This week

For some reason a whole week went by without blogging. There were happy occasions at home (birthday parties!) to prepare and recover from. Sad happenings in the news to ponder about... So this is a bit of a hotch potch post about my small crafty news from this week.

I finally got round to updating my Princess and the Pea Sampler PDF pattern. The previous version dated from 2010 and since then I somewhat improved my PDF making and computer drawing skills.  Find the updated pattern here! I have a whole new pattern in the works by the way, it's one of my loveliest yet (at least I think so) and I hope to bring it to the shop before the end of this month.

I continued work on my Blackwork try out piece. After a shaky (and wonky) start I kind of got the hang of stitching that diamond shape. The whole composition is a bit static and not really refined like this impressive blackwork Whale's tail but you have to start somewhere, right? Also, I'm tempted to use other colours than black. Back in the 17th century it was not uncommon to use other colours than black either! This lovely piece by Sami Teasdale shows how you can get all creative (and colorful) with this traditional technique.

Kingfisher by Sami Teasdale

Find more fabulous pieces on Sami's blog Teasemade. I picked up some new blackwork tips from another recent addition to my Stitchy library called the Stitch Bible by Kate Haxell. I haven't properly read through the whole book yet (it also covers other techniques like Crewel and Hardanger) but found the instructions and diagrams in the blackwork section really useful. And soon I need to make room on the shelf because Sami is actually going to send me this book about Blackwork, as she had two copies. How sweet is that?

Ok that's all from me this week. Hope you all have a great weekend. :)