A sneaky stitch

Occasionally I need to just go 'off piste', as they say, with regards to my stitching.  I'm deep in the throes of a time bound project for a family member, but today I caught a glimpse of my long-term WIP on a Facebook page, and I just had to get in a few sneaky stitches.

So here they are... The project is Bucilla's "Mother and Child", and one day next year you will get a fuller picture and story behind the stitch. For today, the little progress is some of the skin tones and red-brown on the hand of the Virgin wrapped around the Child, to the right of the picture. 

Lockdown SAL - the absence of the stitch

Ah... No pictorial updates this week. Being in the midst of packing up our house to relocate, I've had less opportunity to work on my current time-bound WIP, which I will show eventually on completion, as it is a gift for a family member.  So I requested that this week's SAL time be devoted to that project for me.  And as my BFF is already quite ahead of me, she also decided to work on something else too.

But rest assured, we're both still here and maintaining our online meetings as much as we can.  They're good for our mental health, and it's just great to talk, or to listen.

Check out http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com at some point to see  any updates from my BFF once available. 

Did I do anything? Lockdown SAL

Whilst stitching, I felt like I was getting a lot done... So how come I feel like I can barely see what I achieved?  My BFF and I had a night where we just needed to be working on what we could See.... Sometimes a certain patch of stitches suddenly becomes visible.  In my case it was a tad towards the literal sight too... I'm not sure how long the light bulb in my living room has been dead but it certainly helped when I replaced it teehee!!

Head over to http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com to see my BFF's update too. 

Barely a Stitch On - Lockdown SAL

Can you see where I've been?? I can only just make it out!  We had a very reduced time to stitch this week a little over half an hour, delayed by a day too.  But I think it still did us some good, to be able to spend virtal time in each others company.

Head over to http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com to see my BFF's update too. 

Halloween Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2020

Welcome to the Hallowe’en blog hop, hosted by Jo over at http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com.

Along with a picture of some seasonal crafting, we get to share a letter, follow the links through the whole of the blog hop to find the mystery phrase. 

I'm not a massive Halloween stitcher, but I saw this little one and it made me giggle, as I think she looks like me!!

My hubby had the same reaction as me, but my BFF disagrees on the likeness.   What do you think?

So, in the spirit of my post, let me share my letter, 'I' (as in icky..)

Head over to http://janalynmarie.blogspot.com for the next stage of the Hop. 

What did you just say? Lockdown SAL

So, first, the progress picture.  Did a little bit of all sorts this week, some of the bluebell stems, bits of brown path, and a bit of variegated blue.  Ironically the exact same shade looks much more prominent on my BFF's post.. http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com

It's a wonder we managed any stitching at all though... I discovered, quite by accident, that Skype provides a subtitling facility. So there was much hilarity as we tried out regional dialect like 'Howay'.  We even attempted a virtual translation between English and Spanish, but either our regional accent is too strong for the translation to understand the Spanish words, or we were just misunderstanding how to use it.  But it was great fun giving it a try.  Must have a look and see if that's a function of our work Skype too. 

All sussed - Lockdown SAL

All the progress for me this week is in one single colour, sometimes one particular piece of thread will do that.  It's represented on this pattern with a sort of backwards 's' symbol, hence my BFF christened it 'Suss'.

It has been a weird week, lots of busy times at work, both in the office and at home.   Finished the working day in a position of better understanding than I began with, so I feel like both parts of the day were 'sussed'.

My BFF's had a tiring time of things too, so you may get just a pictorial update from her.  Check out her blog at http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com over the next couple of days to see her progress. 

People's Choice SAL - October

Another SAL hosted by Jo over at http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com, each month she allows her readers to choose a theme to post about.  So this month, the people chose Wizards.

My hubby has a growing collection of wizard figurines, many of whom have been brought back from my travels or shopping trips.  So, when I first started to cross stitch in earnest, my BFF's suggestion was this wizard which is actually part of a set of bookmarks.  

Being an absolute newbie at the time, though, I chose to stitch on 11-count Aida, and frame the final item.

It took a couple of years to complete, not that it was a big stitch, however, we suffered the trauma of 2 miscarriages and a traumatic pregnancy with our son.  Somehow the act of cross stitching on this piece and its complex half stitches (at least to an absolute beginner) became bound up with the personal traumas for me emotionally, and it was some time before I could pick up the needle to start again.  I'm still often like that in troubled times, I have learned to deal with it by choosing simple patterns when I am stressed, which I can stitch on until I feel more confident again.

Here he is in all his glory. 

The Goose Drank Wine - Lockdown SAL

Back to the minty grass again this week, hence the blog title... This one's been brewing for a few weeks now as it's our joint automatic response to the colour used for the minty grass.... Can you guess what colour it is yet?  I'll keep you in suspense till the end of the post anyway.

Added the finishing touches to the variegated tree, and even got started on the bluebell stems in the bottom right. 

Head on over to http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com to see how my BFF got on.

Oh... And the thread, of course, is 369.  The song is The Clapping Song written by Lincoln Chase, although I'm not certain which recording of it I remember from childhood! 

Gifted Gorgeousness October

It's the 15th of the month, which means it's time for Gifted Gorgeousness, hosted by the lovely Jo at http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com

I thought I'd save my big finish from the end of September to share with you all... I've posted before about the Golden Wedding sampler I made for my parents.  But here is the final finish, in its frame. Check out my earlier blog posts for the work as it was in progress! 

A post of many colours - Lockdown SAL

This week I did a little bit of a few things.  Finished off the brown in the path, added in some more soothing grass.  But I'm running out of minty grass thread 369, so we decided to do some more variegated up in the trees.  

It did not look like a massive space, but somehow that 'one at a time dotty' style of stitching for the variegated thread slowed things down.  I'm not at all a fan of this variegated green, it's very difficult to be random with it.  Not something I want to revisit, and in fact, if the thread runs out then it will be replaced by a random selection of normal greens.

We did, however, have an hilarious night's nattering, with my BFF's mother's embarrassing stories of youth keeping us amused.  But I found out that I'm no good at trying to retell and recreate the hilarity, so I will keep the memories inside and smile again about them throughout the week ahead.

Head over to http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com to see my BFF's progress. 

The Soothing Properties of Grass - Lockdown SAL

Lots of work on that minty grass again tonight, largely I've generally been unimpressed with the colour.  However tonight, for some reason, the stitching of it was soothing.  Definitely felt like I needed it, it's been a long week today.. Working from home constantly is getting me down, and I'm trying to arrange some time to work in an office, but nothing about the process is going smoothly.  Add to that a few days filled with complex work and tight deadlines, and it's enough to fill my head with difficult thoughts. 

Really enjoyed the get together on Skype tonight, I'll let my BFF tell you about the children's playground songs that pervaded our nattering on http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com

All over the place - Lockdown SAL

Finally starting to feel like there's a single picture emerging, although the bizarre peppermint shade of the grass on the right still intrigues me - it looks less odd in amongst the green stuff on the left. 

This week should have been a walking week, but a local lockdown and torrential rain both put a stop to that.

We started a new variegated thread this week.  Now, most magazines have their patterns with both Anchor and DMC options, this is no exception.  However, two of the threads, Stormy Seas and Mountain Stream, did not have any alternative suggestions.  Fair enough, methinks, I will break with my habits and buy the Anchor threads for those 2.  Unfortunately, as I have had the pattern saved for several years, they have been discontinued so weren't available for purchase.

So, a search was required, and with a bit of Internet wizardry (read Google search), I found a site which compared DMC alternatives to Anchor threads, and suggested levels of closeness.  So the dark path is DMC 4240, replacing Anchor Stormy Seas.  There is a teeny bit of single strand work, and more to come in the rest of the piece in 2 strands.  Feels like there's less variation between the lights and darks in this thread than the variegated green grass.

There's a bit of stuff all over the place this week, which is representative of the state of my head... A busy day in a busy week. 

Head over to http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com/ to see my BFF's progress.. As she beat me to it this week!