Full Moon in March

The full moon in March was on the 20th of the month so it was very appropriate that I put the final stitches in my moon on that day.  I couldn't find a good chart for a moon so I took a photo from Google and ran it through Pic2Pat to produce a chart with just 4 colours.  Here's how it turned out:

This is my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily by Sparklies.  Each month I am adding various additions to the design.  I think I will add some bats around the moon next month.

On Friday I went along to my crafty coffee morning and completed Fairy Roses, at last.  The little yellow stitches are all smyrnas which adds a nice texture to the flowers.  There are a lot of different shades of rose pink in this design as well as three greens.  The lack of symmetry and the density of the coverage made this quite a time-consuming piece.  A charm for the centre is on order.

stitched on 32 count Antique White evenweave.

This was the final Just Nan small I started for March Madness 2017 so the next one I pick up will the 1st Stitch Maynia start from 2018.  My plan for Stitch Maynia this year is to stitch the same design on each day that I did last year.  Except for the first day as hopefully I will have completed that one in April.  I can have a new start that day!

Most of this week has been spent focused on The Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

I have completed the land of XXXX which is loosely based on Australia and continued with the lettering on the crest.  Which is very time-consuming and fiddly.  All the stitches split blocks and stitches, the words are mispelled and wonky so you have to count every stitch.  It's not like normal lettering where you learn the letter format and it becomes like writing.  Every version of each letter is slightly different.

I did measure the fabric and it's actually 17 stitches to the inch rather than 16 because of the hand-dying process.  A 28 count would have been easier but it would have been even bigger!  The coverage is excellent though.  To have a break from the lettering I stitched some of the red and white border.

XXXX

Pronounced "EcksEcksEcksEcks", or "Fourecks", if and when people on the main continent bother about this mysterious continent of XXXX. It is so named because rumours have long held that a landmass exists in such-and-such a position in the oceans, but no explorers ever made it there to learn its proper name and then come back to tell of it. Old records in the Unseen University Library tell of two separate expeditions of wizards that attempted to reach the last continent centuries ago, one of which was reputed to have been led by a Sourcerer.

The continent indeed exists. Its people are characterized by an easy-going attitude and an absolute refusal and incomprehension of the phenomenon of rain, until the events chronicled in The Last Continent. The Ecksians have a very colourful language with many complicated colloquialisms. They have learnt to live with the almost exclusively poisonous nature of their flora and fauna.

Source:- L-Space

Finally, I will be hosting my Annual Easter Treasure Hunt on Good Friday the 19th April.  If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here.  The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase.  On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral).  We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

March 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.  Links at the bottom of this post.

I was working all day on Friday so I took my current Just Nan small with me for lunchtime stitching:

Fairy Roses - stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

I stitched two of the palest pinks this time.  I've got about 2/3 of the lightest one and then some smyrna stitches to fill the centres of some of the flowers.  Then I'm done.

On Saturday I stitched The Land of Fog?

The Land of Fog (or the Foggy Islands) is a group of small islands widdershins of the continent of XXXX. Very little is known about them, partly due to their being shrouded in perpetual cloud and fog. It was missed, like everything else, by Sir Roderick Purdeigh on his voyages. What scanty reports there are indicate a mountainous terrain dotted with sheep and a few rugby players. According to legend this is where XXXX keeps the lawnmower. This legend, however, is only told on XXXX.

Annotation
A reference to New Zealand. When the Maoris first came to NZ they saw snow on the mountain tops (rather uncommon in their own previously tropical latitudes) and called this new land Aotearoa or "land of the long white cloud". Also famous for having more sheep than people and being home to The All Blacks.
Source - LSpace

I worked all day Sunday so I used Monday as the final day of my weekend and moved over to XXXX and the banner, alternating between the green and the lettering:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom dyed by Sparklies

That green will complete the island so then I can backstitch the whole place.

A few people have said that they don't do Facebook and asked if I could host a link-up for them, so here it is! Just add your name and the link to your actual IHSW post, not just your blog home page.

*

*

The next IHSW will be 19th - 21st April 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.

Finally, most serendipitously, Friday 19th April is also Good Friday in England so I will be hosting my Annual Easter Treasure Hunt.   If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here. The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase. On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral). We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!

Here's a link to last year's hop so you can see how it all works - Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2018

February Pie and Stitch from Stash

If January felt like it had 93 days, the February had about 12!  It's just whizzed past.

My planned rotation is 1 week on Chatelaine, 2 weeks on Discworld and the rest of the time on Christmas, Hallowe'en and a "19 in '19" project. 

Here's the February Pie:

Because of work and February being only 28 days long I didn't quite get the full 14 days stitching on Discworld but I did reach my target.

Here's where is was at the start of the month:

And here's where it is now:

I completed the whole of the banner, the second heraldic hippo and the top part of the country XXXX.  All backstitched too.

stitched on 32 count Murano custom dyed by Sparklies

You'll notice that I finished the banner despite running out of that shade of pink last month.  When I ordered the threads for this project I ordered the darker pink not the lighter.  So that skein accounts for my entire Stitch from Stash spend this month!

February
1 skein DMC	£0.95
Total	£0.95

Yes, that is what we pay for a skein at our LWS (Local Wool Shop) who luckily sell DMC as well as wool.

Finally, I made nice progress on my current Just Nan small; Fairy Roses.  Added another colour to the roses, 3 lighter shades to go:

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

February Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

I don't have a lot of smalls in my rotation this year, it is the Year of the BAP Focus.  But I do have the Christmas Ornie Blog and my Just Nan smalls.  I'm also counting all the additions to the Enchanted Alphabet spooky conversion for this one.

First up a finish for the Christmas Ornament.  This one is Poinsettia by Ink Circles from the 2008 Just Cross Stitch Special:

stitched over 1 on 28 count green evenweave

I completed Just Nan's Thanks a Bunch on 5th February:

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

and moved straight on to Fairy Roses the same day:

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

For my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet I added some cats, all from Just Nan charts:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily by Sparklies

And that's about it for Smalls!  Tune in on Sunday for the WIPocalypse update of the BAPs and others.

Finally, it's been lovely weather here so we went out and did some rock hiding with a friend and her children.  Here's our batch:

February 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.  Links at the bottom of this post.

Friday is usually my day to go to the Crafty Coffee Morning but the shop which hosts it is relocating this month so the last two Fridays have been Coffee & Cakes at my house instead.

I'm using this time to work on my Just Nan Smalls.  Since the last IHSW I finished Thanks a Bunch and started Fairy Roses.

Thanks A Bunch

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

The little Floral Bunch charm is discontinued so I'm using a butterfly instead.

Straight on to the next one in turn:

stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

This one is quite unusual as it is not symmetrical.  The green stitches are quite random so I've made a working copy of the chart and colour each symbol in as I go.

The next project is one I've been working on for just over a year, stitching a little bit each day while my son is in the bath.  Linda was SAL with me and she finished recently so it was time to ramp it up and get it done!

Alice & the Flamingo by Mrs Peggotty Arts

stitched over 1 on 25 count blue evenweave

I really enjoyed this piece, the blocks of colour meant you didn't have to change thread too often.  I usually prefer stitching a monochrome at bathtime for this reason but with this project I could use the same colour all session most evenings.

The plan now is to stitch the Satsuma Street Nest Egg design and then start on Mrs Peggotty's Queen of Hearts.  I don't think I'll catch Linda up as she's already started her.

stitched on 32 count Belfast in Marie's Daffodil by Chromatic Alchemy

My main focus piece for IHSW was the Discworld Mappe.  Thank you to everyone who said how much they enjoy seeing this piece.  You're going to be seeing a LOT of it this year!

Here's where it was on Friday:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

and here is where I am now:

I didn't quite finish the banner pink because it was so boring after a while, so I started alternating with some grey for the heraldic hippo instead.


A few people have said that they don't do Facebook and asked if I could host a link-up for them, so here it is! Just add your name and the link to your actual IHSW post, not just your blog home page.

*

*


The next IHSW will be 15th - 17th March 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.

Finally, the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop was a great success.  Everyone posted on the actual day and now all the links go direct to the SSS post on each blog so you can still hop round quite easily.

Here's a collage of all the photos sent in:

(can you tell I have a new collage maker?