A piece of someone's cross stitching life💝

Hello Stitching Friends!

Recently I was contacted by a stranger, a lady who appearently follows my Swedish CHRISTMAS BLOG every year. She had seen some of my Xmas stitching and wondered if I would be interested in some stitching material she had inherited from her grandma. Not knowing anything about stitching herself, she wanted to see the material come to good use. She sent me some pictures and I could see that I would be able to use at least some of it. She also told me that her grandma's name was Ingrid and that Ingrid had loved doing her crafts and had stitched the most beautiful pictures. And for Xmas Ingrid always sent stitched Christmas cards to all her loved ones💝.

So the other day I received a big parcel filled with bits and pieces from grandma Ingrid's cross stitching life. It was a very emotional experience to go through someone else's leftover stitching💔. To see loved cross stitch projects halfway finished and other projects not yet started but clearly something another stitcher had fallen in love with. I could tell that Ingrid loved various motifs from nature like flowers and birds, and that she liked to stitch on evenweave.

And it made me emotional to see that she used to do exactly what I do when I stitch a readymade kit; write the symbols on the pre-sorted cardboard thread organizers.

There were some small projects that had caught her eye at one time and were waiting to be stitched.

And various pieces of white aida fabrics.

It was also obvious that she indeed loved stitching Christmas cards. There were a couple of Christmas card kits, and even though she had already stitched the actual cards, the kits still contained the charts and the leftover DMC threads. 

And luckily this Swedish cross stitching brand, SVARTA FÅRET,  always lists their threads by symbols as well as the correct DMC number, which means that I can reuse the threads.

There were also some leftover cardstock to use for new Christmas cards.

And plenty of DMC's bright red Christmas colour, DMC 666😁.

And some metallic threads...

After I had spent a few hours sorting out all the leftover DMC threads from Ingrid's projects on my cardboard bobbins, I had built up quite a stash.

It surprised me how emotional it made me feel to go through someone else's stash and unfinished projects. I felt extremely honored and humbled to take care of Ingrid's legacy and it made me feel like I got to know a part of her. Which is a strange feeling to have since I never met her...💝

Otherwise, I have managed to stitch a little bit more on my Christmas doily and made a start on the second Christmas gnome.

Informally, I'm telling myself that if I can stitch one side each autumn my doily will be finished in 4 years... Fingers crossed🤞!

Happy Stitching,

Annie

Xmas stitching in August; another UFO and a favorite

 Hello Stitching Friends!

This weekend I decided to give some love and attention to another old project from my pile of stitching UFOs. Yet again it's a Christmas themed piece. Well, what can I say... I admit, I love everything Christmas🎅🎄😉!

So this is a table cloth. Actually, I have no idea why I bought this one back in the day. I love the pattern and the overall look of it, but I cannot imagine stitching everything four times😩😬. I just don't know what I was thinking...?! Maybe it was on discount; that would explain it... Apparently, I also decided to stitch it on 11-count aida instead of 14-count, so I clearly wanted it bigger than the original. I don't really mind that; it is easier to stitch on the 11-count aida anyway. However, I had decided to still stitch with two strands of thread instead of three so the coverage isn't perfect. But I can live with that too.

However, it didn't take me long to realise that I had used the wrong red shade for the border, so I started by unpicked the bright red border stitches. Luckily I hadn't stitched that much of it...

 

So, it turns out that I started to stitch this table cloth before I started to sew gridlines on all my projects, and now I just cannot imagine stitching anything without my gridlines so I had to add some before I could continue with anything else. 

However, I didn't grid all the fabric; it's a time consuming process and I decided to grid the fabric in sections. Then I made a start on one of the corners...

...and it is looking great so far. It's a fairly simple pattern with few colours and hardly any backstitching...there's just a lot of it, haha😁. But at least it's out of the box of shame...

I've also stitched some more on another Xmas pattern; my favorite at the moment. I'm stitching this one with three threads since the kit comes with 11-count fabric, which means that I can't use the loop start. Which in turn means that I try to anchor the thread in previous stitches. 

And now I've finally reached the elaborate Xmas border and could make a start on it.

I just love this one and so far I'm quite determined to finish this beauty for Xmas this year since I have great plans for it😉🤞.

I've also made a start on sorting out some of my old DMC/Anchor threads. I have leftover threads from old projects lying around and with my stash dwindling fast, I need to make the most of what I DO have.

   

So I got some cheap cardboard floss bobbins and have made a start at least.

Definitely a work in progress but I really like how efficient and organized it makes me feel😂.

Hope you are all doing ok? 

Happy Stitching Everyone💝!

Annie

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😉!

-

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

An old favorite makes an appearance!

Hello Stitching Friends!

Hope you're all doing ok? We've had a bit of drama here in my x-stitch nook😳. The same day I posted my last blog post, I discovered a big crack in my little furbaby's large teeth, and I knew straight away that he had to see a vet and have an expensive surgery to remove the tooth😔.

Luckily I found a vet who could see us - it's vacation time in Sweden so my ordinary vet surgery wasn't available - and my old boy got some blood work done before the surgery at the end of this week. All the tests looked good for his age, but since he's 11 1/2 years old I'm still quite worried about him having to be anesthetized😳. 

So the stress and anxiety of it all has been rough. Luckily I have had my crafts to keep me sane, and I've also been extremely happy to see the NHL starting up again over the weekend. With so much time in front of the telly I've made some good cross stitching progress, especially on an old favorite.

When I lost my mojo a few years back, I had a few projects that were quite close to being finished. So I decided to grab one of them from my WIP pile this weekend and it's a beautiful wintry design, Festive Flurry, by Emma Congdon  which was published in Cross Stitcher magazine (issue 298) in November 2015. 

Emma Congdon has become one of my very favorite cross stitch designers, and this project was no exception. As you can see above I already had most of the scene inside the snow glob stitched before my loooong break from cross stitch. After a few hours on Saturday I had added some snow and more detail on the bottom of the snow globe.

And after some stitching on Sunday too, the picture looked like this.

 Just a session or two left on this one now...! I'm surprised at how much I seem to enjoy working on Xmas designs right now...?! Totally out of season, but then nothing has been normal this year anyway so I guess it makes a weird kind of sense😉😳...

I've also stitched a bit on one of my lighthouse designs (by Cheryl McKinnon) and started to add the rock that the lighthouse stands on.

Except for the surgery on Friday, I'm not quite sure what the week will bring... I'm just grateful to have my furbabies by my side and my crafts to keep me calm and give me a sense of achievement💓.

Take Care and Happy Stitching!

Annie

The Last start of the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge

Hello Stitching Friends!

 So, this weekend it was time for the very LAST start of the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge which was hosted by stitchers TIFF and RACHEL. Originally it was meant to be a 17-day new start challenge over the Olympics, but as things changed it turned into a 17-week challenge of starting one new project each week. When I got back to cross stitch this spring I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and like a way to really get my cross stitching mojo going. And it did, and it was fun, but I also learnt that even thought I really like to start new projects, there actually is a limit to how many projects I like to start in a limited period of time. And that limit is definitely reached now, haha😂.
Now I need to find another stitching challenge that motivates me to be able to finish all these projects, if not more....😂😂!

So, my last start...
Well, I had grand plans for  this one, which was using a dark blue aida fabric and start start stiching one of the night time lighthouses designed by Cheryl McKinnon from the June 2020 issue of Cross Stitch Crazy. 

I knew it might be demanding on my eyes, but once I got the dark blue fabric out I realised that there was no way I'd be able to stitch on it. I really need a new pair of progressive glasses and until I get that sorted it will be impossible for me to stitch on darker fabrics 😟.

So sadly I had to rethink my last start and instead I decided to begin stitching the other lighthouse design featured on white aida fabric. 

So this is my progress so far:

Quite depressing really and not at all a worthy last start of this crazy binge period😔.

I did however add some more to my penultimate start from last week, the other lighthouse. 

This is where I was after last weekend....

...and this is where I am now...

I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to finish these two lighthouses, but I really enjoy working on them.

Finally I thought I show you what happens whenever I leave my crafty corner on the sofa...

He clearly agrees with me that it's the best spot on the sofa😍. And speaking of furbabies, I'm very glad to report that my other furbaby is doing better and doesn't need the dreaded cone anymore🙌!

Hope all of you stay safe and healthy, and that you get lots of time for stitching💝.

Annie

Lighthouses, cone of shame and a cross stitched gift

Hello Stitching Friends❗

What a crazy week this is turning out to be! I had plans to write my weekly post about Spring Into Summer New Start Binge on Monday or Tuesday the latest, but suddenly lots of things happened at once and this is the first chance I've had to sit down with my computer and show you what has happened stitching-wise since last week.

One of the things that happened this week is that my poor beagle suddenly got some kind of  nasty wart-thing on his tail, which he then managed to burst😲, which resulted in a bit of a mess... Since then I've kept his tail under close observation with lots of wound cleaning and he's had to wear the dreaded cone of shame, poor thing😟.

Thankfully the tail is looking a little bit better now, and he's feeling better himself, but he still has to wear the cone so I can make sure that he doesn't lick the wound yet. But I'm feeling hopeful that maybe I don't have to take him to the vet this time. I've had far too many expensive trips to the vet with this boy throughout the years😩.

Anyway, moving on to stitchy matters, the fact is that once again there hasn't been too much stitching going on that I can show you. I have worked on some cross stitched gifts for the future, and I have also done some knitting. However, on Sunday I started a new project as part of the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge, which is hosted by the lovely TIFF and RACHEL.

This time I picked a lovely lighthouse design by Cheryl McKinnon from Cross Stitch Crazy latest June issue. I'm planning to give it to my boat-loving father for Xmas.

My start this week is the picture on the top shelf.

 But I also have some dark blue aida fabric in my stash so I'm thinking that maybe I can stitch another one out of the four featured in the magazine with a dark background as a second gift for dad... As always I have so many plans😉. Knowing myself I think I'd better focus on finishing the first lighthouse picture😜.

Anyway, this is where I'm at. I love working on this one, but as usual I don't have all the threads required😒. I'm still hoping though that once I've added the colours I DO have, I may be able to find matching threads amongst the remaining colours in my stash. It helps that the picture is stitched in contrasting blocks of colours so hopefully I can be a bit flexible with the design🤞.
I must admit to becoming quite frustrated with my decreasing thread stash; I definitely need to order some more DMC threads as soon as I can afford it!

Finally I have a PROPER finish to show you... YAAAYYY!!!
I don't know if you remember the flower I stitched last week as part of the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge, but here it is once again...

I decided to turn it into a little keepsake for my friend's mother Anita who's past 90 and have various health issues. She's a lovely kind lady who has spoiled my dogs throughout the years. And since I wasn't able to give it to her in person, here is the picture proof that she received my little gift!

That cheeky smile goes straight into my heart💝! Hope you enjoy your little stitched gift, Anita!

That's it for now, and now I'm going to ponder which project is going to be my final start in the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge...🤔!

Happy Stitching Everyone💓.

Annie

A crafty little holiday and a versatile flower for Spring Into Summer New Start Binge

Hello Stitching Friends!

This time around I haven't too much stitching to show you, but it's for a good reason! Me and the dogs were invited to spend a few days with my sister in their caravan this past week, and it was simply lovely. The caravan park...

...was situated next to a small fishing lake...

 ...and me and the dogs enjoyed leisurely walks around the lake every day.

As a child I spent a lot of time on our boat in the Swedish archepelago so it was wonderful to be back in that kind of environment again.

Since me and my sister are very crafty people, we did spent a lot of time crafting whilst in the caravan.

However, the light wasn't always good enough for the three cross stitch projects I brought along, so it's a good thing I also brought my knitting, a Swedish KAL which will be a cardigan eventually, fingers crossed. Obviously the most important thing to bring on a holiday is your craft projects, right?!😉😅

The one cross stitch project I managed to make some progress on was Christmas Town by Emma Congdon. Stitching with turqouise thread on white aida was easy on the eyes so I went from this...

 ...to this:

I'm very happy with my efforts so far on this gorgeous Xmas project, and next step is to stitch the snowflakes (and birds) in the sky so that I can fill in the rest of the turquoise sky without too much counting...

We arrived home on Saturday, so yesterday I was able to pick a project for the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge hosted by TIFF and RACHEL . 

This time I stitched my own version of one of my favorite small patterns, Patchwork Flowers by Lesley Teare from The World of Cross Stitching issue 230. 

It's such a fabulous pattern; it's got six different chart versions and it's perfect for using up your stash, and for mixing and matching your own colours. I've lost count how many various flowers I've stitched using these small patterns.

And here's the latest little flower all finished, and my plan is to turn it into a little gift for someone special.

This week I have nothing special planned so I look forward to lots of stitching and maybe some knitting. 

Happy Stitching everyone💓❗

Annie