What have I done now?

Seriously?!?

October 28th and I'm doing WHAT?

Starting a large Halloween project!

To borrow from Battlestar Galactica, What The Frack!

What can I say, I got the urge to do Lizzie Kate's Halloween Rules, and I wanted it done on a blackish-grey linen.  I had several pieces in my stash, but R&Rs 18th Century Blackbird (35 count) won out as being the best match for the floss colors I chose.

I had a little fun with the stickers on Picnik.

There is some method to my madness, I can't really start any Christmas stitching until November 1, since I signed up as part of the 2011 Christmas Ornament Challenge.  Yes, I'm ignoring my 6 Fat Snowmen Project I could have worked on.

As I promised in my last post, here are some pics of other stitching I've been working on, in between my SAL stitching.  Its a really grey and overcast day here, so the colors might not be great.

First up is a win-win situation for me.  I've said before I don't usually stitch Lizzie Kate pieces.  Don't get me wrong, they're fun to stitch, but the colors usually are a bit bright and garish for me, and I don't usually have cutsey in my house.  I got to stitch this as a shop model for Shepherd's Bush, using Teri's floss conversion.  Even better, I don't have to do the finishing, since Teri is a bit busy at the R&R Dyeing to Stitch Retreat, and I don't know if she wants to frame it, or make a pillow.

L*K Ho Ho Ho in a Row, stitched on 32 ct natural linen
using Shepherd's Bush floss conversion.

I worked a bit on building a house mansion, Mansion at Fox Hollow actually.  Not a lot of progress, but some is better than none.  When I first started stitching this I noticed the color key on the chart was off a bit.  I thought it was just a case of a wrong symbol, so forged ahead.  I was wrong.  It was a case of a few wrong symbols, and the blue and green symbols getting reversed.  My door is a green door now, instead of a blue door.  Not a big deal, other than I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to put the blue in this piece.  I refuse to stitch blue stems and leaves.  Ignore the wrinkles on the linen please.  I'm lazy and don't iron my WIPs for progress pictures.

With Thy Needle and Thread, Mansion at Fox Hollow
stitched on 40 ct linen with assorted silks.

Next up is actually a new start, that I totally blame on Margaret.  She started Scarlet Letter's Ann Smith a few weeks ago and I fell in love.  I already had the chart in my stash, but the colors were so bright and vibrant.  My initial start got put on hold when Margaret was kind enough to warn me about needing multiple skeins of some of the colors. Off to the Bush I went, with a list of what colors I needed, and to make sure the duplicates would be the same dye lot.  I don't stitch as fast as Margaret, plus I get easily distracted with other projects, so you'll get to enjoy her finish long before I'm even close.

SL's Ann smith, stitched on 35 ct Lambswool linen
with Au ver a Soie

For everyone that's having crappy weather (rain/sleet/snow), I hope you're able to stay inside with a cup of tea/coffee/cocoa with a nice stitching project.  I almost wish it were raining here.  What can I say, I spent a lot of my childhood in Washington state and England.