Cross Stitch Crazy 263 and The World of Cross Stitching 289

New month, new blog post - which btw sounds like I know what I`m talking about but I`m only aware that it`s now December because the other day we started on our advent calendars. 🍫😋 But in reality (?), I sat down to stitch sometime after the October school holiday and only just stood up now, so I`m not entirely sure what`s happened to November, and while I`m trying to wrap my head around the fact that it`s almost Christmas, I`m about to start on a cover kit for Christmas 2020 😳 so no wonder I occasionally get confused as to what date it is on any given day.

Talking about cover kits: there are TWO new magazines out that have `my` free gifts and the latest WOXS also features my biscornus but I shall proceed in chronological order so first up is issue 263 of Crazy:

This cute Margaret Sherry cat was a joy to stitch, as always (I`ve had the good fortune to work on many of her designs, I wrote about them in this post). And I love the cheerful card that comes with the kit, it`s a great finish:

With issue 289 of WOXS, the free gift is another cutie: Herbert Hedgehog! 😍  

First I thought he was King Herbert, then just as I convinced myself that it must be a paper crown from a Christmas cracker, it turns out it`s a birthday card... but whatever he`s celebrating, I just love that adorable smile and the two tiny paws 🦔😍😁

Finally, in the same issue of WOXS, there are 4 biscornus, designed by Faby Reilly:

I have close-ups of all 8 pieces - fair enough, the 4 bottoms are not as exciting as the 4 tops but 1) I spent some time on them so they might as well be seen 😉 and 2) they complement their matching top and make the biscornu whole.

These 8 pieces took 22 hours to stitch - the magazine says each biscornu takes 18-22 hours to sew, so that gives an idea how much assembly is required... I wouldn`t know because I still haven`t made a biscornu myself 🙄 but maybe now, as I have a bit more time on my hands, I`ll give it a go. First though, I managed to finish this little heilan coo (just have to put the fridge magnet together) that I`d bought while travelling around Scotland in the summer - I thought I`d better do this before I get seduced by Rhona Norrie`s cute little coos in the same Crazy that`s got my cat, this poor wee fella has gathered enough dust already! 😊 Hope you like him, happy stitching!

It`s beginning to look a bit like Christmas...

Is it August yet? Oh yes, it`s the 2nd - then it`s not too early anymore to put my Santa hat on, tee hee! There are two publications in the UK shops this week and they both signal the start of Festive Stitching Season - yay! 😊

First up, my little Popcorn bear, this month`s free gift with Crazy 233.

He is not TOO Christmassy as such, is he? No, not yet. Apart from that tentative robin, he could be skiing in the Alps for all we know, right? That is, if you don`t use the aperture card... 😉

But here`s something that couldn`t be more Christmassy if it tried: a stocking with an elf and presents in Gold 140:

This lovely Faby Reilly design looks deceivingly smallish in the photo but IRL it is MASSIVE! Here`s how the project arrived:

I didn`t think of measuring the fabric but judging by that IKEA cushion under it, it must have been around 70ish x 90-100 cms. The chart was on 4 (well, 3 and a bit, really) A3 sheets and besides the threads, I also got a summary of the specialty stitches featured in the design.

If you need to brush up on your eyelet sts and spider web sts,
Faby has great tutorials on her website.

So as usual, my first task - being a `hand-held stitcher` - was to figure out how to handle this huge piece of fabric. I had to use my biggest binder clips but these, combined with the weight of the fabric, made the whole thing so heavy that I had to rely on my trusty magnets as well (I have a magnet board that holds my chart and the whole thing swivels on a Lowery frame so this time I just attached the top binder clip to one of my strong magnets and it took the weight off my left hand).

That`s the bottom right quarter of the fabric and those few blue stitches are the middle. Since I want to hold as little fabric (especially stitched, i.e. even heavier!) in my left hand as possible, for as long as possible, I had to get to the rightmost part of the stocking - which meant a wee bit of skipping:

I loved this look btw - it`s a bit like a map, isn`t it? And the `Lego colours` just make it so cheerful! 😊 Once I reached the `toe`, I could really get going. 

10 hours

26 hours

48 hours

Once I started the top half, I could finally take the binder clips off, and as an added bonus, the bits with specialty sts grew really fast because they covered large areas quickly.

Finally, after 88 hours, it was all finished. Excuse the even-more-than-usually badly lit photo - I had to take an aerial shot so I`m standing on a chair here and the flash just couldn`t cope. 😁

Anyway, here`s a much better picture, with proper lighting and the stocking all made up - looking fantastic, even if I say so myself. 😉 Happy stitching!