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Thursday 4 May 2017

Dearest Edward

The postman has just delivered five most beautiful gold rings, one for each finger, and all fitting perfectly.  A really lovely present - lovelier in a way than birds, which do take rather a lot of looking after.  The four that arrived yesterday are still making a terrible row, and I'm afraid none of us got much sleep last night.  Mummy says she wants to use the rings to "wring" their necks - she's only joking, I think; though I know what she means.  But I love the rings.  Bless you.
Love Emily

12 Days of Christmas (Correspondence) - John Julius Norwich

Emily seems a little happier with her gift this month, even if Mummy has a bird-induced migraine.

Who remembers singing this part of the song with great gusto and not a lot of tune?


There will be gold beads in the little gaps when I finish this design.  I am saving all the beads until the end so the metallic thread doesn't catch on them.

Here is the full piece so far.  I will be stitching for another day on the top Herald Angel.  The plan is do a little bit on her each month to complete the design this year.


Those crumples do come out when I stretch the fabric out, don't worry!

I also stitched both my Hallowe'en pieces this month.  First up is Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating:

Black cats are our theme this month

I also started some of the "Happy" as the cat was such a quick stitch


The second piece is Witches by Oberlin Samplers:

Not a black cat!

When I stitched the french knot eyes in the first cat I realised that DMC 3345 is the perfect match for the fabric which is so hard to photograph.  Here's a skein of 3345 on the fabric and they look different!  So go and get your skein and just imagine that the fabric is the same colour as that skein.


Remember my Blogaversary this year, back in April?  I had a little giveaway competition where you had to tell me your favourite quote and you could win the new Stitchrovia Quotes to Live By partwork.  There were a lot of entries and I loved all the quotes.  I used the Random Number Generator to pick a winner.  You got one entry for commenting on that post and then additional entries for taking part in the Easter Blog Hop and Gifted Gorgeousness too.   The RNG chose:


who said "at the moment I still like "be kind to dragons, for thou art crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup" perhaps not inspiring words to live by but it makes me smile and that is a start."

Not the most deep and meaningful quote but it made me smile too.  It comes from the book Dragonswan by Sherrilyn Kenyon, which I have never read but maybe I should.  Find out more here-


also here- 


Fantastic Fiction is one of my favourite websites.  The Bookseller's best friend, it is basically a catalogue of almost every fiction author, their books, a synopsis and links to where to get them.  It lists every book written by the author, in series order and in publication date with a thumbnail of the cover.  So when your customer says "have you got the new M.C. Beaton book, it's got Death in the title?" you can look up M.C. Beaton, discover that almost every book she has written has Death in the title, you can print off the list, show the customer and work out which one they want.

It also has recommendations under "Visitors to this page also looked at these authors" which can be useful but remember that every bookseller in the country is skewing the results by looking up both Sherrilyn Kenyon and M.C. Beaton within ten minutes of each other.


Finally, Kaye is hosting a Christmas in July Exchange, so if you want to exchange some Christmas Goodies, hop over and visit her blog.  Click the photo for the link:



17 comments:

Linda said...

Congrats on finishing another beautiful square Jo. That design is so pretty. Your other projects look great.

Linda

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

I am definitely guilty of bellowing out "five golden rings". I may have started doing it as a kid, but I guess I'm still a kid at heart because I still do. You've got some lovely updates on your projects. Thanks for sharing your updates.

RJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julie said...

Oh yes, couldn't wait for that line of the song, the boys at school used to do it so loudly on purpose, you could see the teachers wanted to tell them off, but as least they were singing this assembly lol. Loving watching this one grow.
No, not got the latest M C Beaton Agatha yet... better put in an order for it.

Christine said...

Yes, why does everyone belt that one line out at the top of their lungs?
A source that lists books in series order? Why didn't I know about this sooner? It would have saved me so much hassle. Do they also do one that warns you when they re-issue the same thing in a different cover with the US title???
Lovely stitching by the way

Desiree Ehleiter said...

Your projects are progressing so wonderfully! Every week I have to hold myself back from adding these three to my stash. I don't think I will make it the whole year, especially not if you continue to make them look so beautiful!.

Lili said...

5 gold rings looks so pretty!! It's a lovely project, Jo!
Love your progress on the Halloween pieces for this month!

Happy weekend!

Leonore Winterer said...

What lovely rings! And how nice for Emily's mum to not have added to her migraine this month. Great stitching on the Halloween designs too, and I love that Fantasy Fiction Site! Some authors make it so difficult to keep track of the order of their books, so it's neat to be able to look it up. Now I just need to find one that has German authors as well, and I can go reorganize my bookshelf!

deb said...

Bellowed? Perhaps I screeched it, trying to sing so loud - teehee.

Gold rings, and kitties and a winner this time (congrats, Deborah - I love that quote). 12 Days sampler looking like you're well on track for finishing. Loving the Happy Halloween and watching it grow through your posts.

RJ said...

Love your updates on your stitches Jo. I too enjoy singing that song I must say. Love your Halloween stitch...it's really so cute. And your Christmas stitch is going to be a real beauty. Keep up the great work. RJ/stitching friends forever 2

Kerryp77 said...

Love 5 gold rings. You are making fantastic progress with it. Happy Halloween is coming on really well too.

Preeti said...

Lovely stitching, you made a good progress. I don't follow any author so sometimes it becomes difficult to choose any particular book as I just glance at the summary on the back cover. I will check the website you mentioned.

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

Another great finished square. I'm not normally into Halloween but your stitching pieces are converting me.
I hadn't heard of Fantastic Fiction before. Another page bookmarked!

Kaisievic said...

Hi Jo, Great post, lots of lovely stitching, a happy winner (Congrats Deborah) and some book talk - I love Fantastic Fiction all the time, so useful! Thanks for the shout out for my Christmas in July Exchange, too. xxxx

Bethan said...

What lovely stitching - I do remember 5 gold rings being my favourite part of the song too! Fantastic Fiction sounds like a great idea; thank you for the recommendation x

Sarah in Stitches said...

Gorgeous stitching! 12 Days is really coming along beautifully. Congrats to Deborah! :D

The Crafty Princess said...

OMG I cannnot stop staring and drooling at your Halloween wips. They are wickedly wicked!!!

And yes I remember singing that bit loud and proud, especially when I imbibed too much on the Christmas spirits LOL! Great job on finishing that bit. Looking good
xo Alicia