Is it really that time again?

And yes, it is indeed Sunday evening again and time to post my usual update. I'll start by saying thankyou for all the kind comments on my last post.  It's so nice to know that other people like my work.

Following on from your comments:

Joysze - yes, Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series does come into the same genre as the books I read.  However, EB's books have retained their popularity and are much easier to get hold of than the ones I mentioned.

On the wool front, as yet I have no scarves.  My colleague was only able to get the black and white mix from her local yarn shop, and will have to order the fuschia mix from the Internet.  I'm not in a desperate hurry - if the snow comes that they are threatening us with, I have shawls and scarves enough to keep me from hypothermia.  I will however post a photo as soon as I have a scarf to show.

Now for the update itself.

I now have a smily whale and some sea as per last week's plan.  However, not as much sea as I would wish because it is driving me nuts!  There are four different colours - white and three shades of aqua - and as you can see, it is designed in curling waves.  It is fiddly and frustrating, and to make matters worse, I am worried about having enough threads.  There was enough of all the other threads so in theory there should be enough of these, but I seem to achieve so little with each thread that I can't help worrying.  I got so frustrated with the sea that I started doing some of the backstitch, just to feel like I was getting somewhere.  And time is now tight - ideally I want to be taking this to the framers on Saturday with a view to getting it to my cousin for the following Thursday.  I think that I may have to take a day off on Friday to nail it.  Decisions, decisions!

Again I've made visible progress on the Beetle.  The back end is now done (bar any backstitch) and I've started on the roof.  I feel that it is starting to come together now.  Next week I plan to fill in the gap next to the window, then work on the roof and possibly the windscreen.  


I need to make a confession - other than having to go to work, the main thing which holds up progress on these pieces is my books.  It doesn't matter whether I work in the lounge or the bedroom, there are books.  And inevitably a point comes when I put down the stitching and pick up a book, and then I lose time - a few minutes, half an hour, a whole hour, depending on the book.  I suppose I could try stitching in the kitchen or the bathroom, but neither would be very comfortable, and the light in the hall is far too bad for stitching.  Am I the only person who has this problem?