I made ten attempts at taking a photo and this brown shmush was the best that I could come up with. I've got to get a camera that doens't turn the anti shake off when I turn teh flash off, otherwise my world's gonna be full of brown shmush's for some time to come.

It doesn't look much bigger than the last brown shmush, but I've added a whole shade or red/brown and half a shade of mustard, it's all very exciting.

I was weak!

I was weak, I just couldn't resist. I saw her at a really good price last week and I ordered her (shhh, don't tell Ben!) and she arrived yesterday.

Isn't she just fabulous though, I just think it's such a lovely chart.

I do have a stitching update, but I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to take a picture yet, we've had people staying this weekend, so my normal updating pattern was broken.

We went to Malham yesterday and the boys (being boys and a little insane) decided that they wanted to climb the waterfall (see, just crazy) and convinced Kate that she wanted to as well. Carole and I decided that we most definitely didn't wish to climb the (might I add, frozen in places) waterfall and so stood at the bottom because we genuinely wanted to know that they survived the experience before walking round to meet them at the top. We watched most of this from behind our hands but despite that it still has my favourite moment of the weekend at this point. When they'd picked their ways across the rocks to the base of the waterfall Carole, looking and sounding completely exasperated suddenly went 'Yes yes, you're very brave, now come back.' I just found it so funny for some reason.

Anyway, everyone did survive and we all came back to the flat, via the chippy, for an evening of fish and chips and playing on the Wii and fun was had by all.

International Hermit & Stitch Day - a Regular thing?

What do people think? Would you be interested? Joyce has mad this suggestion on her blog, and we're wondering whether people would fancy it and get involved with us.

Pop over to her blog and leave a comment if you're interested in joining in on a regular basis, then we can see how many people want to join in.

Kim x

The beginning of Lance and Gwen

Do you ever question your own sanity? That's what I was doing when I started working on this on Wednesday night. The smallest I've ever worked on before is 18 count so 25 seemed absolutely tiny, I felt like I was going cross eyed trying to do the tiny little stitches, I'm still debating whether to invest in a magnifying glass to make my life a little easier.

I'm absolutely loving working on it though, after that initial moment of panic when I first started it and now having such fun, I love it! I know it doesn't look like muhch right now, it's the top right page, so you can see the beginning of the arch over the window, which is something.

I've had this little rant on this blog before I think, I always start on the most boring part of the chart because it means you've still got the more interesting bits to look forward to, so I'm going to work all the way down the right which is basically wall with a bit of window, then head across towards the people.

There's about 10.5 hours gone into this so far and though there isn't much there so far, it is stitching up quicker than I was expecting it to when I first started.

So, how about everyone else? Did anyone join in with International Hermit and Stitch Day, what progress did you make? About 8 hours of this were done on Saturday, so that's quite a chunk of my progress so far. I'm debating carrying this on for another week, because I have really enjoyed it so I might give it a little more time just to progress a bit. We've got a friend staying next week so I'm probably not going to be able to get much stitching done anyway, so I may as well carry on with this one.

Kim x

A cunning plan - International Hermit and Stitch Day

Joyce and I have hatched a cunning plan, and we're hoping that others will join us in it. She mentioned that she had a piece of stitching that she really wanted to work on so she was thinking of hermiting up and stitching this weekend. I'd also made a similar plan for myself due to having the flat to myself on Saturday when my other half goes to a conference so we've decided to launch International Hermit and Stitch Day.

Join us, it'll be fun. Joyce is much more organised than I am so, if you fancy joining us pop over to her blog and leave a comment on her post and we'll both pop to see what progress you've been making. We'll both be posting out progress to what we've achieve from our hermitage on Sunday or Monday so even if you've only got a couple of hours, why not join in with us?

Kim x

I took pity on her

After my truly pathetic amount of stitching update last week, I decided to give Winter's Majesty another week. Sadly it's been another pathetic amount of stitching, but I figure two little weeks almost adds up to one decent amount of stitching. A combination of Lego Harry Potter addiction and attempting to get fit is really cutting into my stitching time. Also I'm currently stitching pale blue on to pale blue, so when I do stitch you can't really see what I've done anyway. But this coming week is my start on my HAED, I'll get it all framed up and do a bit of test stitching this week to see whether I'm going cross or tent stitching and one or two strand then I'm gonna have a big stitch-a-thon this coming Saturday while Ben goes and learns about sports chiropractics.

I've decided which one I'm going to stitch by the way, it's Lancelot and Guinevere, I decided that there were many convincing arguements for it. Thank you for all your answers and comments by the way, I think that that's the most feedback I've ever had on a post. Poor Bubbles got completely over ruled, only 3 votes bless her, but it was pretty close between Lancelot and Guinevere and Alice so it was a combination of Lancelot and Guinevere being the one that Ben preferred and the fact that, as a few people pointed out, they were my first buy so I really ought to stitch them first. Although I do have to mention Joysze who made a strangely compelling arguement for Bubbles which almost made me choose it, all she said was "BUBBLES, BUBBLES, BUBBLES!!!!!" but somehow it just tickled me and really made me want to choose it, I think because (in my head at least) she sounded really excited about the decision.

What would your 15 have been?

I poached this idea from Lindsay at Caring Stitcher because I thought it was a fabulous and fun idea. She, like myself, values her sanity to much to have started to Crazy 15 challenge, because it would only end badly, but she thought it would be fun to pick the 15 that she would have done if she could.

1. HAED – Lance & Gwen by Selena Fenech

2. HAED – Bubbles by Selena Fenech
3. HAED – Alice in Wonderland by Meredith Dillman
4. Passione Ricamo – Once up a Time (I think that’s what it’s called)
5. Ballroom Scene from Cross Stitch Collection by Sandy Littlejohn
6. King Arthur Sampler – Cross Stitcher
7. Memoirs of a Geisha - iconic shot, white face & black hair – bought it on the internet, no idea!
8. Princess Bride – Iconic Shot – designed myself
9. Susan StoHelit (fan art or a Terry Pratchett character) designed myself
10. Mighty Samurai – Dimensions Gold Collection
11. Medieval Lady – I think Cross Stitcher again
12. HAED – a Spangler design – I don’t even know which one, there’s one of a dragon on a motorbike that I saw once and it just instantly made me think of my mother for some reason, so I’d quite like to stitch that one.
13. Indian Beauty - Lanarte
14. Tea for Three – Mirabilia
15. The Kiss - Mirabilia

As you can probably see, it's a completely unrealistic list and I'd never have completed it in a year, would have lead to tears and blood shed, but they're the 15 that I really want to do (well, at the moment anyway - it changes a lot) so I'd love to have started them.

So, what would everyone elses lists have been?

Winter's Majesty - if you squint it's kinda grown

I honestly have done some stitching on it, I know it doesn't look like it but I really have. There's one complete colour been added since my last update and I'm about halfway through adding a second colour, so it's grown, just not in a very visible way. I knew that Lego Harry Potter was going to be a problem for my stitching time, especially as I then got Ben lego Batman for his birthday, which we're both equally addicted to, so I'm having to be very strict with myself and make sure that I do actually do some stitching.

Thank you everyone who's commented on which HAED I should start on next, it's looking very much like a two horse race at the moment, poor Bubbles has only got two votes bless her, so it looks like it's going to be either Alice or Lance and Gwen, but who can same, I am very easily swayed, and it's not guaranteed until I actually start stitching. On this note by the way, Louanne over at Our Friends' HAED SAL has matched me up with a buddy so that I can post my progress on my first project over there. Their spaces for posters are completely full so Susan has kindly volunteered to put my posts up for me so that I can still have posts up there. I don't currently have a link for Susan's blog, but as soon as I do I'll put that up as well. I'm sure that if your a HAED fan you'll already know about the blog, but if you don't, pop over there are some lovely pieces growing at an astounding rate over there.

Finally, and on a completely unrelated note, this amused me so I thought I'd share. This is my corner in the bedroom, my bedside table and that corner of the room. It's commonly referred to as the book mountain, it isn't at the highest it's ever been, but it's not far off, and that last time it got this high there wasn't a subsidiary heap next to it. This is the 'to read' heap, and it's growing. There's a big variety books here, the ones that are lying down on top of the bedside table, I'm part way through, also the first 5 on the top shelf of the bedside table. The bottom shelf of the bedside table is my collection of books by one of my favourite authors that happened to fit there quite nicely, which I read a lot. There's a few of my dad's books in there that I've pinched the last couple of times that I've been down to visit, there's some library books, my book group book (although that's actually one of the ones lying down), and everything else, that's just stuff that I want to read, so I've put it next to the bed so that it's one of the ones that I'll think to pick up next when I'm next choosing a book. Also, the bear is sitting on three lever arch files, those are most of my cross stitch charts, there's also a row of stitching books and some kits behind the bear. Basically, this is the corner of the house that's most relevant to this blog.

How's everyone doing on their New Years resolutions by the way?

My stitching ones are going well, most of my fitness classes start this week, but I haven't done any writing yet!

I need your help

I've said it over and over, I'm going to start a HAED this year, and I've now decided that it's going to be in the next few weeks, but I have one problem, I can't decide which one. I gave Ben all the charts that I was choosing from and asked him for his opinion, he picked three that were his favourites, I've picked two of those (I liked the third one, but didn't want to stitch it at the moment) and one other that I still really like, and I can't decide which so go for, so I need other opinions out of these three in the hope that my brain will finally kick in and help me make a decision so... in alphabetical order

Alice in Wonderland by Meredith Dillman. I do really like this one, I saw it on the site, fell in love with it and bought it, just really like the style with the sepia border and the blues and greens in the middle. I don't know, it's gut instinct, I just fell in love with it and bought it. This is the one of the three that Ben didn't pick, so I kinda feel like I shouldn't pick it and should go for one of the ones that he picked, but I like it and can't quite bring myself to rule it out somehow!



Bubbles by Selena Fenech. There's a certain aptness to this being my first HAED because, as you may have noticed, it's also my profile picture, I also have a pair of earrings with it on (well, currently I have one earring because I lost the other, but just as soon as I get round to replacing the one I lost, I'll have a pair again).

Lovely colours, once again, I have always liked my purple. Again I'm mostly working on gut instinct, it's just a really nice picture that I've always liked.

One of the ones that Ben selected, which surprised me, I thought perhaps it was a bit of a girly design, but he selected it as one of his top three.

Last, but by no means least, Lancelot and Guinevere, also by Selena Fenech. The first Heaven and Earth Design that I ever bought. I've always been obsessed with the Arthurian Legends, so I loved this as soon as I saw it, and Selena Fenech was the first artist on HAED that I really liked the work of, although I now have a much longer list of artists that I like.

I like the composition of the picture and the light coming in through the window, although I do remember thinking that his armour must be quite uncomfortable to cuddle up against.

On a practical level I have also kitted this up, I bought all the cottons when I bought the design, although the fabric doesn't count, cos it could be used for any of them.

And again, it's one of the two that Ben selected from the list.

So that's the three, what does everyone else think, come on, I'm failing to make the decision, so someone has to make it for me... please!

TUSALy goodness

My first ever TUSAL post, I'm all excited and stuff, it it's a lousy picture, and yes I am using a jam jar, but I did it, I remembered to make my first post, so proud!

Happy stitching all!

Daffycat's running the TUSAL this year, so if you fancy joining this year then pop over to her blog to join in