Revision

Remember this? I blogged about it in February.



I wasn't too happy with the way the sides worked out.


Well, over the 14 weeks since Niamh was born, it has gradually become this.


And I'm much happier now. Now it looks like the box I wanted to make. And reworking it was fun, and I got away with reusing the thread I used in the previous version without needing to buy any more.


I'm especially pleased with the box lining which I crocheted. After a quick look round, I couldn't find any fabric I wanted to line the box, so I crocheted the lining as I has some conveniently coloured cotton yarn. In fact, I think the lining has to be my favourite part of this box now!



Now I can hardly wait to start Twilight Pearls this evening!

15 again

Here it is! Sue Hawkins 15 sided canvaswork biscornu from the current issue of Stitch magazine. As soon as I saw it, I just couldn't resist it!



The stitching itself was fun, and I loved stitching each of the little squares. I particularly like the embellishment - just that little bit over the top for a pincushion! And I was really glad of the excuse to give Shisha a go. I really have been meaning to try it for a long time, but, as usual, never got round to it until now.



I did change the design of one square which originally included Queen stitch. I'm not a fan of Queen stitch and just didn't think it added anything to the design here, so I used Star stitch instead.

However, there is one thing about the design and the magazine article that really annoys me. I've seen it in other magazines and other articles too-it's the use of obscure thread brands that are difficult to get hold of. The design as published uses Oliver Twists thread and I know from previous experience that few shops stock this brand. In the past I've completely given up on getting any. This time I tried a bit harder and managed to get hold of one of the required threads, but in the end I still gave up and used Watercolors instead. Don't mistake me - I love the end result, but I did start out wanting to use the original colours.

Who is the target audience of these designs and the magazines? Perhaps professional embroiderers might have access to a wider range of threads. However, I wound have thought that the casual, hobby stitcher like me would prefer to use materials that are readily available. What do you think?


I know that some magazines will suggest stockists of materials, but even then they don't necessarily stock everything that's required. In this case, Stitch magazine does not even go as far as suggesting stockists.

So this project has ended very well - I love the Swarovski buttons I've used - but it started out very frustratingly and I had to spend more money getting threads in the colours I wanted than I would have wished. I think a letter to the magazine may be in order.

Tweet Tweet

Yes, I've finally succumbed and joined Twitter. You'll have noticed I'venot been around here so much recently, so why on earth start on Twitter too?

One of my reasons is exactly the fact that that I haven't been feeling like blogging his year, and these days I rarely have the time either. So, I have a new plan. I will definately not be blogging regularly for the foreseeable future, but I am intending to tweet something every day. I don't want to loose my online voice through not blogging, and after all, it's much quicker to tweet a single sentence than to write a complete blog post. Blog posts will be limited to those occasions when I have something specific I want to say or to share.

Also my tweeting will not be limited to stitching, crochet or other crafty activities, I'll be tweeting whatever comes into my head. I kind of like the idea of the stream of consciousness.

So follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tintocktap or you can subscribe to the rss feed for my tweets.

However, having said this, I actually have several things I want to blog about, if only I could find the time to write the posts!