A bare tree

The tree has no leaves, but it's Winter time here so I guess that's not surprising :)

CCN The Tea Room - 20 August 2008

Just the tree to do

I worked some more last night on The Tea Room and I'm now down to the tree to finish it off. I think this one will go down as a favourite of mine. The fact that I've stitched on it most nights this past week means that I'm enjoying it so much. I just love the look, the colours, and the simplicity of it. It's been such a pleasure to do.


Again, I've taken these photos in the morning light. By the afternoon it's faded and starts to dull over with the Winter skies.

CCN - The Tea Room 16 August 2008

A few pictures

This morning while the light was good, I decided to take some photos of The Tea Room. No more progress on it since last night but I thought it would be nice to have some day time photos. Lately all I've been doing is taking scanned pitures of it. Here's a few I took and the rest are in my Tea Room album.

Stitching at night

Lately I've been doing a lot more needlework of a night time. This is not like me as I like to use the daylight to be able to see better. I find you can't beat the day time for stitching. Since I don't get many chances to stitch during the day, as I work full time, I've been taking the opportunity and getting a bit done at night. Having a bright light to work with helps too. Of course it all depends on what you're working on. Some patterns aren't as easy to see even with proper lighting, and if you're working on a 40ct fabric - well, just forget it! Day time for that one.

My progress on The Tea Room has been going well. Especially when I've only started this one last Saturday. It's such a sweet design - I'm loving it!

CCN The Tea Room - 15 August 2008

This is my latest scanned image of where I'm up to after working on it tonight. Other progress pics can be found in my WIPS album. Thanks for looking!

Stitching on a plane

I know a lot of people love to go on holidays, us stitchers included. The question's been raised by Alison as to whether I have decided what needlework to take with me for the plane trip when I go on my holiday to the Cook Islands next month.

To be honest, I have thought about it, but will probably not take anything with me. I know, shock, horror. I'm going with my sister (who doesn't stitch) and the plane trip will be in two (via Auckland NZ), roughly 3 1/2 to 4 hour sections. Not too much time to be on a plane. So as much as I would like to be stitching any opportunity I get, I think I'll have more than enough distractions to keep me occupied. Then when I get there I want to experience as many things I can. Activities I don't get the chance to do at home and also some relaxing by the beach.

I guess it depends what type of holiday you're going on, how long it takes to get there, and where you're going to as to whether a bit of needlework can be enjoyed as well.

Speaking of which... I've been getting into The Tea Room last night and tonight. It probably doesn't look like I've done that much, but it's more solid stitching than the border requires. I was a bit worried with the blue threads being very similar in shade, but once I worked a little more on the building I could see the difference in colour to the wording.

Quaker Garden is still one I want to complete, but it seems as soon as I start a CCN or LHN design I just can't put them down. They're such a joy to do. So I think I'll keep on The Tea Room until I finish it.

CCN The Tea Room - 13 August 2008

Look what I got done!

I had so much fun stitching Little Ballerinas by CCN and this one's going to be no exception. I managed to get more done than I thought I would yesterday. As mentioned, the weather was ugly so it made for a great stitching day!

The border wasn't boring at all. It's such an easy design, and since the size isn't too large, you can get it done in no time. I find their borders quite enjoyable to do. I did the inner border, vine, and wording yesterday. I could have kept going into the night but decided to relax and watch some more of the Olympics on TV.

CCN The Tea Room - 10 August 2008

Thanks again everyone for your lovely comments. I love reading them.

A start on The Tea Room

Last night while watching the Olympics on TV, I thought I would make a start on The Tea Room. I just know I'm going to love working on this one. It has such lovely colours, a simple design, and won't take months to complete. I love CCN patterns!

It's such a cold, wet Winter's day here (hence the poor lighting in my photos - sorry) that I think I'll stitch a little more today. These type of days are only good for staying home and working on your needlework.

Last night I made a start on the border.

CCN - The Tea Room

Started 9 August 2008

Fabric - 32ct Natural Linen

Threads - DMC

What's next?

Since finishing Little Ballerinas, I thought I might start another project in between stitching Quaker Garden. The one that's been calling for me to do is CCN The Tea Room. This I have seen finished on a couple of other blogs, and I just love it. I've decided to do it on 32ct Natural Belfast Linen. It's light in colour and I think it will go well with this design.

CCN The Tea Room kitted with 32ct Natural Belfast Linen and DMC threads

When trying to choose the next project to do, I like to wait and see what calls out for me. This way I feel enthusiastic when stitching it up and get the most enjoyment from it.