last day of May

It's the last day of May and you'd never guess what I've been up to! As you may recall - of course you do, it was only the last two posts! - May was my month to cross stitch and boy did I ever! I began with my favourite key, moved on to the next and was left with the final which I didn't much care for. I said as much on twitter and was told to modify the key but I wasn't sure how to go about this (actually, I was unsure about the legal ramifications) and so came up with the perfect solution: to make my own! But where do I begin? 

Well, it all started with a picture and some software (MATLAB)

Once happy with what I was seeing on screen, I printed my pattern onto paper, made some more tweaks before running my aida through the printer (sheet music this time) and got stitching. 

And this only my third cross stitch project - I am ever so proud of myself for designing it! The computer program was really helpful for things like telling me the total number of stitches (800), the number of rows (80) and columns (30). It's simple coincidence that they're all pretty numbers. In fact, while stitching I discovered a mistake and will be removing one stitch from the pattern which I'll tidy up and make freely available sometime this weekend.  

I've had a couple of emails asking about printing on aida. In my last post I talked about my inspiration. A big factor was wanting to disguise the holes - which, by the way, still irk me! But as far as the technique goes, I simply ironed the aida and ran it through my printer. Honestly, it doesn't warrant a tutorial. One thing to mention is to be wary if printing on cream - as this changes the output colour, you may want to adjust accordingly. 

Or just go with it. My first project (on song lyrics) came out on the browner shade of things while my last project (on sheet music) turned out grey which is the colour I was going for initially. 

So that's it for the #MayXStitchAlong, three keys. This stitch-along fulfilled its purpose; I completed a cross stitch project and then some. Unfortunately, I don't believe the Twitter hashtag worked, my apologies if you were caught out. 

I'm wondering what my next project should be. I think I'm leaning towards another series. What are your favourite cross stitch patterns? Are you a sampler type of person? working on something you saw in a magazine? An Embellisher? Or like me, did you see something in Liberty and just had to make it?

All that's left to do is decide where to hang them. S says above his keyboard in the living room and I say on the stair wall. 

It will come down to who hangs them up first. 

the MayXStAlong & the market bag

hello, hello, hello! May is drawing to a close and I'm pleased to have completed my cross stitch along project (go me!).

I inadvertently made this project harder than it needed to be. Drawing inspiration from my Pinterest boards - this one* and this one* in particular - I stitched over a printed text background. 

Stitching was made more difficult due to both the size (28% smaller) and the printing which made holes harder to find. Perhaps not such a bright choice for my first project but it's done, I enjoyed working on it, LOVE the finished product so much, I'll stitch the next two keys in the series! I am already working on the second. 

I've given some thought to how I'll display this and I'm leaning towards an unglazed picture frame; unglazed to encourage touching. I must know a lot of tactile people because EVERYONE that's seen it so far has stroked it. 

In other news, I was in Leeds on Wednesday and by happy coincidence so was the Moroccan Market! It was a feast for the senses: such colours and smells and sights and sounds and the people were quite friendly too! There was a lot of touching too - I get the impression Moroccans are a tactile people. 

Here are my pictures from the bazaar:

and my favourite, Yusuf

who sold me my weekender bag that still reeks of the tannery.

I'm partying today and hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'll be back soon with a recap of yesterday's visit to the Colinette mill shop :-)

* click through for the image source.

the may cross stitch along

Guess what folks!? It's May, Happy May!

Today, marks the start of a project I'm excited about. A stitching project I'm really excited about. A cross stitching project I am REALLY excited about. 

I've never thought much of cross stitch, it seemed a poor relative of 'proper' embroidery to me. This had a lot to do with the cheesy designs commonly associated with cross stitch and the holes. I couldn't stand the holes in aida. Still can't to be honest. But slowly I began to see much nicer cross stitch patterns on the interwebs. These new designs were clean, without frills and had me imagining adding cute little cross stitch motifs to all the things! 

This I simply had to try. And so I bought a few books, got me some floss and a mixed bag of aida and evenweave to practice with. I even went as far as to get a lesson from a friend and that was it...until now. 

Today is the first day of the May Cross Stitch along on twitter! Anyone can join (the hashtag is #MayXStAlong). There are no rules! You can finish off a project, start a project, make it monotone (like me), or multi-coloured, it's totally up to you. 

I've got my pattern, I've got my bits and I'm ready to XSt my first (not counting the still unfinished lady birds) project! 

In about a week, I'll compile a list of participants with blogs and link to them. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's projects. Won't you join us?