November Stitch From Stash and Pie

 Let's start the post with some very evenly spaced pie:

If any one pie sums up this year, it will be this one.  2021 was intended to be my Year of Rotation following two years where The Discworld Mapp was my focus piece.  

You've seen most of the projects on that pie already, CCN Main Street and Hands on Design were both finishes this month.  Fairy Idyll was a WIPGO Goal met, Stoney Creek is rolling over to next month to complete the final three Days of Christmas.

That leaves my Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas.  I am in a race against time to complete another Day before the end of the year!

stitched on 32 count grey-blue linen

As usual, I am stitching all the background first, you can see the number 3 start to appear in the bottom left corner and the hen's tail in the centre top.  The gaps for the leaves are quite fiddly and although it doesn't matter too much if they are not in the correct space I have had no counting errors at all.  They only happen when it does matter!

I'm going to shift to the Stoney Creek 12 Days tomorrow and knock them out to see them finished this year and then return to this one.  Some of my stitching days are going to be a little shorter than usual because of working more shifts.  Short ones but even so, not getting home until 3.40pm still cuts down the stitching time!

Just Nan's Christmas Elegance is our current Band Sampler SAL and here's where I am after 4 weeks and 4 bands:

stitched on 28 count off-white evenweave

Here's a close-up of the lovely backstitch band:

 There are a lot of beads to be added at the end, fortunately I have the embellishment pack for this one so I don't need to try source them.

Spending-wise this was a good month.  There wasn't much I needed, just two skeins of DMC Metallic for this sampler.

In the interests of transparency, I realised that I had bought some DMC and beads in July which I hadn't included in my spending.  So July's SFS looks like this:

I will be amending my totals when I do my SFS check-in this month.

Finally, the annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop starts tomorrow!  My post with all the links will go up in the morning so you can see who is going to be taking part.  We will also have a special memory for a recently departed blogger.  Meg from Live to Stitch sadly passed away this month.  A close friend emailed me and asked to let her stitching friends now.  I suggested adding a link to Meg's blog on the anniversary of the last stitching post she shared with us all and we thought that was a nice way to remember her as it was a Christmas post.  Here's the post letting us know of Meg's passing - Stitchy McFloss

November WIPocalypse New Discoveries

           

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "21 in '21" for this year.  This month I stitched on 6 of them and had 2 finishes plus I met 3 WIPGO Goals.   

7. Lin Pulsion Bubbles of Happiness

10. Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas

12. Mirabilia Fairy Idyll

13. Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas

16. Hands on Design Scary Apothecary Coffin Paint

21. CCN Halloween Village Millinery

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and 21 in 21

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too:

November – What new discoveries did you have in the stitching world this year?

To be honest, a lot of this year is a blur which does mean doing the Yearly Recaps next month is going to be news for me as well as you all!  I do remember being introduced to a new designer by Rachel and Tiff and having to purchase their charts immediately!

See if you can guess what it is from these photos:

Colour 1 completed

Colour 2 completed

Colour 3 completed

No idea? It's a dragon from Stitch It Picasso on Etsy!  Here's the link to the shop - Stitch It Picasso on Etsy

Finally, I emailed all the participants for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this morning.  If you signed up and haven't had an email with your date, please get in touch and I'll try again!

November Smalls

        

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be the Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas 2019 Ornament series.  I have nearly finished Day 10, just the beads to add and stitched about half of Day 12.  I have decided to stitch the final 2 days together, colour by colour and add beads to all three at once.  This will save a little time!

stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave

I added November to my Tiny Modernist Calendar:

stitched on 32 count Summer Sky Belfast linen from Silkweavers

A slightly larger "small" was the third in the C part of the Scary Apothecary series from Hands on Design.  This is Coffin Paint:

stitched on 28 count Radioactive Linen from Chromatic Alchemy

I used all the recommended DMC for this one except for the paintbrushes where I used a lovely DMC Satin thread, the equivalent of 321.  Much easier to do satin stitch in satin thread than in metallics.  I am rather tempted to redo the bottles in Bitter Brew with this thread as the metallic warped the fabric.

Finally, this is the last call for participants for my annual Advent Calendar.  I have a couple of doors left which is very unusual.  Let me know if you would like to take part this year.

November 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.

You saw my Friday progress on Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll in my previous post, that concluded a six day stitching period so on Saturday I turned to the current Scary Apothecary design.  This is a series of 9 designs from Hands On Design each featuring an Apothecary style label.  I have completed five in the series and this will be my sixth, hopefully this month.  That leaves three for next year.

This is Coffin Paint:

stitched on 28 count Radioactive Linen from Chromatic Alchemy

Those funny little fish things are going to be paintbrushes.

I'm also making good progress on my Just Nan Sampler - Christmas Elegance:

stitched on 28 count off white evenweave

We usually allocate a band to each week but as some of these are very large, we have two weeks to stitch one large and one narrow band.  I have done most of Band 3 this week.  Band 4 is a simple backstitch border.

Finally the next IHSW will be 17th - 19th December 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.

The Wonder of WIPGO

 

What is WIPGO?  It's like Bingo for your WIPs.  At the start of the year you choose 25 goals for your stitching and pop them all on a numbered board.  Each month the Admin call out two numbers and those are your goals for the month.  You can stitch things out of sequence but you can't tick the numbers off until they have been called.

It's worked really well for me this year and I'm looking good to complete 24 out of my 25 goals.  It would have been all 25 but I thought I had stitched more on my Chatelaine than I actually had and I don't think I can meet that goal this year.

What I did manage was to stitch the final six days on Fairy Idyll to make a total of 24 days this year.

I added the darkest gold at the bottom of the dress and then the purple frills of the bedding.  On the original these are pink but I didn't like the colour with my fabric.  I looked at two other conversions and used the darker shades from one and the lightest shade from the other.

stitched on 32 count Murano in Vineyard from Crafty Kitten

The other WIPGO project I've been working on each evening is the Lin Pulsion Bubbles of Happiness:

stitched over 1 on 25 count white evenweave

I went for a rainbow scheme for this one using various Anchor threads from an inherited stash.  Now all the bubbles have been released I am completing it colour by colour so that gap is for an orange bubble which will wait for the final bubble in the bottom left corner which is also orange.

Here's what the Board currently looks like:

Outstanding blocks are

5 - Lin Pulsion Bubbles of Happiness - will be completed in December
7 - Hands on Design Scary Apothecary - will be completed in November *
9 - Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas - will be called and completed in December
16 - Chatelaine Gardens of London - thought I had completed this one but sadly not
23 - Just Nan Scream House Roof Pieces - will be called in December, already completed

I am currently putting together my Board for 2022 where my focus piece will be Halloween in Hawk Run Hollow.  Trying to decide whether to have 12 numbers for that or not.  How many other WIPs should I include?

* It's also IHSW so I'll make that my focus piece and see how far I get, check back on Monday to see!

 

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Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.    I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid. I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2020 Online Advent Calendar

Gifted Gorgeousness November Link-up Post

       

Welcome to the November Gifted Gorgeousness link-up.  The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

In October I started the fourth shop in my spooky conversion of the CCN Main Street designs.  The turquoise Bakery has become a grey-blue Milliner's shop.  This conversion is stitched from charts which were Birthday gifts and on fabric which was a giveaway gift:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Charcoal Slate from Sparklies

My focus project for Dark October was Just Nan's Scream House.  I completed the external wall pieces and all the roof pieces in October:

This past weekend I have been working on  Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll.  The chart and some threads were a gift:

stitched on 32 count Vineyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

I'm still working on the dress and have reached the darkest gold colours at the bottom. When I finish this area I will be deciding whether to convert the pinks of the bedding frills to a lilac or a purple as per two different conversions I've seen in the FB group.  It will involve getting all the colours out onto the fabric to see how they look!

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month. Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "November Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month. And link to the actual post, not just your blog. It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.    I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid. I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2020 Online Advent Calendar

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for November

    

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

I managed two Fully Finished Objects this month, the first being my Primitive Hare Celebration freebie.  This one is for Samhain at the end of October:

Six down, two to go.  These are framed so they go around in a deosil or clockwise circle:

Deosil being the opposite direction to widdershins which is a wonderful word!

I also got Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett a nice frame:

A simple dark wood frame in a style I have used a few times before, this is an A4 size for certificates and is longer and thinner than a standard 8 x 10.  You can see enough of the fabric on either side to make it worth using the mottled fabric.

I also finished another one of the shops on my CCN's Main Street Spooky Conversion:

I converted the Bakery into the Millinery Shop with some lovely witch's hats on display in the window.

Here is the original:

I kept the blue and purple colourway but used a grey-blue instead of a pastel turquoise.  I used a dark blue for the trim and frames instead of white and added the red accents.  I wanted the broad band across the middle to look like a hatband.  I also changed the hearts at the top to look like hats although my son said they look more like bells!

The hats have red and purple bands in a nod to the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph which starts:

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me."

When I was stitching this in October, I happened to see some of the local Red Hatters on their way to a function resplendent in purple with fabulous red hats.  Rather serendipitous, I thought!  You can find out more about the Red Hatters on their website - British Red Hatters

stitched on 32 count Murano in Charcoal Slate from Sparklies

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.    I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid. I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

2019 Online Advent Calendar

 

The People Chose Funny

     

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog. Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice. This is what they have chosen:

November - Funny

December - Fancy Finishes

January - Designer for 2022

(a designer you are keen to stitch in the coming year)

Humour is very subjective.  What some find hilarious, others find mystifying or even offensive.  Funny cross stitch designs tend to fall into two categories - bad puns or snarky comments.

I stitched this humourous take on Star Wars and sent it to Christine as I knew she would appreciate it:

This was a very funny series from Dragon Dreams - their 12 Dragonlets of Christmas featured a selection of jokes including the "turtle" doves, a puzzled goose who has hatched a dragon baby and a dragon with a swan inflatable swimming aid!

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Funny, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog. Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog.   I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Anything, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Green, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.   Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

November TUSAL and my Stitching Library

    

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with two of my current projects:

On the right is my Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas.  I am catching up with Day 10 from last month and then moving on to Day 11.

On the left is our current Just Nan SAL Sampler.  We chose Christmas Elegance and have three months to stitch this one as it's a big one.  Only 12 bands but some are very large, like this first one:

stitched on 28 count off white evenweave

I'm stitching with White Perle #8 on off-white fabric so it's quite difficult to see in a photo.  But once I have added the colours and beads it should be OK.  It will certainly catch the light across the texture which is why I opted to use the charted Perle and not 2 strands of DMC cotton as I sometimes substitute.

What's on my Shelf?

This is a new feature I'm going to include on my TUSAL post until I run out of books! I started a Page on my Happy Dance blog for my Stitching Library and realised what a huge task it was so decided to break it down to one book per month. For the next four years...

This month's The People's Choice will be "Funny" so I looked for my funniest book.  I think this one comes under "Funny-peculiar" rather than "Funny haha"!

Title: The Art of Hairwork.  Hair Braiding and Jewelry (sic) of Sentiment with Catalog (sic) of Hair Jewelry (sic)
Author: Mark Campbell edited by Jules and Kaethe Kliot
Publisher: Lacis Publications
ISBN: 9780916896317

As you can tell from the imaginative spelling, this is a reproduction of an antique book from 1875.  Apparently, Mark Campbell was "frequently urged" to produce this book, such was the popularity of hair braiding at the time.

Basically, you acquire some nice, long, straight hair.  Set it up on your "braiding table" use lace bobbins around the edge and a weight in the centre:

Then you follow these simple instructions, to produce a braid which feeds down the hole in the centre of the table:

It's a combination of lace-making and French Knitting I suppose.  There are 112 different ways to braid the hair illustrated!

Once you have your braid, you can make these beautiful brooches or hair clips:

Or even beads to make necklaces!

They suggest combining different hair colours to make pleasing combinations, so make sure you have friends with a variety of hair colours happy to donate to a good crafty cause.

Finally, the Halloween Trick or Treat Blog Hop will be revealed on 7th November, so you have until then to keep guessing,