Bellpull complete and ready for viewing!=)

Here it is, completed and finished into a bellpull. The bellpull ends that I had to order were far too big and I then found that I had this odd end in my stash. Actually, it was the other half of the one used on the wedding bellpull. On that one, I just used the top end and so had the bottom one, complete with tinkling little bell, left over. DH kindly took the bell off the hanger for me, leaving the bell intact so that I could attach it to the bottom. I'm very pleased with the effect. What do you think? Click on the photo for the full sized version and more detail.

Here's the current state of affairs with Cataflute. I don't think it'll be finished on time, (I'll see the couple these are gifts for for the last time on Weds evening), but I'm going to try. If it isn't done, then I can post it on to her - it's always nice to get something through the post. Having said that, it's even nicer to meet a deadline and to see for yourself if someone likes what you've made for them!=)

Almost there.....

The bellpull is almost finished now. This is the last WIP shot (click on it to see more detail), the next photo will be one when it's all done and bellpull ends are in place. As you can see (better from the full sized pic), most of the work is done now and I just have to do the filling stuff on the top section plus the second row of 3 big squares and the centre of the star-type thing near the bottom. All of it is the same kind of stitch - Greek Cross filling. Will do that this evening and hope to get the bellpull ends tomorrow sometime.

Nothing else of note to report really, just working and other normal life kinda dull stuff!!

Surface work progressing well.

Hope to have all the surface work completed today, which isn't much more than you can see here. I need to finish those motifs at the bottom, then do a line of stitches underneath them, then there's something similar at the top to go in, albeit a cutwork area that's bigger. Kloster blocks are quicker to do than fancier shapes though. Then there's only 3 'lines' of cable stitch to do and it's onto the scissors bit. Hoping to have it all done over the w/e, but as things usually take much longer than planned, don't hold your breath!!!=)

Tannia, the design is Mary Hickmott's Stitching Heritage Series' 'Hardanger Sampler'. The picture is clickable if anyone wants to see it in better detail at this stage.

Something to show - at last!!

<- Here's the current state of affairs on the hardanger sampler bellpull

And here's my latest cross stitch ->

You can see what it is already, can't you???!!!LOL Seriously though, it's going to be Margaret Sherry's 'Cataflute'. I love her designs, they're gorgeous, just dead boring to stitch!!

I'm hoping to get the hardanger piece done by close of play on Sunday, then really crack on with the cross stitch.

Oh, I got the rest of my Coton à Broders from Tandem Cottage this morning. I must say that I think Anchor haven't got the best selection of colours in this range, which is a shame as it's a nice thread and would have more potential if there was a better colour range.

Threadmania!

My parcel from Tandem Cottage came yesterday containing 37 skeins of Marlitt thread and 16 of Coton à Broder. There are 21 more skeins to come, 20 of one and one of t'other! Looking forward to that too.....

I've been thinking about uses for these thread types. Coton à Broder is quite thick - like 4 strands of regular cotton floss tightly twisted together and is not devisable, so that has less possibilities than some types of thread. I think it will be great for needleweaving and certain surface work that requires a thicker, slightly twisted appearance - perhaps a little like the twisted threads Helen M Stevens uses on her buildings and fields etc, although they're silk and will be somewhat thinner. Well, we shall see what we can come up with there. Could even work well in cross stitch on low count fabrics as well as doing surface work on counted designs/hardanger things.

Marlitt has a lot going for it. It's 4 ply and devisable to single strands so can be used in place of six stranded floss for all manner of things, both surface and counted. It's very shiny and both it and the Coton à Broder are washable and colour fast to 95oC! Very useful as that means both can be used for things that need washing like clothing and soft furnishings. Some of the most delicious threads have limited uses owing to their not being colourfast and you can really only use them in pictures.=(

Another prize!

Got the prize for winning the CSF ('Cross Stitch Forever' - it's a Yahoo newsgroup) trivia quiz again last month. Not that I think I'm much more than a good guesser and lucky that I get so many questions on things I know about (such as language and the Bible), but it's nice - esp. as I won in my own right this time, not just as the lady who really won doesn't take the prize of she comes out first. I've already done an L*K 'Welcome' design, so I'll have to think about this one. I may well be able to change the general colour scheme from the purples (which I love, rats!) to peaches and use it in the living room? Maybe as something to put on the sofa? I've never tried 25ct fabric either, so I'll be interested to see what uses I can put this to. I've seen some hardanger designs done on 25ct, which is a possibility. And beads, mmmm, yum! So, THANKS ANGIE!=)

Fanfare please!

THE HARDANGER CUSHION COVER IS FINALLY COMPLETED AND SEWN UP!

You can see more detail by clicking on this smaller image. I took this of the cover alone, (i.e. not on the cushion), and left it full size so you can see more clearly what it really looks like. It's a Mary Hickmott design called 'Delicate Dreams' and was originally intended to be done with mid-pink flowers and yellow gold beads.

Other news is that I've decided to give up my German classes and officially withdraw. I passionately did not want to do the assessments and the course content is simply not what I need. I need to be able to deal with everyday life and chatter better, not to put the world to rights. Yes, linguistics, climate change and so forth are very interesting to me, but that's not what I want my German for. I need it for personal interaction with my German friends and family, so to be able to get stuck into domestic matters, general interests, what we and they have been doing and so on. I have having wasted the money, but as DH says, put it down to experience and consider more carefully before enrolling on courses! It may be £124 wasted, but I do feel a lot lighter for it! Funnily enough, my baby sis in Germany said that she feels her English is inadequate for chatter. She will have spent the last few years talking about issues and writing academic pieces on them and gets great marks, but lacks some social interaction stuff, so I guess it's par for the course with higher level language classes!