Smalls SAL - October 2023

Hello all!

It's the last Friday of the month so time for the Smalls SAL. Thank you, Mary, for continuing to host this fun little SAL. Pop over to Mary's Blog to see what other participants have been stitching in the way of Smalls this month.

Each month I stitch a small project (or more) specifically for this SAL which doesn't appear elsewhere on my blog.

So, I haven't linked up to this Smalls SAL for six months (sorry, Mary) but am back this month in time to show the final two little Advent ornies:

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 19 Star by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 725 and DMC Etoile 725

Started - 5th May 2023

Finished - 6th October 2023

(mislaid for a few months!)

Total Stitching time - 3 hours

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 16 Stocking by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 603 and DMC Etoile 603

Started - 7th October 2023

Finished - 10th October 2023

Total Stitching time - 3 hours 25 minutes

These have all been so enjoyable to stitch, and are one of those designs that I would happily stitch all over again but in a different colour scheme.

Talking of stitching all over again, next month's Small SAL will see the return of an old favourite 🐉!

Take care,
Rachel x

Deathly Hallows In A Bottle - finished!

Hi all!

For Dark October my plan was to try to make some progress on two or three Halloween-ish WIPs. The first, Haunted Library, received 10 hours of progress, the second has resulted in a finish!

This is Deathly Hallows in a Bottle the last of the four Harry Potter themed bottles I started during Mischievous March 2021. It's not exactly Halloween-y but does at least have 'deathly' in the title so is good for Dark October! The last time I worked on this, for the April A-Z Challenge, it didn't float my boat at all and I gave it an enjoyment rating of 4/10. This time, however, I couldn't put it down! Strange how quickly tastes change.

Here's where I picked it up:

Here it is without any backstitching:

And completed:

Deathly Hallows In A Bottle by MagicStitchStudio (no longer on etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Sketch Grey over-dyed aida

Started - 5th March 2021

Finished - 24th October 2023

Total stitching time - 18 hours 5 minutes

So not only can I now cross one off my WIP list, I can also cross off Mischievous March 2021 as having being completed; a double woo-hoo!

There's still a week of Dark October left and I'm switching to a third WIP, one which I think may receive a lot of attention!

Take care,

Rachel x

Haunted Library - 20 hours

Hi All!

I began Dark October by working on a project started during Dark October 2019. This is Haunted Library by Mill Hill stitched, for various reasons, on 14ct aida as opposed to the supplied perforated paper.

In 2019 I reached the 10 hour mark:

And now, four years later, have reached the 20 hour mark:

Given this progress, a potential finish is in sight. But, for some unfathomable reason, I have decided to swap to another WIP. Let's see what happens.

Take care,

Rachel x

Link-up For Fully Finished Gallery SAL - September and October 2023

Hi all!

I'm so sorry for missing last month's link-up; it just completely slipped my mind and it wasn't until a couple of weeks later that I realised. But this month's hasn't, so here is September and October combined.

It's the 10th of the month so time for another Fully Finished Gallery SAL, the place to show your FFOing achievements since your last link-up.

The link-up for this SAL opens on the 10th of each month and stays open for 10 days so you can join in whenever you're ready.

In keeping with what has become a tradition for me this year, I only have my little Advent ornies to show; one from last month and one for this month, both finished in the same way as the other 20 so far:

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 17 Gingerbread Man by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 725 and DMC Etoile 725

Started - 22nd July 2023

Finished - 31st August 2023

Total stitching time - 3 hours 30 minutes

(yep 41 days to stitch!)

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 7 Reindeer by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 321 and DMC Etoile 321

Started - 1st September 2023

Finished - 30th September 2023

Total stitching time - 2 hours 45 minutes

(yes, took the whole month!)

So, 22 down and only two more to go. Looks like they'll all be finished in time for Christmas!

Now it's your turn.

Please link-up using the URL of your FFG SAL post and not the home page of your blog, adding a thumbnail of a finish and either your name or your blog name as the caption. The link-up will remain open for 10 days, closing at 6am UK time on 20th October.

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And please don't forget to follow other links and support fellow fully-finish-offers!

Next month's post will (hopefully!) go live on 10th November at 6am UK time. See you there!

* * * * * * * * * *

A bit of personal stuff:

As you will be more than aware, my stitching and blogging in the last couple of years have been very sporadic. This year started really well but, after being lulled into yet another false sense of security, went pear-shaped again mid April and have stayed that way since.

But in the last couple of weeks things have finally begun to return to 'normal' again. It was missing last month's FFG SAL which made me tell life 'enough is enough, I want my stitching time back!' So I've cleared most of my emails, started catching up on blogs, and actually managed to stitch for more than five minutes each day this month! I don't want to get my hopes up too much, and won't claim to 'be back' but I'm quietly excited (especially as it's Dark October).

I've especially hated missing out on SALs and, whilst I cannot catch up on some of them, am hoping to create a post of each of the People's Choice SAL I've missed so there should be a few appearing during the month (weird, I know, but this is my favourite SAL and even though it's far too late to actually participate I can at least participate in spirit!)

So let's see what happens. If you thought you'd got rid of me, you haven't quite yet (fingers crossed!)

Take care,

Rachel x

People's Choice SAL - Weather

Hello all!

It's the first Saturday of the month (actually the second, but I thought I'd confuse everyone by cheating and back-posting this!) so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Continued thanks to Jo for hosting this unique SAL which has a different theme each month.

This month's theme is Weather.

In real life I'm not a fan of the heat and much prefer wind and rain to hot and dry (although do concede the latter is much better for drying washing!) and that seems to have been reflected in my stitching:

These two cuties are Puddle Duck and Waterlogged. I'm guessing Waterlogged was shaking himself dry after having splashed around in the puddle after the rain: 

Sheltering from a heavy downpour is Lickle Ted in April Shower:

Also sheltering from the rain is the mouse in this little Margaret Sherry design, which I named Daisy Umbrella:

And in keeping with the rain (although more of a drizzle this time) here's A Shower by Soda Stitch:

Luckily, I have stitched other weather-related projects too.

Here is Eeyore's Snowflake:

And this is Snowflake The Cactus by FuzzyFoxDesigns (etsy), keeping warm during the snowfall:

And finally, this is Autumn Twirls by Bent Creek. It is part of a monthly series and is Supposed to say 'November Twirls' to rhyme with the following month's 'December Swirls', but I only wanted to stitch this one so changed the wording. It's clever how just a few swirls of stitching gives a real sense of a windy day.

In the way of stash, I have Sudden Showers by Janlynn, a chart which (like far too many others) has been on my to-do list for well over 15 years! I believe most of the background and reflections are half-stitch to add depth to the design:

See, I told you I like the rain!

Next month's theme is Circles. Maybe I'll actually post that one on time!

Take care,

Rachel x