Let's Go Round Again - the Rotation Starts Anew

This year I'm going for a similar rotation to last year - SALs first, then Discworld, then free choice.  The only change I have made is to put the Alice SAL after Discworld because the magazine is released around about the 23nd of the month.

So the first day in February was spent working on my Christmas piece; the 12 Days of Christmas by JBW.  Most of the borders have been done now so it doesn't take long to fill the motifs in.  Or it wouldn't, if the frog didn't visit!  I stitched the darker yellow twice because I had got the red ribbon wrong.

stitched 1 over 2 on 40 count white linen

The next three days were spent on my Hallowe'en piece; the Scary Apothecary series by Hands on Design.  I have put three of these in my "20 in '20" list this year but if I finish all three I might add an extra one.  This is Bat Balm:

stitched on 28 count linen in Radioactive from Chromatic Alchemy

After that I moved on to the Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs.  I finished the banner at the bottom of the left hand corner and then moved across to the landmass in the centre of the piece.  I plan to stitch the coast for the whole of page 14 and then see if I can fill it all in this month.  My goal is a page a month this year and this one is 60% full coverage.

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

Finally, if you signed up for my Secret Sweetheart Stitching Blog Hop, I need the photos by 10th February.  If you haven't signed up yet, there is still time!  Send me an email and I'll add you to the list.

The People Chose Penguins

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:

February - Penguins

March - Coffee
April - Modern Samplers

Penguins.  Penguins.  Thanks Christine.

Unfortunately it would appear that the only penguins I have stitched were in my pre-blog, pre-digital camera days and were given to a friend whose son liked penguins.

So it's going to be a short post today LOL

I was given this lovely book from Lakeside Needlecraft before Christmas:

There are designs from 60 different designers within the book including this cute Penguin from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery:

And these two from Heather Nugent:

There are also numerous Penguin designs in the magazines I collect and plenty online.  I rather like this one by White Willow Designs:

Several years ago I sent a very long piece of fabric to Sharon from Shebafudge to stitch a design called Penguin Parade by Mary Hickmott on.  This is what the design looks like:

This post shows Sharon's start - Shebafudge - Crazy January Challenge 2014

I wonder how she got on with it?

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Penguins, 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. Any thing, 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 Blue, or Holidays, or Warmth etc. Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

Looking forward to reading them all!

January Smalls, Stitch from Stash and Pie

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be my JBW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments which I started on Boxing Day 2019 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.  I completed the first one on Day 9:

stitched 1 over 2 on 40 count white linen

I finished the 6th Jessica Savage Word on the 16th January:

stitched over 1 on 25 count blue evenweave

I was hoping there would be more than 6 of these.  Maybe I will design two more myself.

This is the latest Just Nan Small; Christmas Friends:

stitched on 28 count beige evenweave

I would love to complete 12 Just Nan Smalls this year.  Last year I managed 8 but then stalled on this one.

As usual I have prepared a Pie to share with you all; a Stitching Pie.  I include my main focus piece for each day.  A "day" may only be an hour of stitching or it may be 5 hours but it all averages out.  

I managed to stitch for nearly half the month on the Discworld Mappe which went from here:

to here:

sttiched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

My original plan was to stitch on the Alice in Wonderland SAL for 3 days per month starting with the border at the beginning of January.  Which I did.  But then the next issue came out on the 23rd just as I completed my 15th Day of Discworld.  So I started on the first block straightaway.  Here is Alice watching the White Rabbit disappear down the corridor:

stitched 1 over 2 on 32 count yellow Belfast linen 

I rather like the more sketchy effect of only using one strand of thread instead of two.  It also makes the backstitch so much easier as you can actually see the holes in the linen.

I've been stitching the blue borders while I watch TV and the motifs inbetween at bathtime.

When I completed my second 3 day stint on Alice I had 6 days of the month left, one of which was a full work day.  I knew I'd only get an hour at lunch to work on my Small so I used the Tiny Decision app to choose which project I should stitch the rest of the days.  The first day came up as the Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet (which I showed in my WIPocalypse post) then I spun again for the remaining four days and got Nora Corbett's Gathering Eggs.

Last time I worked on her was the Longest Day Marathon last June and she looked like this:

In four days I finished the purple ribbon, the aqua skirt and started the white fill-in:

stitched on 35 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

I do enjoy stitching her but for some reason she seems to take a long time!

Finally, my Stitch from Stash figures.  I have done this every year except one since the beginning when it was a Blog Challenge.  Now it's on FB and hosted by the lovely Ms Oh Sew Crafty.  It was a very low-spend month, I only bought two skeins of DMC from the local Wool Shop.  I am planning another cheap year with only magazine subscriptions and essential threads/bead purchases.

January
2 skeins DMC	£1.90
Total	£1.90

January WIPocalypse SALs

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 "20 in '20" for this year.  This month I stitched on 7 of them and had a finish too.

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map
(Project 5)


Just Nan - Christmas Friends
(Project 8 and a Finish)

JBW - 12 Days of Christmas

(Project 9)

Hands on Design - Bat Balm

(Project 13)

Just Nan - Winter in the Square

(Project 16)

Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine

(Project 17)

I set my rotation up this year to work on the 12 Days of Christmas and the Scary Apothecary first each month.  Then do at least 14 days on the Discworld Mappe.  After that I loaded a Tiny Decisions wheel with the 7 projects which don't have a set place in the rotation.  I spun it and it chose Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet.  Long-term followers will be thinking "Didn't you finish that a couple of years ago?"  Yes, I did, back in September 2017.  But I never fully-finished it and I have wanted to design and stitch a title page and add a barcode to the back before I make it onto a soft book.  I realised this is never going to happen unless I put it into my "20 in '20" and so here it is.

I charted up the words My Alphabet Book on graph paper and decided to use a variegated thread that featured the colours in the first three blocks.  I did not see the name of the thread until after I had chosen it.  Most serendipitous!

My next task will be to add a barcode and ISBN to the reverse and sew the thing together.

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

January - What SALs are you participating in this year?

Apart from WIPocalypse, my other SALs are

The People's Choice - posts on the first Saturday of each month - theme in sidebar

Fully Finished Gallery - post anything fully finished on the 10th of each month

Gifted Gorgeousness - post anything gifted on the 15th

Christmas Ornie Blog - a different festive theme each month

Smalls SAL - last Friday of each month

The TUSAL - post on the New Moon each month

Alice in Wonderland is a Mystery SAL with a new block in the magazine each month.  I have signed up for the Stitchonomy Year of Mystery SALs although I might not stitch all of them.  Leonore and I have also been talking about a Just Nan SAL for the Summer Holiday as that worked well for me last year.

Finally, I will be continuing with the ever popular Blog Hops this year.  We will have Valentine's, Easter, the Summer Postcard, Hallowe'en and the Advent Calendar.  All at the appropriate time of the year.  I am collecting name for the Secret Stitching Sweethearts for Valentine's Day right now.  Just leave a comment or send me an email.

January TUSAL

The first TUSAL of the year is here, only a few scraps in my tins:

The left hand tin is my travelling tin and the right hand tin lives in my kitchen, which is where I stitch the most.

The project on the left is the new Alice in Wonderland SAL by Amanda Butler for Cross Stitcher magazine.  The border was published in issue 353 and the first block in issue 354 which isn't due out until 28th January but subscribers get their issue early.

stitched on 32 count yellow Belfast linen

I think you can see that is Alice in her giant form, watching the White Rabbit scurry down the corridor.  The back stitching will really make it clear!  I am trying something different with this project - stitching with one thread over 2 to give a more sketchy look to the colours.

If it doesn't work I shall be stitching over each x again.  At least there will be no frogging involved!

The second project is finally finished!  This was started back in Maynia 2018 and then picked up again in September 2019.  Unfortunately I put it aside for Dark October and didn't really go back to it until this January.

stitched on 28 count beige evenweave

It was only when I started on the white corner pieces that I realised this was an un-evenweave!  So the piece is not square.  Luckily it looks OK being slightly elongated.

This chart was a gift from Mouse.  I filed it with my "smalls" to be part of the Stitch Maynia in 2018 but for some reason added it to the "Christmas" section of my Just Nan spreadsheet rather than the "Smalls".  So when Mouse sent me the embellishment pack some time later I couldn't find the chart.  Because I was looking for it in my Christmas bag.  Then, when I picked it up last September, I couldn't find where I had put the embellishment pack!  Luckily I found it this year when I was looking for some fabric Mouse had also sent me...  The two were reunited at last!  Which is good because those floral centre things are expensive and hard to find.

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

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 or send me an email if you are "no-reply". 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.

January 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 focus piece for the weekend was the Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs.  Here's where it was on Friday:

And here is that portion now:

I finished backstitching the owl and got lots of the banner done including the fiddly lettering.

Here is where the whole piece is now:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

I have one more day to work on it this month to make the full 14 days and then I will move on to something else.

I didn't work on Just Nan's Christmas Friends at all because I did some papercrafting instead.  Which I will share when the recipient has received it.

I did work on the Alice in Wonderland SAL from Cross Stitcher magazine.  I made this my bathtime project and added some of the border motifs:

stitched on 32 count yellow Belfast linen

There is a backstitched vine with beaded berries to twine around the border so I'll be doing the beading with the vine for each row once I have completed the three blocks in the row.  There is still another row of blocks to stitch!

Finally, the next IHSW will be 21st - 23rd February 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.  

January Gifted Gorgeousness Link-up Post

Welcome to the January Gifted Gorgeousness link-up,the first one of 2020.  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.

We do have a nice new logo and a new sign-up page - remember to add your blog here as well as at the bottom of this post for your January post.  If you have the link in your sidebar on your own blog, don't forget to update it to the new sign-up page.

My main project for Gifted Gorgeousness has been my Discworld Mappe by Lyndisfarne Designs, which will be a gift for my son.  This is where it was at the end of November:

And this is the portion I have been working on in January:

And the whole piece at the moment:

stitched on 32 count Murano custom-dyed by Sparklies

This is a Just Nan design called Christmas Friends, the chart was a gift from Mouse.  I've been using this as a travel and work lunchbreak project.  I am very close to a finish so here is the corner:

The final gifted project for this month is the 12 Days of Christmas by JBW.  Two of my friends bought two charts each for my Christmas present.  I started one design per day for the 12 Days of Stitchmas and completed the First Day: 

stitched on 40 count white linen, 1 over 2

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 "January 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, I am taking sign-ups for the Valentine's Day Blog Hop.  The previous post contains all the information you need.  If you'd like to take part, please leave a comment.  If you are a "no-reply" blogger because you have not chosen to share your email on your profile, please email me direct or include your email in the comment.