Bookmark Exchange Photos

I'm not going to apologise for the number of posts I've made today, catching up with my blogging, because this really deserves to be seen - I'm going to show you all the wonderful exchange Irmeli sent me all the way from Finland!

Although she has no blog of her own, she's obviously been reading mine, because my bookmark featured not only one of my favourite motifs - a beehive - but was stitched in my favourite colours!

Here is the whole exchange - with the bookmark, a sweet postcard, cute buttons, ribbon, fabric in my favourite colours - and a piece with sheep on!, and chocolate (very yummy!)

Here's a close up of the front - isn't it pretty?

And there's the back, personalised too. The piece is beautifully stitched and finished, and way too precious to go into a book, so it sits in a basket on one of my bookcases, where I can admire it without the risk of losing it!

Thank you so much for this gorgeous exchange!

Drawn Thread Exchange

I'm a member of a small group of people who are very talented and love to exchange some wonderful pieces - I feel very privileged to have been invited to join them. This is the piece I received from Marie - I had to use her photo to show the whole exchange as the package arrived when my camera was out of commission. Marie stitched a portion of the Brown Ranch sampler and mounted it on a photo album - which was just so perfectly co-ordinated, and the finishing and stitching is just perfect. You can see a bigger picture below - now I have a functioning camera!


I will use this album for treasured family snaps - most likely of my niece - and one day, I hope a very long time in the future, I will pass this on to her as an heirloom. She already loves crafts so would treasure this as much as I do already.

This is one of the pictures that I will print and add to the album - The Tot on her third birthday. She adores cake - especially chocolate cake - but isn't allowed it very often. I love the look of concentration on her face - she's very expressive!

Cable Fingerless Mitts

Design: Cable Fingerless Mitts
Designer: Me! It's a free pattern too...
Yarn: James C Brett Marble Chunky
Needles: 4.5mm

This third pair of fingerless mitts was made for the Hermit, to go with his stupendously long scarf. This was the last incarnation of the pattern, and the one I was most happy with, so I wrote it up and offered it as a freebie here.

Double Cable Mitts

Design: Double Cable Mitts
Designer: based on a pattern found on Ravelry, but I amended it
Yarn: James C Brett Marble Chunky
Needles: 4.5mm (I think)

I knitted these mitts as a gift for my B-i-L at Christmas - this was one of three pairs knitted as a variation on a theme for the men in my life. I've raved about Marble Chunky before and although time has shown it has acrylic's tendency to pill a little, I like it for quick, cheap to make knits that don't look cheap and nasty. Yes, okay, I admit - I'm a yarn snob. Horrible shiny acrylic just doesn't do it for me, I don't think it ever did, but I am getting worse - sucked into the natural fibres section ...

Trick or Treat - Lizzie*Kate

Design: Trick or Treat from the Hallowe'en Sampler Leaflet
Designer: Lizzie*Kate
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave

Another 2008 finish. It's still waiting to be made up into something, but I should be able to get it made up this autumn - I have a lot of suitable backing fabrics in my stash, given my fondness for autumnal colours! The colours in this photo don't really show up the background fabric very well, it's a bit more yellow. It's rather an odd fabric, I don't know where I acquired it from - possibly a trade or an exchange - as it's rougher than normal evenweave. I like it though - it gives the piece a rustic homespun appearance.

Winter - Trail Creek Farm

Design: Winter (freebie available here)
Designer: Trail Creek Farm
Threads: DMC, own choice
Fabric: 28 count linen oddment

I stitched this in 2008 and haven't blogged about it. I know I made it for the HoE Christmas Exchange, and then realised that as my partner was in the southern hemisphere, where it was summer, it perhaps wasn't appropriate!

I will be making this up into a scissor fob, hopefully for this winter!

Holly Berry Sampler - Bent Creek

Design: Holly Berry Sampler
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC conversion with red substituted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, unknown colour

This is the Holly Berry Sampler without the berries - I have buttons to add, b ut I appear to have misplaced them!

This stitched up pretty quickly and completes the set of three - I've already stitched Plum Berry Sampler and Pumpkin Flower Sampler.

So - two posts, two Christmas trees! :o)

O Christmas Tree - Prairie Schooler

Design: O Christmas Tree from the out of print Christmas Samplers chart
Designer: Prairie Schooler
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, unknown colour

I finished this back in January, but it looks like I didn't blog about it!

This had been a UFO for a couple of years, but when I set to, it didn't actually take a huge amount of time to finish - or at least, it didn't feel like that, because like most Prairie Schooler designs, it was a joy to stitch.

The Hermit is not a huge Christmas fan, and doesn't like ornaments and such, but I'm afraid I'm just going to have to ignore him and get this framed and displayed prominently this Christmas!

As we don't have room for our own Christmas tree in our flat, I think this is a good substitute, and it can preside over the baskets of ornaments...

Why I Don't Have Time to Stitch...

I passed my work this academic year with flying colours*

Has the stress and struggle been worth it? - actually, yes. I feel that I'm just getting into my stride now, and I'm more confident about the work. I learned a lot this past year, not just about theory and academic stuff, but about myself. Yes, it does take over my life to a large extent, but at least I'm seeing results now.

So, excuse me while I have a little brag, I'm pretty pleased ...





*If I keep this up for another three years, I could get a First. For US readers, it's broadly equivalent to magna/summa cum laude, as far as I can tell.

Happy Canada Day!

There are times when I wonder if the Hermit misses his home country. And then there are conversations like this morning's when I realise he doesn't ...

We were talking about Canada Day, and I asked him - because I'm merely an ignorant colonial oppressor - what the National Anthem of Canada was. Apparently it's something called - strangely enough - O Canada. And then the Hermit started to sing. And managed two lines. This is the man who knows albums-worth of obscure lyrics off by heart....

Happy Canada Day, eh!