Stitching up a Hallowe'en Storm

Lots of finishes added to my special finishes blog this week.  If you just like to drool over lots of pics and little chat then pop over and Come Happy Dance with Me.

And for those you like alot of chat, here are the latest two plus a mystery WIP.

First up is the completed Spooky Hallowe'en from Puntini Puntini (sadly no longer available).  I love this design and you can finally see the part that made me fall in love with it - the little witchy boots!

I stitched this over 1 on 28 count Burnt Orange evenweave (jazlyn or jobelan) using Sullivans black and GAST Harvest Moon.  It took exactly a fortnight!  There are so many cute details besides the little boots - the owl eyes, the spider and it's web.  I'm going to finish it tomorrow, maybe as a flat ornie using the bat fabric Sarah sent me and adding a Hallowe'en charm.

Next up is a very quick finish from JCS Hallowe'en Special 2012, the JBW Cat:

We had a very intense and long-awaited-for 90 minute paediatrician's appointment on Thursday and I was so drained afterwards I needed to chill out so I started and finished this little cat in one afternoon flat!

Stitched on the same 28 count again over 1.  I changed the "meow" to 2012.  I know this was in the Hallowe'en issue but TBH it would be lovely for any season, in green and red for Christmas, pink for Valentine's etc.  So don't be surprised to see him again!

Here's the WIP, any ideas now?  Giovanna knows because she has it in her stash and Evalina knows because she's stitching it too!

Stitched using 2 strands of 310 over 2 on 40 count linen.  Nice dense finish!

Finally, I really need some more people for the Hallowe'en Blog Hop on the 31st or the mystery phrase will be "Boo" and not much of a hop!  If you're concerned about your ability to post on the 31st because you'll be out on your broomstick then remember you can schedule a post to be published anytime.  Just ask how!

Click on the picture below to see how to sign up and what you have to do (post a picture basically!).

Homes of Needleworkers

How much fun was it reading all about the Homes of the Needleworkers who follow my blog?

Answer - huge amounts!!

There were a number of recurring themes, finished items on the walls being an obvious one.  Also, piles of WIPS, special chairs/areas of the home for stitching, large amounts of dust, the odd needle in unexpected places (ouch!).  I really think you all deserve a copy of this chart.

But there is only one to go out!  So, who is the lucky winner?

SHEBAFUDGE

(How cool is that font? LOL).  I loved Sharon's answer, she started off telling me all about her framed pieces around the house (Sharon stitches for the whole family, not just herself) then this part which really made me ROFL, especially the poor little cats.

"Moving away from the obvious there are the less obvious clues.
For example, I have tried testing the theory that once the dust hits 3" high it stops accumulating. This is wrong - my dust is at least 5" and is still growing.
If you can conquer the Mount Everest of washing scattered down the hallway trying to walk to the washing machine to get clean you may fall over my WIP/UFO box under the stairs.
The poor cats have taken to sitting outside Pets at Home in the hope someone will take pity and feed them.
Of course the biggest clues are the fact that my homepage is sewandso.co.uk when the laptop is turned on and the stack of final demands from the mortgage company who apparently don't appreciate that stash is more important than their monthly payments.
I do of course take care of the children's nutritional needs -I couldn't let that slip. Domino's pizza deliver a large pepperoni every night at 6pm prompt.Of course I am joking about the dust - it's only 4"."

Congratulations to Shebafudge, drop me an email with your address please and the chart will be on it's way to your lovely home.

There is another lucky commenter for this competition.  I didn't intend to have more than one winner (only one chart, see?) but this person touched my heart with the sad story of their picture-less home.  So if the following person can get in touch with me, choose a design she really wants framed and we'll arrange for me to make a US$10 contribution for the framing, either a store-bought frame to DIY, or towards a custom-made one, heck - push the boat out and get a Jill Rensel special!  US$10 should pay for a couple of painted decorations on the mount at least.

The person who stitches and never frames is:

ROSEY 175

 From

ISHKABIBBLE

Time for a stitchy pic or two.  

Here's my progress on Puntini Puntini Spooky Hallowe'en.  

Have I mentioned how much I love stitching this design?  It's totally addictive.

I scanned it on the huh, it is straight really!

The moon is stitched in a GAST called Harvest Moon - how totally appropriate is that?  I only have 4 skeins of GAST which I've won so it was quite serendipitous that this one was perfect.  The thread is a subtle colour changing mix of pale orange and yellow and is a dream to stitch with.  I spent most of Sunday stitching  the moon (it's over 1 remember!).

The other piece is a Birthday card for my dear friend Karen aka Stitchy Woman.  The design "Guardians of the Sea" was chosen by Christine for the Needlecraft Haven September Challenge and as soon as I saw it I thought "Karen's Birthday".  I used my own colours and threads, added metallics, beads, variegated threads all on a piece of Crafty Kitten's hand-dyed fabric.  How much more could I have squeezed into a 40 x 50 design?!!  (I know, french knots for Shirlee!)

Chart available from Little Stitcher blog.

The blonde mermaid is Karen and the dark haired is me LOL.

Finally, I'll be having a Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop on here on the 31st October.   It'll be similar to the Easter Treasure Hunt with people signing up to post a picture and a letter on the 31st and also a chance for people to just try find the mystery phrase on the day if they can't commit to posting a picture (or don't have a blog yet, Calamity Jr!).  Obviously the picture must be stitched and Hallowe'en themed.  If you're interested in signing up to post a picture please drop me an email and I'll add you to my list.

At some point I'll add a logo and page when I get a Round Tuit.  I had one once but I can't find it now!

Theme-a-licious Looking Backward and Forward IX

September Smalls

"We all love gadgets, and none better than the teensy tools and holders we make ourselves. Let's stitch some smalls--needlebooks, fobs, biscornus, scissors keeps, pincushions--or knit some teensy things--amigurumi, jewelry, sachets...."

Not a lot of small stitching went on, and certainly no cute finishes like Heather listed!

LHN Home of a Needleworker was the main "small", see previous posts and my Finishes blog for pictures.

I also stitched two cards, one of which was for Kell:

and the other is for someone whose Birthday is today, I wonder if she got it on time?

The final small is the Hallowe'en design by Puntini Puntini and I've made great progress on that one:

It's stitched on 28 count over 1 using the black Sullivans thread I got free with JCS.  Has anyone else used Sullivans?  Their big claim is that their "reversed rolled" thread doesn't knot.  Well I'm sorry to report it does knot and much worse than DMC!  My DMC knots are those little loop things where you just pull the threads and they come undone.  This stuff knots and has to be cut out. The end also unravels as you stitch so you have to cut it short by about an inch for every length you use.  This won't be a problem when I stitch using 2 threads and the secured needle method but I imagine it would be annoying if you use the loop start or two loose threads methods.

I also felt the thread was "harder" than DMC while in the skein and much more difficult to remove a length.  With 99% of DMC skeins there is a clearly visible "end" which you pull to remove the thread.  With the Sullivan I had to rummage to find an end, then when I pulled it I realised I'd found the "beginning" of the skein so it was coming out tangled.  The real "end" was found between the two paper loops in the middle of the skein.  Not a good beginning!

I don't think Sullivans are readily available here but I won't be searching them out!  I also think it's a bit cheeky copying DMC's colours so blatently with the lables using the DMC references!  I do like the DMC counter-adverts in the magazine though, especially the copycat one with the kittens.

So thank you to JCS for giving me a chance to try this thread for myself and saving me the disappointment of spending money on it. LOL.  The coverage is okay though so at least I don't have to frog it.

One thing which was worth every penny and more was the chart pack I got from the Italian Needlework show at Formigine.  No, I didn't go to Italy myself, worse luck, but the lovely Giovanna did and bought a copy of my behalf, bless her.  Here's the post where I first read about the fundraiser Niky's Creations.  When Gio mailed the envelope to me she did warn me that it wasn't an actual bound booklet, just some loose charts so I wasn't expecting too much but it was nice to help a worthy cause and I was sure the charts would be good ones.

What I wasn't expecting was 37 new and unique charts by well-known designers clearly printed on high quality paper!  I "drooled" quite happily for some time rearranging them into alphabetical order as per the contents sheet!  My favourites are by Alessandra Adelaide and Renato Parolin but there are many others I want to stitch too.

Looking forward to October's theme - 

Obligation October

"Wow, the holidays are only a couple months away! Avoid that last-minute crunch and work on some gifts now" 

So, there'll be another Birthday card to stitch for an October lady.  I also need a November Birthday as there isn't one in the Needlecraft Haven exchange.  Anyone got a November Birthday or just fancy a nice floral card from me?

Mainly I'm planning to stitch Hallowe'en themes and my two RRs, so they're obligation pieces.  It'd be nice to catch up with Papillon ATW80 so that's an obligation to myself!

Finally, I've helping Blu out with the SAL Directory blog I mentioned a while back.  I've added a couple of new SALs but would love more (and some more followers too!).  So if you hear of any freebie part work SALs going on, let me know.

Is your home the Home of a Needleworker?

And how would I know?

That's the question I'd like you to answer to win my copy of the LHN chart of the same name.

I received the chart last year in a giveaway from Nic the Obsessive Cross Stitcher.  I was so determined to stitch it that I included it in my "12 in '12" and lo and behold, here it is - completed:

Spot the tiny change?  Not 100% sure of them but the Large Boy recognised them for what they are so that's good enough for me.  I was going to use the cute charm Sarah-Beth sent me but it was too big.

The other change was to use the rose pink for some of the letters as I liked the colour.  With hindsight I think I should have used it for my initials letters as it does stand out amongst the muted shades.  Oh yes, and I satin stitched the triangle border, not cross stitched because it was sooooooo much quicker!  And added little red stitches to the wreath instead of the pale green charted which wouldn't have shown up over 1.  But's that's it really!

The design is stitched over 1 thread on the 28count flax linen Kaye sent me with the JBW Noah's Ark chart, that will also be framed in the same brown wood frame (£3.80 from Wilkinsons for my UK followers, available in a variety of sizes!).

I know alot of you already have this chart, either already stitched or in your stash but for those of you that don't, here's a chance to join us!  All you have to do is:

1. Be a follower

2. Leave a comment on this post

3. Telling me HOW I would know I was in the "Home of a Needleworker" if I came to your house/flat/castle.  What is the first thing I would see when I walk up your path/through your door/across your drawbridge?

You have until Wednesday 3rd October to answer.  Make sure that if you are a "no-replier" you include some way for me to contact you.  Even if you've got the chart already please feel free to answer the question just for fun.  You never know, I might have something else you'd like!

Here's my new start, the first of my Hallowe'en stitching (yes, I put an apostrophe in the word because it used to be there when I was young).  This is a freebie from Puntini Puntini but I don't think it's available anymore.  There are some nice freebies still on the blog anyway and some adorable buttons!  When I get to the bottom you'll see the reason I fell in love with this chart!

I'm stitching on 28 count evenweave over 1 using the free Sullivans thread which came with JCS this month.  This is one day's stitching done while the Small Boy was at preschool.  I have to sit at the back of the hall so I might as well do something productive.  I did join in at singing time though because the playleader was struggling to explain The Farmer's in his Den to 2 year olds!

Finally, my blog has just hit the 50,000 views mark!  How incredible is that?