Merry Christmas!!

Wow, December has been a whirlwind. As usual work took over my life, some nights I barely had enough energy to stitch... Our term finished on the 18th, but work seemed to increase as then end got nearer, not decrease. So I took all this week off as holiday. Saturday we did various jobs, not least getting all of our parcels and cards in the post - just before the last posting date (again). Sunday we travelled to Birmingham to see Ed's parents. The weather was NOT on our side, at one point it took us 25 minutes to drive just one mile (though the snow near Huddersfield - a snow hot spot that hit the headlines that night).

We had a lovely time with Ed's parents, and headed back yesterday. A long drive (traffic this time) followed by manic food shopping and a rather bargainous tree - £10, reduced from £40... so there is a plus to last minute tree shopping!! Today we cleaned, tidied and decorated the tree. And watched the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, and the Muppet's Christmas Carol (our favourite Christmas movie). I'm shattered! But a lovely curry later and I've found time to blog. Luckily Ed brought his laptop home, so I've been surfing the web in front of QI. I'm spending my Christmas and birthday money on a laptop, so TV/surfing combos will become more common...

Anyway, this is what I've been stitching over the last month (it's a month since I last posted... not good!!):
First of all, a photo of the finished Waiting for Ships:

(c) Mirabilia, stitched on 28ct cashel 'Fathom' by Picture this Plus, in DMC and Krenik


I then started a new project, which I designed myself. It's Postman Pat - not my usual style, but a request from my friend Leanne, as a birth sampler for her nephew (I did Bob the Builder for her other nephew):

I'm not really enjoying it, but it's quick (and good for when I'm tired), and is my only outstanding bit of obligation stitching.

I also stitched a bit more of Dracolair's Gaelic Banner:


I took this with me to work on in Birmingham. But we packed so quickly I forgot the page of pattern I was working on, and worse still, the key. Ed was a star and suggested we went out on Monday and got me something to work on. The little independent shop in Solihull, which I have used occasionally, has closed down, so we ended up in Hobbycraft. £25 later I came home with the DMC Wild Thyme flower fairy. After just over 24 hours I finished the dress, proving I'd have been a nightmare to be with if I'd not had anything to stitch in Birmingham... I'm not good at sitting still! I did a little bit more last night and today, here she is (after just 4 days of stitching):


Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Busy!

Wow, life is busy right now. About to head out to London to see Michelle and Julian...

I had a great time at Harrogate, bought lots of stash, and met Kate and Amanda from the UKstitchers BB, which was lovely! I also caught up with Phyllis and Richard. Margaret had a great time too.

On Monday night I hosted another stitch and bitch:


Emma


Me, Sonia and Louise


Sarah and Fiona


Jennifer (known to everyone other than Sarah as Avivah)

It was lovely to meet Jennifer (Avivah), who has come over from New Mexico to stay with Sarah. Odd girl really likes the British rain though.... She was knitting an amazing lace shawl. Well, not sp much knitting as swearing at it - knitting complex patterns with jetlag appears to be bad for one's stress levels!

A knight in shining armour

I finished the knight on FT last week (well, apart from his face which is over 1):


Since than I've been ornie stitching, but as these are for exchanges I can't share any photos.

Life is pretty busy right now, so not much time for blogging, but I do try and read my blogs when I get chance... This week is VERY hectic. Last night I gave a public talk in Masham to a local group about some skeletons from the town which we've been working on, tonight I have a seminar to go to, tomorrow I should (in theory) make lace and on Thursday I'm going out for a curry with last years' masters students (our last get together before they all head off to various jobs/courses etc). Not bad - or it wuldn't be if Margaret wasn't coming to stay on Friday. Not sure when I'll get the necessary cleaning done! But it's wonderful that she's sorted respite care for Paul, and we can go to Harrogate knitting and stitching on Sunday.

Thank you for all your kind comments on the last post.

Happ stitching everyone!

TW stitching

Well, I think it's fair to say that the xs world or at least my little corner of it) was rocked by Teresa's announcement that she was giving up designing. I've made lots of comments about this on various BBs, so I'll just say I'm sad to know that there will be no new TWs released, but I've got plenty to keep me going. This is a tough time to make a living from many crafts, including designing.

Anyway, it was odd timing for me, as I had finally picked up FT again - I've not worked on it since our holiday to Wales! As you can see I've made significant progress with the Knight:




Fanstasy Triptych, by Teresa Wentzler

On Wednesday I came down with a flu/virus thing. Probably not swine flu, but I did have a temperature (and major shivers). I came home at lunchtime and curled up in bed, Thursday I was a little better and parked my bum on the sofa all day - I managed a little, supposedly simple, xmas stitching,but ended up frogging several bits - clearly the virus had affected the stitching part of my brain! Friday I was feeling mostly better, so went in to work and did some gentle admin!

Today has been a day of chores - I scrubbed the bathroom from top to bottom, attacking areas of mold etc. We then replaced the toilet seat (a hinge had broken) and are in the process of resealing the bath. We then encountered unexpected areas of mold on a blind, and on the curtains in the spare room, and mildew in the spare wardrobe.... it's not a damp house, but we don't have a tumble dryer and we do get lots of condensation. I had a random idea about getting a dehumidifier about 2 hours ago... we had a look online, and I think we'll buy one tomorrow. Maybe that will solve the problem.

Right, back down stairs to pick up FT, watch some rugby and order takeaway pizza...

Birth Band Happy Dance

Here's a photo of the newly-pressed Birth Band, which I finished on Friday:


Birth Band by The Drawn Thread, stitched in Needlepoint Inc Silks on Edinburgh linen

I have to say I really enjoyed this - even though it's the second time I've stitched it this year!! Amanda said how much she liked it when I stitched it for Monty, so it was an obvious choice when Hugh was born!! I hope they like it as much in the flesh!

Dani asked about our pumpkins - we did all use the same seeds - we bought a pack and split it 3-ways (and also scanned and printed off all of the growing info on the packet) - so it was a fair contest. Except we were rather late planting everything this year, as we didn't build the veggie patches until Easter... plus quite a few seedlings were eaten by magpies and slugs this year... I can't quite remember what happened to the pumpkins, but we were pretty certain we wouldn't win! We fed it with bottled organic plant food and home-made compost. And we took all the smaller pumpkins off the one plant, so it focused all it's growth energy into our largest pumpkin. I'll have a good web search for feeding techniques if we repeat the competition!!! Diane and Nial have won twice now!

Last night we tried out this recipe for pumpkin tart - after a search on the BBC food web page we decided this one sounded lovely, and wasn't too tricky. We served it with ice cream, not the ginger cream in the recipe, and it was delicious... we gave half the tart to our neighbours, who hadn't had a pumpkin tart/pie before - I've not seen them yet to see if they enjoyed it.

Yesterday and today I did a little bit of Fantasy Triptych, but the frame was a little wide with us both sat on the sofa, so I switched back to Dracolair's Gaelic Banner, which I am really enjoying.

I hope everyone else is having a lovely weekend!

Halloween Harvest

Today seemed an appropriate day to harvest our pumpkins:


Our pumpkins - scissors for scale!

We don't tend to eat pumpkins, but grew these as a copetition, between us, Diane and Nial, and Mandy and Carl. I think Diane and Nial won - our largest pumpkin weighed in at a measly 7 kilos. There biggest was 22 kilos... so unless Mandy and Carl have a pumpkin monster in their garden.... Tonight we are going to make a spiced pumpkin tart (recepie from BBC food webiste).

On the stitching front, I finished Birth Band last night, but it needs pressing, so no photo yet. I picked up Fantasy Triptych, which means I almost met my October goals:

1) Finish Birth Band yes
2) Get more beading done on Waiting for Ships yes
3) Pick up Fantasy Triptych again yes
4) Stitch an ornie yes, the Mill Hill kit (which also soved goal 5)
5) Snap out of whatever restlessness is bothering me today. Hmm, maybe that should be number 1. yup, see above
6) get the next wing started on my lace butterfly yes (after 1 false start!)

So goals for November:
1) Finish waiting for ships
2) stitch an ornie
3) work on Fantasy tripych
4) work on Gaelic banner
5) a new start, yet to be determined!

Happy Halloween and happy stitching!

more beads...

I've spent a lot of my stitching time putting beads on to Waiting for Ships, as you can see, she's coming along nicely:



I've also been getting on with Birth Band, maybe I'll actually finish it this week. If I do I'll have one more goal outstanding for October, If I'm focussed I may actually meet them all this month!

A new necklace

I finished the necklace I was beading on Sunday:


I was really impressed with the kit, from Spellbound Beads. (I'm not responsible for any stash enhacement that occurs as a result of following the link!!)

I'm going to give this away as a present. I'm pretty certain the recipient doesn't read my blog, but she won't be named, just in case!

Crafty weekend

This weekend has had a very crafty feel to it - just what I needed!!!

Phyllis came to stay on Friday night, as Saturday was Pudsey Not Just Lace Fair, and she was manning the stall for the Lace Guild. Eddy and I (mostly Eddy) cooked a selection of Mediterranean food, and after we ate we sat around chatting, Phyllis did a little lace, and I showed her recent cross stitch finishes.

Phyllis left for the Civic Hall around 8.45am to set up, I meandered over just after 10, when the general public were aloud in, and met up with Sonia. We had good fun looking at the stalls, and of course buying stash. It was nice to chat with Stuart Johnson (who makes my favourite bobbins - always an expensive stall for me) and is teaching Sonia (and next time Eddy) to turn bobbins in May. I also stopped to have a chat with Christine Springett about Bedfordshire lace, and to warn her that Eddy is vegetarian well in advance of our May weekend. Sonia discovered that the lady who runs spangles is an old archaeology friend, both were a little perplexed to see each other 'out of context'!! I filled in for Phyllis so she could have a look around, happily selling lace bobbins and booklets, along with the occasional calendar.

So what did I buy?? More than I should have of course:

Bobbins by Stuart Johnson. I love the one with the Llama bead...


Bobbins by Lacewing designs. I love her dragons, opal will have a few friends in my bobbin box, and I spotted Sapphire on my pillow today!


I got these lovely semi-precious stone spangles from spangles. My taste in beads is too expensive... most of the ones I wanted were £2 a spangle... But I made sure I also picked a few less expensive ones!


I got these wool variety packs so I can make myself a lace scarf (don't hold your breath on this latest master plan!!)


This wonderful African fabric is the thing I really shouldn't have bought. But is was so lovely... I have NO IDEA what I'm going to use it for. Maybe quilting (although I never actually DO any quilting, just buy lovely fabrics for it...). But I couldn't resist. I could have spent A LOT more on this stall....

Sonia and I left around 1pm, and she popped by for a cuppa before going home - at which point Eddy and I enjoyed the leftovers form the night before! Eddy's had a nasty cold and now has an ear infection, so we opted for maximum laziness (a common pattern on the weekend for us), and I settled down with a beading kit I bought from Harrogate Knitting and Stitching last year, to make a pretty necklace. I've never beaded anything before, and I have to say the instructions by Spellbound beads were fantastic! I'm about 1/2 way done, and hope to do some more in front of the Grand Prix this evening:


I also did a little lace (having got the pillow out to show Phyllis). I re-started the wing tip that I'd kind-of started on Thursday night at Louise's - having worked out what I'd done wrong. My biggest problem is where to put the spare bobbins as I work this next wing - something that is only going to get worse as I get further on this piece:
Bedfordshire lace butterfly, by Christine Springett

Last night I was tired of beading, and didn't feel like lace making in front of the TV, or any of my current XS projects. So of course I started something new... here are the first few stitches on Dracolair's Gaelic Banner:


So after all this craftyness, where am I supposed to sit and eat????:


That'll be in front of the TV I guess!!!

Finally, thank you for your comments about coffin buzz - I was mostly curious to see how many people would have left it (I knew it was a tricky mistake to spot if I didn't say anything - especially in a photo), and how many would have frogged it :)

Happy stitching (right, off to work on that necklace...)

Happy Dance!!!

I finished Coffin Buzz (by Plum Street Samplers) on Sunday night, but haven't had chance to post all week:



The mistake is on the gaps between the writing - there should be 3 lines with no stitching between each line of writing, but somehow I mis-counted, and there are only 2 lines between 'sleeping body' and 'as lifeless'... but I'd done so much (and frogged so much) I decided to leave it.

Anyway, this is sitched on Sugar Maple Fabrics 32 count Lugana 'Summer's End' in Weeks 'Chestnut'. I'll get it framed and hang it at work - I'm a coffee fiend at work, but generally drink tea everywhere else. I blame the stress!!

Weekend progress

I'm back from the weekend away, and stitched for much of Saturday. Paul's dementia is getting worse, so we decided to have a quiet weekend in, which was nice. Hopefully having Eddy and I around meant Margaret didn't get the full force of caring for Paul - although I always wish I could do more. Hopefully she's coming up in November, so we can go to Harrogate Knitting and Stitching fair. But there's a problem with the respite care, despite the fact she's been asking for that weekend off since March. So maybe we won't be able to take her after all...

Anyway, we had a nice relaxing time watching the snooker (edge of the seat semi's) and then Strictly. Except I think I was the only one really watching it!

I was annoyed with my stitching this weekend. For one, I forgot to pick up the extra skein of Chestnut (weeks) for Coffin Buzz, so I couldn't quite finish it:

Also, I noticed another counting error. One of the reasons I've used so much floss on this is that I can't count it. At all. I decided to leave the current one (on the basis that 'Allah isn't perfect'), and anyway it would drive me nuts to frog it again... Can you spot the mistake?



Coffin Buzz, by Plum Street Samplers

After I ran out of floss I pulled out Birth Band, and started the name... except the ability to count was still escaping me, and now 'Colwell' is off centre... urgh. That bit I will frog!


Birth Band, by The Drawn Thread

Hopefully I'll have better luck tonight, and maybe even a Happy Dance!

More beads...

Having mastered how to sit on the sofa and use seed beads comfortably, and without losing them all, I've made some great progress on Waiting for Ships:



I'm just about to head out the door for a weekend with Eddy's parents, and have packed a couple of easy-to-travel projects... we'll see how much stitching time I get.

Have a lovely, sttching filled weekend everyone!

And that's why I love blogging...

Yesterday I was so frustrated, but you guys put me right back on track! After I posted I went and caught up on a few blogs, to see what everyone else was doing. I should have realised I was also looking for inspiration! I was reading Kathy (StitchinKat's) goals, and noticed she'd started a Mill Hill Halloween ornie. And I recalled I had a lovely Mill Hill ornie in my stash. And I wanted to stitch it RIGHT THERE AND THEN. So I did.

By the time I went to bed, I just needed to stitch the outer border of beads, make the loop and tassels, and sew it together. Which I made mincemeat out of in front of 'something for the weekend' this morning.... so here is my latest finish:




Snowflake, Mill Hill Tiny Treasured Diamonds

I can't believe my mojo went on such a short trip...

While I was working on the diamond, I realised that I really hate beading on a frame, it's much easier in hand. I absolutely hate stitching large projects in hand, (too much spare fabric getting in the way) but I thought hey, maybe the beading would be easier if I ditched the frame. And it was. Even if the excess fabbie was irritating. So I did quite a bit of beading on waiting for ships tonight.

Hmm, did anyone say they were worried about a lost stitching mojo????

New start...

I did get started on Birth Band last weekend. I'd hoped to share a picture mid week, but work was against me... So here's a photo now:


Birth Band, The Drawn Thread

Sorry, it's not the best photo - it was so sunny this afternoon I couldn't get any good diffuse lighting - this was taken in the shade!! Anyway I've done the top half already, in exactly a week. The bottom half is a little slower if I remember correctly. Irritatingly I somehow didn't start in the middle. How I could have mis-counted I don't know... Fortunately I left a big enough margin that it won't be a problem, but that was a close call!

I'm in a stitchy mood, but just don't know what to stitch today. So all day I've drifted around in a state of unease, wasting quality stitching time. I don't feel like using the silk threads on birth band, or beading WFS - both too fiddly. I feel the same about Fantasy Triptych. I was really fed up with Peacock Firescreen last week, and the only other thing I have on the go is on aida. NOTHING is calling to me. This is VERY unusual for me. I'm contemplating a new start, but nothing in my stash is calling out either. I hope this isn't the start of a stitching slump. Although I really do want to be stitching. Maybe my brain is too occupied with the start of term??? Aaargh!!! I'm sure this is a one-day thing, I'll be right as rain tomorrow, but it's very annoying. I really have wasted today!

On a plus side, we were watching Monty Python on sky (it's 40 years since it first aired) and saw a sketch set in New Pudsey. It was really odd watching the pythons walk along our local train station platform - before the huge Asda was built. Despite recording the sketch and watching it in slow-mo, we can't work out where the street scene was filmed, but the houses are very 'local' in style!! It's the sketch where innocent people are turned into Scotsmen by Aliens...

Right, finally on to some goals. How did I do in September?:
1) finish you were hatched (I should manage it, there's not much to go other than BS and the dedication) - yes, all finished
2) work on waiting for ships. I'd like to finish the bs, but we'll see - yes, even did a little beading
3) start a birth sampler for Hugh, who was born on the 20th August - yes about 50% done now
4) stitch on something else - yes, I worked on Peacock Firescreen

I also did some more on the Bedfordshire Lace butterfly I'm doing

I don't want too many goals for October, but in the interests of making me stay (at least a little) focused:
1) Finish Birth Band
2) Get more beading done on Waiting for Ships
3) Pick up Fantasy Triptych again
4) Stitch an ornie
5) Snap out of whatever restlessness is bothering me today. Hmm, maybe that should be number 1.
6) get the next wing started on my lace butterfly

Peacock Firescreen

Hmm, I'm just not loving this at all. Maybe it's the anchor thread? Or the fact the bit I'm working on it too peachy? Whatever it is I'm not getting the usual stitching satisfaction from this. Although it was a great piece to focus on this week, when I've been really tired...


Peacock Firescreen, by Barbara Thompson

This weekend I've been slowly coming round after last week's conference - which was a huige success, and I earned brownie points with the boss, 2 bottles of wine and 2 bouquets of flowers... plus lots and lots of verbal, email and even card thank yous! So it can't have been a bad job!!

Anyway, I slept for 11 hours last night, chilled out in my jammies all morning in front of the TV, then had a good browse of the JCS ornies issue followed by a massage this afternoon.... Right now I'm about to find a suitably gentle DVD and start a new project (sadly not out of the ornie issue - I'm trying to find one that just uses DMC until I have enough cash for speciality threads...), and it's takeaway pizza for tea. Perfect Saturday!!

Happy Dance!!!

Just a quick post to share my Happy Dance! - this birth sampler is based on 'you were hatched', with a little bit of 'needle guardian' thrown in for the personalisation:



A huge thank you to Lindsay, who very generously gave me the chart for you were hatched, and the necessary skein of dinky dies.

I tried out the new John James needles, and loved them. But I'm too tired/busy for beading, so didn't get very much further with Waiting for Ships. Anglea asked which fabric I am using. WFS is stitched on PTP's 'fathom' cashel linen - I saw the fabric while in the States a few years ago, fell in love, bought it then hunted down the 'right' mermaid pattern. It just yelled 'mermaid' at me the moment I saw it... I was actually looking for something to stitch Dracolair's Phoenix on at the time!

I've pulled out Barbara Thompson's Peacock Firescreen again, as I wanted something easy to stitch during my conference (1 day to go.... only 140 delegates. Hopefully I didn't forget anything???).

Waiting for ships...

I had a lovely quiet weekend. Did some errands, watched Eddy make blackberry jam (all I did to help was wipe up afterwards!), ate lovely food, much from the garden, and stitched.

Mostly I stitched to Lord of the Rings. I didn't quite make it through all 3 extended movies in a weekend (a secret goal) as at 11.15 last night I decided to give up and go to bed. So I've got about 1/2 hour of Return of the King to watch tonight. I would have managed it, but Eddy and I thought we ought to watch 'Gran Torino' which was the latest lovefilm DVD to hit the doormat....

Anyway, with all that move watching, I had some serious stitching time. I was hoping to finish all the xs and bs on waiting for ships sometime this month... but I did it yesterday...



Then I started the beading. I've had my eye on some John James needles for a while, and was waiting for my last credit card bill to be issued before buying any... this morning I put in a humongous needle order (hey, it's free P&P if you spend £10...) mostly because they get recommended so highly but also because I really like the sound of short beading needles. Especially given WFS uses 6 packs of petite beads....

August stitching, September goals

Well, it's quite a while since I last posted. I've been away twice, to Hampshire (pics and funny stories in a later post) and for a wonderful day at Champney's Spa with Eddy's mum - as a treat for looking after Paul, who has demetia. I have to say I take the 'job' of having to drive Margaret to fun days out very seriously indeed!! Our next planned treat is the Harrogate knitting and stitching show in November.

Anyway, other than that I've been exceedingly busy at work. I'm never, ever organising a conference again. Especially not when trying to finish editing a book (amongst other things). Ususally us academics get a break from teaching (not a holiday!) in the summer, and a chance to catch up on research and admin... well not for me this year!! My stitching time has taken a serious hit, and I've really not followed my goals, just stitched what I wanted, when (if?) I felt like it.. as a consequence I only met one of my (very modest) August goals:

1) finish you were hatched - nope
2) work on waiting for ships - yes
3) work on fantasy triptych - nada

On the plus side, WFS has seen some serious stitching recently:



So, goals for September.. I need to be careful here, as I don't expect this month to be much better

1) finish you were hatched (I should manage it, there's not much to go other than BS and the dedication)
2) work on waiting for ships. I'd like to finish the bs, but we'll see
3) start a birth sampler for Hugh, who was born on the 20th August
4) stitch on something else

and a non-stitchy goal:
5) blog more than twice this month (I'm already half way :))

Summer stitching, summer gardens

I can't believe it's 2 1/2 weeks since I last posted! Well I can, I've been very busy, but all the same...

Thankfully it's not just work that has kept me occupied, I've also taken some leave - it's proving pretty difficult squeezing my holidays in to a busy summer, but if I don't take them before term starts in late September I'll probably lose them! So I've been working long hours to be able to fit the holidays in!

I've also found some time for stitching, but not as much as I would have liked. I usually stitch every day, but there's been a few recently where my bum has hit the sofa and I've barely had the energy to channel hop...

Anyway, I took these pics before my last break, in the hopes I'd have chance to share them before I went away:




I've actually done a little more on both since I took these - I took you were hatched away with me, and spent about an hour or so working on the border one evening. I picked up waiting for ships again last night, and have had some quality stitching time today, listening to the test match (I'm still in shock that we got so many runs...) - cricket for the non-Brits out there! I'm hoping to hare another progress pic tomorrow, when I've got a little more done.

As for August travels... the weekend after I went to Edinburgh Eddy and I decided to take the Friday off work, and visit RHS Harlow Carr, just outside Harrogate. Given how much we love gardening it's a bit shocking we'd not been, given we've been living 45 mins away from Harrogate for 5 years! Here are some photos:









We had lunch at Betty's (very traditional English tea shop with excellent cakes), had a good meander, and on a whim bought another apple tree when we left... not that we know where to plant it yet. It's in a very big pot getting lots of water for the time being! When we went apple tree shopping at Easter we really wanted a bramley apple, but having a small garden we wanted M27 (dwarf) root stock. After lots of searching we read in a book that you don't get M27 bramleys, so got another apple tree instead (bountiful - another cooker, but a little sweeter, apparently). Anyway, we should have known that the Royal Horticultural Society would have M27 bramleys... and there it was with 20% off. Sadly we had to pick the smallest tree (we only have a small car) and it was the only one without apples on, so we'll have to wait until next year to get fruit!!

We've been eating lots of veggies out of the garden recently - potatoes, onions, carrots, broccoli, artichokes and green beans have all done brilliantly. The peas didn't produce much, and we got tomato blight. We have picked the unaffected green tomotoes and plan on making a chutney, using my friend's 'not mango chutney' recepie. My rose garden has been looking fabulous too, this photo was taken a couple of months ago, I don't have a recent one as I only ever think of taking a photo just after I've dead-headed and there aren't many blooms!



Happy stitching!

Edinburgh

I had fun in Edinburgh, although had a few snags here and there! Work went smoothly, analysed a very, very interesting skeleton, which I hope to do more work on in the future... I had a migraine on Friday though, which really wasn't fun. I felt really nauseous, was 3 flights of stairs away from the nearest loo, and really needed to get lots of work done. The museum staff were wonderful though, and although we were kicked out of the store at 1pm (it closes early on a Friday) I got lots of useful stuff done.

On Thursday the archaeology store closed at 4, so I went for a wander. Sadly the LNS was closed when I got there at about 5pm, so no new stash (thank goodness says the visa card), but I had fun walking about and got a few nice photos:


The Royal Mile, with the Firth of Forth visible in the distance


Edinburgh Castle (from the back!)


These stands are for the Edinburgh Tattoo, but they reminded me of a Quidditch tournament...

Quick photo

I managed to leave work earlier tonight - before 7!!! So once I'd got my things straight for the early start tomorrow, I settled down in front of Enigma (the movie) to stitch before heading to bed. I love stitching to Enigma, as it has a great soundtrack, and is a film you can follow easily without watching!!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this photo of you were hatched before I go to Edinburgh:



They're coming along for the journey, hopefully I'll be able to fill in the gaps, if my planned shopping trip works out!