The Days of Santa, Christmas 2017

There have been many times when I set a goal for myself and see if I can achieve it... these past few days have been spent similarly, even though it started out quite innocently enough with the little Santa I started stitching just a few days ago, on Christmas Eve.
it was a fun stitch and a quick one too, and I was glad to see that I could pick up the pace again and not have issues with my hands.... but then I started looking more closely.... had to still work on regaining clarity of my stitches.  It could be that the threads in the kit are not as good in quality but that coupled with my desire to just have some time for 'fun stitching' while watching Christmas movies on TV, resulted in one more Santa - started late in the evening on Christmas Day and finished yesterday except for the  back stitches of the face.  I finished that a few hours ago and then also tweeked the face of the first Santa...
here then are the results of these last two days  - hope you too have had some time with your needle and thread. 

 

Now right after I finished this second Santa I decided to change the eyes of the first Santa I had shared in the previous blogpost.

I changed the color of the eyebrows and restitched the eyes ... better but still not quite there

So, I decided to just let the charted design be and add 'what felt right'... added pinks and reworked both eyes again...

So, this is the status of my linen remnant to date...

 maybe one more tonight?

Season's Greetings, Christmas Eve, 2017

Every Year around this time I like to stitch at least one thing that is 'christmassy' .... my favorite motif is perhaps stitching a Santa... somehow the promise of hope, peace and good will associated with this fictitious jolly gentleman always makes me smile.
So, late last night, I took out a remnant piece of 32 count linen and started stitching ... finished it this morning... I will as always embellish it and finish it as an ornament (one of these days); but for now, here is wishing you all some joyful and peaceful times these last few days of 2017

Quick update

Update on my needlework on this second snowy Sunday of Advent 

1.

Dutch Beauty - finished a few days ago - still need to add my initials and dates but have to figure out if I want to put those within the sampler or around it

Dutch Beauty - Permin

2. Frances Cheyney 

Finishing the last block - lots of fiddly needleweaving ... good news is that my fingers and my wrists are back to ‘normal’

Frances Cheyney - final band 

3. Will finally post a more detailed update on my blog soon ....

Lessons in life and needlework

In the early hours of the morning exactly a month ago I realized that the amount of time for the body to heal is something one cannot always plan or predict. This is still a lesson I have to learn with all it's nuances.
Hard to do when until recently I was fortunate to live life simply by planning and doing whatever it took to make things happen according to my own time table...
I have to embrace a different approach and allow my body to heal on it's own time ... and accept 'defeat' and be grateful for the continued improvement ...
and let some things go.
For most people my progress is already almost 'normal healing and movement'... just happen to demand a lot more of myself in my profession and in my 'serious needlework projects'.... never knew how much I have fine tuned things over the years ... still working towards being pain free and regaining "my" full range of movement...

I will post on some of the needlework projects I have been busy with these past months shortly.

Needles

Essential needlework tools : NEEDLES

It is not often that I talk about the tools and accessories I use - I realize that it is all a matter of personal preference.  You all know that I enjoy various techniques some of which have their own special tools and needles.

When it comes to  Cross stitch and Samplers, Needlepoint, and Crewel Embroidery , I have used many brands of needles over the years.  I used John James but now like Bohin needles from France - they are beautifully made and my preference.

Recently, I purchased #28 Tapestry needles that were supposed to be 'superior' and I must say that they are worth every penny! They are better than the Bohin needles!  Needless to say I ordered the other sizes too!

I have waited to post this on Facebook and on my blog because I wanted to be sure - my hands are much better now and my initial impression was correct.

So if you feel like trying them they are currently on SALE from February 1-14,2017.  Please email your order directly as instructed in the post by Pat Carson below.

Weekend theme : Snow and Whitework

The weekend theme in a needlework group on Facebook is : Whitework & Snow
... I have taken many photographs of snowy landscapes and have done many Whitework techniques - pictures of which are just not readily available right now - so just one picture of a recent snow storm ❄️ ⛈ and some of the pictures taken from my blog should suffice for now. I love Whitework techniques and am always intrigued by how within each variation there is much to explored and learned.

One of these days I have to photograph my Mountmellick, Hardanger, Reticella , Drawn thread and Schwalm pieces.
So here is just a sampling of pictures from recent work I have shared here on my blog in greater detail over the years. Hopefully they will whet your appetite to this amazing group of needlework which looks so intricate but actually is not that hard and a lot of fun to do ...

I do hope you give it a try. Start small and on larger count of linen but do try!

First snow of this winter - December, 2016

A snowflake of sorts

My version of Frances Cheyney sampler

My design using Schwalm techniques

Fleur de Lys sampler

Not true monogramming technique

Margret Gatis sampler

A monochromatic sampler of sorts

A screen shot of another lesson I had to learn last week and a picture (not mine) I shared on my Facebook page :