WOYWW 776 - On time for a change, early in fact...

 Hellooooo thar....

A quick one from me today because at the time of typing this, I need to be elsewhere doing other things.  Isn't it always the way?  I really do need a clone.

There's movement on the desk this week, there really is.  I'm fairly confident that the folks that shouldn't be seeing this, won't, so I can (mostly) share what I've been up to.

I'm organising a stitching retreat which is due to take place in Wales, in a little over two weeks.  We've referred to it as "Coven: The Gathering" as we're a bunch of stitchers who like spooky stuff.  I think I've mentioned before that one of our number is flying in from the States.  Anyway, there's a card game called "Magic: The Gathering" and so I've *coff* borrowed from that branding to create our own little logo, and from that I've printed onto some shrink plastic and made custom needleminders and scissor fobs.  You'll forgive me if I don't show them in full yet - just in case one of them wanders across here from YouTube or Instagram!

I did have a bit of a moment earlier, when I managed to scatter an entire pack of crimp beads across the back of my desk but fortunately I was able to locate and save most of them…

Anyhoo - gotta dash - see you all on the hop as it were.

Happy Hopping!

Morti

x

WOYWW 775 - Another late one

You know how it is.  On Tuesday you remember you need to do a post and schedule it for Wednesday.  Before you know it it's Wednesday - late - and you still haven't done it and feel like you really should get off the couch and do something.  No?  Just me then?  Alrighty then..... 

Still not a great deal to report on the creative front other than a trial run of some new shrink plastic, the kind you can print on using an inkjet printer.  It's for a little project that's top secret until the first weekend in May. So I won't bore you with a view of my desk because I didn't actually move anything or do anything on it - the printer in question is nowhere near :D hehehe

The stitchalong has crawled this week.  I'm not normally slowed down by backstitch, but this time I have a touch of stitching fatigue.  I really need to do it before I put to one side to do WIPGO.

I'm not sure if I did WIPGO back in 2021, but in case I didn't, it's basically Bingo for your Works In Progress.  On my card I have all but two (well, four now, with the SALs) of my WIPs, and each is set for 5 days' work.  I'll talk about those in more detail next week.  

Throwback to a previous design - the last time I was here I was halfway through the 2021 Peppermint Purple blackwork stitchalong, and as promised, here's a (sorry for the poor quality) picture of the 2021 SAL framed along with its counterpart from 2020.  It was a bit complicated to frame so I had it professionally done  they did a pretty good job.  

SO there you have it.  I'm going to try and visit everyone's desks tomorrow.  I was actually out of the office completely today until almost 3pm, and then in back-to-back client calls.  Sigh.  No rest for the wicked!

Happy Hopping, folks!

Morti

x

WOYWW 774 - The Late Night Edition

It’s been a day…. But I’m here for what’s probably the last link of 774 ☺️

No point in sharing my desk because aside from moving a piece of paper, there’s been no action.

I think I managed to get round everyone last week, and found myself utterly enabled by Angela @ Felix The Crafty Cat, in that I found myself buying the owl canvas kit. 🤭 It arrives tomorrow! I figured I deserved a reward for avoiding chocolate for 40 days…. Hehehe

At some point I’ll give y’all an update on the stitched pieces you last saw 3 years ago. I believe at least two of them have now been framed. 

Here’s what I’ve been working on this week, though. It’s a stitch along hosted by World of Cross Stitching magazine, and it’s a little out of my normal wheelhouse due to the colours in it (moved one of my friends to quote “But… pastels, Morti?”

Here’s what it will look like when finished. 

So it’s not a mystery SAL (heck, I’m two releases behind anyhow) but I like that. The mystery ones can be a bit hit or Miss as to whether or. It you’re going to like the finished article!

So, until next time - Morti signing out - and happy hopping!

WOYWW 773 - all…. wet…on the western front.

Well, I’m here. And definitely feeling g the effects of an incredibly rainy winter. 🙄 I didn't get round to visit any one last week because Google/Blogger was playing up and wouldn't let me log in to comment.  I've had to do it this week from my laptop rather than my mobile.

A bit late, but late is better than never. It’s a bit quiet at Morti Mansions, and to be frank, most of my crafting work is pretty non-existent . These days generally is the stitching. But I am back l! So here is my “desk” as it were for today - my stitching station in the lounge. Currently on it is my stitch along (SAL) from The World of Cross Stitching magazine. I’m a little bit behind by about 2 1/2 months… maybe one and a half, seeing as the latest part was only released last Wednesday. 

The other desk upstairs doesn’t look any different to last week. I dare you to play spot the difference!LOL

I do need to get back into my other crafting so hopefully there’ll be something a bit different to share in future WOYWWs. 

Happy Hopping!

Morti x

WOYWW 772- What's going on 'ere then?

Well, Hi!

So a whole month passed since I blew the dust off this 'ere blog, and I'm only just getting round to making another post.  I mean, I'm not entirely sure what's going on, or why, but it seems I sneezed and then... March. Heh heh heh....

It's also been a Loooooong time since I last took part in any WOYWW shenanigans, so perhaps I should just hand back my crafters hat and.... what's that you say?  I should post?

OK - well - there's not much to show.  The desk is the same as it looked last time really.  Things get moved around and shuffled. Every so often I have a fit of tidying up. Then a fit of crafting.  Then a fit of forgetting to clear up after me. Rewind, Repeat.

Except it really isn't the same, is it?  If you look at my last WOYWW - three years ago, ohhh, the shame.... - it's in a completely different position.  SO yeah, we moved the craft room round and my work work desk is now in what was Lil Miss B's bedroom, she having now moved out permanently, and we have a futon where the craft work desk used to be, that having filled the work work desk space.  It's all good.  Less distracting.  But also I get less actual crafting done. Because I don't see it daily, I'm neither reminded nor inspired. I am however doing even more stitching than ever, and have about 14 WIPs on the go.  Yikes...

So I'll drop a pic in here and call it done for today.  When I have a bit more time (cos I'm on a break from work right now and don't have time to go into depth) I'll start putting in an update for what I've been up to and what work I've completed.  And my designs I've done lately too.... oh yes, this girl is now a bona fide cross stitch designer and I've officially sold a whole six patterns.  LOL

Oh yeah.... the trolley?  That's my stitching "work desk" which sits by my stitching station (aka the sofa) and as you can see, the pile it high mess is the same there too..... 

Toodle pip - happy hopping!

Morti

x

Hello, it's been a while

 How are you all?

Now you've got over the shock, yep it's me.  I'd love to say I'm back permanently but we'll have to see how that goes.  I don't have the best track record, do I, for sticking around.

Lately though, I've been pondering the old blog again and thinking that maybe it's time to resurrect it.  Perhaps update it, refresh the edges a tad.  Have the opportunity to come here whenever I like and do a few bits and pieces.  

The old YouTube channel is going well these days - over 1k subs and growing nicely.  However, the good old YT algorithm means that you kind of have to stick with one topic or it gets all confused and doesn't know who you are, what you're doing, or who is likely to watch.  So this blog would be an opportunity for folks to come read at their own pace, for me to do my thang, share more of life and travels.

And looking at where we've been versus how often I've dotted onto here, we have some serious catching up to do!

So stick around.  I'll be back shortly...

WOYWW 627 - Not so flamin' June - and G7

Hello, lovely deskers!   Welcome back to another round of WOYWW...  that weekly bloghop looking at the underbelly of creativeness, the mess and mayhem that is our desks... LOL.

As I type this, the weather is typically British summer - drizzle but warm and distinctly muggy.  Yuk.  Despite this, we have a major influx of visitors to Cornwall (no surprise there) but this has been augmented and indeed frustrated by G7.  I live about 7 miles from Carbis Bay and Tregenna Castle, and it's causing a lot of trouble.  Road closures - including all the bridges and overpasses for the A30, the main road that runs down the spine of Cornwall - and full accommodation are making things difficult for locals and visitors alike, and we get daily flyovers of USAF Hercules etc.  Don't get me started on the parking issues in Falmouth, where the media circus are hanging out.

Regardless, I'm sat in my cosy little nook, keeping myself to myself, and busy plying my needle through fabric.  They can keep their shenanigans!

The desk this week is suffering a bit from "pile it high" syndrome - I've not had the opportunity to sit and clear it up but my fingers are itching again to get on with it...

I'd also like to say a bit thank you to my swappees for the ATCs - what a lovely little collection!  So thank you LLJ, Ali and Spyder for your lovely ATCs and postcards!  I loved the little folder Spyder sent her ATCs in (and the little spider on one of them - too cute... :D).

Stitching - Siren's Lament lies untouched, with good reason!  Myth & Magic Stitch Wars, round 14, is well under way and there's just too much confetti in it for me to get a good stitch count in a hurry on.

However, The Christmas Moose (why didn't they call it The Christmoose?) has had a significant amount of progress - you can even make out where the roofs will be on that side.  Loving working on this!

Peppermint Purple's SAL is up to date as of last week and today's chart is now out, so I'll be working on that shortly.

Lastly, my Field of... er... Ducks is coming along nicely.  There's good blocks of colour so yesterday evening I churned out over 320 stitches on it which was pretty awesome and very necessary - our clan had been "poisoned" by another clan and had to collectively stitch 1000 stitches as fast as possible to reduce the damage being caused over time.

Note the strategically positioned needleminder!

The "ducks" caused a bit of a hoot over on my YouTube channel last week, and I also coined another phrase, where SAL no longer stands for "Stitch-a-Long" but "Stitch-a-Later".  Seems a couple of folks are going to adopt that now... heheheheh

So that is that, this week.  I found this "funny" on the web this week and had to share it - it takes a bit of thinking about but is v clever...

Happy Hopping!

Morti

x

WOYWW 626 - Flaming June

 Hello again, lovely deskers - welcome back to another round of WOYWW.  Deets here....   I must confess, there's not a lot to show this week!  And I'm much remiss in visiting desks, starting with the best of intentions but usually failing miserably.  This weekend we spent two days tidying, clearing the decks as it were, and cleaning ready for a visit from a family member who we hadn't seen for almost two years, since she last came to our house shortly after we moved in.

Therefore, not much to report!

Here's the desk....

And here's the only stitching I've done all week.  One finished ATC:

and the updated Peppermint Purple SAL

However, to make up for the lack, here's a lovely picture of the dogs on the beach on Monday just gone (t'was a public holiday here, for our overseas deskers), 

and the beach itself - Perranporth, here in Cornwall.  

‘‘Twas a lovely day.... scorching hot with an offshore wind which meant lots of sunburned bodies - mine included  just my legs/feet, and not too badly for me although I’ve got a heat rash on my arms which is a bit disconcerting.

And here's a shot of our peony, finally in bloom.  It's taken the last 7 years for us to nurture it to this point - Mr B had given up all hope but two days ago it popped open - ta dah!  Last year we got a bud (first time ever) but it never opened and there was a weeny hole in it so I think a bug got in and had a feast.

Lastly, figured it was time for another funny....

Happy Hopping, y'all!

WOYWW 625 - Another Year Older

Greetings and salutations my fellow deskers!  So last week was the 12th Birthday for WOYWW, and today is my own birthday.... toot toot!  Have to blow my own trumpet as I'm sat here today, preparing for a full day of work (I work Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday afternoons, but all day Wednesdays currently, how rude is that? LOL) and on my own bar the animal companions.  No Mr B - he's currently stuck somewhere around London with a delivery - and Miss B is sleeping the day away in Exeter, having worked a late shift at the bar she's at.  Her dissertation was submitted without a hitch (fingers crossed) and now it's the waiting game.  At least she's back at work and has something to take her mind off it a bit!

Anyone not a regular here?  WOYWW is a weekly desk hop in crafting land, hosted by the lovely Julia and all the deets on how to join in are here...

So, onto the desk.

Oh my.  Have I got a treat for you - not.  The desk as you can see is relatively clear (who am I kidding???).  The roses in the pot are still waiting for me to do something with them, and I have another 10 black silk roses downstairs that I'm at a loss for what to do with them.  The urn you see on the desk is needing a coat of paint of some description, to tie them in, and the roses need shortening somewhat.  However, it's a bit small so I'm thinking of treating myself to a nice vase from Weird and Wonderful Ceramics.  Homewares for the darkly inclined.  We bought some of their kitchenware, and were just about to complete the set when they discontinued the particular range I had my eye on. Sigh.  I have a plan, though, being the consummate crafter, on how to get around that.... hehehehe

I'm digressing.  Back to the desk.  I made 8 ATCs in the end, and they've all got homes to go to - I'm just waiting for one address (Ali!) and they should all be going out in the post today.  I missed the post yesterday or they would have gone then (apart from Felicia's - I need to visit the post office for that one!).  I'll share the ATCs I made (they're not particularly special I'm afraid) once they've all arrived at their destinations.

But.... wait....what's this?  Gah.  I seem to be spreading!  It started out with a couple of frames and a bag of bits on the sofa and suddenly... yikes!  I'd better get myself sorted out.

In my defence, the sofa is now bloomin' uncomfortable to sit on and is causing me to have considerable pain in my left hip, and a trapped nerve/sciatica on the right side (a new sofa is on its way, don't worry).  So as I've physically migrated seat wise, so has all my stitchy stuff and where I bought the trolley a couple of weeks ago, it seems I'm now overflowing it.

Stitching... it's only been a week so not much has been done.  The only updates are to:

Siren's Lament

and the Peppermint Purple SAL - I added last week's box, and this week's has only just been released online, so that's yet to be done.  But I am what I'd call "up to date".

Another new start though - and this has a short tale attached.  I'm on a FB group - Cross Stitch Friends in the UK - and they usually have various swaps etc going on.  This month they elected to do an ATC on the theme of stitching.  What ho! says I - this could be interesting.  So, in my all knowing wisdom I decided to do a fully stitched ATC.  Then forgot about it until a couple of days ago - it needs to be posted on Friday.  Cue plenty of "assertive stitching" (a phrase I nicked from a fellow YouTuber, Georgie, rather than "panic stitching") in order to get it done.  I'm on track - just got a couple of little motifs to stitch, and then the back to do.  And then to post it..... I must be nuts.

Julia commented last week on the fact that my starts seem to be located in different places all the time - the top left corner, the centre, the words - and how did I decide where to start.  Welllll, she says, cracking her nuckles and setting to the keyboard, it's like this.

Often, patterns will give you an indication of where the centre point is on the chart, and tell you how big the finished piece will be.  Generally, you add an extra 2-3 inches of fabric to allow for stretching and framing, and you then have a choice of where to start - either 2-3 inches in from the edge, or in the centre once you've located that point.  When you're working on a piece that is not "full coverage" (like Christmas Moose, and the cactus in a pot I did a few months back) it makes sense to start from the middle and work outwards, as it saves an awful lot of counting to find where to start, and you're guaranteed to have placed the motif in the centre of the fabric (provided you got your fabric the right way up to start with!).  Full coverage pieces like Siren's Lament are a different matter.  You know exactly where the top corner is, and when you're working on something that big (35 A4 pages - 28 full and 7 partial!), finding the "middle" is nigh-on impossible.  I start top left, but I know others start top right or bottom left or right.  It all depends on preference, but the way I see it is that I'm right handed, and by working left to right, I don't fluff the work up by rubbing my hand on it.  The text start (Field of "ducks" LOL) is actually a top left corner start, and although it's not a full coverage piece, the majority of the design as at the top and on the left, so I worked out the inches I needed for framing etc, and just stuck in.

The box lurking on my desk contains some jewellery making stuff delivered yesterday, which I only opened this morning being forgetful, and therefore unsure if it was a birthday present!  I am thinking of making some needleminders and project bag dangles - I stupidly forgot to take a picture of the footie one I did for David.  Maybe in next week's blog!

Happy Hopping, everyone!

WOYWW 624 - Happy Birthday, WOYWW!

I’ll just nonchalantly slide in here at the end of the day, to say hello and Happy Birthday to all of us. I’ve been back and forth with my blog, so I’ve not posted for all of the years but I’m still here!

It’s been a busy few weeks with family and life. Miss B got her extension and tomorrow is the big day... Other than that we’re all keeping well and... busy. But I said that already!

Thanks to family stuff I missed the last couple of Rudolph days but they’ll pick up again starting next week. 

Here’s the desk....messy as ever. It will be cleared tomorrow,  as I can’t miss out on the old ATC swap now can I?

A quick update on the stitching 

The Mill Hill kit I showed you the start of was FFO’d (fully finished off) this morning...

Moose has been worked on but not by much!

The Peppermint Purple is up to date, apart from today’s release. 

And Siren’s Lament has moved on a little, but not much either. Maybe a couple of thousand confetti stitches!

And lastly, we have a new start. This one is a bit cheeky, but if you fancy learning more, head over to my Flosstube and have a watch!  You’ll find me at https://youtu.be/DPDar1-OCdg

That’s it - short and sweet. You’ll see me back here again in the near future, I can assure you!

Happy Hopping!

Morti x