!

I feel like I have been quite productive this week! With just a few lines of back stitch....ok, maybe  a bit more than a few :) ....my Christmas design is almost done!

I can see the end in sight! Just one more bit of stitching to do.... a little pocket under the mouse who looks like he's floating in space!

I've even bought some fabric so that I can finish off the design.....a lovely bright red polka-dot fabric. I have no excuses....this WILL be finished way before Christmas. Woo-hoo!

Max the cat hasn't been ignored either. This was how he looked last time...

....and this is how he looks now...

Quite a change! I did say that I had been productive :)

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Almost ready for Santa! (I know it's only June!!!)

Since my camera battery has just died, and I have absolutely no idea where the charger is, I only have one update picture to show you....

 It doesn't look much just now....the horrible lighting doesn't help either.....but once the back stitching is done it will look great.....well, I think will anyway! :)

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Summer sun and Christmas stitching!

Only I could be stitching a Christmas design on one of the hottest days of the year! The things we stitchers do to be organized and have the perfect stitched gifts for family and friends :)

As you may recall I was stitching one of my own designs......

...well it's stitching up beautifully......

.....and such fun to work on.....

...until you run out of pale grey and pale blue thread. And to make matters worse, it seems like they are the only two colours that are missing in all the craft stores! Grrrr.  Luckily for me, one of the stores is getting a delivery of thread this week....so fingers crossed that DMC 800 and 3072 is on the delivery truck and I can get back to working on this cute design again.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Max and the UFO

Max seems to be growing at a very pleasing rate......

I have started the third and last panel of Max! It doesn't really look like anything just now....just some brown squiggles, but it should begin to look more like a cat with the next session of stitching. (Hopefully tonight!)

Max was interrupted when I decided to pick up an old UFO :) This is one of my own designs and I had started stitching it just before Christmas, but it had been kind of relegated to the 'I-don't-need-to- work-on-that-just-now-as-I've-got-plenty-of-time-to-finish-it' pile....which of course means that it never gets finished in time! I did some stitches on it last month but it was in danger of being another no-show for Christmas.......again!

I decided that if I was going to get it done in time for this Christmas I really should get a move on and keep working on it! So this one is back in my sewing basket to be worked on in-between some Max stitching sessions. It's stitching up quite quickly so hopefully I'll have lots of progress to show you next time!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona