I'm thinking about spring in more ways than one! Surely the weather has to turn nice soon? It's been cold and grey and damp and snowy for so long it's hard to imagine sunny days where I don't have to wear a heavy cold, hat and mittens! But I am ready for those days and am ready to turn to greener, spring-like needlework designs, too. First, though, a few updates on my current works in progress. Even though Valentine's Day is long over, I am still going to keep working on a couple of projects I started last month. Since I am in no rush to finish either of them, I can work on them at a leisurely pace.
This is Drawn Thread's "B My Valentine", which is made up of mostly specialty stitches. I am just hoping to stitch one square a week (and if I manage more all the better). There are a total of thirty squares and I am working on number seven.
A little close up of my work. I think I have counted everything correctly so far, and the couple of errors I have spotted I have managed to fix.
The square I am working on now (below the letter "M") is made up of a stitch called elongated Smyrnas, which is one of my favorite stitches to do. As you can see there are lots of hearts in this design and hopefully I won't get too tired of making them before I can finish this.
My "Valentine Holiday" by Birds of a Feather is moving along nicely. I think a nice chunk of time--a few afternoons maybe, would see the end of work on this one, but I've been trying to rotate this and my (above) sampler. Perhaps I will concentrate on this one this week so I can finish it soon.
As I am very much in need of a brighter color palette, I dug this little guy out of my 'unfinished' bin. This is a Prairie Schooler design called "The Tortoise and the Hare". The Hare will go on one side and the tortoise on the flip side and it will be made into a 'mattress' pincushion.
And this is my newest project. It's another Prairie Schooler design called very aptly "Signs of Spring" (one can only hope and dream). I am working on the little rabbits with the tulip border. There's not much to see yet, but I hope this stitches up quickly. I'm not sure if I'll finish them into little ornaments as shown on the chart or something else. They are sweet designs and a nice change of pace from all the hearts and reds and pinks! It's not just piles of books I have by my bedside but a bin full of needlework projects, too. I know there are some bookish designs out there--I even have a couple in my stash somewhere, maybe it's time to pull a few of those out for consideration as well!