October Stitch from Stash and Pie

 It's time for Pie!

This was Dark October and I worked on three Spooky projects, the primary one being my CCN Spooky Conversion of Main Street.

I started this in May 2020 with the conversion of the Bookshop into Grimoires.  Then stitched three buildings per year until this month when it was finally finished.

I tried to keep the shops related to the original shops and the colour schemes too.

The trees became autumnal trees

I love the carniverous plants adapted from a Stitchonomy design

What's your favourite shop?

The next project up was the final Scary Apothecary design from Hands on Designs - Spider Legs.  I used two different Jodyri Threads for the variegated grey and pink.

stitched on 28 count Radioactive linen from Chromatic Alchemy

nice bit of sparkly orange metallic in this one:

I also made a pie for my evening stitching:

To start with, I focused on my Halloween Sewing Basket which is now fully finished just in time for Halloween!

Then I decided to knock out the Just Nan Spooky Smalls I started during my Just Nan-athon.  There were three of them and I finished all three.

Batty Jack

Horrified!

Fraidy Frog

Finally, Stitch from Stash.

I intended to buy the fabric for the next four Zodiac Girls earlier in the year but Sparklies closed their order books for a couple of months to try catch up with stock.  As soon as Kate reopened I was straight in with my order and it arrived very swiftly too.

Here's the three Water signs on their respective fabrics thanks to The Design and Fabric Viewer.  I also bought Capricorn which will be on next year's "24 in '24"

Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2023

  

 Welcome to the spooky hallowe’en mystery phrase blog hop!

All you need to do is visit each of the following blogs in order, jot down the letter displayed with their Hallowe'en stitched picture then return here and leave a comment telling me the Mystery Phrase.  (I have "moderate comments before publishing" enabled so no-one can copy anyone else!)

It'd be nice if you left a comment on their blog too, especially if it's new to you.

So without further ado,

start the blog hop – enter if you dare…

Tiff Stitches a Blog

Tales of a Stitching Mouse

Jocondine

A Patchwork of Crafts

Needle, Pen & Sword

An Arizona Stitcher

Aimetu's Stitching
Dragon Stitches and Stuff by Astrid

Life Outside the Washing Basket

Count it *all* Joy

Beth's Needlework Stash

Le Couer Celtique

Books, Crafts and Other Procrastinations

Jeremiah's Mom

Tickled Pink in Stitches

and then back to me for this letter:

 

and to comment with the phrase.

Hope you've worked it out!

As usual, I have been stitching for Dark October and have a number of finishes to share with you all.  The main focus has been my Spooky Conversion of CCN's Main Street.  Here's the finished piece (a little blurry, must take some another):

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

Here's some of my other finishes:

Just Nan Batty Jack

Mani di Donna Halloween Sewing Basket

Just Nan Horrified!

Hands on Design Spider Legs

Here are some more photos of my Spooky Stitching on display this year:

Finally, don't forget, some of us are on different time zones so if you visit a blog and can't find a letter or picture yet, pop back later in the day.

The phrase will stay a mystery for one week then all comments will be shown from 7th November, 2023.

happy hunting!

        

all from Hyraea

October WIPocalypse Planning Process

             

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 "23 in '23" for this year.  This month I stitched on 6 of my WIPs.

7. Hands on Design Scary Apothecary

9. CCN Halloween Village Art Gallery

10. CCN Halloween Village Gazebo

13. Mani di Donna Halloween Stitching Basket

16. Just Nan Halloween Designs

Batty Jack and Horrified!

18. Circle Cross Blackwork Tarot

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and "23 in '23"

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too:

October - How do you begin planning for the next year with your stitching?  Tell us your process.

I start my planning almost as soon as I start my stitching for the year!  I'd barely started 2023 when I was thinking about 2024 and how to work my "24 in '24".  As new designs are released I decide whether I want to fit them into this year or add them to the plan for the next year.

I'm also thinking long term now, I've been stitching for 30 years so there is going to be a limit to the amount I can stitch in the future compared to the past.  I have a lot of large designs and series I want to stitch and if I don't start now, then when?

So, next year's "24 in '24" is going to consist of 12 medium and 12 small designs.  One each per month chosen by my WIPGO board or by seasonal relevance (Just Nan-athon in May, Dark October).  Each piece should be able to be completed within a month and will clear a lot of designs I love which have been taking a back seat to my larger focus pieces/

Rachel and I have also been discussing the A-Z challenge since she did that in April!  I'm not about to swap daily projects for a month but I thought it would work well with IHSW.  So each month next year I will focus on projects starting with A and B in January, C and D for February and so on through the IHSW each month.  There will be two spare letters which gives me space if I can't shoehorn a project in one month!

Finally, it's the Halloween Trick or Treat Blog Hop tomorrow!  Please do hop around and leave comments for all the participants to encourage them to keep taking part in these events!

October Smalls

         

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

Because I am focusing on my BAPs again, I won't have so many smalls this year but I do have a couple of series with small components so I will share them this month.

The first is the Blackwork Tarot by Circle Cross.  I have finished Virgo and Libra, and started Scorpio:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

Scorpio

Having completed my Spooky Conversion of CCN's Main Street, I moved on to the final design in the Scary Apothecary series from Hands on Design.  This is Spider Legs:

stitched on 28 count Radioactive Linen from Chromatic Alchemy

In the evenings I started been stitching my Mani di Donna Halloween Sewing Basket which is now a finish.  Actually an FFO but I'll save that for later.  Then I moved on to some Just Nan smalls from my Just Nan-athon.

Stitched on 32 count grey linen

Just Nan - Batty Jack - finished

stitched on 28 count lilac linen

Just Nan - Horrified! - WIP

stitched on 32 count green linen

Finally, there will be a Halloween Trick or Treat Hop this year.  I have enough people signed up to take part so I will be emailing them all on Sunday with their Letter and further instructions.

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.

My first project was my spooky conversion of CCN's Main Street.  I've been working on the final part which was the Gazebo.  I converted this into a blackwork lych gate with some lovely plants on either side.

stitched on 32 count Charcoal Slate Murano from Sparklies

This is now a finished project so I'll take lots of photos and share all the details soon.  The plants came from the current Stitchonomy SAL although I grew them a little bit myself!


Then I got quite a bit done on the Zodiac signs from Circle Cross, finishing Libra:

stitched on 28 count sky blue evenweave from Silkweavers

Isn't she majestic?

My evening project has been the Mani di Donna Halloween Sewing Basket, which is now finished as far as stitching goes.  I just need to make it up!

Of course after I took the photo I immediately spotted the missing black tombstone on the bottom left piece.  So that has now gone in.

My evenings then moved on to one of the smalls from my Just Nan-athon.  I had 3 spooky smalls in there and thought it would be nice to actually finish them.  So here's Batty Jack almost complete:

stitched on 28 count lilac linen

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