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. :-)

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…

What was I thinking?!

I am under the weather today, so am taking a day in bed with some fruit, plenty of water, and my cross stitch. Who knows how many stitches may get done inbetween boughts of sleep? :-)

This piece, “Live, Laugh, Love”, took seven hours to stitch (on 28ct evenweave) and will most likely end up as one of a series of thank you presents that I’m hoping to gift some people with this summer. I enjoyed stitching it that much that, once done, I immediately picked up another Snippet chart and made a start on that one last night, again on 28ct evenweave:

This will be “Wear a Smile”, and I’m doing something similar here — the main text is in Colour Variations, with the remaining text in plain colours. So far I’m about 1hr 40mins into this one, so it’s coming along nicely. I just wish I spend more time stitching at the moment as I’m really in the mood for it! LOL …

More updates coming soon! :-)