December IHSW

The last IHSW of 2013 already! How time flies!!
These are the fish on the left side of Chatelaine's Moss Garden mandala. On each side the fish have different colors, which makes them more interesting in my opinion.

Thank you very much for your lovely comments.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful time.

Moss Garden center

Finally I finished the center part of Chatelaine's Moss Garden mandala. I decided to stitch all the bonsai trees instead of the Buddha's or a mix of both. And I changed the beads from the flowers on the lower yellow plants from blue as charted to purple. All beads on the other sides have the same color as the accompanying lilies, except the ones at the bottom.
I still have to attach the bugle beads around the sand in the middle and the cubes.

A neglected autumn project

Thank you very very much for all your kind and comforting comments on my previous post. They are much appreciated. We still expect to see Donald on his favorite places, but the missing will fade away after some time we know.

I got a neglected project out of it's storage box and finished all the blocks of the Bunny Hill Designs 2011 BOM 'Henrietta Wiskers'. I still have to add a small and a large border, but I don't have enough left over fabrics for them. So this means a stash shopping trip someday in future! And on the borders are some more applique crows and stars, but these can only be attached when the borders are ready. Therefore this project had to go back in it's box again.

This tiny mouse was enjoying the spilled bird feed in our front garden. I caught it on a photo through the kitchen window.

Sad

'Loving is letting go.'

After many weeks of antibiotics and prednison, ups and downs, lots of love and hoping for the best we finally had no other option than to put Donald to sleep at the vets. Sometime earlier in his life he probably got the FIP-virus in his body and this is an incurable and wasting disease.
We know he had a very happy year with us after we got him from the animal shelter. But he was much too young to die. Rest in peace dear Donald.

Chateau Hexagon again

All six parts of Chateau Hexagon assembled. It is a bit bumpy because I didn't iron the seams.
The next part will fill the empty space in the center of the four parts on top. I can't imagine what this will be, so I am really looking forward to receive part 7 at the end of this month.

A torii gate and two lanterns

Yesterday I finished the top part of Chatelaine's Moss Garden mandala.
But I think I am going to back-stitch some of the pinkish stones around the pond, as is suggested in the instructions.

Goldfish

As you can see I stitched the goldfish over one. And I think they are big Koi carps instead of goldfish. They have different colors on each side of the Moss Garden.
I've started stitching the lanterns on both sides of this part already.

Thank you for your lovely comments!

A bonsai tree and a beaded corner

During the last couple of days I added some parts to Chatelaine's Moss Garden. I decided to leave all the Buddha's out and replace them by the lovely bonsai trees.

All the beads are attached to the left top corner. I still have to add the gold thread and the beads to the right top corner. And after that I will continue with the goldfish over one in the pond, the tori gate and the garden on top.

But part 6 of Chateau Hexagon has arrived yesterday, so perhaps I'll take a short sidetrack to this project.

A lot of Chateau Hexagon

Yesterday I finished part 5 of Lynette Anderson's Button BOM Chateau Hexagon. Now I'll have to wait till part 6 arrives somewhere next week.

 

 

A warm welcome to my new followers. Thank you for your interest in my blog. 

And also thanks a lot for your lovely comments.

Chateau Hexagon

Last week I got these beautiful cream background fabrics from my friend Anne Marieke. The fabrics are a belated birthday present! We planned to go shopping together, but because of a lot of things happening in both our lives we had to postpone this event many times. So Anne Marieke choose some lovely fabrics and sent them by mail. Thank you very much, Anne Marieke!
They match perfectly with Lynette Anderson's Evening Mist fabrics.

This is what I already did of part 1 of Chateau Hexagon, the latest button BOM by Lynette Anderson.

Welcome to my new followers. And thanks for all your lovely comments.

More Moss Garden

This is the first mossy well corner of Chatelaine's Moss Garden. I really like this part. Imagine how it would be to sit on the mossy stones and listen to the murmuring of the water....

September IHSWeekend

During the September International Hermit and Stitch Weekend I stitched another part of Chatelaine's Moss Garden.
Thanks for your lovely comments on my previous post and the Autumn at  HRH finish. They are much appreciated.

A finish and a new start

It's done! Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow is finished!

And I started stitching Chatelaine's Moss Garden. It really is fun to use all these lovely different and variegated threads again. Compared with this the Needle Point Silks of HRH were a bit boring.

The last block

It is very quiet in the house now university colleges have started again and DD has returned to her student's room in Groningen. But I'll get used to it, just like every time.
In the meantime I am still stitching Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. As you can see I reached the last block and another finish is within sight.

In between I knitted a pair of socks called "Harry's ronde". The pattern on top are footprints of one of the Maine Coon cats of the owners of Wolhalla, a great web shop for yarn and all kind of knitting and crochet things. You can find the free pattern on the website when you click 'kadootjes'. DD took this pair of socks with her to wear on chilly evenings. They are made of new wool and bamboo yarn and feel very soft and comfortable.

Welcome to my new followers! And thanks for all your lovely comments.

Autunm at HRH top ornament

 
During the last week of my summer vacation I finished the top ornament of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. And I also stitched a part of block 2.

Thank you very much for your kind comments and birthday wishes. Also thanks in the name of DD for the lovely comments on the little chickens.

Autumn at HRH update

It has been a very long time since I posted an update. DD and DH were at home having vacation, so we have been busy with a lot of other things. But, despite of the hot weather, I managed to stitch some more of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. Block 5 and block 4 are finished and also half of block 3. And now it is much cooler over here stitching goes twice as fast.

Friday was my birthday. Another year added to a long row... ;o)
I got this soft alpaca wool to knit a Forest Path stole with lace 'fern', 'birch leaves' and 'lily of the valley' squares. And the 'Missy Mo' crystal figurine from Swarovski's Lovlots series to add to my collection.

DD made these cute little crochet chickens for me. And mum gave me a big box of chocolates and a gift certificate to buy a book of my choice. From friends and family I got lovely flowers and cards.

Thank you very much for your kind comments on previous posts.

July IHSW

We have very high temperatures over here and we'll keep this warm weather for at least the end of the week. So I decided not to start the more complicated Moss Garden Mandala, but do some easy stitching on Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. Last week I finished block 6 and during the IHSWeekend I stitched a part of block 5.

While she was playing in the garden Pilou found this huge frog. It seems to think: "If I can't see her she doesn't see me too."
I brought it to a nearby ditch to continue it's search for a prince/princess and live happily ever after.

Thank you for your lovely compliments on my Sparkling Peacock finish and previous posts.

A sparkling finish

Today I attached the last of the beads and the crystals to Chatelaine's Sparkling Peacock Mandala. Now I have an empty set of scroll rods to start the Moss Garden!

And our furry friends are waiting for someone to open the door to the garden.

Some sheep

Last couple of weeks have been very busy. But I managed to stitch a flock of sheep in between all the other things I had to do. These are sheep from the Little House Needleworks 'Little Sheep Virtues' series.

While DD is waiting for the result of her preliminary exams she knitted a butterfly. The pattern is from the newest book of Arne & Carlos "Knit and Crochet Garden". DD is not fully content about the colors and she has planned to knit another butterfly during the next weeks.

Welcome to my new followers and thank you for your lovely comments.

Ink Circles RYO2013 finished

 

 

The Ink Circles challenge Roll Your Own 2013 is finished. I am very content with the results of my chosen colours.

 

 



Ink Circles RYO2013

 

This is my version of the Ink Circles Roll Your Own 2013 mandala. And it is very addicting!
I am using one ply of Needlepoint Silk threads on 40 count linen. Each colour has three shades, light, middle and dark. The darkest brown didn't work out as I thought, so I frogged the stitched part and stitched it again with a darker shade. Now I am content with it.

Thank you for your lovely and inspiring comments.

Hortus Viridarium

 

It has been quite a while since my last blog post. But in the meantime I finished another Chatelaine project. Not the Sparkling Peacocks, they are sleeping for a while. But the Hortus Viridarium.

And now I started a new and very intriguing challenge: the Ink Circles Roll Your Own 2013 project.
I choose these silks and wonder how they will match in the design. I am doubting a bit about the browns in the third row. On the photo they seem too dark compared to the other colours. But I can't find a substitute in my stash, so I'll just go for it.

Thank you very much for your lovely comments!

A sunny day in the garden

 

On the sunny spring days of last weeks we allowed Pilou and Donald to discover the back garden.
Surprisingly Donald was very confident and went for a long walk as soon he was outside. Pilou frequently came back to check if the door was still open and was frightened by all kind of noises.

 

The boys enjoyed the sun and the sand!
The stones mark the places where we burried Julius and Cleo...

 

Pilou started chasing all kind of things when she felt more comfortable in the garden. We thought a jay was a bit ambitious, but she decided to go for it.

 

 

I also stitched some more of the Sparkling Peacock Mandala. This part is finished by now, exept for the large crystals.

 

 

And last week the postman brought the kit for the Japanese Moss Garden Mandala I ordered from ECC. After a long time mom finally sold the old house and gave all her children and grandchildren a part of the money. I decided the Moss Garden would be a good remembrance to the old house and it's lovely garden filled with adventures and promises.

 

Peacock feathers

 

This Sparkling Peacock Mandala is very very addicting!
I didn't add the beads on the feathers yet.

Purple peacocks

 

The fourth pair of peacocks is finished. And now I am stitching the feathers in the corners.

Left side peacocks

Welcome to all my new followers!

And thanks for your lovely and inspiring comments.

 

I finished the peacocks on the left side last weekend. They took some more time to complete because I had to frog all the special stitches in the tails. I used the colour of the bottom side peacocks.... But fortunately I didn't add the golden backstitches before I discovered the mistake. This made the frogging much easier.

 

Because the front garden was a messy bunch of weeds and shrubs and we'll probably get limited parking in the area we decided to create another parking place on our own site. In front of the kitchen window we have some plants and a (still very small) hibiscus bush. Now I am sweeping sand several times a day, outside and inside the house.

More peacocks

This are the peacocks on the right side of Chatelaine's Sparkling Peacock Mandala.
I'll continue with the pair on the left side.

Two Sparkling Peacocks

 

This are the peacocks on top of the Sparkling Peacock Mandala. The other pairs have different colours and I wonder how they will look like. So I'll continue with the pair on the right or on the left side. Or both pairs before I'll switch to another project :o)

Pilou is enjoying the sun. I was puzzled about the position of her hind legs, but everything was normal when she stood again.

Thank you for all your lovely comments.