Four in the Hand

Mel shows us that "Four in the Bush" is now actually in the hand.  She stitched this chart I posted as a Halloween freebie using the Carrie's colors I recommended in silks. Beautiful!

And if you ask me exactly of what there are four, I will reply, "Owl-bats."

For those who have yet to BoInk

..Don't worry that the mystery is over.  Many folks are just starting.  Some did finish within hours of the final mystery piece being posted, but people everywhere are working things through at their own pace and some haven't even heard of it yet.

Liz shares her finished Book of Ink Circles, a free mystery project I offered last year which became affectionately known as BoInk.  Like many stitchers, she's changed things around a bit to really make it her own piece.  This was a great solution for those who didn't really care for the four cats in the corners, despite their authentic Celtic heritage :o)  Once the jokes made the rounds about the cats "barfing" out the ribbons, I think they lost a few fans.  (But gained a few nicknames: Barfy, Spewey, Ralph, and Chuck)

In addition to the corner knots, Liz chose a unique palette of aquas, browns, and overdyed threads on her own handpainted 18 ct. eggshell canvas.  And it's done in needlepoint - you can see that better if you click to biggify.  (Did you know that nearly all of the Ink Circles designs convert well to needlepoint?  I'm just not big into the specialty and fractional stitches.)

Beautiful job, Liz! Thanks for sharing.

Designs Coming Full Circles

You'll recognize the two recent cross stitch designs at the heart of this project pair.  Both started out as a doodle, got charted out and stitched, and have now come to life in a new medium over the last week.  I used two different carving mediums.  I liked the pink "speedy stamp" better than the white "mastercarve," but I think I prefer real linoleum to the cuts-like-butter stuff.  A fairly successful project & the photos don't need much for explanation.

An Inkling of an Inkling

I've decided to give a special name to some smaller pieces that I'll be putting out.  They're going to be called "Inklings."  Twisted Heart would have been one, if I had thought of the name back then.  I love doing bigger projects, but it's so nice to have some littler ones to shake things up.  The first official one will be Fleur d'Orleans, and this is your sneak peek.

I'm debating between an oval frame and a flat fold. Thoughts?  I definitely need to find some Mardi Gras beads for the leaflet photo.  I should have the chart ready for release after Christmas, which should leave plenty of time for stitching it up before the King Cake goes in the oven.

Thanks go to Nick Pericone for suggesting I do a fleur de lys design.

Road Report: Watch out for Black Ice

For anyone doing any holiday (or even in-town) travelling in the colder climes, black ice is a definite road hazard. For anyone who stitched last year's ornament, Celtic Ice, and is prepping for the upcoming holiday, this Black Ice is much less hazardous.

I used Carrie's Threads in: Irish Kiss, Hunter, Masquerade, and Boysenberry on black Belfast linen to make this new version.  Since the fabric didn't have "windowpane" stripes on it, I added my own.  Also, since I could, I made the squares SQUARE so that the ornament can hang on point without being lopsided.  (I was totally depressed when I found last year that my 6 yards of this checked fabric was not symmetrically woven - really, weavers - what's with that!)

Strikingly different than the original, wouldn't you say.

Like Children...

Every one is special.  Every one is beautiful. Every one is unique.

This is Tanya's beautiful baby.  She stitched in on black Belfast linen using a Threadworx color called Honky Tonk, 2 over 2.

Won't you join her in her Honky Tonk Happy Dance for this Cirque des Carreaux?

Circling the Globe

Susan in Melbourne, Australia, reports happily that her Cirque des Cercles is done!  It was a Happy Dance heard round the world.  She used a variegated DMC on 22 count hardanger fabric. 

Did you know that stitchers in the southern hemisphere are required to stitch their Cirque des Cercles rounds in an anti-clockwise direction, whereas we in the northern hemisphere taken them on clockwise?  Unless of course, you are a south-paw!  The rules are completely reversed for left-handed stitchers.  Yup, those are the rules.  Seriously, some stitchers think there is a secret list of rules for stitching that include things like only stitching a piece in the colors shown, only stitching the entire piece, no personalization allowed - the list goes on.  Spoiler: there is no list; there are no rules.*

This would be a very boring blog and a very boring world without people like Susan to inject a little local color.

* Not to be confused with rules regarding copyright material. There are rules against copying others works and claiming it as your own, photocopying/scanning charts without permission of the author, etc.