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Stitch'n Time: What I found clearing my studio October 31, 2026 |
| Dear, Yes, it's been a while again. This time I have a good excuse: I have been up to my elbows in boxes.
The studio (ok, spare room)My studio had become a dumping ground. I didn't realise how bad it was until I went up to photograph some paper and couldn't open the paper box due to everything stacked on top of it.So this month I started clearing the tiny room, one cupboard and one drawer at a time, and it has turned up some surprises. A container from the kitchen, still labelled "gram flour". Boxes of knitting wool, mostly odds and ends, though I hardly knit or crochet these days. And a velvet-lined case of vintage tools and crochet cotton. 
If you happen to know what each of the hooks and tools in the lid was used for, I am all ears! The biggest discovery was not in a drawer at all. It was about how I stitch. I stitch downstairs at my desk, but most of my kit lived upstairs. So what happened? It got put off as climbing the stairs with a bad back was painful. Now my current projects live down here in the cupboard under my photo rig, along with the basic equipment I need: scissors, needles, and hoops. The gram flour tub went in there too, full of an exciting assortment of threads, not what the label would have me believe. So here is my question for you. Where do you stitch, and is your kit within reach of it? I would love to hear how you organise yours. A box of little framesNeatly stacked in a Kallax drawer, in among my papercraft things, I came across a whole load of little square frames, still wrapped in their plastic.If you visited the big UK stitching shows many years ago, you may remember them. They held my Little Ones, the mini cross stitch kits we sold for children and beginners. We popped the stitched models into those frames so we could display them on the wall. And stitchers didn't buy one Little One. They collected them, often several at a time! I no longer do the shows, but I didn't want anyone to miss out on finishing their collection, or starting one. So I'm gathering the Little Ones into booklets, and the first one is ready in time for Christmas. Christmas TeddiesNine little teddies dressed for Christmas: an angel, Santa, Mrs Claus, a shepherd, a wise man, a teddy on skis, one tucked in a stocking, one in a wreath and one all ready for Christmas Eve. On 14 count aida they measure between 1.4 and 2.8 inches, a lovely size for cards, gift tags and the tree.The booklet is a PDF to print at home, £6.95, with a shopping list of all 19 DMC colours. You can meet all nine teddies here... mini-christmas-cross-stitch-patterns.html Lorraine's cardsIf you would like to see what a Little One can become, have a look at Lorraine's cards. Every one of them uses my Little Ones designs: a teddy on a dark blue mount with brads and a ribbon, a puffin, and a pick-up truck finished with tape that has a tyre tread pattern on it. I love that touch.See Lorraine's Little Ones cards here... card-making-ideas.html Free Christmas chartsIf you fancy a quick festive stitch, there are three free designs on the site:A Hardanger Christmas card, the last lesson in my free course free-hardanger-patterns.html A little bargello Christmas bell free-bargello-design.html A cross stitch Christmas wreath, good for using up leftover floss free-cross-stitch-patterns.html Something from 1998The clear-out also turned up my tear-outs of "Diary of a Country Stitcher", the column I wrote for Cross Stitch magazine for over a year.The November one reminded me that 25 November is St Catherine's Day, the patron saint of lacemakers. My friend Liz Bartlett told me about it. Lacemaking families around here used to get together and eat fruity "Kattern" cakes, and in the old lace schools the young lacemakers danced around a huge candlestick. If you know a lacemaker, this page could give you an idea for the perfect gift for them... blackwork-and-cross-stitch.html Maud's holly story from the same column will have to wait for December!
Happy stitching, Carol Your subscription to Stitchin'Time |
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