Strange times

Hello everyone.

It's quite the odd time we are living through right now.  No school, working at the dining table, trying to juggle all sorts and yet still needing to get some things like stitching and exercise in to keep on top of the mental health.  I hope you are all well and safely tucked away at home.

I am super behind with the updates.  As I scrolled back through my photos to dig out the stitching ones, I scrolled past endless kids parties, Christmas, school project work, carvery lunches and brunches and days out with my little one.  So apologies for being so absent, but with the work and the travelling into London, by the time I picked my little one up from after school club, did our evening routine, ate and sat down again, I just couldn't face turning on the laptop.  Weekends had been full of sports activities and then trying to fit in fun as well so it didn't seem like we were just running on this machine of a routine.

However, I did manage to squeeze in a bit of stitching during the commute and in the Xmas break and an occasional hour at the weekend.  I'm not complaining at all about the lockdown, we are safe at home, my hayfever is not enjoying the blossom at the moment anyway, so I'm pretty happy to be indoors.

Anyways, here are the photo updates of my stitching :)

Hello Pumpkin (month 2) - Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Holodeck Finish! (happy dance!) - Star Trek Cross Stitch book

Seas the Day (month 6) - Caterpillar Cross Stitch

One more thing... in a moment of madness (given how many projects I already have on the go) I decided to sign up to Mr X Stitch SAL001 - Cagliostro.  Still waiting for fabric, but the first month landed yesterday.  It's a biggie!  Here's the link:
https://xstitchmag.com/shop/xstitchalong-001

I also haven't forgotten Maynia is on its way... still debating what to do this year, a number of last year's starts are still unfinished!

Stay safe and hope to be back soon!
Jo

Star Trek, Seas the Day and Hello Pumpkin July update

The last month has flown by pretty fast and I meant to update before now, but I've managed to get a fair bit more stitching in than I expected to on some of my main projects, although I'm still a bit behind on the SALs.  Here are my July updates!

Firstly, the two SALs I'm doing from Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Hello Pumpkin (month 1)

Seas the Day (Month 5)

And then a couple of photo updates of my Star Trek Holodeck piece - I'm mainly sewing this one while travelling on the tube, since I get a seat some of the way sometimes!  But every stitch helps get nearer the end, and I'm almost done!

Back to work...

I'm glad I managed to fit in all the Stitch Maynia stitching this year because straight afterwards, I was offered a wonderful job, and that has meant huge changes in our household!  It's been 7 years since I worked in an office and to say the first couple of days were a shock to the system is a major understatement.  I'm at the end of my second week now though and feeling much better.

BUT apart from the tube journey, I'm enjoying using my brain in this way again whilst my hubby has enjoyed doing all the school runs.  I feel lucky to have been offered such a wonderful opportunity in a company which the staff all clearly love and I fully intend to make the most of it!  But man, it's been super tough getting up to date with all the technology I've never used.  

I've even managed a bit of stitching on the tube on the few days I've managed to get a seat... so stitchy updates are coming!  But for today, it's a comfy seat, a quietish house (at least for a couple of hours), a really really naff film and my stitching.

Enjoy your Sunday, friends! 

Stitch Maynia Weeks 3-4

Ok, I haven't managed to stitch daily during the last half of May, but I switched to some of my WIPs for a nice little change, and actually had a lot of enjoyment from them. 

We also spent a couple of days away with friends during the school hols and I've been interviewing for a wonderful job, so it's been a super busy time.

Anyway, back to the stitching updates... here they are!

Bluebell Lane by Derwentwater Designs

Dolphins' Domain by Dimensions

Holodeck piece from Star Trek Cross Stitch book

Seas The Day part 4 by Caterpillar Cross Stitch

Seashore piece by Dimensions

Tea Ceremony (Snipz) (Esmira) by Paine Free Crafts

Ugly Duckling by Dimensions

A little bit here and there and I'm really happy... lots of different colours, so it's hard to be bored with these!  Hope all of you that were joining in enjoyed Stitchmaynia 2019!

Stitch Maynia 2019 Week 2 Update

Hello again,

Lots of stitching has been happening, but life got in the way of my post last week.  For week 2 I moved onto a combination of cats and boats.  Mainly because it was easy to pull the colours together quickly, and I thought it would be handy to make progress on the cats since I'd started the first one more than 10 years ago I think!

Also, I wanted to try again stitching on evenweave with some small projects.  I always think that the end result looks somehow more neat and polished than Aida. However, the counting is so much harder.  Luckily, the boats don't have any gaps, the whole thing is filled.  I'm not sure how I'll fair on a different project.

I haven't managed to do too badly, out of 15 days, I've managed to do 14 new starts, which is more than I expected.

Until the end of May, I'll be stitching on WIP projects. Look out for the next update.
Have a great week!
Jo

Stitch Maynia 2019 Week 1 Update

I've impressed myself with the fact that I've managed to start a new stitch every day except for 1.  I'm starting with a set of flower pieces in a stained glass design. These were in The World of Cross Stitching magazine that I used to subscribe to years ago and I thought they would give me a good start and also a stash of spares to make cards so that at the end of term I'm not up until midnight putting stitches into teacher cards. 

I think the colours are lovely and bright and I've used up a piece of grey fabric that I didn't know what to do with.

I'll continue with these in the second half of May, but for now, it's on to the next ones!

Olympic Park on a Sunny Day