I Did It, I Only Went and Did It!

What did I did?

Here's a clue:

And another one:

And the next day:

And today:

Close-up to give you a better idea:

Bit of an angle:

Any guesses?

Regular followers may have noted my profile in the side bar gives a clue.  "My ambition is to stitch a Chatelaine...one day!"

Well that day is here!  Was here, last Friday to be exact.  I have finally started my Chatelaine.  So why has it taken so long?  I've been stitching for 24 years (big anniversary next year) and have done all sorts of complicated designs, speciality stitches and fibres.  I've done BAPs and tiny intricate pieces so why not a Chatelaine?  

Two reasons - One is indecision!  How do you narrow it down to just one design?  They are all so wonderful.  I knew I wanted to stitch a Mandala, I knew I wanted all the sides to be different, I knew I wanted it to be meaningful to me, somewhere I had been or wanted to go.  When Gardens of London was released a couple of years ago I knew I had found "my" design, it fitted all the criteria and was beautiful.  So why didn't I start it then?

Reason two - price!  Chatelaines are stinking expensive.  The charts are expensive, the fibres and beads even more so.  Yes, you can stitch them in DMC but isn't it nice to use the silks and the special threads?  Last year I was celebrating a special zero Birthday so I decided it was the perfect time to splash out on the design.  Martine was having a flash sale in the Summer and I managed to be there the one day she put Gardens of London on 20% off.  I suggested to people that they "sponsor" a thread so several of the speciality fibres have a person's name in the bag.  The DMC were all provided by Susan who is a real enabler!  The fabric and chart came from Birthday money my family gave me.

The fabric, incidentally, is 32 count Belfast linen in Cotton Clouds by Crafty Kitten.  Dawn and I joked about choosing a stormy grey but this is prettier and London does get sunshine too.  The colour in the first photo is probably most realistic.

So far I have stitched 3 DMC colours.  I plan to stitch as much of the DMC in the centre to make sure I get the placement right before I start on the Dinky Dyes and metallics.  I don't mind frogging and binning DMC!

Talking of metallics, there's a lot more on 12 Days of Christmas:

Close up of last night's section:

You can see I am stitching ////// then \\\\\\\ rather than each stitch individually.  You can also see I made a start on the second Herald Angel.  I decided that each time I stitch a block I will stitch the next day on the top part of the design to hopefully finish it by the end of the year.  The border will continue to be my evening project.  For ever....

Day 43 of the Ten-a-Day challenge:

Just Nan - Spring in the Square

Finally, what is the best Birthday present ever if you are 8 years old?  A helium balloon.  The Small Boy has played non-stop with his helium balloon.  Best £3.50 we ever spent!