October IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

Once again, I worked on Friday so my weekend got off to a late start, bath-time to be exact!  This is Framed Fright by Barefoot Needleart from the Just Cross Stitch Hallowe'en Ornament Special:

stitched over 1 on 28 count Moondust evenweave from Crafty Kitten

I used a Victorian Motto Sampler thread called Violet Grey for the Castle, it is subtly variegated and was a gift from Beth in IL.  The tree and bat are DMC 310.  There is supposed to be an ornate frame all the way around it but I didn't fancy stitching all that yellowgold so I will use a scrapbook frame instead.

I finished that one on Saturday evening so I started a new bath-time stitch, another one of the designs from this year's Just Cross Stitch Hallowe'en Ornament Special.  This is Happy Halloween by StitchyFish Designs:

stitched over 1 on 28 count linen from a Crafty Kitten grab bag

Basically I am using up scraps of fabric and choosing designs that suit the fabric colour.

Saturday and Sunday daytime was dedicated to my Just Nan Autumn Mouse Scissor Roll and we have another finish!

Scissor Roll stitched on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

Here are the four sides of the roll when it is all rolled up.  The lining wool is doubled over at the pumpkin end to make a little pocket for a pair of scissors.  These ones are a little bit too tall.

I am not really a fan of sewing but it didn't take too long to blanket stitch all the way around.  The whole piece is 10 inches long when unrolled.  There was the added incentive of my next new start when I finished it too!

This has been my Unicorn chart for many years (along with Mirabilia's Touching the Autumn Sky).  This was a Limited Edition for Silver Needle and I was lucky enough to be sent this chart by a destashing stitcher earlier this year.  It had to go to the top of the list!

stitched on 28 count Wood Violet linen from Permin

SCREAM HOUSE!!  Yes, I got the Scream House chart and finishing instructions!  The project is charted for 30 count linen from Weeks Dye Works which is incredibly difficult to find here.  I wanted to go slightly larger so you can see all the details so when I went off to the needlework shop to collect my Owls of October II, I had a rummage through the linens to see what I could find.  This is called Wood Violet and is more purple than it is showing.  It's a Permin linen which means it is stiffer than Zweigart but that's OK because stiff is better for 3D creations.  

The charts calls for DMC and some Weeks Dye Works threads.  Four of them have good substitutions in DMC but the 5th is for the borders so I dug out this silk by Stef Francis which appears to be called "49" and was a gift from Mouse.  It is mostly all purple and pink apart from that patch of yellowygreen in the middle.  It is nice to be using gifted threads.  I have 13 days left this month, let's see how much I can stitch by the 31st.

Finally, the next IHSW will be 20th - 22nd November so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.