Friday, October 30, 2009

"...And Black Cats Are Seen."

Miaou!~


"When Witches Go Riding
And Black Cats Are Seen...
The Moon Laughs and Whispers,
'Tis Near Hallowe'en."



I started this little guy with plans to make a cute floss tag to match PS When Witches..., which I've prepared--I actually blocked out a perimeter grid on last night. I wanted to make a "small" after the rather large (to me) BtSS. I'm going to be starting at the bottom on When Witches because I don't have "enough" blackbird to stitch the whole thing (I need 2 skeins, though I'm gonna' buy 3 matching because running out on BtSS has made me suspicious.) I'm planning to use some Belle Soie Lasagne (Quite possibly the best Hallowe'en colour ever) to fill in the orange section with a satin stitch! :D The full version will use a cotton CC, (Colonial?) Copper.

Aaaand, here's a progress pic on BtSS:


I felt that I didn't get much progress on this one at all, though when I compared it to Monday's shots I surprised myself by how much it had come along. At this point, all that remains are details such as adding in the centers of the "stars" at the top, or finishing the border, or adding smyrna cross berries to the vine at the side. But...I've lost a good bit of mojo to work on this one. There are a few things that I could do without that GAST Parchment, but somehow that's the only part I WANT to do. I also want to re-design the date, but was leaving that 'till last...blah. I must do whatever I can to prevent this from winding up in UFO purgatory.

Now, you Observant Readers may have noticed that the Above Cat greeted you in French, and there is indeed a reason for it:


A Finish!


I'm an "Honorary" member of the French Hallowe'en SAL called "HalloSAL" The idea is to make an ornament each month and post your finish (A Hallowe'en version of the ever-popular Christmas SALs) to the forum. Well, I joined midway, and never got around to finishing much--this may even be the first finished finish. eep. Don't worry, next year's SAL is a Band Sampler designed by GenCat, the moderator. I'm planning to talk more about this when I show my floss toss for the Sampler (Which begins Nov. 1st), and I'll post relevant links to all this at that time, so don't worry if you are interested in knowing more. :)
This is Mill Hill's "Autumn Harvest V: Boo Birdhouse (MHAH28)" with...quite a few changes. I thought the jack-o'-lantern was marooned somewhere between illegible and hokey, and I still can't make a final decision about the bird--do you Readers think it'll make the left side too black-heavy with the "spider"?(<--a very generous description for that collection of black beads and No. 310.) Looking at the photo, I think that it's more clearly a spider than in person. As for the rest of the stuff in the photo, there's my orts jar; can you tell I'm a floss-waster? So, what should I do regarding the birdie? Tack him in, or squirrel him away for another project?


I'm off to finish (I wish; we've got a party tonight) that grinning cat tag...

Yours Cat-ishly,
Berit

(=^.~=)


Oh, P.S. I wanted to give a huge THANK YOU!! To everyone who so kindly commented on my last blog--you guys all totally made my week! I have been trying to reply personally to each comment to thank you and/or answer questions, and if I missed you please forgive me!! In my other blogs it was always common practice to reply in the comments section to any comments made on the post, but in the stitching blogosphere it seems to be more common to email directly, or reply via comment on the other person's current post or...Well, as you can see, I still can't really make heads or tails of it! Thanks for your patience with my slow, improperly placed, or even forgotten replies.
...

14 comments:

Deb said...

Your BBD piece looks wonderful. Such beautiful colors. But I certainly understand why you want to stitch something small - the gratification factor. I know it well. When Witches is a great design and I can't wait to see your finish!

Berit said...

@ Deb:
Thank you; I'm in love with that BBD's colors, too--that's why I first became obsessed with it. Yes, you're exactly right--"gratification" is the precise word! :P

Myra said...

OH that BBD piece is really coming along. Of course you already know I love the Halloween stitching. :o) Boo! It's almost here!

Ranae said...

The stitching looks great.
I love the little stitched block FOB on those scissors, cute!!
You are almost done with the BBD, don't lose the mojo now, lol
The bird looks fine on the Mill Hill, if you even it out with the pumpkin.
Your ort jar is very colorful and full

Berit said...

@ Myra,
Thank you for the encouragement! As for the BtSS, I finally was able to stop by yesterday to pick up the missing Parchment (GAST)! So, now I can finish the border if not the piece.

@ Ranae,
I was trying it out to see if it could be done/would look good several months ago (Making a "cube", that is.) I used my favorite red dmc overdye, and put on each side a letter (phonetic consonant+vowel sound) from the Japanese writing system. It was pretty fun, and I'm planning to try out making more of them!

Sharlotte said...

Hi Berit!
Sorry to answer your question on your blog , I didn't have an email address for you. Embroidery goes quite a bit fast than cross stitch I think. Especially if you are doing small designs.If you've never done embroidery before,it's not hard.Just takes a little practice to learn the stitches. There are all kinds of tutorials on the web. For transfers, I usually use Aunt Martha's. They are the ones found usually is yellow envelopes close to the floss in the craft shops. I love your BtSS. It's looking great!

Cindy F. said...

Love the black cat floss tag idea and your fob is just too cute!!
GORGEOUS progress on BtSS!! Just gorgeous!

Nicole said...

Beautiful progress on BtSS Berit! Looks like you will be done in no time! :) I can't wait to see your black cat floss tag - It's going to be so cute I'm sure! :)

Anonymous said...

Berit, the BBD is looking so good! It's one of my favorite BBD designs. I'll sigh and enjoy yours, since I won't be starting mine any time soon. :)

Soleil de Vie said...

Superbe ! magnifique ! Bravo =^..^=

Siobhán said...

Your BBD is coming along so nicely! I love your small--that floss tag will be adorable!

glamlawlib said...

Lovely BBD piece and cute Halloween stitching!

Kellie said...

Love your stitching and your blog. Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. :)

Leeland said...

I've worked on that BBD piece for over a year. Haven't touched it in six months at least. I don't know why it keeps putting me off. May be the vine. Haven't even ever shown it on my blog. Lol!
Love the house (but already told you on the Hallosal ;)))
The lasagna thread is really beautiful.
Hugs!
Lili