A rather belated update ...

Hi all - apologies to everyone who has been hanging on with bated breath for an update from yours truly.  Life and work kind of got in the way again I'm afraid but I have been stitching ... not as often as I would like, but I have made some progress.  So, without further ado here's a quick roundup - hang onto your seats!!

"Bring on the Snow" was next for the Challenge treatment.  I have to admit I did rather well with this one  and it is a nice easy stitch with large blocks of colour.   I discovered when I picked him up again that I had miscounted and his eyes were too close together!  Well my mother told me never to trust a man who's eyes are too close together so they needed sorting.  Minor frogging only and he looks a lot better.  Of course now that he has his scarf on and a smile on his face he looks quite happy - what do you all think?  I think maybe only one or two more rotations on this one will get him finished.

I have promised myself that once this snowman is finished I will frame all three (yes three!!) of my unframed snowmen and this one and get them hanging up for the holiday at the end of the year (not going to name it cos it is only just past and it is a traumatic enough time without thinking of it when the year is still in short trousers!

Next on to Blackberry Jam.  It was around this time that things started to go a little bit pear-shaped.  Last year I was plagued by headaches which were finally put down to work related stress - I quit the job and the headaches went away.  Now unfortunately they have returned with a vengeance and nary a day goes by without a headache - or worse - a migraine!  What little stitching time I get in the evenings and weekends has been eaten into drastically by these nasty things and Blackberry Jam fared worst of all - and after several attempts and even more froggings, this is all I managed.  I think the lesson to be learned here is don't stitch when tired/have a headache/fuzzy eyes.  Luckily by the time this come round in rotation again we will (hopefully) have much better weather, longer nights and the chance of stitching in daylight. 

Moving swiftly along to Royal Blossoms.  This one fared marginally better than Blackberry Jam in that I managed to get more time for stitching on the weekends, but the headaches persisted and I think I spent more time looking wistfully at the design than actually stitching it.  I do love this one though and think I did not too badly to stitch a whole crown and half a bloom (or is that half a petal??)  I've had another Just Nan in my stash pile for way too long (Catnip Tea) and another promise to myself - I will kit it up and get it done when this one is finished.  Watch this space as they say - but please don't hold your breath!

Catch a Tail was next - and I actually made some progress on this that shows!  A whole cat - and half a quilt.  Not bad going!    I shall have to start thinking about what I am going to turn this RR into once it is finished.  Again only one or two more rotations should see it finished.  Maybe by then I will be thinking of starting the next RR - watch out girls and get your thinking caps on!  I do love Diane Graebner's designs and have rather a large collection of them.    Maybe for next year - if we do another 15 challenge, I will include one or two of them in there.  The trouble is - which ones?

And finally ... the Willow Fairy.  The sheer amount of shades of green on this design is actually quite daunting and I actually sat for a whole night trying to work out if I was supposed to be working with blue greens or yellow greens and then I got a headache and gave up and went to bed :)

So, I aimed higher and tackled her rather unruly hair instead and I surprisingly made some progress there too.  Not a lot, but some and I am more than happy with that.  This one has been around longer than I care to admit to and it would be a nice feeling of achievement to see her finished and framed.    I can only hope ...

This week's Challenge is Lady of Shalott - my aim is to finish the page I am on.  I may need a cheering squad on this one and that screaming you hear in the background is Karen running for the hills.

Well its time I got on with some real work lol.  Thanks for popping by and for all the lovely comments you leave - they really are appreciated.

Till next time.  Love and hugs,  Ally xxx