I'm Done With Stitching!

Well, stitching in 2015 that is!

A few days ago I put in the final stitches in to my final finish of the year, Catherine Agnes by Indigo Rose, gifted to me by the lovely Dana (you may know her as Parksfarm here and there) and she was right - I loved (almost!) every stitch!

 

I stitched this using 28ct Quaker and a mixture of Jodyri Antique and Regular silks (with a Caron Wildflowers used just to outline the cutwork) and it was packed full of speciality stitches (closeups of which you can see here if you are interested).  It did include the stitch that a lot of stitchers love to hate (except the crazy ones that love them, not mentioning any names you know who you are!) and I was very proud of myself that I powered through and did them at great cost to a now very bent straw needle - Bullion Knots, 28 to be exact !!!!

 

 

Not perfect but the best I've managed thus far!
 

Now that piece is completed I have the final results of my stitching for 2015!  With a clean slate for the start of 2015 I managed to have 50 starts and 50 finishes - more finishes than in the past three years combined!

 

I didn't start the year intending to have that many finishes, I knew I would have at least 27: 12 freebie projects, 12 hardangers and the 3 medium size projects I'd picked last year. 

 

The number of finishes would explain how I managed to smash my Operation Threadporn goal total!  At the start of the year I wanted to use 12% - 15% of my hand dyed thread collection in my projects, but was dubious as to whether I would ever manage it!  I can now reveal that in 2015 I managed to use 26.43%, which I am chuffed to bits with as when your collection is in the four figures that's a lot of different threads!  I loved stitching from stash, in the truest sense, as 92% of my finishes were stitched from stash - patterns, fabric and thread, changing threads and fabric to suit what I had already.  Of course it helped that I didn't purchase hardly any threads, especially in the latter half of the year - my sister was right, having a percentage as a goal was a real motivator!  The last few months I have only bought #8 and #12 white perle, white #9 beads and black AVAS - all needed for current projects.  The whole challenge really did cure me of my need to own all the threads - I knew my favourites before, but now I'm really sticking to them, quality over quantity and all that.  Consequently I've halved my stash budget for 2016 so as not to be drawn into temptation again!

 

The other part of Operation Threadporn was to try and fully finish more of the pieces that I stitched, which worked until about halfway through the year, then all I wanted to do was stitch!  The fact I told myself I "had" to do something was probably the reason for my rebellion!  However on the positive side, the 10 FFOs I did have were 10 more than I would have done last year lol!  I'm never going to be a finisher - neither me or my friends that love my stitching have the room in their houses for it to be displayed properly.  As much as I love my stitching, I don't have the room for all the things I finish - so they go in The Drawer where they take up far less space as I am not giving up stitching!  I'm still trying to figure out where I can display ONE of these (and I have many that I want!!) as wall space is already scarce in my little apartment!

 

The other thing I was keeping tabs on this year was the number of different stitches I used in all my pieces.  I gave up counting sometime in September, by which time I had already used 60 different stitches, so my total for the year will come in at around 70, probably 80+ different stitches used in 2015.  That pretty much confirms that although I am interested in all types of embroidery, its history and technique - counted threadwork is where my heart lies and where it will settle.

So having already discussed my (lack of any real) plans for 2016 here, I leave you with four little teaser shots for the projects I've kitted for January - not including Mabel's first piece for her SAL as until I see the design I cannot pick the colours :).  One of them is my New Year's New Start for 2016, by a designer that I have not stitched before and the others to be stitched as and when the mood takes me in January and beyond:

 

Answers on a postcard.........

 

Thank you to everyone that has stopped by my blog this past year and to all of you who comment/email/message me and encourage me in my stitching - I hope you are all having fun planning your new starts for 2016!

 

Happy Stitching!

Final Operation Threadporn Finish!

Before I show my final Operation Threadporn finish, here is an update on the goals situation:

Finish A Flamestitch - DONE

Finish Summer (Autumn) Tree of Stitches 

Start and finish my final Autumn/Winter new start - Catherine Agnes by Indigo Rose

Complete October, November and December SOTW Hardanger squares - DONE

Complete Snow Poem Tree by Erynne Chard (freebie, blog no longer available)  - DONE

Complete Winter Solace by By The Bay Needlearts (freebie from a past BTB newsletter) - DONE

No stash spends for the remainder of the year unless I run out of AVAS on Flamestitch - still  staying strong, only black AVAS purchased for A Flamestitch

Try and properly finish a few things here and there

Kit up a few projects from stash in preparation for next year! - DONE

So just two projects to carry forward to December, Summer Tree of Stitches and Catherine Agnes to start and finish!

Here is my finish of Erynne Chards's Snow Tree Poem.  In the end I decided to keep it simple with just one colour of silk and beads, but did go with two colours of metallic as PTB15 is one of my faves and I couldn't resist!





 

 

It was hard to photograph as it is so sparkly with all the metallic and AB delicas!  The fabric is 28ct Jazlyn Twilight Enchantment by The Crafty Kitten and the threads are Night Smoke 5301 (HDF) and PTB 10 and 15.

 

I will write a post at the end of the month on Operation Threadporn, my thoughts and musings on this year long undertaking of mind - including the final tally of threads used for the year of course!

 

Thanks for visiting and also to everyone who left a comment on my last post, I really appreciated it!

 

Happy Stitching!

2016 Stitching Manifesto - The Marie Kondo Method

Warning:  This is an entirely verbose blogpost, these thoughts have been buzzing around my brain and are written here more for my benefit than for your enjoyment - so please feel free to skip!

In case you haven't realised, I am one of life's planners.  I love lists and being organised is essential to my wellbeing - I'm one of those tidy home equals a tidy mind freaks :).  The same is very much true with my stitching, I've never caught startitis and designs that require either a large amount of time or money (or both!) are never entered into lightly!  I've also never been one to jump on the bandwagon at the drop of a hat (which is faster then the blink of an eye) and have realised this year that I am not much of a "social" stitcher!  This post will be laying out some thoughts and musings on my plans for next year - so if that type of thing isn't your bag I completely understand!

2015 saw a feat never to be repeated - I very much doubt I will ever have that many finishes in a year again!  2016 sees a vast reduction in my stitching time and to that end I've come up with what might seem like a very odd "goal" for 2016: I do not want to commit myself to stitching on anything next year!  When I have the time to stitch, I want to be enjoying it, not thinking I have to finish Project X before I start Project Y and start kitting Project Z.  To quote the great Marie Kondo, I want all  my stitching to "bring me joy" - joy because it is a design I love and because I am choosing materials that I love working with.

That being said I still have a list of projects for 2016,  currently there are 33 designs on it (all already in stash), though I think next year I will be lucky if I finish half of them!  I like to know I have choices, options and variety in my work so they are a mix of small and large, plain cross stitch and counted threadwork, hand dyed and DMCs and simple designs to the just plain terrifying lol! 

I won't name project names (that would feel like too much commitment!) but I can tell you that a fair few of them will be coming from SANQ and GOSM (the acronym and initialism I spoke of previously).  I have the complete collection of The Gift of Stitching magazine (and earmarked a whopping 124 designs I love!) and the 2001-2010 Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly DVD (33 sizeable designs earmarked) and some of those definitely deserve to see the light of day on fabric!  Designs from GOSM have been swimming around my head for years and they will provide another excellent opportunity to stitch from stash!

However I will say that some of the designers on my list for 2016 include (but are not necessarily limited to): Blue Ribbon Designs, Plum Street Samplers, Cloudsfactory, Reflets de Soie, Joan Elliot, Willow Hill Samplings, Stitching Alchemist, Papillon Creations, Darlene O'Steen, Tournicoton, Marie Suarez and The Little Stitcher and even................a HAED (I haven't gone totally bonkers - it's only a QS and an outline design at that!).

You might notice one designer conspicuous by their absence - Chatelaine.  I could bore you with my reasons as to why I've decided that for now I won't be starting Serengeti, but in a nutshell it comes down to this: I just wasn't feeling it!  I was far more excited about other designs on my list, so it got bumped!  I know for a lot of stitchers Chatelaines are some sort of Holy Grail, but after finishing a few (evidence here) I don't feel that way about them.  Don't get me wrong, some of them are truly stunning designs and I may very well next year take elements of them to work on, but I have bigger fish to fry, other cats to whip (an idiom that sounds so much better in its native French, but then everything sounds better in French to me lol!) as I expand my counted threadwork horizons!

Operation Threadporn was a real eye opener to me and has helped me face my stash demons.  There were things I knew to be true, but Operation Threadporn  helped me to face up to them and think about the way I use my stash.  Three things stand out and I will write them here as a reminder to myself:

1.  I find more contentment and joy in using what I have than acquiring more of what I think I need.
2.  Not all threads (especially silks) are created equal.
3.  Quality over quantity - I would rather have 1 skein of Thread A than the 5 skeins of Thread B that I could get for the same price.

Carrying on with the theme of using materials that bring me joy, there are a few thread brands that I will be expanding my collection of next year.  In 2015 over 90% of my finishes were sourced with materials entirely from my stash, so I think I have earned a few extra threads for good behaviour ;).  After using so many different threads this year, I am much more aware of what I value in a thread, from how it feels to even how soft or harsh the variegation is.  There will be no more buying of random threads, but there will be threads bought that fit with the style and colour palette of the way I like to stitch.

In 2016 I will continue to stitch from stash, as I carry on chipping away at my thread collection!  I also want to try and use up certain fabrics in my stash where possible to free up space for new arrivals!  There were some thread drawers that were barely opened in 2015 - the future does not bode well for these!  I am undecided as to whether I will have a little destash of thread and fabrics that are no longer me - I may give them another year, the collector in me is hard to silence!

That is a lot of talk with no pictures - so here is a tiny montage of possible projects for next year:

If you've reached the end of this you must be a crazy person - but I applaud your endurance!  I'm really looking forward to my stitching projects for 2016 and I hope you have projects on your books for next year that you just can't wait to put needle and thread to!

Happy Stitching!

Goals for the Remainder of 2015

In a slight change to regular monthly goal lists, I've decided to make a list of the things I would like to have done by the end of the year.  I didn't manage to achieve everything on the list for last month, but considering I didn't pick up a needle and thread for 15 days and still managed four finishes and a bit of progress elsewhere I'm fine with that!

This time of year I get the itch to just go crazy and start something I have my eye on for next year - but as with this time last year, I want a clean slate for January 2016 :).  The 2016 Pinterest Project Board  is full to the brim and I can't wait to get stitching on it!  So in a bid to give me more options to work on what I want when I want for the remainder of the year, I've picked threads and fabrics for my last four Threadporn projects too.

Here is the list!

• Finish A Flamestitch, here is where it is at currently:

I could easily stitch on this one until it's done - such a joy to stitch!

 

• Finish Summer (Autumn) Tree of Stitches (not stitched on in October): 

 

 

 

• Start and finish my final Autumn/Winter new start - Catherine Agnes by Indigo Rose, pattern gifted to me by my lovely stitching friend Dana: 

 





 

• Complete October, November and December SOTW Hardanger squares:

Top: December's Threads Bottom: November's Threads

 

• Complete Snow Poem Tree by Erynne Chard (freebie, blog no longer available) and Winter Solace by By The Bay Needlearts (freebie from a past BTB newsletter):



 

 

• No stash spends for the remainder of the year unless I run out of AVAS on Flamestitch
• Try and properly finish a few things here and there
• Kit up a few projects from stash in preparation for next year!

 

Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a little while - I'll be hunkered down working on completing that list!

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 





 

September Achievements and October Goals

Posts to follow on evidence of the below!

September Goals

• Complete Part 6 of Milady's Blossom Garden - 99% DONE, waiting on some 9/0 beads to finish off three drawn thread bands
• Stitch September's SOTW square - DONE!
• Stitch a freebie project for Operation Threadporn (as yet undecided) - DONE!
• Finish Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread - DONE!
• Start A Flamestitch by The Scarlet Letter (very excited about this!) - DONE!
• Pin down my Autumn Winter projects and make a start on any or all of them! - DONE!  Have chosen seven new starts and started six of them!

The graphical representation:

 

 

October Goals

• Stitch October's SOTW Hardanger square
• Stitch a freebie project for Operation Threadporn (as yet undecided)
• Finish Jane Austen & Me by The Sampler Girl
• Finish Green Earth Sampler
• Finish Fresh Air Sampler
• Finish Crystal Waters Sampler
• Start final new start for Autumn/Winter
• Stitch on Flamestitch
• Stitch at least another two parts on ATOS

 

I'll be back in a few days with an Operation Threadporn report and hopefully a finish on MBG if the beads arrive :).

 

Happy Stitching!

August Achievements and September Goals

August Goals

The tabs above have been updated with evidence of the below!

• Complete Block 6 of Box of Delights - DONE!
• Complete Part 5 of Milday's Blossom Garden - DONE!
• Stitch the August SOTW square for Operation Threadporn - DONE!
• Stitch a freebie project for Operation Threadporn - yet to be decided - DONE!
• Stitch on Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread - DONE!
• Stitch on Living with Charm by Lizzie*Kate - DONE! Project now complete
• Stitch on Sleeping Beauty by The Primitive Hare - DONE! Project now complete

The graphical representation:

11 days with no stitching this month!

September Goals

• Complete Part 6 of Milady's Blossom Garden
• Stitch September's SOTW square
• Stitch a freebie project for Operation Threadporn (as yet undecided)
• Finish Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread
• Start A Flamestitch by The Scarlet Letter (very excited about this!)
• Pin down my Autumn Winter projects and make a start on any or all of them!

Happy Stitching!

Box of Delights by Liz Almond

I had so much fun stitching Box of Delights and "auditioning" threads - but now it's all finished!

Here are my thread choices for the final block:

Top L-R: Charleston Glisson Gloss, Ginger Tom PB48, Pink Zebra PB24
Bottom L-R: Wrath, Whale Song PB08, Chocolate Frog PB06

The final block stitched up:

And the finished piece!

I do have some ideas for finishing it, but knowing me who knows when that will happen!

Liz will be having another SAL starting towards the end of the year, Pandora's Box and this design will involve Assisi and pulled work as well as blackwork!  Another design for the list........

Happy Stitching!

July Achievements and August Goals

July Goals

I've updated the tabs above with the evidence of the below!

•Complete Block 5 of Box of Delights DONE!
•Complete Part 4 of Milady's Blossom Garden DONE!
•Stitch the July SOTW square for Operation Threadporn DONE!
•Stitch and finish freebie project from Operation Threadporn (an obvious choice from The Snowflower Diaries )  DONE!
•Start any or all of my Summer Starts and stitch as much or as little as I like :) DONE! All Summer starts started and Emma and Eliza in the Garden was completed!

The graphical representation:

Only 7 days of no stitching this month!

 

August Goals

• Complete Block 6 of Box of Delights - DONE!
• Complete Part 5 of Milday's Blossom Garden
• Stitch the August SOTW square for Operation Threadporn
• Stitch a freebie project for Operation Threadporn - yet to be decided
• Stitch on Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread
• Stitch on Living with Charm by Lizzie*Kate
• Stitch on Sleeping Beauty by The Primitive Hare

 

Probably no new starts until September..........!

 

Happy Stitching!

June Achievements and July Goals

I've updated the tabs above with the evidence for the below, some of the things I stitched I didn't get around to showing as they are yet to be fully finished :).

June Goals

• Complete Block Four on Box of Delights  - DONE!
• Complete Part 3 of Milady's Garden (Part 3 due out towards the end of the month) - DONE!
• Stitch the June Hardanger square for Operation Threadporn - DONE!
• Stitch and finish my Operation Threadporn freebie for the month  - Stitching complete but not yet finished, gathering supplies :)
• FINISH Golden Daisy - This one may well be on hold for the Summer, we'll see how it goes
• FINISH Confetti of Hardanger (only 1 part left, a pretty big part though!) - DONE and HURRAH!
• FINISH Jodyri Butterfly - will be made into a cushion, fabric has been bought and tassels need to be made :).
• Then and only then can my care free easy summer stitching plans be embarked upon! - Paid notattention to this and started L*K's Living with Charm :)
• June will be a NO SPEND stash month, I was lucky enough to be the winner of an awesome needlework prize in May so there is no excuse (unless I use the last needle I have on the planet of course!) - NOT A PENNY was spent on stash, although a few new needlework books found their way into my collection courtesy of some Amazon vouchers = FREE STASH :)

 

The graph representation:

12 days with no stitching!

July Goals

• Complete Block 5 of Box of Delights
• Complete Part 4 of Milady's Blossom Garden
• Stitch the July SOTW square for Operation Threadporn
• Stitch and finish freebie project from Operation Threadporn (an obvious choice from The Snowflower Diaries )
• Start any or all of my Summer Starts and stitch as much or as little as I like :)

If you haven't already done so, please check out Chiara's post here, where she suggests a small way that we can show our appreciation for needlework designers by using #realstitchersdontsteal and including the original hardcopy chart in our WIP pics (pdfs are a bit more tricky but totally doable for me).  As it is something I feel strongly about, I have chosen to apply this to all my WIP pics wherever I post them.  Whilst it won't stop stealers from stealing, I hope it will help designers to realise that genuine stitchers do exist and that we greatly appreciate the time, effort and love they put into their creations and that we don't want them to give up the fight!

Now back to the tennis............................

Happy Stitching!

May Achievements and June Goals - It's time to clear the decks!

I know I have a few things to update you on (Threadporn, Jodyri Butterfly Quote - which actually it turns out I didn't stitch much on after last Monday), but you have to have a goals post on the first day of the month don't you!

May Goals

• Complete Block 3 of Box of Delights (outlines already completed) - DONE!
• Stitch on Plum Pudding from 1st - 7th May as part of my SAL with Nic - PLUM PUDDING NOW COMPLETE!
• Continue stitching on Golden Daisy - aiming to work on it at least once a week instead of the few hours I've put into it in two months! - bit of a fail on this one in more ways than one, I only managed a day on it.
• Complete parts 10 - 14 of Confetti of Hardanger - DONE!
• Jodyri Butterfly - Complete at least the first two lines of text - DONE and more besides, just the word "world" and "butterfly" to go!
• Stitch the May Hardanger square for Operation Threadporn - DONE!
• Stitch and finish my Operation Threadporn freebie project for the month by Le Chalet des Perelles - DONE!
• If I feel the need for a new start, pick from one that is fully kitted from this list - I started Milady's Blossom Garden, the new SAL over on The Stitch Specialists and completed the first two parts

 

The graph representation............

 

 

9 days with no stitching this month!!!  You can tell we've had nice weather.......!

 

June Goals

• Complete Block Four on Box of Delights
• Complete Part 3 of Milady's Garden (Part 3 due out towards the end of the month)
• Stitch the June Hardanger square for Operation Threadporn
• Stitch and finish my Operation Threadporn freebie for the month
• FINISH Golden Daisy
• FINISH Confetti of Hardanger (only 1 part left, a pretty big part though!)
• FINISH Jodyri Butterfly
• Then and only then can my care free easy summer stitching plans be embarked upon!
• June will be a NO SPEND stash month, I was lucky enough to be the winner of an awesome needlework prize in May so there is no excuse (unless I use the last needle I have on the planet of course!)

 

Public Service Announcement :)

 

June sees the arrival of my first Vlogaversary (never in a million years did I think I would end up with 1500+ subscribers!).  I've not filmed a video for quite a few months, but will be filming one this week to catch everyone up on what I've been doing these past few months if they are interested (some stitchers hate blogs - can you imagine!).  After a lot of toing and froing, I've decided to make a return to vlogging, but very much on my terms - my stitching, my way.  The focus will be needlework (although cross stitch will of course be included!) to better reflect my stitching and the path my work is taking me.  Videos will be more frequent, shorter and topic focused - that way you can pick and choose what interests you as I appreciate that not everyone will want to hear my experiences with Goldwork, but they might want to know how a recent cross stitch project turned out.  This way I hope I can please both my blog followers and vlog subscribers, whilst keeping myself engaged and interested in both at the same time :).

 

If you are reading this as someone who is 100% blogger then don't worry - my blog won't change, I will still report on all my stitching endeavours here.  If you ever wanted to view the odd video, they would be like the "bonus material" on the DVD that is my stitching journey :).  Of course if you are not one for vlogs at all, then feel free to ignore any links to videos that I post on my blog, I am happy to have you here regardless of your preferences - you are under no obligations to cross over to the other side lol!

 

I shall return tomorrow all being well with an Operation Threadporn report and a proper update on my Jodyri Butterfly Quote!

 

Happy Stitching!

April Achievements and May Goals

Plans for April

Evidence of the below can be seen with updated WIP pics here:

• Stitch on Plum Pudding from 1st - 7th April as part of my SAL with Nic - Done!
• Continue stitching on Golden Daisy goldwork project - Done, though only managed a bit of chipwork
• Stitch and finish my April freebie project for Operation Threadporn - Done - two freebie projects completed!
• Stitch the April Hardanger square for Operation Threadporn - Done!
• Complete Block 2 of Box of Delights - Done!
• Complete parts 5 to 8 of Confetti of Hardanger - Done - Parts 1 to 9 complete!

 

And just for fun, here is how all that looks in a pie chart a la Jo :)

 

8 days passed with no stitching!

 

 

May Goals

• Complete Block 3 of Box of Delights (outlines already completed)
• Stitch on Plum Pudding from 1st - 7th May as part of my SAL with Nic
• Continue stitching on Golden Daisy - aiming to work on it at least once a week instead of the few hours I've put into it in two months!
• Complete parts 10 - 14 of Confetti of Hardanger
• Jodyri Butterfly - Complete at least the first two lines of text
• Stitch the May Hardanger square for Operation Threadporn
• Stitch and finish my Operation Threadporn freebie project for the month by Le Chalet des Perelles
• If I feel the need for a new start, pick from one that is fully kitted from this list

 

A big thank you to everyone that stops by my blog and especially to those who comment, I try and reply to everyone via email.  If you haven't received a reply, it's probably due to the fact that you are a no reply blogger (which you can change if you want to), I just wanted you to know that I appreciate all of your comments too (I know where to track most of you down lol)!

 

 

Happy Stitching!

March Achievements and April Goals

Plans for March:

• Start and stitch on Plum Pudding by Glendon Place from 1st -7th March as part of my SAL with Nic - Done and enjoyed every stitch!
• Start a project using a technique that is new to me (very excited about this!) - Done! (evidence in the Current WIPs tab)
• Stitch and finish my March freebie project for Operation Threadporn, something from La Comtesse Done!
• Stitch the March Hardanger square from Songs of the Weather SAL by Mabel Figworthy - Done!

Those are the priorities, if they are done then one or more of the following could be started:

• Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs
• Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread
• Emma and Eliza in the Garden by Just Nan
• Confetti of Hardanger by Bee's Needleworks (Abi Gurden) - Started and parts 1 to 4 completed (updated picture in the Current WIPs tab)

 

 

I also started Liz Almond's Box of Delights, I had forgotten to add it to the list!

 

 

Plans for April

• Stitch on Plum Pudding from 1st - 7th April as part of my SAL with Nic
• Continue stitching on Golden Daisy goldwork project
• Stitch and finish my April freebie project for Operation Threadporn
• Stitch the April Hardanger square for Opertion Threadporn
• Complete Block 2 of Box of Delights
• Complete parts 5 to 8 of Confetti of Hardanger

 

If I feel the need for a new start then I can choose from the same designs as I listed in March - with the possible addition of Sleeping Beauty by The Primitive Hare which is also kitted and ready to go.

 

Hopefully April will be another interesting stitchy month!

 

Happy Stitching!

March Plans and a Finish!

I like to set stitching "goals" at the start of each month, that way I can tailor them to my particular stitching tastes at the time, as well as making them achievable for that particular month if I know I will have less stitching time.  Past experience has taught me that yearly goals don't work for me, as soon as I say x/y/z has to be done by such and such a date, I instantly loose the desire to stitch on that piece :).

I'm trying to have a more laid back approach to my stitching this year, so if things on this list don't get done, it's no big deal - I just like lists!

March Plans

• Start and stitch on Plum Pudding by Glendon Place from 1st -7th March as part of my SAL with Nic
• Start a project using a technique that is new to me (very excited about this!)
• Stitch and finish my March freebie project for Operation Threadporn, something from La Comtesse
• Stitch the March Hardanger square from Songs of the Weather SAL by Mabel Figworthy

Those are the priorities, if they are done than one or more of the following could be started:

• Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs
• Butterfly Garden by The Drawn Thread
• Emma and Eliza in the Garden by Just Nan
• Confetti of Hardanger by Bee's Needleworks (Abi Gurden)

So we'll see how that goes.......

Today saw the release of the final part of Les Dentelles SAL, as I was home today I made sure I had everything ready to go last night so that I could stitch and finish the piece today:


Hard to get a good photo with neutral on neutral tones!

I really enjoyed stitching this piece and I love the way my colour combination turned out.  Esther's designs are beautiful, so if you are a fan of blackwork and enjoy choosing your own colours I would definitely recommend her Etsy Shop!

 

Hopefully my next post will be an Operation Threadporn report for February..........

 

Happy Stitching!