More stitching

So the stitching bug is really starting to come back. Last week I found a Sashiko kit that has been around for a while. The little straight stitches helped to soothe what was a very stressful week.



And in a very handy coincidence, it fits with the Monochrome May theme of Theme-a-licious 2013.


Most of this past weekend was spent stitching on the Paisley 1930s panel of the Great Scottish tapestry project. As the deadline for completion draws close, I brought the panel home with me to stitch on. I made a lot of progress and completed the central female figure.



The whole panel looks like this.



I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished panel hanging with all the others in the Scottish Parliament in August.

Last week was stressful for 2 very different reason. Firstly I was waiting to see if I had passed my most recent MSc module. Thankfully I have. The second reason was that the police made an arrest in the hunt for the man who killed my Uncle and finally at the end of the week, a man was charged with murder. The next few months are going to difficult but I'm much more hopeful we will get justice for my uncle.

Saturday stitching

Again I spent this past Saturday working on a local panel for the Great Scottish Tapestry. Last week I stitch some shoes and a bit of a dress.


This week it was more shoes and some grass.





Another stitcher finished this lovely thread label section



The stitchers might recognise the Anchor motif - Paisley is the original home of the Coats and Clark families who founded the original companies that are now the Coats brand. The town has many statues dedicated to the family members, they also paid for the local town hall and built a local Church in memory of Thomas Coats. When I graduated from the local university, the memorial church is where we graduated. The town's textile history is also reflected in street names - Thread, Cotton, Lawn and Gauze streets amongst others.

Knitting finish - Blue milkweed

Like most Scottish people, I have relatives overseas in Canada.  My aunt went to live there over 40 years ago.  Unfortunately she's unwell at present and my mum and one of her sisters have travelled over to Ontario to visit her.  My aunt in Canada appreciated some knitting that I did for her grandchildren last year so I thought I'd knit her a little shawl to help whilst she has treatment.

The pattern is Milkweed by Laura Chau.  I've knitted this pattern before and its an enjoyable knit.  The yarn is Drops delight in blue.







Hopefully she likes it.

Stitching progress

Before knitting came along,  stitching was my main crafty thing. Of late it has fallen by the wayside for a variety of reasons - mainly hand problems and the addictive properties of sock and shawl knitting.  After seeing the Prestonpans tapestry, I had an urge to stitch this past weekend and even finished a few things.

A little hardanger embroidery book mark.  This went much better than my previous attempts at this type of embroidery

A little hedgehog in satin stitch with french knots

And I finished a Shepherds bush scissor fob that I started ages ago.

Here's the front

and the back

I then moved on to some finishing, sewing together the Trick or treat sacoche that I finished a few years ago.

Hopefully this wanting to stitch feeling will stick around for a little longer as I have a lot of projects I would like to stitch.

On stitching and heritage

The past two Saturdays have been spent in the company of some really interesting stitching.  The area I live in is famous for it's textile history of Paisley shawls and lots of mills.  Unfortunately the mills are now closed but at the end of my street, there are still several old mill buildings.  The biggest one is the old Anchor thread mill



Most of the building is now flats but a small part is a business centre with a small exhibition space.  For the past week or so, its been home to a exhibition of the Prestonpans tapestry - a representation of the Battle of Prestonpans in needlework.  It was an amazing sight.







Whilst I was there, I got talking to the local organisers of a panel for the Great Scottish Tapestry which is planned to be the biggest tapestry ever and arranged to go back last weekend to spend some time stitching on it.  The theme of the panel is Paisley in the 1930s



And this is a plan of part of the panel



This weekend, I'm going back to stitch on it a bit more.  The finishing deadline is fast approaching and they need to finish soon.