As I write this letter,

ten disgusting old men are prancing about all over what used to be the garden - before the geese and the swans and the cows got at it; and several of them, I notice, are taking inexcusable liberties with the milkmaids.  Meanwhile the neighbours are trying to have us evicted.
I shall never speak to you again.
Emily

12 Days of Christmas (Correspondence) - John Julius Norwich

Oh dear, poor Emily.  Although Joan Elliott's Lord-a-Leaping is rather joyeous and full of life he has enough decorum to keep to his own block and not bother the milkmaid above him.  He's clearly practising for the day Ribbon Gymnastics is a gender-neutral sport in the Olympics:

He has a few spaces for beads to be added.  So, sorry to Kerry, I have nothing for Theme-tas-Stitch Opulent October!

Here is where the piece was last month:

And here we are now:

All that red in the Piper was stitched on the 11th and 12th Days of Christmas earlier this year so I have a nice headstart on that block.

 Those of you that have been blogging for a while now may recognise that little fellow as Hermie, the mascot for International Hermit & Stitch Weekend hosted by Joysze of Random Ramblings.  Joysze has not blogged for a while although some people have continued to hermit and stitch alone.

Well, she has resurfaced and has been persuaded to revitalise IHSW on Facebook.  If you'd like to join us, then just click on Hermie and it will take you to the group.

So what did I stitch for IHSW (or Numb-bum weekend as it is also known!)?  The next project in my Dark October stitching - Nora Corbett's Bewitching Pixie Raven:

I used every setting on my camera trying to get a decent picture of the fabric and that one above is perfect - taken with the iPad!  Here's a camera photo so you can see the stitching better:

stitched on 32 count Belfast in Nebula by Crafty Kitten

Finally, there's still time to sign up for the Spookiest Hop on the Block - the Trick or Treat Hallowe'en Blog Hop.  All you have to do is leave a comment or send me an email.  I will send you a letter of the alphabet which you show on your blog on 31st October along with some spooky stitching.  We all hop around collecting the letters which will spell out a spooky word.