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Saturday 13 January 2018

New Year, New Starts

Don't you love a New Year?  The chance to make a fresh start with your goals and projects?  Make resolutions and keep them for a whole week!  To say "I haven't spent anything on stash this year" and mean it.

And most of all; guilt-free new starts!  Last post I showed my Mrs Peggotty's Alice which I am hoping to work on regularly with an aim of 700 stitches per week.  Or maybe not.  I took her to the coffee morning at the local craft shop and got 200 stitches in 1.5 hours.  Here's where she is now:

stitched over one on 25 count blue evenweave

I'll do a bit more tomorrow and take her into work during the week for my lunchbreaks.

The plan is for her to replace Dracula at bath-time when I complete that design.  Here's the current position:

stitched on 32 count Amortentia Belfast by Chromatic Alchemy

The moon is taking FOR EVER but once I reach the top of the U I can put in the words "Bram Stoker's" and then the white fits round the outside of that.  Then it's an R and D and some boring border!

Here's another new start from the WIPocalypse list.  This was a gift from Brenda and she will be stitching along with me this year.

stitched on 28 count lilac evenweave

The design is Just Nan's Diamond Bouquet and will eventually look like this:


It's not very big and I'm aiming for two bands per month with a July finish.


As promised I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop
 

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart. Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.   It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February.  Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading
 Secret Stitching Sweetheart. 
There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself  in their comments as their
Secret Stitching Sweetheart. 

Does that make sense to everyone?  I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply".   I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.  


Finally, a Public Service Announcement - Blogger no longer sends email notifications for comments from "no reply" bloggers.  If you moderate comments like I do, all the "no-reply" people are loitering in your "Awaiting Moderation" section along with the Yahoo people that Blogger also doesn't like.  I really do advise people to attach an email to their profile, preferably a Gmail, so we can see your comments easily and respond to them.




20 comments:

diamondc said...

Hi Jo: I agree with you about the email problem.
I am in love with that Halloween design.

Blessings
Catherine

Pamela said...

Great projects! The Just Nan is really gorgeous. I wondered about why I didn't get email notifications for some comments. Thanks for telling us why!

Mini said...

Lovely new starts Jo. I have changed my settings to a blogger with email now . I appreciate the efforts you take to reply to each comment.

Ariadne said...

I 'd love to take part in the Secret Stitching Sweetheart!Thank you!AriadnefromGreece!

Christine said...

Dracula is looking fabulous!
Please sign me up for the blog hop

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Good progress on Mrs Peggoty's Alice.

Mary said...

Spending no money for stash? I wish I had that kind of restraint! Love your progress on Bram's Dracula...The Just Nan will be lovely, looking forward to seeing it in July!

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

I haven't started any new projects yet but there are some waiting on the sidelines. Diamond Bouquet is my first ever JN project and from then I was hooked on her designs.
I'd love to take part in the Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog hop.

Mii Stitch said...

I love the Dracula piece!!

butterfly said...

Happy New Year Jo ,
Love all your new stitching , and new start .
Have a great day .

Preeti said...

Lovely new starts! And you made good progress too. Love the Dracula project and the fabric. I am also going to start some new projects this year.

Bethan said...

Thank you for the heads up about emails! Dracula is looking really good - hope the moon speeds up for you soon x

Linda said...

Nice progress on Alice Jo. I'm still crocheting.

Linda

Julie said...

The moon has really enhanced Drac, it's looking amazing.

Mel said...

I just noticed the no reply issue myself. So annoying.
Love your pieces!

Claudette497 said...

The entire point of my job is getting money for stash, lol. You're making great progress!

Jaret said...

I think I fixed my "no reply" status. But, I have no idea what I'm doing so I can't be sure.

Enjoy your new starts!

Katie said...

Beautiful work on your projects. Lovely progress on the Dracula project. You really have got a lot done on it. Please add my name to the blog hop. What a great excuse to stitch up a fun new piece to share.

Leonore Winterer said...

Wait, that moon on Dracula is white? Judging from the pictures I always thought it was a light yellow!
Great starts and progress. Your stitching on Alice is so nice and clean, what fabric count are you using for her?

Brigitte said...

Guiltfree new starts, yes! And I love all your new starts. Next to my stitching place there are also two plastic bags with two brand new projects, completely kitted up and ready to go. If life hadn't got in the way I would have started them already. But soon ...