A finish (YAY!!!!), a doggy update and some reminiscing

Hello Stitching Friends!

I've been meaning to write this blog post for a couple of days now, but I've been soo tired and my brain just hasn't functioned properly. I think it's all the drama involving my dogs that has worn me out, or maybe it's a reaction to all the weird stuff that has been happening this year..?! Anyway, I'm going to try to stay awake long enough to update you on life here in my X-stitch nook😉.

So my furbaby had his dental surgery on Friday and he seems to recover nicely so far🙏.

I'm so relieved! However, he has to eat only soft things for two weeks and I think he and his 'brother' miss their daily afternoon chewy treat. Every day after their afternoon walk they both sit staring at me, wondering if I haven't forgotten anything??!!😂 Next weekend couldn't come fast enough as far as they're concerned😉!

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A lot of sad things happened during my 3-year long break from cross stitch. For one thing, about a year ago we found out that my dad has alzheimer😢. Thankfully the disease is progressing slowly and so far he's able to live a good life at home, but we are all aware that things will only get worse😢. He's just had his 72nd birthday and even though I couldn't see him in person that day, he will visit us soon when my niece celebrates her 18th birthday at the end of the month. 

My plan was to stitch a couple of lighthouse designs for him for Xmas (he LOVES the ocean and boats), but since I've really enjoyed stitching the lighthouse pictures lately, I wanted to see if I could finish one of them early for him and give it to him as a birthday present. I don't have all the correct thread colours, but I searched my stash and tried to come up with other colour options. So here it is...

Design by Cheryl McKinnon from
Cross Stitch Crazy magazine June 2020.

...all finished! The perfectionist in me isn't entirely happy, but if one hasn't seen the original I don't think it looks too bad. I'd like to stitch it again for myself with the correct colours, and but for now I'm happy to frame this and give it to my dad as his belated birthday gift. I'm still planning to stitch another one of the four lighthouse designs for him for Xmas, but hopefully with the correct colours.

Otherwise I haven't made too much of a progress on my projects. I have spent a few hours on Christmas Town by Emma Congdon and it progressed from this...

 ...to this:

When my brain has been too tired for cross stitch, I've been knitting  THIS CARDIGAN ...

...and I'm almost ready to start knitting the sleeves.

Finally, I thought you'd enjoy a few pics of cross stitched stuff from my mum's place. She helped me with the recent vet visits and when I'm in her home I'm always struck by all the crafty things on display. As you may already know, I come from a very crafty family, which you can read more about in THIS  POST , and mum has stitched so many lovely pieces throughout the years. For example she has stitched these three animal pictures...

But she also enjoys receiving handmade things and of course I've given her plenty of hand crafted stuff. I know I stitched this cushion for exemple - even though I can't exactly remember stitching it.

But above all I gave her this cross stitched picture which is the biggest piece I've ever stitched so far.

Design from Cross Stitch Gold magazine.

My original plan at the time was to give it to her when she turned 60, but that year I got a bad case of pneumonia so I ended up finishing the picture 6 months too late and gave it to her for Mother's Day the next year instead. I must say that I'm quite proud of this project, and it's nice to know that it resides with someone who appreciates the art of cross stitch😁!

Now I'm going to watch some ice hockey and pick up the knitting again, and I wish you all a nice, crafty week ahead💝!

AND I made it through the whole post without falling asleep😂😂😂!!

Annie

A Little Birthday Card

Hi all!

My plan was to do lots of cross stitching this week but anxiety and stress put a stop to my plan . Then I also received the heartbreaking news that my wonderful physiotherapist passed away very unexpectedly . . .  Needless to say I have barely stitched anything on the Lavender Fairy , but I hope that the weekend will bring some peace and renewed stitching energy , because I can hear Belle calling from the pile of WIPs : )

Meanwhile I have a small project to show you which I stitched last weekend . It is a birthday card for an acquaintance and I used a chart designed by Durene Jones from the magazine Cross Stitch Gold issue 100 .

I love her designs since she always uses a lot of bright colours and has a very interesting and different way of using sketchy backstitch to highlight her colourful designs : ) These particular charts were originally meant for a female recipient , but I fell in love with them and decided to try to adjust the colours and the design to fit a birthday card for a male recipient . I also added the name and tried to add backstitch to the name in a way that would match the rest of the design .

There are five more similar charts to this one in the magazine and since I really loved stitching this card it is quite possible that I will stitch a few more for future birthdays . But then I think I will stick to the recommended thread colours - it is much easier that way : )

Now I am going to try to get some rest and relaxation so I can get back to stitching my beautiful Belle : )

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie

My cross stitch header!

My clever sister (who you can find here ) helped me to create my gorgeous blog header .
And I just love it ! My stitching looks even better then it does in real life !

Let me tell you about my favorite cross stitch projects and what they mean to me ...

This gorgeus poenix is by Joan Elliott from one of her cross stitch books . This was one of my first larger projects that I stitched , and one of the first times I stitched with metallics and varigated threads . I just LOVE the colours and how it came out in the end - although there was A LOT of backstitching...

 

This tulip design is from The World of Cross Stitching and was the design that got me back into cross stitching once I came home to Sweden . I saw it on the front of an English cross stitch magazine in a  Swedish newsagent , fell in love with it and just had to stitch it! And that was it ; I was hooked again !

 

This tiger is my favorite completed cross stitch picture so far ! It is soo stunning ! The pattern is from Cross Stitch Collection and was a joy to stitch . I would like to stich more wild animals in the future , especially when they look as realistic as this one ...

 

 

Finally, as a dog lover this picture was a perfect project for me ! It's a Joan Elliott design from Cross Stitch Gold . I decided to change the saying from ' A House Is Not A Home Without a Dog !' to 'A Flat Is Not A Home Without a Dog ' since it was more fitting to my own life :) Now it hangs in pride of place on the wall of my living room !

 

Happy Stitching ,

 

Annie