October WIPocalypse

For the first time in quite a while I didn't work on a small finish this month. I actually started one but quickly lost interest because my WIPs were calling to me.

The two WIPs that I'm referring to are The Primitive Needle Witches Nine and Willow Hill Samplings Pennsylvania Dutch Sampler. The Pennsylvania Dutch Sampler occupied most of my time early in the month. I'm stitching this on a lovely piece of 40 ct Silkweaver Burmese Beige and I'm using a Gentle Arts Limited Edition floss, Cardinal. Here's my progress for the month.

I am loving how the floss looks on this fabric but early on I realized that I might run out. I'm only using one strand of floss to stitch with and I've already gone through half of a skein. I only have two skeins of this Limited Edition and I'm only halfway through the first page of the design. There are a total of 2 1/2 pages of stitching so it stands to reason that I'm going to run out. I wondered if there was some way that I could alter the pattern to accomodate the remaining floss? While I was thinking about it, a dear friend mentioned how much she loved the floss in this piece. I proceeded to tell her my dilemma. That's when she told me that she had purchased about a dozen of the skeins and offered to send me some as a pay it forward offer. I was thrilled!! So now I will be able to complete the entire design without modification.

I started Witches Nine towards the end of last month and picked it up again mid-October. It didn't take me longer to complete it. I've always loved all of Lisa Roswell's designs and I'm so very sorry that she is no longer with us. She loved designing for Halloween and added a touch of whimsy to all her pieces. If you recall, last year I stitched Annie Hyssop's Harvest Moon. This year it's her Witches Nine. This is stitched on Picture This Plus 36 ct Earthen linen using the called for Weeks Dye Works floss.

I am fortunate enough to have several of Lisa's designs in my collection and hope to get them all stitched at some point in time.

My hip is progressing well. Yesterday I received the nod from the surgeon to ditch the 6 wk protocols and I won't have reached my 6 weeks post op until Halloween. So that means that I can now get into a car in the normal fashion without laying the seat back and I can lift my leg to get into the bath/shower without using a shower bench. I am grateful that we already had one of the higher toilets installed in our home which makes all the difference when you are dealing with joint issues. I am slowly increasing my physio and my walking although I do find that I tire easily. 

I have enjoyed the extra stitching time that recovery affords but I'm also glad to start getting back into my normal routines. Christmas stitching is on my mind and as well I'm currently working on a small piece, Plum Street Samplers Tired Trio, for my granddaughter's birthday. If it's not complete at the end of November then it just may become a Christmas gift instead, lol!
See you all next month and happy stitching!!