TUSAL of Playing

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

This year I am intending to stitch The Little Stitcher's Twelve Days of Christmas as a monthly project.  Laura has designed twelve charts with a different theme for each one to represent the days of Christmas.  She has invented the different themes herself using her lovely imagination!

This week I have stitched The Day of Playing.  Here it is as part of my TUSAL photo:

The Moon Riders I shall save for my Just Nan SAL post.

There are a few more white stitches to go under the straight line across the bottom.  This one has slightly different proportions to the others so far, being wider but not so tall.

So what shall we say on the subject of playing?

Play - (verb) engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

That seems to sum up cross stitching perfectly to me!  Most of us started this hobby as a form of relaxation and an outlet for our creativity.  It is difficult to earn a living through the hobby (unless your name is Nora Corbett, Joan Elliott or one of the big names in the hobby) because of the hours you have to put in to create a stitched piece.  I know a few people who model stitch and some of them say it does burn you out after a while, always stitching for commissions.

I even feel that way about too much obligation stitching.  I love my Round Robins but there has been the odd band that just hasn't been fun to stitch!  This next piece was emphatically NOT one of those.  I did the bulk of this in just two days it was so much fun.

San-Man Designs Blackwork February

Bead shot!

The whole thing so far.

Not technically a sampler with bands but very lovely nonetheless!  Each one of us chose a different month to stitch.  My birth month was already stitched so I chose February which is the Small Boy's birth month and charted with a lovely shade of deep red.  Kathy's square has lighthouses which are one of her favourite designs to stitch along with nutcrackers.

Finally, I took a little look at my followers, over the 500 mark!!  Interestingly, 3 out of the last 7 new people are called Cathy!  If you are a new follower and haven't left a comment yet, please do so, along with a link to your own blog if you have one.  I do like to return the following.  I promised a giveaway when we reached this landmark so I will have to have a little think about this one.