September TUSAL

Again there's not much to show in this month's ort jar. I started out well but lost my mojo...I found that I spent more time staring at the chart than actually stitching.

Here's my progress on the HAED BB free SAL...Mystic Garden (I've lost the stitch count)

Mystic Garden as of 8th Sep 2013

I've also added two small sections of sky to Trio of Poppies but I'll hold out on taking a photo until I've done a bit more. I'm also working on a crochet project, I'm up to round 25 out of 61.

August IHSW

When I had the time, I worked on HAED Mini Curl up with a good book. 

Mini curl up with a good book as of 19/08/2013

I am enjoying working on this one and you can already see the width of this page (9) which is the bottom right hand corner.

I will have to start the first square from the Art of Crochet again as there a few mistakes which are making it difficult to carry on with. These things just take time so patience is certainly a virtue. 

I hope your weekend went well.

Just a little catch up :)

I've caught up on reading blog posts and have just started replying to comments left on a couple of blog posts. I may not always comment on people's blogs but I do enjoy reading them and seeing all of the wonderful things you have been making.

I was involved in a lovely exchange with Steph, head over to Show and Tell to see better photos of the wonderful items sent and for a reminder of the package I received. The items missing from my photo are the Simply Crochet magazine and a postcard.

The items I sent to Steph

I have enjoyed stitching these past few days (I've not had much time recently) and have started one of my crazy 15 which was Gorjuss Laundry Day.

Laundry day with her dress completed.

Mystic Garden seems to be taking shape on the left hand side.

Mystic Garden at 800+ stitches.

Here is the photo I had promised of my small start on HAED Mini Curl up with a good book.

HAED Mini.

I'm pleased that I tried crochet again. Although the flower is not perfect this is the first time I've managed to get 5 petals rather than 4 which does help in the overall flower look. I'm not sure how I managed it!

I'm now working on the first square from the Art of Crochet and admittedly it's looking better than the first time I tried the square. 

This weekend is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend which I'm hoping to make use of providing I don't get too distracted by Rayman Origins. 

TUSAL and a winner :)

I'm happy to announce we have a winner of the £10 craft shop voucher giveaway...

ANNIE

Annie if you could please send me an email: emmylou[DOT]9223[AT]gmail[DOT]com

Thank you for those who commented and to everyone who reads my blog :)

Here's my ORT jar for this month's TUSAL

Sorry for the short post but I'm without internet and have been relying on my phone. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

1 year ago today...

I took the plunge in setting up a blog and wrote my first post. I've made a couple of good friends through this blog as well as others and I'm very grateful. I love reading your blogs, you all create lovely items. I've decided that I'll have a giveaway. The prize will be a £10 (or equivalent) gift voucher to a craft shop of your choice. This is open to followers of my blog, just leave a comment if you'd like to be entered. The winner will be announced in a week's time.

Can you believe I've finished one of my Cross Stitch Crazy Challenges? I certainly can't! 

E-type Jaguar completed 30/07/2013 from an issue of Cross Stitcher.

As time goes on, I highly doubt I'll finish many more if any and there are quite a few that haven't even been started. I've realised with HAEDs that a completed page, no matter how big or small will count as a completed goal. It's also the same with SALs, one part will count as a completed goal. For the 2013 challenge which in all fairness was my first time participating, I've set my goals too high and I'm keeping that in mind for the 2014 challenge. For now a goal is to start a couple more projects on the list. 

I have started Mini Curl up with a good book, I've started well and will share a photo when there's a bit more progress.

Take care.

July IHSW

This weekend I worked on 2 HAEDs, Tiny Treasures Kitten 2 and the BB SAL Mystic Garden.

HAED Kitten 2 at 443 stitches. 

HAED Mystic Garden at 601 stitches. 

The sewing machine came out this weekend and I made myself a small pincushion along with a little wrist strap as well as a crochet hook holder.

My pincushion.

First crochet holder.

First crochet holder.

I love my fabric choice for the first crochet hook holder and found the tutorial really easy although something went wrong and I was missing a hook space. One of the spaces also has an uneven line so the top is narrower than the bottom but I don't mind as I'm still trying to get the hang of sewing so I'm not expecting perfectly straight lines. Plus the ribbon is too big for the button.

Second crochet holder.

As it was easy, I whipped up a second one in the same afternoon but used velcro instead of a button. I don't like the velcro fastening for this one and my top stitching went askew so to me it just doesn't look as nice even though I managed to get all 7 hook spaces.

Second crochet holder.

July TUSAL

Sorry it's late. There's not a lot to show, my stitchy bug has gone off somewhere and some of these should have been included in June but had got put in the spare jar so they're here. :(

I'm desperately trying to get Tatty Ted's backstitch done as it's for Wednesday! Some of the backstitch especially his "fuzz" can make your eyes do little dances. I've decided on the personalisation and started it but I'm finding that some of the threads slip behind the fabric (I'm using evenweave).

I've also started some sewing projects, one of them has been so easy to do. I just need to embroider a face on it then sew the 2 sides together.

Sarah from Sarah in Stitches received her package from me :) I'm glad she likes it. Here's a link to the post she wrote about our exchange. http://stitching-sarah.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/exchanges-with-emma.html

I'm sorry I haven't got much to show for this post but I hope I'll be back soon with a couple of finishes.