Heathwitch’s Stitchcraft

[finish] The Cat’s Whiskers!

Here’s a nice quick finish to share — at just under 2″ x 2″, this piece took 4hrs 30min to stitch on 14ct white aida. It became a thank you card for a friend.

The chart for this came originally from Sue Cook’s Quick-to-Stitch Cross Stitch Cards, and had some modifications — for instance, I changed the colour of the background (from teal to blue) and chose not to include a seed bead for the tag on the collar (I felt it looked good enough without it). In addition, I backstitched the whiskers instead of using the recommended flexible wire! I had to improvise on where they were, but I think it worked out just fine.

[finish] Best Dad

Last week, I finished my most recent WIP, “Best Dad”, which was being worked on 28ct Zweigart Cashel Vintage Linen in Country Cream. Andrew worked wonders framing it in time for Dad’s birthday.

Here’s the finished cross stitch, newly washed and ready for framing. It took 8 hours and 10 mins in all, but I did decide not to stitch the border as shown on the original Lizzie*Kate chart as we both felt — what with the double matting we’d decided upon — that it would detract from the piece.

Andrew then self-framed it, using two pieces of card for the mounts (which he measured and cut himself) — one in a deep blue, the other in a shimmery cornflower blue. They work very well together, it must be said! If you like, you can click this image for a larger version:

And Dad himself? Well, when he unwrapped his gift and saw it, he was very touched. You could tell; for a long while he didn’t know what to say and got a bit teary-eyed — and that I got a massive hug (Andrew was out at work at the time). Later in the week we also took him to Glastonbury Abbey for the day, which is a bit of a trek for us but so worth it — Dad had wanted to see the Abbey after watching a documentary on the dissolution of the monestaries on the television, and Andrew and I need no excuses for visiting one of our favourite towns! Still, I am so glad that we managed to make his 71st a little extra special. :-)

[wip] Best Dad

And now for an update about my current WIP. Well, actually, it’s one project on from “Bloom”, because there was another piece I did this week — but I can’t share that until it’s back from the framers and in the hands of its intended recipient (’cause I know they read my blog). What I will say is (for once) it wasn’t a Lizzie*Kate piece, and that it was a steep learning curve on black evenweave, and made me worry a lot about the quality of my eyesight… ;-p

Anywho, the new/current WIP is a little Lizzie*Kate piece that I’m stitching for my Dad’s birthday, later this month. Hopefully it’ll work out a nice size so that I can finish it as his birthday card. Here’s where I’m up to so far, after 2hrs 35mins…

This is being stitched on 28ct Zweigart Cashel Vintage Linen in Country Cream; a welcome change from the black evenweave of late! True to form, I’ve been stitching while (initially) listening to music (Garth Brooks in concert FTW), and then, later, whilst half-watching Men in Black with Andrew. Goddess, that film is twelve years old — Will Smith looks so young (especially compared to The Pursuit of Happyness, which we watched last week) — and now I feel a lot older than I should do.

Or maybe that’s all those late-nights-sitting-up-stitching talking…

Note to Self…

… Black evenweave plus Light Effects thread means sore eyes. Very sore eyes.

What was I thinking?!