Dark October - the beginning

Hi all!

Dark October is a stitching SAL which has been around for a few years. It was the brainchild of Michelle Cozyegg and Emily Eclectic Possessions (thanks, Jo, for pointing me in the right direction there) with the idea (I think) of stitching on just Halloween projects for the whole month, whether that be one project, a few projects, or even a new start every day.

I love the idea of Dark October but the format doesn't really fit in with my current stitching schedule. So I had two choices; either change most of my October schedule to make it 100% Dark October, or make Dark October work alongside my original plans. After much procrastination I chose the latter (although, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking if changing my mind again!) mainly because I thought knew the former would tempt me into one or two far too many new starts.

So now my October plan is as follows - stitch on the pieces I had planned to stitch on anyway, but for about 20-30 minutes each day work on one of these Dark Shadows projects by Sue Hillis Designs. That way I can do my planned stitching and participate in Dark October too, if only a little.

Here is yesterday's start. I think you should be able to tell which one I've chosen to stitch first. And if I finish this one then I will start another, and so on, until the end of the month.

Stitched on 16ct Purple Potion by sewitall.com 2 over 1

There are going to be a few changes to the designs - to give them a bit of sparkle I'm substituting the charted blacks and greys with their closest Etoile counterparts, and for the chain-y bits on the candelabra and chandelier I have some silver-lined dark grey beads which I would really like to use. I don't know if they will work but it's worth a try so fingers crossed.

I would say wish me luck, but it's not exactly going to be the most difficult SAL in the world (except perhaps the putting-down-after-only-a-short-while bit!)

Take care,
Rachel x

#24HoursOfCrossStitch - September Challenges

Hi all,

Here is my monthly posting for the #24HoursOfCrossStitch Challenge, the brainchild of Jen from QuirksandStitches (blog fairly inactive but she does do Facebook, Instagram and Flosstube).

As usual, there is a lot of fun shoe-horning in here. I hope you can follow my logic; it does make sense, honest!

September follows the same format as previous months, so let's get going, shall we?


1) Stitch for 24 hours during the month.

I stitched for a total of 44 hours 15 minutes during September, split between just six projects. Here's a recap of the projects with the time spent on each one:

Christmas Cat with Present - 4h 50m - progress
(goal was to stitch on it for at least 2 hours)

September In Sapphire - 5h 35m - started and finished
(goal was to start and finish it)

Blue Patchwork Hootie - 10h 10m - started and finished
(goal was to start and finish it)

Kings and Queens (Edward I) - 5h 15m - started and finished
(goal was to start and finish it)

Hogwarts In A Bottle - 15h 30m - progress
(goal was to stitch on it for at least 10 hours)
(close up of over 4.5 hours of backstitching added since 100 hour post)

Winter Bird - 2h 55m - finished
(goal was to finish it)

2) Fill in the acrostic SHORTER DAYS (Hogwarts was used once, all the other projects twice)

S - September in Sapphire - the month is September
H - Winter Bird - the designer is Hobikolik
O - Blue Patchwork Hootie - the hootie is an owl
R - Kings and Queens - monarchs are royalty
T - Blue Patchwork Hootie - because owls go 'twit-twoo'
E - Kings and Queens - my monarch this month is Edward I
R - Christmas Cat With Present - the presents are on a red rug
D - Hogwarts In A Bottle - the headmaster of Hogwarts is Dumbledore
A - Winter Bird - another word for bird is avian
Y - Christmas Cat With Present - the present has a yellow bow
S - September in Sapphire - the birthstone is sapphire


3) Connect 12 or more of the given holidays to your projects and stitch for at least 24 minutes on each. (Each project went on two holidays, so 12 in total. See above for time spent on each one.)

This is where I struggled. A lot! But all in good fun. Bear with some of the links, they do make sense, honest!

1st - Random Acts Of Kindness Day - Christmas Cat With Present - because giving presents is kind.

2nd - World Coconut Day - Christmas Cat With Present - because coconuts produce milk and cats like milk.

4th - Newspaper Carrier Day - Blue Patchwork Hootie - at Hogwarts owls carry in newspapers and post for the students.

7th - World Beard Day - Kings and Queens - like most men of the time, this month's monarch, Edward I, sported a beard.

9th - Bluebird Of Happiness Day - Winter Bird - because my winter bird is blue so a 'blue bird'.

12th - National Day Of Encouragement - Hogwarts In A Bottle - because schools are (hopefully) places where children receive lots of encouragement.

13th - International Chocolate Day - September in Sapphire - in the US state of Washington there is a glacier called Chocolate Glacier. This project was stitched on fabric called Glacier, hence the connection to chocolate!

20th - National Doodle Day - Winter Bird - because the design looks a bit doodle-ish.

23rd - Family Day - Kings and Queens - my monarch of the month, Edward I, loved his family.

26th - Forget-Me-Not Day - September in Sapphire - because forget-me-nots are (sort of) blue, like sapphires.

28th - National Ghost Hunting Day - Hogwarts In A Bottle - because Hogwarts has a number of resident ghosts (including the mischievous Peeves who was played by Rik Mayall but completely cut out of the films... boo!)

29th - International Coffee Day - Blue Patchwork Hootie - because owls have big wide eyes, which is what we have if we drink too much (caffeinated) coffee!

Oh, how I loved making those connections!

There are going to be two Challenges for October; one based around autumn, the other Halloween. We don't have to do both but I probably will - double the challenges, double the fun... bring them on!!!

Take care,
Rachel x

Hogwarts In A Bottle - 100 hours

Good morning all!

I had a really successful time stitching on Hogwarts last week so have another update already! It's hard to believe I'm already 100 hours in... 100 hours! Doesn't time fly.....

As hoped, I filled in the gap between the buildings on the left and the right with the addition of more gloomy sky, a turret and some roofs. As you can see, I tend to jump around a lot when stitching so am not at all bothered by missing chunks, but I do like that it looks a bit tidier now.

Last time:

This time:

And the full piece:

I'm quite amazed at how well-defined the buildings are without the backstitching; it's so easy to distinguish one from another and pick out the windows, etc. Next time, before delving into more blues and browns, I'll be adding lots of backstitching. We all know what a difference backstitching can make but no doubt my jaw will still drop at the difference!

Take care,
Rachel x

Smalls SAL - September 2019

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 specifically for this SAL which doesn't appear elsewhere on my blog. This month it was a Patchwork Hootie by Pinoy Stitch (etsy). I didn't know whether I would be stitching the blue, green or pink one and asked if you had any preference. Votes were tied between blue and green, so I chose blue to match my September birthstone:

Blue Pachwork Hootie by Pinoy Stitch (etsy)

Stitch Count 55 wide by 42 high

Stitched on 16ct Glacier over-dyed aida from sewitall.com 2 over 1

Started - 7th September 2019

Finished - 20th September 2019

Total stitching time - 10 hours 10 minutes

I didn't think the charted blues went together very well so I chose my own colours. However, two of the three looked so alike when stitched that they could have been mistaken for the same thread. So I did a bit of frogging and substituted the darker blue at the last minute. I don't think it works but, hey-ho, I've stitched it now and am not going to unpick it again. Anyway, seeing as owls are neither blue nor patchwork, any colour combination would work really!

What don't work, though, are the white dots in his eyes. Looking in opposite directions they make him look sinister so I'll probably change them before he's FFO'd.

For this Smalls SAL I'm also re-showing other qualifying small projects I've stitched during the month.

My birthstone of the month, September in Sapphire:

And my monarch of the month, Edward I:

October's Small SAL will see another Hootie, although this time I'll be sticking with the charted colours!

Take care,
Rachel x

Winter Bird - finished!

Hello everyone!

A few of you correctly guessed that it would not be long before I finished this little project. He was the second of my seven new starts over the summer and is now the third one to be completed.

Here's a reminder how I left him after a weekend and 4 hours of stitching:

And now all finished:

Bird by Hobikolik (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Stormy Sea over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitched in Threadworx 1140 Moonlit Skies

Stitch count 80 wide by 80 high
Started - 27th July 2019
Finished - 17th September 2019

Total stitching time - 6 hours 55 minutes

He was. as always, an absolute joy to stitch; those colours are so soothing and Threadworx threads a delight to stitch with. He will be FFOd to match the other three in the set, after which I will photograph and show all four together. I wonder if I (or you) will have a favourite?

Take care,
Rachel x

Hogwarts In A Bottle - 90 hours

Good afternoon!

It's been a long time coming but I've finally finished another 10 hours on Hogwarts.

Here's a reminder of how it looked after 80 hours::

You saw a glimpse of some progress in the July #24 posting but here's the full progress at the 90 hour mark:

And the full piece:

As you can see I stitched the beginning of the halls, towers and turrets on the right. Next time I'll be working towards the middle and hopefully joining up the two sides. I will probably wait until the buildings have been completed before adding more backstitching, but who knows?!

I've now revised how long I think this project will take to finish since more colour changes means the amount of stitching I'm achieving in each 10 hour stint has decreased. Another 35 hours have been added, which means I'm not even half way through after two-thirds of the year, so way behind schedule on that planned year end finish. There have been a few distractions, however, such as finishing Parrot on Parade and Green Halloween Banner, and starting a number of pieces over the summer, but I certainly don't consider those bad distractions.

I could push hard to finish it this year but I've calculated that, even if I make this my sole focus piece once my three beginning-of-the-month projects (Birthstone, Monarch, Smalls SAL) have been completed, it's still unlikely. Therefore if any of my recent new starts wriggle their way onto my frames I won't stress about it. Hogwarts is such an enjoyable piece to stitch that I don't think I'll ever want it to end anyway, and if the new starts do find themselves receiving attention then there may well be some more finishes in the meantime. I can't lose!!

So what will be on my frames next, I wonder? Hogwarts or one of the summer starts? I think I'll pick... that one... hehehe!

Take care,
Rachel x

A Monarch A Month - Edward I

Hello all!

Over the course of the next four years I will be stitching Bothy Thread's Kings and Queens at the slow pace of one monarch per month.

This is monarch number nine, the first of three successive Edwards:

Edward I from Kings and Queens by Bothy Threads
Started - 9th September 2019

Finished - 11th September 2019

Total stitching time - 5 hours 15 minutes

Here's a brief summary of Edward I and his reign. So much to say yet so few words allowed meant I have had to be very brief about most things, especially the conflicts in Wales and Scotland which are really interesting (well, to me anyway!) You'll also find a few words in inverted commas, primarily because I couldn't easily express their real meaning. I hope you understand what they're trying to convey.

EDWARD I
Preceded by Henry III (father)
Succeeded by Edward II (son)
Lived 1239-1307
Reigned 1272-1307
Married Eleanor of Castille 1254-1290 (died) and Margaret of France 1299-1307
Fathered (probably) 5 sons and 11 daughters by Eleanor and 2 sons and 1 daughter by Margaret

Edward became king, whilst on Crusade in 1272, after the death of his father. He finally landed in England in 1274!

He was nicknamed Edward Longshanks due to his intimidating height of 6' 2" and, centuries later, 'Hammer of the Scots'.

He admired the legends of King Arthur and had a Round Table featuring the names of the knights made. This still hangs in Winchester Cathedral.

He married 13 year old Eleanor probably for political purposes, yet they were devoted and he was deeply affected by her death. His second marriage to the French King's sister was also political.

In 1295 Edward unwittingly 'created' the first 'House of Commons' by summoning 'commoners' (county knights and borough representatives) to parliament to assent to (rather than simply agree with) decisions made by his parliament of Lords.

By 1284 Edward had conquered Wales. He introduced English Laws, constructed numerous castles, and crowned his and Eleanor's final child Prince of Wales, all as statements of his power and intent.

In 1290, when Scotland had no direct heir, Edward became 'temporary custodian'. John Balliol was appointed King in 1292 but Edward continued to interfere in Scotland's affairs. In 1296 Edward successfully invaded, imprisoning John and proclaiming Scotland his.

Wanting Scottish independence, William Wallace led rebellions against Edward until caught and executed in 1305.

In 1306 Robert the Bruce proclaimed himself and was crowned king of Scotland. Edward began retaliating but died in 1307 before Scotland's 'ownership' had been resolved.

He was succeeded by his only surviving son from his first marriage, Edward.

So next month, Edward II. I hope his reign is a bit easier to confine to 300 words!

Take care,

Rachel x