Well, there was obviously some confusion last week over IHSW, but never mind - it just gave me two opportunities to sit and stitch. There was also a full moon again this week and therefore it is WIPocalypse time.
Progress on Bouquet 3 has been slow and steady. I'm at that stage again where I'm really not taken with the colours, but I know that when it is finished and the back stitch done, it will be much improved.
This week I managed to do three blocks on Carnation with some good overlap into the blocks below. I have one full block and one partial block left to finish row 1, which should be possible this week as I am only out one night. I haven't set myself any deadlines for finishing this page - it is just so nice to be able to work on it again.
Finally I promised you some stash. Courtesy of Ebay, I am delighted to present Heritage Crafts' "Topiary Rose" by Valerie Pfeiffer (thankfully on evenweave) and Lavender & Lace's "Celtic Christmas". Both are beautiful pieces and I look forward to finding the time to stitch them.
In other news, I lost 0.5lb last week, which means that I have now lost 1lb since I started. I've also spent a couple of days out and about in the country doing genealogy research, so I feel that I can report progress on all fronts.
The weather seems to be a complete toss-up between gorgeous and diabolical, so I'll wish you sunshine for stitching and a gentle rain for your gardens.
Due to one thing and another, there wasn't a lot of hermitting and nor was there lots of stitching either, but some progress has been made.
Although my stitching sabbatical is now a thing of the past, I am still taking things gently to give my wrist a bit of a rest. Several half hour stints on Carnation have led to the sum total of one finished block, one half finished block and three started blocks. Page 4 is not a full page of stitching - in sequence, each row consists of one 9 stitch block (already done as part of page 3), five full blocks and one 4 stitch block. Each row on previous pages have consisted of seven full blocks and either one or two partial blocks, depending on their place in the sequence. It's nice to be working on this piece again - it makes me feel calm.
I also have a fresh start to show you or perhaps I should call it a re-start. It was Patchwork Group this week so I took Enchanted Garden for them all to see. I took a work jacket to sew a couple of buttons on, and I also took my project pack for the Bouquet pieces. This is Bouquet No. 3 - described as Little Jug. I will be taking this to work with me as I have been spending too much time goggling at the computer during my lunch break.
On the stash front, I bought a couple of HAEDs in the Father's Day sale. They are both by Josephine Wall - "Fantasy Wedding", and "Leo" from her Zodiac series.
I have also won a couple of items of stash on Ebay, but am still waiting for one to arrive, so will show you those in my next post.
On the weight loss front, I lost 2lb this week so I made back what I put on last week plus a further half pound. However there may well be an increase this week due to Father's Day, littlest niece's birthday and a brief encounter with the black dog yesterday. I am also due a meal out with my friends this week so the scales will say whatever they say and I'll take it from there.
The weather has been somewhat up and down, on and off this week, so I leave you with the hope that wherever you are, the sun will shine on your stitching and warm your soul.
Well folks, I just couldn't pull it off! It's really a very good job that I never took up smoking :-)
By the end of Week One, I was becoming unbearable - tired, grumpy, hacked off and so on and so forth. So on Saturday, while I was helping out with the Open Gardens event that my Mum organises every year for the road they live on, Mum suggested that perhaps I could stitch, but limit it to half an hour a day, or half an hour twice a day. This would ease the withdrawal symptoms but not put too much pressure on my wrists. So Sunday morning, while the laundry was on, I put thread through needle and stitched half an hour on Carnation. Page 4 is now underway.
If you look carefully in the top right hand corner, you will see a narrow dark extrusion, which is the beginning of the last page on this row. It was just so nice, so soothing to get stitching again. I feel much better now.
Another thing that happened on Saturday morning was me collecting Enchanted Garden from the framers. Mum and I chose the mount to echo the clover leaves in the background. I really hope that she likes it. What do you think?
I also won some stash on Ebay over the weekend - when it arrives, I'll take pictures to show you.
On the weight loss front, last week was not a good week. Despite trying really hard and being really good (apart from the barbecue), I put on 1.5 lbs. My Slimming World consultant said not to worry, it was my first week and that things should come right the next week. So I've carried on trying and being really good. At the weekend I turned down fish and chips, and homemade cupcakes, cookies and flapjack. Today I turned down homemade brownies. Thursday is weigh-in night and Patchwork Group. Will I have lost weight and will the Group like the finish-finish on Enchanted Garden? I'll have to wait and see.
May the sun shine on your stitching and may there be no knots in your thread.
I put the last stitches into Enchanted Garden at lunchtime on Friday 31 May, washed and pressed it that night and took it to the framers on Saturday 1 June! It's done, finished, finito - however you say it - the piece is completed with over a fortnight before littlest niece's birthday and I pick it up next Saturday.
So here you are! I will take another picture when it is framed, so you can see the finished finished version, but here is every last stitch. I changed Fairy 4's hair to look like littlest niece's and I just hope that she likes it after all the time and effort that has gone into it. I think that the rabbit is just great and kudos to Joan Elliott for being such a fantastic designer.
With Enchanted Garden complete, I am now on my one month's sabbatical from stitching to help with my repetitive strain injury in my right wrist. This is the end of the second day and I reckon that I will be completely demented by the end of the month. I woke up at 6am this morning to glorious sunshine, just right for stitching, and I couldn't. I looked at stash on-line and didn't buy any because I wouldn't be able to do anything with it if I bought it. Most of the hours that I would have spent stitching this weekend have been spent on the computer doing genealogy research, so I'm not sure if that my wrist is going to be any better for not stitching anyway.
What else? Well, I have gone back to Slimming World this week. It was not as bad as I thought that it was going to be - the starting figure is 12 stone 8.5lb and my target weight is 11 stone. The first two days I was very good, but I have just come back from a barbecue at my sister's. I avoided the booze, the bread rolls, the sauces and the crisps, but I did have beefburger, sausages and a smidgen of garlic pizza. I'll just have to be very good for the rest of the week.
It's been warm and sunny, it's back to work tomorrow, and I'm very sleepy. So good night and happy stitching to you all - I'm dead jealous!
