Bah! What a let down!

Well, the in-house judges have chosen the 20 finalists in the Hobbycraft competition that I put 'Branches' in for, but I didn't make it. Pah! The first time I ever thought I might stand some sort of chance, and didn't even get short-listed! So, no need to watch for a link to the voting here, 'cos I needn't post one.=( To be honest, I would have struggled to find £125 or £250 worth of stuff to buy from them as the prize money was in their store's gift vouchers (I really have almost everything I want, except some special paper), but it would have been nice to try..... I couldn't describe myself as bitterly disappointed and, in a way it's a relief to not have the stress of getting the most public votes etc, but it would have been nice to win something. Sigh!

I tried cast-on stitch the other day and can't call that a rip-roaring success either! I'm glad I did it on a 'doodle pad' first and not straight on the project I was planning to use it on. I also made the mistake of doing it immediately after viola practice which meant that I was needing my left hand first finger to make contact with the sharp needle point when I'd just been putting it under pressure by it having to hold viola strings down - you can get quite sore when, like me, you don't practice enough!! So, not sure about that one for the time being. I wanted cast-on stitch roses for a silver wedding card, but I need to do more dummy runs and find some way of preserving my finger tip.... Any suggestions welcomed!