Brummie Blogger

The Great Escape - Cretan Catch

I've now done the second stitch in part three of this project. It didn't take long once I'd finished my practice piece as it isn't a complicated stitch. Like most of the others it just requires that you get the tension right so the thread sits correctly.

This is how it looks now, with the Cretan Catch stitch at the bottom.

I really wish I could get the fabric to photograph better. Or maybe it's just the settings on my laptop. Whatever the problem is, the fabric looks a pretty blue on my screen, when it's actually a delicate green in real life. It's very frustrating as the thread is coming out the right colour. Sigh.

I've just downloaded part four of The Great Escape so it looks like I've caught up with this just in time. Part four looks a bit scary though. It's only a straight stitch but it's the owl's head and beak so getting the posititioning right will be crucial. I'm undecided whether to carry on using this colour or maybe use something different. I need to have a think on that.

I'm going to finish the wee project that I started on Friday first, and then I'll either carry on with this or maybe do some more to my Tree of Stitches.

Mustn't forget that I've that Stitch-a-long with Tree coming up soon too. I'm looking forward to that.

Tree of Stitches - Smyrna Stitch

That Peapod green was calling to me so I took a wee break from my new project and did the first specialist stitch on my tree. I hadn't done Smyrna Stitch before but it was really easy. I just had to make sure all the crosses were done in the same order so they looked the same. I really love this shade of green, especially now I can see what it looks like with all the variegation showing. I'm glad I held out for it instead of settling for the other shade.

Thanks again Tree for coming to the rescue with those two skeins.

This is what it all looks like so far.

The next stitch should be French knots or Colonial knots depending on preference, but the general advice is to do part four next instead. That way it's easier to get the placement of the knots correct. And, that way I can put off doing those pesky knots for a little longer.

Just a small one

I'm not sure exactly how many WIPs I have at the moment but I have this really great chart and it's calling to me. I've got the stash that I need to do it, including a small offcut of fabric left over from another project. It's only 4 1/8 x 4 1/2 and is very simple. It uses only three skeins of thread and four buttons. I've just started it and if all goes well I may finish it over the weekend while the Grand Prix is on.

Look, pretty stash

Gorgeous, gorgeous Weeks Dye Works threads and some 28 count Cashel linen in Mocha. And when it's finished it'll be so me ;-)

The Great Escape - Sorbello Stitch

After a few days gap I've done a bit more on this. I had a few days rest from stitching as I've been rather headachy and I wasn't sure if it was from looking through the magnifier at the fine fabric. I've just done the one stitch this time and I'll do the other one for part three another day. This one is Sorbello stitch and was quite fun to do. It looked a bit bulky in two threads so like the Montenegrin stitch, I did it in just a single strand and I think it looks nice and delicate. I'm quite liking how varying the amount of threads used is giving it some texture.

Note to self: make sure fabric is stretched in a straight line before taking photo so stitches don't look wonky.

The next stitch is Cretan Catch which looks quite easy. I should have that done and be ready for part four when that comes out. In the meantime, I think I need a break from 32 count.

The Great Escape - Feather stitch & Basque stitch

After the success of part one of this project I went on to do part two fairly quickly. I did Feather stitch one day and Basque stitch the next. I followed the same format of practising on the 18 count first until I was happy with my technique and then put the stitches in place on the 32 count.

The Feather stitch was quite easy once I'd worked out the placement and got the hang of the tension. If you pull through too tightly you end up with a column of little 'V's instead of 'U's. I think most of mine are the right shape and the stitch looks really pretty.

Basque stitch was a bit more complicated but I soon figured it out as once again the instructions were very good. Then once I'd done a few practise ones, I just needed to work on keeping the tension even so all the loops sat the same. I think it mostly looks ok.

I may do part three over the weekend. Or I may do some of the Tree of Stitches as I now have enough of the correct shade of Peapod thanks to Tree. I received a huge box from her yesterday which was full of lots of lovely books, the Peapod and some chocolate.

Add that to the haul from the library trip yesterday and I just don't know where to start. Read or stitch. Stitch or read. Decisions, decisions.

The Watchtower - Lee Carroll

This is the second book in the trilogy that began with Black Swan Rising. I read that a few weeks ago as part of the Transworld Book Club and loved it so much that I had to get my hands on this second book. Although the first book was fairly self-contained it left me curious enough about the characters and what was going to happen to them next that I needed to read more.

Synopsis - taken from back cover of book:

The last in a long line of women sworn to guard our world against evil, jeweller Garet James is struggling to come to terms with who – or what – she really is.

Will Hughes, the alluring four-hundred-year-old vampire who tasted her blood and saved her life, could help, but he’s disappeared. Garet believes he’s in France, searching for the Summer Country, the legendary land of the Fey where he might be freed from his vampire curse.

Desperate to understand her legacy, Garet follows Will. In Paris, she encounters strange, mythic beings – an ancient botanist metamorphosed into the city’s oldest tree, a gnome who lives beneath the Labyrinth at the Jardin des Plantes, a dryad in the Luxembourg Gardens – meetings that convince her she is on the right path.

But Garet is not the only one trying to find the way in to the Summer Country – and the closer she gets, the more dangerous it becomes...

So, The Watchtower. Where the first book takes place mostly in New York, this one takes you further afield as a lot of Garet's story takes place in France. Part of that is in Paris and the descriptions of Garet's time there are wonderful. There's a blurring of the real Paris and the parts that exist only in the author's imagination. And now in mine. From Paris, Garet and her new companion, who is a fabulous character, travel in search of the Summer Country.

Not all of the book is from Garet's point of view this time. Some of it is set in the past and tells Will's story. You learn how he met Marguerite and became a vampire in the first place. His story is interwoven with Garet's and is full of detail. I really enjoyed that part of the book as it added a lot of background to the character. You also learnt quite a bit about Marguerite at the same time.

Towards the end of the book the story gets more and more intriguing. It builds the tension up right to the last page and the ending is superb. I won't give it away but it certainly had me thinking trying to analyse what had happened over the past few pages. I think I know who and what, and maybe why, but I really need the third book to find out for sure. And to find out how it all ends.

The Great Escape - Montenegrin Stitch

I plucked up the courage to start my newest cross stitch project this afternoon. The fabric has been sitting there looking very inviting ever since I hemmed and pressed it at the weekend but I was a bit worried that the new specialist stitches would be a bit beyond me.

I decided that preparation was key and thought it best to practise the first stitch on some spare fabric first. I had some 18 ct Binca that wasn't going to be used for anything else. As it's very even and has fairly large holes compared to the fabric that I'll be using for the project it seemed ideal. I set it up in my 6" R&R frame and after reading the instructions through a couple of times, I had a go.

That seemed simple enough, although the fact that the instructions were idiot proof didn't hurt. Next step was to try it on my pretty fabric. I'm using 32 ct Permin linen in a pale green called Waterlily. It's gorgeous. And very fine. I've got it clamped firmly in my 8" R&R frame.

I've picked out the first couple of threads that I'm going to use but I'll see how they look and what the instructions call for before deciding what to go with after that. I've got plenty to pick from in my stash. I've started off with Baked Clay by Gentle Art.

After half a row of the Montenegrin stitch in two strands, I decided that it was just too bulky and all you could see was a mass of thread. You couldn't tell what stitch had been used which kind of defeated the object of the exercise. I frogged the little that I'd done and started again with one strand. That looked much better and I did the small area for part one of the SAL fairly quickly. You just need to get into a rhythm with this stitch and it's quite easy.

It looks quite pretty. I think I may have pulled a little hard as the tension looks a bit tight but that might resolve itself when I slacken the tension on the frame. I was so excited to finish it that I rushed to take a photo without checking.

Not that anyone would notice without a magnifying glass. The 32 ct is very fine. Well, a magnifying glass or a macro lens.

The next part has two new stitches in it. I already have it printed off so I may look at it tomorrow.

 

Designed by Abi Gurden from Stitch Specialists.

Finished!

That has got to be the quickest that I've ever finished a cross stitch project! Obviously doing a stitch-a-long with a friend who stitches quickly is the way to go :)

Tree finished her Coffee Menu a few days ago and it looks gorgeous. You can see it here. I didn't have too much left to do on mine and seeing that one all completed pushed me to stop messing about on the computer - my biggest time waster - and get mine finished.

I really, really like doing Little House Needleworks designs. The colours look so rich together and it's just a joy to stitch. I love this one and will be looking out for a suitable frame for it now.

I finished it last night and I've just worked out that it took just three weeks from start to finish, if you don't count the prep. It's taken me longer than that to do much smaller designs before now so I'm feeling incredibly pleased with myself at the moment.

This morning I put a few stitches in to the poor neglected Winnie the Pooh calendar while we were watching the F1 Grand Prix, but I was having so much trouble getting used to the Aida after the lovely linen of Coffee Menu that I had to keep frogging it. I put it away again in the end and prepped a new project instead. It's a SAL from the same designer as Tree of Stitches, Abi Gurden, and is for the members of the Stitch Specialists group. You can see a picture of it here.

It's called The Great Escape and is currently on the third installment so I need to catch up. I've got my fabric hemmed and pressed now. The three lots of instructions and all three charts are printed and I've got a selection of threads to choose from. I just need to take a deep breath and practise the first stitch before starting on the actual piece as it's one that I haven't done before. I've got a couple of weeks to play with this, and other projects, and then I start another SAL with Tree.

Wonder if that one will get done in record time too?

The Bomber - Liza Marklund

This is the fourth and final book from this round of the Transworld Bookclub and if it isn't too much of a pun, I'd like to say that we're going out with a bang. Yeah, I know. Big groan. I do think the best one may have been saved until last, although it's so difficult to say when you're comparing such different genres as I've been sampling.

A massive thanks to Transworld for the books, all of which I've enjoyed.

Synopsis:
Crime reporter Annika Bengtzon is woken by a phone call in the early hours of a wintry December morning. An explosion has ripped apart the Olympic Stadium. And a victim has been blown to pieces.

As Annika delves into the details of the bombing and the background of the victim, there is a second explosion. These chilling crimes could be her biggest news story yet. When her police source reveals they are hot on the heels of the bomber, Annika is guaranteed an exclusive with her name on it.

But she is uncovering too much, and soon finds herself the target of a deranged serial killer...

  The story is about a journalist called Annika Bengtzon who works at an evening newspaper in Stockholm. She's recently been promoted to the head of the crime desk so is facing some challenges at work as not all of her colleagues are happy about that. You learn a lot about Annika and how she struggles to balance her home and work life. There's just enough of that to give you a feel for the character and make her come alive.

There are several other characters that are described in less detail but that you become familiar with too. Some you like and some you really don't. It's a great mix of people, just like normal life.

Because of the author's background there is plenty of detail about the workings of a newspaper and I found that to be fascinating. I don't think I've read a crime novel set in that particular environment before and it made a refreshing change.

The book starts with Annika and her team having to cover a bombing just before Christmas. I liked the way the book was divided into each day so you got a clear picture of events and you also realised just how long the days were for the characters. The book got more tense as each day went on, not only because of the continuing actions of the bomber, but also because of Annika's home life and problems with work colleagues.

I loved the ending. I had an inkling that something like that was going to happen but I got the details completely wrong. It was beautifully done, keeping the tension just right.

My only criticism is that it wasn't long enough. This was one of those books where I could quite happily have read for a few more chapters to find out what happened afterwards, but then that may be me just being greedy.

I've just checked on Amazon and there are three more books by Liza Marklund, all about Annika Bengtzon. Guess I'm going shopping then...

Coffee Menu and some buttons

After seeing how far along Tree is with her Coffee Menu I thought I'd better get a move on so I had a stitching day yesterday and have done a bit more this morning. The housework can wait, eh? I'm quite pleased with where I've got to as I now have all of the bottom section done and just need to do the nice picture at the top with the Coffee banner above it. That looks a lovely bit to stitch so I'm looking forward to that part.

As you can see, I did chart up Flat White in the end and I'm happy with how it looks. It just didn't seem right to leave out something that I like as much as a latte or Cappuccino.

 In between stitching I've been doing a little shopping. I got the fabric for another project from Sew and So but needed quite a bit of thread so I went to The Patchwork Rabbit for that as her prices are very competitive for Crescent Colours and Gentle Arts. You really can't fault her speed either. I ordered at 3.30 in the afternoon and my parcel popped through the letterbox just 19 hours later.

I then had a little email conversation with her as there was something that I wanted for another project. (Yes, yet another one.) I suspected she might have it or be able to get it but it wasn't on her website. That was yesterday. Today the item in question, which is the button pack that I need for this chart, is sitting on my desk, courtesy of Karla at The Patchwork Rabbit. Can't beat that for customer service.

Aren't my buttons pretty?

Tree also has the Wildflower chart. I may have nudged her towards it slightly. We think we'll probably make it our next SAL once we've finished Coffee Menu. And made some progress on Tree of Stitches and the new one, I expect. I should really do a bit more on Winnie the Pooh and poor neglected Mr. Hamilton too but I'm having so much fun with the Stitch-A-Longs that it's difficult to know what to stitch next.

I need more hours in the day.