A wolf, an elephant, and a little bit of Xmas

Hello Stitching Friends!

I cannot believe what has happened in Europe and Ukraine since I last posted on this blog😨😢💔... 

However, if I'm going to stick to cross stitching, you may remember that during the Winter Olympics I had decided to try to work on Emma Congdon's Christmas Town every day during the competitions. I managed to stick to that goal pretty well so now the town has progressed from this...

...to this! 

Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 285

Now there are mainly white areas left to stitch. However, with everything that has happened lately I have found it hard to motivate myself to work on it. But I'm trying, and I'm determined to finish it.

Another project I have been working on after Christmas is the collection of three animal siluettes by Durene Jones.

I have now finished the wolf siluette.

Cross Stitcher magazine, October 2021

And I also finished the elephant siluette, but a friend of mine saw it, bought it, and it now hangs on her wall.

Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 379.

So now I have to stitch it again if I want the complete set😉.

As far as the polar bear is concerned I still have a long way to go...

Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 379.

After the Olympics I really wanted to stitch something cheerful and colourful so I made a start on the sampler A Song for Spring by Cheryl McKinnon.

A Song for Spring designed by Cheryl McKinnon.
From Cross Stitcher magazine issue 354 (March 2020)

In the last week or so I have struggled with my stitching/crafting mojo and suddenly I felt like picking up one of my Prairie Schooler Christmas projects again. There's something really relaxing about stitching PS charts. I only wish I had more of them.

The Prairie Schooler, Book No. 199

As you can see it is coming along nicely.

That is it for now, I guess. I've really struggled writing this post; my brain and my heart are just all over the place😔... I hope you are all well and staying safe in this crazy, scary world😔. 

Annie

YAY- I'm back stitching again!

 Hello Stitching Friends!

I'm back😁🙌! And it makes me really happy💝. 

So, what happened you might ask...??

Well, I certainly did not plan for this extended break from cross stitch (as well as blogging about cross stitch) since last summer, but other things just happened in my life...as they do sometimes. I suddenly found myself knitting and crocheting lots of stuff for friends and aquaintances which kept me busy for several months, and then there were plenty of Xmas gifts to be finished. And before I knew it 6 months had passed since I had threaded a cross stitch needle...😲!

But now life has slowed down again and I have finally been able to dug out my cross stitch stuff again, yay! And I know you won't be surprised when I tell you that the very first thing I did was starting some new projects😂. During the autumn I saw this gorgeous silouette of a wolf designed by Durene Jones in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 375...

...and I knew that as soon as I started stitching again I wanted to stitch this wolf. 

As it turned out, this design was then joined by two more in issue 379...

...so obviously I had to make a start on all of them😉😁.

Since the wolf is my favorite design of the three I made a start on it first, and it's also the one closest to being finished.

The other two I have just started, and here's the elephant...

...and the polar bear.

Even though I'm back stitching and enjoying it, I have found it extremely difficult to stick to one project. Nohing new there really, but I'm more restless than ever and I'm a bit frustrated with myself because of it. I spend an hour or two on a project and then I loose interest. Maybe I can blame the covid situation...or the menopause...? Part of me just want to keep starting new cross stitch projects and hope that one of them will grab my attention for longer than a day, but that's obviously a bad solution😉. So I've looked through all my WIPs desperately hoping that one of them might grab my attention again...and only The Prairie Schooler projects called out to me.

One of my WIPs is the smaller design from the book No. 177 called JANUARY and inspired by the snowy Swedish season I decided to bring it out again.

This is where I'm at with this one...

I also found this pattern book No.143 with another snowy theme so - surprise, surprise - I started this one too.

My progress so far...

Finally I have to show you my 2021 calender from Cross Stitcher issue 365 which is now - AT LAST - framed and up on my livingroom wall!! As usual I did it myself and used a low cost frame from IKEA.

2021 calendar, Cross Stitcher issue 365.
Design by Cheryl McKinnon (Tiny Modernist)

I just looove this project!!! Soo much fun to stitch and looks great on my wall too😍😍😍! Now I've spotted a similar calendar with little doggy pictures 😍🐕🐶😍 and I'm dying to make a start on it, of course😂. But first I'm going to TRY to finish a couple of projects; hopefully the Winter Olympics will provide me with plenty of time and inspiration for that🤞🤞🤞.

My constant joy and reason for living😍🐾😍...
and a dear old Santa that mum made over 50 years ago🎅😍

.

Lots and lots of love to you all and I hope that 2022 has treated you well so far💝.

Annie

A dangerous discovery

Hello Stitching Friends!

Hope you are all ok? I've been very busy this month watching all the fotball/soccer games in the ongoing UEFA EURO 2020, and although I've been cross stitching every day I haven't found the time to write about it. 

But now Sweden is out of the tournament and with only 8 countries remaining for the quarter finals I have some time to spare again😉😁. Until the Olympics start...but that's another story!

Except for the fotball, my wonderful niece graduated from school this month which is a very big deal of course! 

And we were able to have a family celebration to mark the occation. (Luckily the older generation in my family are all fully vaccinated now and I'm getting my second shot this month.) Of course I stitched a card for my niece Linnea and the chart is designed by Emma Congdon. I used my own colours for this one.

I really had every intention to try to finish some projects this summer, but who am I kidding😂🙈?? Of course I still have those intentions, but I just HAVE to start some new projects; life wouldn't just be any fun otherwise😉😊! And then there is Christmas coming up in (only) six months which might require some new projects... There's just always a good reason to start a new project, isn't there?!

So this month I started work on this cute picture which I plan on displaying in my hallway, for obvious reasons😁🐾🐕🐕! 

It's designed by Durene Jones and I found it in The World of Cross Stitching issue 291. 

And I have been stitching some small designs like this dream catcher letter which I plan to turn into an ornament for myself at some point.

Dream catcher ABC by Amanda Gregory from
The World of Cross stitching issue 277

I decided to have some fun with this little design and added some beads from my collection and I think it turned out great.

However, the best thing (or worst thing depending on how you see it🙈😂) that happened to me this month is that I discovered cross stitch patterns on ETSY. Oh boy, what a treasure trove for cross stitchers! I'm probably the last one to find my way into that world, but now I cannot tear myself away from it, haha! Soo many gorgeous patterns😍😍😍😍😍! And so easy to get hold of too! 

I want them ALL of course, and I just had to get a few that were on sale...🙈. And of course I just HAD to start a gorgeous Christmas project from VladaXstitch...

...and I've gotten this far. It's a bit difficult to see the gridlines in the digital pattern so it's taking me a little bit longer than I planned. 

But overall it's an easy pattern to stitch and I'm enjoying  the process!

I'm in this crazy creative flow right now and I cannot stop thinking of crafting and cross stitch. Sleeping seems a waste of time and all I want to do is watch sports and stitch😁. It's quite a wonderful state of mind to be in actually😊. I just wish I had arms like an octopus and double the amount of time available to do all my creative stuff😂!

Now I'm going to take my furbabies for a sunny walk and then I'm going to get some stitching done. I haven't had time to pick up the needle yet today and it's really beginning to bug me, haha! 

Love,

Annie 

Ten (or in my case seven) Things for Jo's Tenth Blogaversary

Hello Stitching Friends!

When Jo from the blog Serendipitous Stitching recently celebrated a tenth blogaversary she listed and answered a Ten Things Tag list. I really enjoyed reading the post, so I decided to join in the fun. However, I haven't kept an extensive record of my stitching the way Jo has, so my own list is unfortunately incomplete and only contains seven of the ten tags.

The tenth blog post you made

This was a post back in April 2015 and I was really happy to finally get around to framing a summer window.

I'm still hoping to finish the autumn and winter windows from the same series...

The tenth blog in your blog list

At the moment it is A Stitcher's Story which is written by the super sweet Vickie who displays the most gorgeous seasonal stitching projects on her cabinets and shelves AND adores poodles🐩🐩🐩! She has even designed a really cute Calendar Poodle SAL which is free on her blog.

A designer you have stitched more than ten designs.

This was a little bit tricky since I like a lot of different designers. However, the more I though about it I realised that the designer I have stitched the most is probably Lesley Teare since she designed my favorite go-to design for cards.

I have definitely sitched this design more than 10 times, haha! I have a feeling that designs from Joan Elliott and Emma Congdon come in a close second and third if you check out my WIPs and finished projects...

 

 A project that took/is taking more than ten years to complete

Since I am a periodical stitcher this tends to happen every now and then, and even more so since I also love to start new projects instead of finishing my WIPs. 

This Christmas scene was a loooong time in the making, but these days I put it up on my wall every Christmas. 

The pattern is from an old Swedish weekly women's magazine.

At the moment I should think that this sweet little girl is my oldest WIP. I started stitching her when I still lived in London 16 years ago. Clearly I wasn't too worried about fractionals back then, but whenever I bring her out these days all those fractionals makes me cringe. So she goes back in the UFO pile again...

The tenth colour on your current project. Do you use it a lot?

My current WIP is a seasonal design in four parts and DMC 964 is used for the summer and winter motives .

I certainly like to stitch with bright and happy colours, and this blue shade features in at least one more of my current WIP:s. 

Your tenth finish this year (or last year if you haven't finished ten so far this year)

Well, right now I'm working on the 10th and 11th finish for the year, so I'll just show you my ninth finish instead which I gave to a good friend of mine.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've lost the design details for this project...

How has your stitching style changed in the last ten years?

My stiching style has changed A LOT in ten years, that's for sure.

When I started this blog I was into Joan Elliott's pretty but complicated fairies... 

...and life-like animal motives.

I didn't see any limitations and thought I could stitch just about anything, regardless of size, beads or metallic threads. I think about it as my delusional phase...🙈😂😳. I just don't know WHAT I was thinking...?! Most of those projects are still UFO; do I need to say more..?! Although I might pick some of them up again since they're quite close to being finished...

Somewhere along the line I discovered designers like Emma Congdon, Durene Jones and Cheryl McKinnon and projects with blocks of bright colours...

...and a lot less time-consuming backstitching.

Maybe some cheerful sayings...

...and pretty nature/seasonal designs.

The urge to stitch pretty, complicated fairies or large animals with lots of confetti stitches has completely disappeared along the years.

The one constant cross stitching love has been Christmas projects....

....but I try to stay away from too much backstitching and/or tricky charts/details in my Christmas designs too these days. 

Overall, it seems I've moved away from complicated stitching and now just want easy, cheerful and uncomplicated designs at this point in my life. But who knows what kind of cross stitching projects I will like in 5 or 10 years time...😉😳😀???

Finally, I want to leave you with a short video from our morning walk today. We are really enjoying gorgeous spring weather here in Sweden😳...

Don't you just wish you were here?!😂

Happy Stitching,

Annie

A couple of framed projects and Cookies for Santa

Hello Stitching Friends!

How are you all doing? Here in Sweden autumn is approaching and the days are getting darker and the nights are getting colder. As I'm writing this, it is pouring with rain outside and I have lit a scented candle; love, love, LOVE scented candles! I don't mind the dark and the cold since the winter and the snow is my favorite part of the year and autumn is a sign that my favorite part of the year is on its way😊🍂.

Last week my niece had her 18th birthday so of course I had to cross stitch a cool card for her. The design is from the Cross Stitch Crazy magazine, but unfortunately I don't know the issue or designer...😞.

And whilst I was busy making the card, I also took the time to frame dad's lighthouse picture and I gave it to him during the weekend as he visited us for my niece's birthday party. 

Cross Stitch Crazy magazine, June 2020.
Designer: Cheryl McKinnon

I also framed my own little cross stitched themed picture.

From Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 310.
Designer: Durene Jones.

It was so much fun to stitch and I love how it turned out😍!

As far as actual stitching progress, I have continued with my Xmas themed pieces. I'm making great progress on my must-finish-for-this-Xmas project...

...and I have also surprised myself by spending some time on my Xmas doily with the cute little gnomes and Xmas greenery🎅🎄.

But my absolute favorite project this week has been a project I had actually forgotten I had...until I recently remembered it in the middle of the night on one of those occasions when I laid sleepless😳. (My sleep pattern is completely ruined after everything I've experienced and I wouldn't be able to sleep at all if I didn't have my sleeping pills...)

So I bought this adorable pattern way back in 2016 after having seen it on other cross stitching websites.

When I managed to find it, I discovered that I had only made a tiny start before my cross stitching mojo disappeared.

As I took this picture of my pitiful start 4 years ago, I also tried to capture the sparkle on the gold-flecked aida fabric. It's just gorgeous!!!!

I'm having so much fun working on this gorgeous project.

For exemple, I'm just obsessed with these Christmas tree branches! They are so simple but so festive and just soo cute😍😁! 

Luckily for me, I made sure back in 2016 that I had all the threads so there's nothing stopping my progress on this one...well, except for all my other projects I want to work on...😂

So, that is all for now I think. Or maybe not...I just have to include a cute furbaby pic, don't I😉😍?!

He's lost so many teeth now that the tongue is poking out when he sleeps...
...sooo cute😍😍😍!

Hope you all have a great weekend with plenty of time for cross stitch!

Annie