Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 9

Welcome back for day nine of the eighth round of mystery stitching! I've been feeling better over the last few days despite the weather being so changeable - odd as normally that sets things off, but I'm not complaining, I'm merely surprised. The timing was good though as I still have a lot of stitching to get done for the monthly posts on the first of the month - I haven't even looked at the Temperature SAL (except to borrow the yellow hehehe). There won't be a post tonight as I've run out of SALs to post on Tuesday's but you get the Temperature SAL and the Seasons SAL tomorrow as it's then the first of the month.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 9 - Information Post

Hi and welcome to the ninth information post for a Mini Magical Mystery SAL! With lockdowns easing, but still enforced/sensible for many people I'm continuing with another mystery to keep you stitching! This pattern is the same size as the other eight and has 316 stitches total. This mystery will start the day after the current mystery ends: 6th July. This mystery is two parts shorter than usual because the Summer Magical Mystery SAL starts on the 18th July, the day after this one ends.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 8

Welcome back for day eight of the eighth round of mystery stitching! I woke up this morning to the sounds of kids playing outside at a time they shouldn't be and realised that the primary school across the road was having the end of school year activities. It made me wonder how they did stuff for the year eight students who would be going on to secondary (high) school in September. My kids went to that school so I know that normally they go on a week-long camp to the seaside, which was obviously not possible this year. The yearly play the kids did and the Gala ball with the students arriving in batches in fancy cars/on a Harley also couldn't happen. I am sad this year's kids will miss out on all that, not just at this school but all primary schools where most kids spend years looking forward to this stuff. Deep thoughts so soon after waking up. On to something brighter!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 7

Welcome back for day seven of the eighth round of mystery stitching! We are at the halfway point of this mystery! Tomorrow the information post for the next mystery will go up - I think I set it to go up an hour after the daily pattern post. Then at the end of that mystery we get the Summer Magical Mystery - roughly three times the stitches per day for two weeks but it should be good fun!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 6

Welcome back for day six of the eighth round of mystery stitching! Not much to say today really, all the excitement has happened for the week and my rheumatism is finally relenting a bit so with any luck I can sit and stitch today. No pond yet - first it was too wet, then too hot, and last night it rained cats and dogs - and I'm sure I saw a cow go past! - which of course means no digging today as the earth is too wet. Ah well... more stitching time for me!

NFSAL 2020 - June

Welcome to the sixth of this year's NFSAL posts! This month life happened and I had forgotten to check in with Carla till it was to late - I thought I had but with the way I'm feeling it's not too surprising that I hadn't.  I started with the backstitched outlines but I wasn't able to finish on time. So this month you get computer generated images - sorry about that.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 5

Welcome back for day five of the eighth round of mystery stitching! Sorry for being a little late, this took longer to write than anticipated. Yesterday the teachers of youngest's school finally showed up at midday - talk about making us wait! They did some set up before ringing the doorbell that included rolling out a red carpet and setting up an elbow height table. Then they rang the doorbell and started up some music on the portable speaker. Youngest got a face full of the contents of a party popper and a felt mortarboard put on his head. Then while he signed his diploma one of his teachers sang "you'll never walk alone". She can sing fortunately but as this was one of the songs played at my dad's funeral it always sets off the waterworks - it was a struggle not to cry and I'm sure if the teachers noticed then they probably thought it was proud mum stuff.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 4

Welcome back for day four of the eighth round of mystery stitching! Today we will be getting a delegation of teachers on our doorstep to do the alternate method of graduation here: a folded table at least 1.5m/6ft away from our front door and the rest is shrouded in mystery as it's all a surprise. All we know it will happen sometime between 9 am and midday - so far we have been waiting 1 1/2 hours for them to show up. The shopping has fortunately already arrived (Thursday is the day my online shopping arrives) as youngest and I both had a nightmare that everything happened at once.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 3

Welcome back for day three of the eighth round of mystery stitching! Today I was able to get some stitching done - I'm not all caught up yet but that's because I wanted to get this post up on time. I'm pretty sure you can wait till tomorrow to see part two stitched up hehe. My rheumatism is still being mean but not as mean as it's been the last two days which is why I was able to sit and stitch. Yay!

A Blackwork Christmas - June

Welcome to the sixth edition of A Blackwork Christmas SAL! Since I have done most of a rainbow so far with my colours I decided to go with purple this month. As mentioned in this morning's Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 post I'm having a bit of a flare up with my rheumatism so sitting and stitching isn't really comfortable as a result. I did get *some* stitching done but it's nowhere near finished.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 2

Welcome back for day two of the eighth round of mystery stitching! I won't be showing any progress pictures today for the plain and simple reason that I wasn't able to start stitching. I'm currently having a flare up and sitting is too uncomfortable for me to sit very long - it's one of the many joys of having rheumatism. The good news is that posts can and will go up as per schedule - I can sit long enough to make them happen.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Part 1

Welcome back for day one of the eighth round of mystery stitching! It's been fun seeing the few people who have had time to stitch and share their progress - I'm starting to think that this project is slowly winding itself down as fewer people are stitching (or at least showing what they are stitching) but we will see - perhaps with the summer coming up more people will have time again. I hope so as its rather fun.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Final Post

Welcome back for the final post of the seventh Mini Magical Mystery SAL! Don't worry it's not over - the Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 starts in an hour! This post is just a final post showing my stitching of part fourteen and it added to the ever growing chain.  I do hope you all had fun! I have loved seeing your stitching in the Facebook group! (Remember these are mysteries so belong in the Mystery group, even if you are also a member of the main SAL group). This time there were two possible endings - so you could choose which one you wanted to do.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 14

Welcome back for day fourteen of the seventh round of mystery stitching! This is also the final day of patterns for this SAL - I'll be back one more time to show what I have made tomorrow (an hour earlier than usual). The next round of the Mini Magical Mystery will start tomorrow at noon as per the information post. That said today's post is a little different from the usual posts... there is a bonus part! I just couldn't squeeze all the stitches into a single part and not everyone may want to do the extra stitches so this is a choose your own ending version! However as always I won't be showing pictures of the stitching of today's part(s) till tomorrow.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 8 - Information Post

Hi and welcome to the eighth information post for a Mini Magical Mystery SAL! With lockdowns easing, but still enforced/sensible for many people I'm continuing with another mystery to keep you stitching! This pattern is the same size as the other seven and has 300 stitches total. This mystery will start the day after the current mystery ends: 22nd June.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 13

Welcome back for day thirteen of the seventh round of mystery stitching! It's the penultimate part and tomorrow brings the final part of this SAL - I'm a bit late with the information post for the next one  so I'll get that and the ninth one written today (the ninth one will be scheduled to post in a week or so, so only one will show up today) so I can't forget again. Time has been flying by lately!

35 x 35 for 2020 - June

Welcome to the sixth 35 x 35 for 2020! I'm a lot later than planned with this post - first I made the incredible discovery that it's a bad idea to let your bead mat with beads already on it get caught in your embroidery hoop when you are rehooping. The resulting bead tsunami that flooded over my desk, keyboard, keyboard tray and floor, was not fun to clear up and slowed me down quite a bit. Then my computer decided it would join in the fun and gave me a Blue Screen of Death which put me even further off schedule than already was. I have to say that knowing that all of the patterns were safe on an external server made the whole thing a lot less stressful as I didn't have to worry I'd lost anything. I am however finally able to get this post up so am doing so!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 12

Welcome back for day twelve of the seventh round of mystery stitching! Today my pond arrived in a very, very big lorry (truck in the USA) - it was on a tiny pallet that was right at the back of the empty lorry - you could probably carry three at a time side by side on a forklift truck. Sadly it isn't an instant pond but digging will need to be done first - as soon as the earth dries up enough! One pond, some assembly required, water and pond contents not included.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 11

Welcome back for day eleven of the seventh round of mystery stitching! Just three more days and you will see the end of this SAL! Much sadness but also much joy as I'll then see more awesome things people make with the patterns!  Some of the end results are *really* creative - like the person who stitched five of the SALs on the same fabric with the same thread and then stitched them onto a shirt/jacket! So, so pretty!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 10

Welcome back for day ten of the seventh round of mystery stitching! When it's not raining it's been quite nice out but with the garden still a mess after the neighbours did their extension last year and me having to move all my plants for the new fence the year before it's not nice to go sit in the garden. I was planning on putting a pond in (well ok - drawing lines and making minions dig) but that too got delayed due to not being able to buy the materials needed with the money I'd saved up for the job. Now of course the rain is making the delays as digging wet earth is backbreaking so it's best put off till the earth is drier. It has however given me time to really think about size and shape - and how I want to include areas for plants that like damp earth and how to make that possible, so there is a plus to it all.

Easy Christmas Cards SAL - June

Welcome to the sixth part of the Easy Christmas Cards SAL! This month I decided to use a bit of perforated paper, a scrap of felt, the ribbon (pressed) and bell of a Lindt Christmas deer, and some of the DMC Light Effects thread that's been lurking in a thread box not getting used as I usually grab Kreinik for sparkly stitching. No photo of the "ingredients" this time as it sort of happened as I was making it rather than a planned thing.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 9

Welcome back for day nine of the seventh round of mystery stitching! We've got the corners done and the centre covered so what's going to happen in the spaces between? And are the areas we've stitched really finished or will there be more stitches to do there later on? All these questions will be answered today and in the next five days as this mystery runs to a close. Hopefully you will be surprised by the final stitches!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 8

Welcome back for day eight of the seventh round of mystery stitching! I'm running a bit late today, things didn't go to plan this morning - you know how it goes some days. On top of that I noticed that I was so distracted by the filename error that I'd not done all of the part six stitches! I had to catch up with them after making the pdf for part eight and I noticed the stitches in the centre. I checked the instructions and it wasn't mentioned so I went back to see when they were added... yup in the fateful part six! At least it was an easy fix even though the investigation etc. set me back time wise.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 7

Welcome back for day seven of the seventh round of mystery stitching! Today you get the seventh halfway point of the Mini Magical Mysteries! It doesn't feel like I have been doing these for so long but apparently I have been doing it long enough to get confused with filenames when making them. Yesterday I successfully managed to not only name the part SIX file "part7" but I also repeated the same mistake when putting the filename onto my blog, which I write out by hand - I don't copy/paste. It's supposed to catch out filename mistakes but apparently not. I have fixed the mistake now so anyone who downloads the file from today onwards will have the correct filename. The information within the pdf file is correct, it's just the name of the pdf that isn't. You can choose to fix yesterday's filename by changing the 7 to a 6, re-downloading the file after deleting yesterday's or just leaving it as is if you have printed it off or it doesn't bother you. I'm sorry for any inconvenience or confusion this causes.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 6

Welcome back for day six of the seventh round of mystery stitching! Today I was almost too lost in the rabbit hole of sites looking at stitches and other things that I can use for next year's Sampler SAL - it's a lot of fun and although I personally am game to try just about anything I also don't want to put people off from even starting by doing things that some might find too challenging. One things is certain... by the end of next year you will either have expanded the repertoire of stitches you can do and enjoy or you have found more stitches you dislike! Also edges... pretty edges! It will be FUN!

Bookmark SAL - June

Welcome to the sixth part of the Bookmark SAL! This month there are two variations one on 6ct perforated felt, which I stitched, and one for a smaller size fabric, which I didn't do more than a sample of on some banding.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 5

Welcome back for day five of the seventh round of mystery stitching! The weather has finally decided to be summer-ish (warm and sunny, clear blue sky) rather than March-ish (colder, damp and overcast) I can tell it's going to be like that for a few days as my joints aren't aching as much as they were. Much yay!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 4

Welcome back for day four of the seventh round of mystery stitching! I'm a bit late as I hit a technical snag but it's all sorted now. I've seen a few more finishes and some beautiful starts post in the Facebook group! It's wonderful to see your stitching too - so inspiring! Thank you to all of you who have posted pictures over the past weeks, I really appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 3

Welcome back for day three of the seventh round of mystery stitching! Youngest's trip to his school yesterday was uneventful fortunately - everyone wore masks on public transport as they are supposed to and social distancing was strictly adhered to, which is good news. He's less than happy that his new chef's coat will be a zippered one rather than a button one and they aren't allowed to wear sweat pants any more. But he's happy that he will be allowed to use his phone at school, something that's not allowed in the high school section of it. You win some, you lose some - it's all part of life and growing up as he's finding out.

Blackwork SAL 2020 - June

Welcome to the sixth part of the 2020 Blackwork SAL! This month you will again get two pattern options - after today's pattern there will be just ten slots left in the plusses version but I think I'll make sure there are two patterns a month going forwards so that people still have a choice if they are doing the patterns with fewer openings.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 2

Welcome back for day two of the seventh round of mystery stitching! Youngest has gone to college for the first time today for his "Meet the mentor and get measured for your new chef's whites" thing. His school houses both a secondary (high) school (vocational school type school) and a vocational college - part of which is a working hotel and series of restaurants. As he went to the secondary school there the building is already familiar for him and he knows some of the teachers from the days he did his stint in the restaurant kitchens this past school year. While things will be the same in some ways things will be very different in others, and for the first time since he started going to that school when he was 13 I'm worried about him travelling to school on public transport. Funny how things have changed this year.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Part 1

Welcome back for day one of the seventh round of mystery stitching! So good to see you return for another round of mystery stitching! The weekend updates have been fantastic to see! So many different colours - and some daring thread choices - it's great to see you having fun with these little patterns! I put a list of future dates for this SAL in the 13th post of the previous mystery - if you haven't seen it yet go have a look!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Final Post

Welcome back for the final post of the sixth Mini Magical Mystery SAL! Don't worry it's not over - the Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 starts in an hour! This post is just a final post showing my stitching of part fourteen and it added to the ever growing chain.  I do hope you all had fun! I have loved seeing your stitching in the Facebook group!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 14

Welcome back for day fourteen of the sixth round of mystery stitching! This is also the final day of patterns for this SAL - I'll be back one more time to show what I have made tomorrow (an hour earlier than usual). The next round of the Mini Magical Mystery will start tomorrow at noon as per the information post.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 13 and Forward Planning

Welcome back for day thirteen of the sixth round of mystery stitching! It's time for the penultimate pattern - I'm looking forward to seeing what you have all stitched after I've given tomorrow's pattern!

Ornament of the Month 2020 - June

Welcome to the sixth Ornament of the Month for 2020! This month I again didn't use any beads for the pattern - and most of the backstitches are actually straight stitches, so it stitches up quite quickly. This month's colours of the month are light blue, white and cream. I didn't fancy stitching in white or cream so chose the light blue. I leant a bit more towards the teal as I wanted it to be different from the March light blue ornament.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 12

Welcome back for day twelve of the sixth round of mystery stitching! Just two more patterns to go and this mystery is finished, can you guess where the stitches will go? I haven't answered all of the comments yet on the poll in the Facebook group yet, working on it! Somehow every time I start something happens after I've read and responded to two or three comments and I have to stop, not really conducive to getting it all done. I am however deciding how to move forwards - I'll get back to that before too long.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 11

Welcome back for day eleven of the sixth round of mystery stitching! Today youngest got a phone call shortly before nine am to let him know that he'd passed his "exams" and could move on to the next part of his life: college. As exams were cancelled he'd been given a series of projects by his teachers which had made it really difficult for him as he and projects don't get on well. He'd really struggled to get a good mark for them but managed in the end with the support of his teachers. As of next school year both of my sons will be going to college - it's both exciting and scary, but fortunately both colleges are close enough that they can stay home and use the government issued travel card to get to school and back.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 7 - Information Post

Hi and welcome to the seventh information post for a Mini Magical Mystery SAL! With lockdowns easing, but still enforced for many people I'm continuing with another mystery to keep you stitching! This pattern is the same size as the other six and has 336 stitches total. This mystery will start the day after the current mystery ends: 8th June. If you haven't seen it yet: there is a poll in the Facebook group about the Mini Magical Mystery SALs - if you haven't voted yet and you are a group member please do so if you want to have your opinion heard.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 10

Welcome back for day ten of the sixth round of mystery stitching! As it turned out I probably shouldn't have done the stitching of part eight Monday night.. I ended up having to rip most of it AND all of part nine that I'd stitched up to that point as I realised that I'd made a mistake and things were really not looking the way they should be.

Weavers Animals Band Sampler SAL - Part 6

Welcome to the sixth part of the Weavers Animals Band Sampler SAL! This month everyone gets the same amount to stitch. Because the grids are now very different I'm still giving two patterns as I know it's a royal pain in the behind if you spent hours and hours gridding only for the designer to change the grid in the pattern - I'd like to spare you that pain! Please note that the band is not completed this month - there is a tiny bit more to come.

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 9

Welcome back for day nine of the sixth round of mystery stitching! I was in the mood for some simple stitching last night so snuck in the stitching of part eight then rather than keeping it for the morning as I usually do - now I feel like something is missing hehehe. It just goes to show how used to things you can get doesn't it?

Temperature SAL - June

Welcome to the sixth Temperature SAL post! May went past a bit more slowly than April did, perhaps because I had less running around to do - and fewer posts! Not having to do a high speed mystery in May did make quite the difference. Once we have done the stitching for this coming month we will be halfway with the SAL and the stitching!

Mini Magical Mystery SAL 6 - Part 8

Welcome back for day eight of the sixth round of mystery stitching! Yesterday's birthday stuff went well, though in the end the only stitching I did was the stitching for yesterday's post - however I'm all set for a day of stitching today! I have been feeling very inspired by the photos that have been posted to the Mystery fb group! It's great seeing your progress!