Snowflake. Blackwork. But blue.

I was thinking: how long since I have drawn (and stitched) a blackwork pattern.
And this little thing was born.

Of course, it is not black. I imagined it in blue (DMC 3838) with tiny, lighter blue beads (like DMC 3747). Or you can use French knots / colonial knots instead.

Stitched on some sparkly Aida... what do you think? Anyone willing to test it? :D :D

Happy Christmas/New Year stitching.

Boldog karácsonyt. Merry Christmas. God Jul

I know it is not Christmas yet. :)
But soon.

Still, if you want to stitch a bookmark as a gift, you have just enough time for one of the following little patterns.
In Swedish it is so short that I made a smaller version as well that can be used as a gift-tag or a pincushion.

Have fun stitching them. Send me a photo if you have done so. :)

Second sunday of advent

Hi, everyone,


Have just come home from our advent concert with the choir I joined in August. I have to say it is so difficult, especially at this time of the year. We are singing lots of songs that are "common" at Christmastime in Sweden, but to me they are all new. Also, I missed lots of practices because I was sick, then my daughter came, then I was sick again... I tried to learn the songs on my own, but it is not so easy. Anyway, we did all right, although I wasn't very sure of myself.


I am thinking of closing down my on-line shop. I started it in May and there was only one sale. I feel a bit disappointed. Not too much, I never expected to make lots of money from my craft, but still. Anyway, we are organising a charity event in my school, a concert with the kids singing and playing, and all the money we get from the tickets goes to orphans in India. So I thought we can do a craft fair at the same time. I have a few kids who kept coming in one or two afternoons, after lessons, to my classroom and making little things: bracelets, christmas ornaments etc (there is even a stuffed ice-cream cone!!!)- we are going to set up a table and sell them. I will also bring lots of my things: pincushions, biscornus, bracelets, and try to sell them. At least they can serve a good cause.
And then the online shop will just go. Or perhaps I can leave the photos there and just say that I take orders... don't know.


I have been busy this last week, and we had lots of snow, and I had to go to the dentist (2 hours, brr), then practice the songs - there wasn't much time left for stitching. I am missing it, actually. I started this little angel but couldn't finish it. The pattern was inspired by an old Swedish motif but I changed it quite a bit and I think it looks really modern now.

Hope you will enjoy it. I am stitching it in light blue. What colour would you choose?

Palkó (who is sharing my name) has stitched it. Here

Advent

Hello, dear Friends.

Today it is the first Sunday of Advent. I am singing in a church choir and we sang some really beautiful songs today. I was so happy because one of my favourite Advent songs happens to be in the Swedish Psalm Book. We sang it in Swedish.


Here
is a really beautiful version of this song by Enya. Listen to it. Hope you will like it.


Are you getting excited because it is Christmas soon? Are you busy stitching (or perhaps shopping :o) for Christmas?

I am organising a mini craft fair at school with the kids, with all the money going to orphans in India. Not only the children but also I am making things so I was busy with that. I will show you some photos next week. I hope we can raise lots of money.


What else? I am knitting a pullover for my daughter, although I can never be sure if she wears what I make for her. Most of the time she doesn't. :( My fault, why can't I figure out what she likes???


I am also making a macrame Christmas tree and trying to write a tutorial, we will see how it turns out.


I have taken some photos of the winter wonderland that is Sweden at the moment. Soon I will also post photos of my WIPs.

Until then, I have another cross stitch pattern to share with you. This is based on traditional Hungarian patterns. The red colour makes it perfect for Christmas, but you can stitch it in any other colour (or variegated) for any occasion.

Happy stitching and get in lovely Christmas mood. But just carefully, you don't want to be burned out by the time the big day comes. :D

More Swedish charts

I have made a little Swedish pattern, the Dala horse, which can be almost called the symbol of Sweden. Originally coming from the province of Dalarna, the Dala horse is made of wood and painted. I know, I know, there are quite a few cross stitch patterns of it out there already, but I wanted to try my hand with it.

I wanted to keep it simple and easy, I had in mind some quick Christmas cards or gift tags, perhaps a pincushion or a scissor fob. But when Stephen saw it, he said it wasn't good enough: the Dala horse should have more decorative harness. So I made another version, still small and easy, just a little bit fancier.

I will show you both, you can decide which one you want to stitch. The traditional colours are red, with green, blue, yellow and white decoration but of course there are lots of other versions, so it absolutely all right to change the colours.

Happy stitching. :)

By the way, one of my few patterns for sale is a doll in folklore costume from Dalarna. Just in case someone is interested, look at my Pages.

New finishes and a Christmas freebie

Hi, everyone, how are you doing?

Have you started your Christmas stitching yet?

I have made a free Christmas pattern. Apart from the usual motifs I used some Swedish motifs that I really love. The deer is used widely in Sweden, although it is quite a universal pattern all over Europe. But the Julbok, the goat is typical Swedish, as is the crown. I hope you like it. You can use them together or one by one on gift tags or cards.

I have finished two pieces recently: one is Celtic Knot by Textile Heritage. I have stitched it on an afghan, I am collecting different Celtic patterns on it.

The other is my own Dove that I published in my last post. To be honest, I myself didn't think it will turn out this good, I am very happy with it. I used variegated threads, Anchor 1204 on the wing and DMC 4110 on the body. For the wing and the tail I stitched in rows, to have this stripey appearance, for the body I stitched in little block or circles so it became more blotchy. I made one little change: I backstitched a circle around the eye. I felt the eye was a bit too small.

What do you all think? What colours would you use?

Right after I wrote about my bargain finds last time, I happened to be in the Red Cross shop again. (Only by accident, you understand.) This is part of what I came away with (I bought lots of buttons and yarn to take to school, too).

One of these books is called "Embroidery, cutting, sewing", the other "Rare cross stitch".

Lots of embroidery fabric, a thread holder in wood and a tool to wrap yarn on (what is it called?), and some more yarn, and bags of different embroidery threads:wool, cotton, linen, perle.

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A fabric giveaway

Hi, Friends,


there is a fabulous fabric giveaway at Maureen's. Go to her blog and sign up!