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!
Evening, and apologies for the delay in posting. I have spent the last two nights doing emergency babysitting while my sister and brother in law dealt with my eldest niece's brief stay in hospital recovering from an asthma attack. She is home now but it was worrying at the time.
Unfortunately I don't have a lot to show for my hermitting and stitching weekend, or for the week that preceded it.
I wasn't exactly laid low but I was in some pain and thereby distracted from stitching by a gum infection for which the dentist gave me a short course of antibiotics. On top of that, I spent most of Saturday entertaining my youngest niece, which was fun but exceedingly tiring. However we did manage to reach a decision on what I am going to stitch her for her 5th birthday in June.
This is "Enchanted Garden" by Joan Elliott, a chart from issue 98 of Cross Stitch Gold. Apologies for the photo - I couldn't eliminate the glare off the magazine page. Littlest niece wanted fairies and I am reasonably happy with this - it is not too cute or too complex to achieve in the time frame. Despite being a Joan Elliott, there is no beading or metallic threads. The finished piece will be framed rather than turned into a cushion.
I did manage to get a few extra stitches in on my Turkish Challenge piece, but I really need to get a grip and use my lunch breaks more profitably. At the moment I keep getting distracted by other people's stitching blogs.
Finally the usual update on Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. Last week's three blocks were full of confetti - that is another Chinese lantern starting to show behind the rose bushes. To be perfectly honest, I am more concerned about getting my three blocks a week done on this piece than any of my other deadlines. This is my BAP, this is the piece that my mother takes seriously, this is the piece that makes me feel that I really can achieve something worthwhile. I am not saying that it is perfect - there is the occasional stitch in the wrong colour, the back is more like a carpet than a piece of stitching, but this piece is the special piece.
I have booked the day off on Friday - I need a duvet day and the first full moon of 2013 is on Sunday so a WIPocalypse post is just around the corner. I am going to have a lie in and just potter and stitch.
Wishing you all the best for better weather and peace to stitch in.
