Theme-a-licous January Update and Just Nan SAL

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!  

Jardin January

The holidays were a little stressful...let's relax in a nice garden. Work on any piece with flowers or gardens.

By lucky chance all three of my pieces for the Just Nan SAL fitted the bill perfectly (which was just as well, because my evening pieces didn't at all!)

Just Nan SAL is hosted by Zeb of Keep Calm and Cross Stitch

This month I stitched and finished three different small projects.  The first was Lady Scarlet's Christmas:

Not actually IN a garden but plenty of greenery and a little ladybird too.

The second piece was Batty Jacks, again pumpkins are found in gardens (as are bats and spiders):

And thirdly, M is for Mouse.  Now maybe this is a House Mouse rather than a Field Mouse but there are plenty of little flowers on this design:

This is the backing fabric I used, it has little cakes and teacups on it.

Perfect to make into a little bag to go (where else) to the Mouse House to celebrate Mouse's Birthday.

I wanted some fruit tea for fabric dyeing but they only had camomile or drinking chocolate.  I figured that would keep Mouse warm this winter.  Check out those lovely flavours - Turkish Delight and Jazzy Ginger!

Finally, another mention for my Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop.  Click on the heart photo to the right and scroll down to the bottom of the post for details of the Hop!

Stitch from Stash January Update

Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel from Epic Stitching

Essentially the idea behind Stitch from Stash is that we are limited to spending US$25 (or £15) per month.  There are various exemptions (Birthday money, existing mag subs, clubs etc) but the idea is not to try and pervert the rules and stitch some of that stash!  I will be posting on or around the 20th of each month because that is when I get paid!

Money from Christmas 2013                  : £ 40.00

The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas : £ 15.95
Mirabilia Fairy Tales                               : £  4.99
Just Nan Red Hat                                   : £  4.00
One Skein DMC                                    : £  0.90

Balance                                                  : £ 14.16
January budget                                       : £ 15.00
Available to carry over into February      : £ 29.16

Allowed purchases:
World of Cross Stitching mag sub for three issues : £ 8.99


So I haven't even touched my January £15 because it's all been Christmas money so far!  And yes, you did read that correctly, I spend 90p on one skein of DMC.  That is US$1.49 and is how much my LNS charges.  If I need more than a couple of skeins I send away from t'internet but for just one skein I bite the bullet and support the local store.  It's not even a proper LNS either, I have the choice of a small haberdashery dept in a department store, a knitting shop or a general craft shop.

New Starts from Stash: Just Nan Lady Scarlet's Christmas, Scarlet Letter Elizabeth Burrows

WIPs or UFOs worked on: A Mon Ami Pierre Noel Blanc

Just Nan -Lady Scarlet's Christmas

Scarlet Letter - Elizabeth Burrows

A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

I also acquired some more stash, but it was a gift!  A while back Susan from Yellow Flower Meadow showed some lovely Nutmeg Cottage finishes on her blog.  She offered to send me the gently used charts which was very kind of her.  The parcel arrived today and contained not only three little cottage charts but also the Prairie Schooler Santa I had admired in the same post (I loved the Sun and Moon motifs on that one), a copious amount of white thread (B5200 and Blanc) and some orphaned Mill Hill beads!  She had remembered that I commented once I was happy to run a home for abandoned Mill Hills now alot of people are switching to Delicas.

Speaking of gifts, I was also sent this lovely Stitcher's Tray from the Mouse House:

Here it is full of my stitching necessities

And here is a close-up of the cute little dragon needle-minder!

Finally, the sign-ups are open for February's Secret Sweetheart Blog Hop.  Basically you send me a photo of a suitable stitched picture which I will then forward to a mystery participant.  You will get a photo yourself, display on your blog and wait for your Secret Sweetheart to reveal her identity!  Click on the Heart photo to the right for more details.

First Happy Dance of the Year!

My first start of the year is my first finish too!  Just Nan's Lady Scarlet's Christmas:

Stitched on 28 count platinum linen using the recommended threads except for the blue stockings and the reds in the lettering, the berries and the ladybirds.  I also stitched the mice and the ladybirds over 1.  And I made the Gingerbread Men smile.

I also have the triple series of Lady Scarlet's Journey to stitch so I'm not sure how to finish this one yet.  I have this nice red tuck in my stash which I won in Kath's Giveaway so I popped it in there for the time being:

I looked up how to make these and it's not too difficult, you just need to be able sew a neat line!  I might have a go at making one with some Christmas fabric as this one is just a tiny bit too small.

So having finished one, I have to start one!!  As most of you know I have been assisting Nicola with her Scarlet Letter Year Challenge.  The Challenge officially ends on 20th February 2014 but we will be continuing with the blogs and the stitching because it's such a great group of stitchers.  Anyway, there will be a Grand Prize Draw on the 20th for everyone who has completed a Scarlet Letter Sampler during the year.  So how embarassing would it be if all I have to show is one large outlined band and a bit of blue? 

So when I won Elizabeth Burrows in the Advent Giveaways I knew I must try my best to stitch her!  The Scarlet Letter website says this about her "This small early eighteenth century English alphabet sampler is actually more challenging than it appears at first glance."

Here is my progress after two days of stitching:

It's an interesting chart.  It looks lopsided on paper but that's because some of the rows are stitched over two and some over 3, like this row.  Have you ever stitched over 3?  It's like waltzing - 1,2,3 - 1,2,3 stitch, 1,2,3 - 1,2,3 stitch.  I'm using some of the 35 count linen Nicola sent me so the over 3 works out to about 11 or 12 per inch.  I'm also using some Olde Willow Linen Threads I won in giveaway by Riona.  The red and blue are a very good match, the green is darker and there is a yellow instead of the charted pink but it will give the same effect of a much paler colour.  Perfect!  Stitching with linen threads is very different to silks or even cotton but it does make me feel more in touch with Elizabeth, I'm sure she didn't have DMC or Thread Heaven in 1725!

Here's the finished picture from the SL website:

The 1725 on the frame refers to the date Elizabeth stitched her sampler, but this is the really exciting bit - in the bottom row it says 179, this is because Elizabeth also includes her year of birth 1709 but rather than use all four digits she uses 179 as that was how the year was pronounced then (Seventeen Nine, rather than Seventeen Oh Nine).  Now anyone who has my email address may recognise those numbers, they are my date of birth which I incorporated into my email addy!!  So it seems most serendipitous that this sampler chose to come to me to stitch her!  We are made for each other!

Finally it's just over a month to Valentine's Day so it must be time to launch the 

.

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, 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.

Progress on my Two New Starts

I've made two new starts recently and due to the End of Year Round Ups I haven't really had a chance to show them off!

Here is the larger one which I started on 23rd December and have stitched on every day since then:

The design is called Noel Blanc by A Mon Ami Pierre.   I won it in a giveaway by Kathy Ellen of A Stitcher's Heirlooms quite some time ago!  The fabric is a 32 count Belfast Linen called Millenium Blue and is this colour in real life, unlike the rather grey in the previous photo.  The majority of the sampler is stitched in DMC White except for the wreath, some mistletoe and a holly spray.

I loved stitching the letters, but the little flowers in the border below were quite tedious!  There is still one more to go.  Then there's another snowflake and a sleigh and I'll be just over a quarter done.  Those unfinished antlers mark the centre spot.

The next piece is a day time small stitch by Just Nan, the companion to Lady Scarlet's Journey; Lady Scarlet's Christmas.  This was also a gift from a fellow blogger; Shirlee the Easily Influenced Stitcher.  Clever Shirlee managed to pick a JN that I didn't have!  I was also lucky enough to have a ladybird charm in my stash so I don't need to buy one.

Here is my progress after 4 days of stitching:

I'm stitching this on 28 count Platinum Linen.  I have made some minor changes; the blue stockings were charted in 930 which is very dark so I switched to 931.  Which means there isn't so much contrast between the toes and heels.  I'm using 915, 916 and 917 for the red ladybirds, berries and lettering rather than 902 because that seemed very dark as well.

I have updated my sidebar to show all the links for the current SALs and Challenges I am doing this year.  As well as the TUSAL, the WIPocalypse, The Smalls SAL, Theme-a-licious, IHSW and the Scarlet Letter Year from the past I am doing some new Challenges.

First is Stitch from Stash by Epic Stitching.  Here we have a limit of US$25 per month to spend on new stash.  I can convert this is £15 or use the handy local currency rule of £25 since she recognises threads are so expensive here.  I'm going to try for the lower amount.  I can exempt my magazine subs, my threads of month club and any gifted money.  I can also do stash exchanges as long as no money is involved.  Postage is exempt too.  I can also carry over unspent money from one month to the next ones or even borrow from future months.

Then there is the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  This was run by Lainey last year but she was unable to continue this year so I offered to step in.  I have chosen some themes for the various months starting with a free choice for January so you can catch up on anything you didn't stitch/finish last year.  If you enjoy Spooky Stitching please do come and join us.  There is no obligation to stitch every month, I didn't manage it last year!

Finally there are some designer SALs, Just Nan run by Zeb and my own Primitive Hare Spooky Countdown (starts 31st January) and The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas (starts January anytime).  I ordered the paper booklet from Laura rather than the PDF because I like proper charts and our printer is out of ink as usual.  It arrived in a mere 2 working days from Italy and is so gorgeous!  Well worth buying.  I will do a proper Show and Tell when I start stitching.