2015 Smalls SAL

I've joined the Smalls SAL (Stitch-A-Long) because I have picked up quite a few from magazines.

First I finished the cupcake from Cross Sticher issue 295.



I still need to cut out the cross stitch and attach it to the doily, and the doily to the card, but the cross stitching bit is done. I did make a mistake, I started before sorting out the thread, I was basing was I picked from the picture that was in the magazine. I found out I was using the wrong color for the cake bit of the cupcake. Oops. It was supposed to be part of the frosting, which it looked to dark to be frosting to me. So, I left it there and replaced the frosting bit with DMC 3822. I think it worked out pretty well. Once I finish this up I may send the card to a college friend who sends me a lot of hand written letters.

I was supposed to take it with me and work on it on the train and airplane when we went to Geneva, but I finished it before we even left for Geneva, which was good because I forgot to pack a needle, so when I did leave I wasn't able to do my Lily of the Valley scissor keeper from Heritage Textile. Oh, well. It gives me something to work on later.


When we got back from Geneva I got another magazine that came with a little card. I made sure to sort the threads first this time!


You can see I made some changes from the original. I got rid of the little bits that come off the dog and cat, and I must say it was very difficult to tell the difference between DMC 318 and 414, but there is a huge difference in the picture, I also didn't put the white on the bunting, but I added whiskers to the cat. I only need to finish it up and put it in the card it came with. I may send this off to my mother-in-law for her birthday.


I got another magazine that came with two bear kits. I don't think it was supposed to.


I am going to send the second one to my high school friend and I'll probably finish the one I have for a neighbor we had when we first moved to Leeds.

Here is the last magazine I bought:


This one came with a key ring to cross stitch. I think I am going to wait to do this one, because I seems a bit silly to buy a bag of stuffing for one little key ring, plus I only have 1 key right now, and I don't think I'm likely to use this on my key ring if I even had one. It might be a kit to giveaway.



If you have any ideas for posts you'd like to see in the future let me know!

Currently watching: The Nine Lives of Chole King, while I cross stitch. It isn't a good show, which is probably why there are only 10 episodes.

Currently reading:

The Iron Wyrm Affair (Bannon and Clare Book 1) by Lilith Saintcrow
I checked this book out from the library before, but I got busy and was unable to finish reading it.
The chapters are mostly small, 3 or 4 pages, so it is easy to find a place if you need to stop. I wish the magic system was more fully explained in the beginning of the story. Don't be fooled by the gears on the cover, this isn't a steampunk story, it is an alt-history with a magic system set in an alternative London, called Londinium, which is actually London's original name. There are clockwork horses, but they run on sparks of magic, not steam power. I haven't finished the book yet, so I can't do a full review, but I found one on Steam Ingenious

If you'd like to request that I review a book please leave a comment. Include a brief description of the book, including which genre it is. Please also note if the book is an ARC and whether you are self-published.