Since I began my year of stitchiness, I have surprised myself by falling back in love with cross stitch. I have managed to draft a number of my own designs and have been working away at them diligently. However, repeating the same stitch over and over can get rather dull so I generally try to … More Flowers in the Window
The arrival of my husband’s mother last week meant that we were, once again, obliged to go to Venice. I know, I can feel the outpouring of sympathy from all of you! Can you believe the conditions we have to live with??! 😉 When we decided to move to Udine, we guessed that we would … More Venezia
I am sure all crafters agree that buying supplies is a lot of fun. Who can resist the multitude of alluring embroidery floss colours? Why wouldn’t you want to treat yourself to a new tool that makes the job in hand a little easier? I certainly can’t! However, our recent move abroad has changed things … More Improvise and Innovate
I have been slowly but steadily making progress with my commission. Having to design something to someone else’s specifications does limit you, but in a good way. The person who made the commission was quite clear about the image he wanted me to create. I have to make that work within the parameters he has set which … More Making a Moka
This week I started another little project. I did wonder if I really should do so given that this is what my current Work In Progress pile looks like: Before I went on my sabbatical I had less time to stitch, so I used to be a lot more disciplined. I generally didn’t start a … More The WIP Pile
I have been embroidering since I was about 5 years old – I will have to write about how I discovered stitching another time – but until very recently I only worked on kits. I had a number of my own ideas that I wanted to work on and when I started my sabbatical and moved … More Ducks in a Row
Yesterday I did a little realising…..in both senses of the word. We have had some unseasonably mild weather in Udine. Although winter here is characterised by cold but sunny days, we are enjoying the feeling of the sun warming our bones a little. So, with the sun out and Spring flowers starting to burst forth, … More Realising
Wow! I am feeling a great weight of responsibility! A friend of ours from the UK has requested that I make an embroidery for him. In the last year, we have moved to Italy and he has moved to Madrid. We like to stay in touch and compare notes about what we miss about the … More My First Commission
This last week we have been in the UK catching up with family and friends and getting some necessary things done. We arrived back in Italy this evening so, in an effort to avoid unpacking for just a little while longer, I thought I would write a post about another fair isle project I completed … More Fair Isle Forever
Do you have friends who have a favourite word or expression? So much so, whenever or wherever you hear it, you immediately think of them? Having completed my Chris Davenport inspired “Ciao” project, I wanted to try and embroider another word using the same method of employing several stitches. I knew that this time I … More Lush!
Ambrosia Stitches 