Apologies and a Catch up

 I am sorry for my lack of posts this year but I have been in a bit of a ‘funk’ for a couple of months with regards to blogging and to be honest I am not entirely sure that I am fully out of it. I just feel that I have nothing to say that would be of interest to anyone. The December posts had been written and scheduled and I had fully intended on participating in Blogmas. I even had the titles of the all the posts prepared but then I just lost my mojo to complete them. It wasn’t as if I had the excuse that I was too busy, not much more than normal, hence the’ radio silence’ for this time.

Christmas and New Year were lovely, we spent time with both families and I wasn’t in work between Christmas and New Year. It was so nice to be able to celebrate with family and friends unlike last year when we were on our own.

I did some crafting in December but they were only little projects that only took a few hours but they satisfied my ‘need’ to create. I find that if I don’t do anything crafty for a few days then I feel a bit antsy.

 

                                                            

 

Needle felting the gnomes was fun and I can highly recommend it as a stress reliever. Stabbing the wool into the shapes is extremely satisfying and helps get rid of any frustration you may be feeling especially at that time of year. 

I didn’t take any photos as I rarely picked up my phone or camera. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment rather than record for posterity.

One picture I did take was of Christmas Zippy. He used to be at the centrepiece of Manchester Town Hall’s Christmas decorations but as the Town Hall is currently under renovation I wondered what had happened to him. I found out- he is now outside the Kelloggs factory lighting up the area. I am so glad, I hated to think of him being stuck in the dark in some storage area.

 

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to whatever 2022 will bring.

Cross stitch WIP's

 

Cross stitch is probably one of the first crafts I took up when I was in my 20’s. I went however for many years without doing anything until a few years ago when I joined the WI craft club. I had a project that I had started 16 years earlier and found and was determined to finish. Although I enjoy cross stitch I find that because it takes so long to see any decent results it is one that I do least of all.

My interest was piqued again last year when I saw an advert on TV for Disney Cross stitch. I love Disney as does the rest of the family, so I bought the first issue and made a start. It is a weekly publication but as I have a subscription, I get four issues in one go once a month.

As well as the samplers, the magazine also includes lot of other projects. A few have caught my eye but they are definitely going to be on a back burner until the samplers are finished.

My intention was to keep up and do the week’s project every week. Unfortunately, that did not happen as I became wrapped up in other projects and the dark evenings set in. I have found that I prefer doing cross stitch in natural daylight and now I am working again, and it is winter I have put it down and am now many, many weeks behind. The first sampler should have been finished at this point and I haven’t even finished the first section.

Another casualty was one I was hoping to finish before Christmas. I bought this kit on sale at Hobbycraft. I found that I wasn’t really enjoying doing the foliage which is why I put it down. Hopefully this one will be a relatively quick finish and will be done by Christmas this year.

As the evenings get lighter and I finish my knitting projects, I should be able to pick these up and get them completed. I have no plans for any other cross stitch projects (except for the other 2 Disney Samplers) as I just want to get these finished. Maybe in a few years I will look at some of the other projects that are included in the Disney magazine.