EmnEllie Cross Stitch Blog

It’s a very busy world out there. Over this past weekend, I decided to slow down a bit by sitting down and reading a few books. It was absolutely wonderful. I sat outside on my patio in the delicious summer air, and I also curled up in my favorite reading nook...  Continue reading this post at the link here.

  Happy Monday Do you know what I really need right now? A nice rainstorm. And not just a drizzle, but honest to goodness rain . It’s been so dry here at the Castle since the start of the summer, so it’s not just me that would benefit but the plants and all the animals would benefit too. You can water your plants from a garden hose all you like, but nothing makes plants happier than a good drink of rainwater. Nareign, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons  I would like some of that rain here, please. Some very happy news this week; I am the proud owner of an Instant Pot! (Disclaimer: not a sponsored post!) Look out pot roast here I come. WIP Update Do you know what what makes half-stitches so great? They add lovely texture and depth to a chart, while also enabling you to cover a lot of ground very quickly. E.g. : See? Texture, depth, speedy progress. Those floss colors are gorgeous too. I think the flowers are really starting to come to life. Soon I’ll be back at the entrance to that caf...

Happy Monday! As you may know, the Castle vegetable garden has been growing by leaps and bounds. This year, I'm trying out a new to me plant called an, "Armenian Cucumber." I love cucumbers -especially a cucumber sandwich with a bit of butter!- but here's the thing; Armenian cucumbers aren't cucumbers at all. Seriously!  First cultivated in Armenia in the 15th century,  Armenian cucumbers  (also called yard-long cucumbers)  are actually not cucumbers at all – they are a ribbed variety of musk melon  that tastes similar to a cucumber and looks like a cucumber inside. They are also  high in vitamins A, C, and K, and potassium . - Growing in the Garden They taste so sweet and delicious! Here's a picture of one I harvested this morning from the Castle garden He went all curly at the top. As they get longer they get sweeter and taste like melons, but when they are shorter they can taste a bit more like a cucumber. This one is about 14" long.  I also pl...

I am at an impasse. When I talk about what's been going on in my house, I almost always say cottage. A cottage is cozy. Nice for stitching. But do I want to be in a cottage? I'm feeling very medieval-ish (could it be the band sampler I'm stitching on?) and am sort of leaning towards saying "at the castle." Maybe I just want an English country house, like Pemberley.  Slav Yakounin, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Can you see yourself stitching there? Decisions decisions! Leave a comment below if you have any suggestions. ********** Anyways, this week at the cottage/ castle/ Pemberley, I've made really good progress on my WIP's. First stop, Paris: Like I said the last time, I was really close to the very bottom of the chart! I've made a right, and am charging up the next 10 x 10 column. The splashes of red and pink are super pretty and fun to stitch.  Next is the Linen & Threads Mystery Sampl...

Good Monday morning!  Dear reader, I hope that you had an enjoyable week. I love stitching, and writing about my cross stitch adventures. The floss, the WIP's, designing new charts, and seeing my projects come to life on the fabric is so rewarding. I try to make steady progress on my WIP's throughout the week, so that on Monday I can show you a good amount of progress. Also, I like sharing articles, videos, or pieces of music that caught my eye. Monday for me is an enjoyable day, because that's the day I write to you. But imagine my surprise when I looked at the blog traffic recently! It's been like Grand Central station! (Please allow me to apply a slight hyperbole). America has claimed the lion's share, but there are international stitchers paying me a visit too. To two groups of stitchers whose languages I dabble in, I say ようこそ and bienvenue! And to everyone; thank you so much for reading my posts.  Shall we dig into some cross stitch?  First up, we have Paris Ma...

 May flowers are in full bloom at my cottage. The red and pink roses are saying, "Hello world!" while the geraniums are sporting their best, bright red blooms. I would enclose a picture here, but as I write, the plump, menacing storm clouds are looming overhead. Hopefully I can add a picture of the flowers to next week's post. In the meantime, here’s a great article with tips on growing geraniums. It's been a very busy week. Things always seem to get much busier in the Spring. There's lots to do in the garden, Easter to prepare for, the cottage to dust, air and re-decorate. But thankfully, I've had time to stitch! Let's see my progress from the past week: I'm pleased as punch with those half-stitches! It was nice working in various shades of cream and grey, but I'm not going to lie; the salmon pink and those splashes of green were a welcome change. Moving on the the Mystery SAL: The dragon is destined to have a bright red tail and dark wings. Love ...

Out in the garden, some of my plants have started to produce vegetables, while others have decided to just be and enjoy the Spring sunshine. With the exception of the last few days (which have been crisp, cool, dark, and rainy) the weather has been perfect for the plants to do a bit of sunbathing. Speaking of sun and plants, here's my progress on Paris Market: Lots of half stitches, and isn't that a pretty salmon pink? Bits of green and grey have started to appear too! Moving on to the Mystery Band Sampler: Readers, we have a tail! I love this bright red part of the variegated floss :) Sorry about the darkness of the pictures, but like I said, it’s been a dark, rainy kind of day. Inspiration struck me recently, and I made a new chart for the shop. This was such a fun one to design: I modeled it after vintage First Communion Holy cards and illustrations from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The backstitch at the top really gives it an interesting look, and the long-...

  It’s Easter! Happy Easter! Wishing all of my cross stitch friends a joyous and blessed Easter season! Long-Armed Cross Stitch The other day, I encountered a new-to-me type of stitch, the long-armed cross stitch. Here's a handy video tutorial: It's a great stitch, and it can cover so much ground in no time. It gives a great textured look too. I came across this stitch when I was helping someone out with a sampler they were stitching. But now that I've encountered this stitch,  I just have to  incorporate it in one of my designs. Have you ever used this stitch before? WIP Update  As you can see, I've been spending my time wisely in a French Café: It's stitching up much faster than I thought it would, but I think that's just because I'm using a lot of half stitches right now.  Moving on to the band sampler, I finished that tree: We're getting quite close to the first dragon! Those plants look pretty nifty. Odds & Ends Did you ever pack your lunch in a...

  Pondering my Rotation So there I was, sitting in my sewing room. Across from me on the table was my lap stand. “Why,” I pondered, “Do I only have one wip in my rotation right now, when I have two stands?” Originally, I limited myself to one WIP so I could focus on a finish, among other reasons. But after stitching on  Russian Hunt  using the 25/7 method (which is sort of like the  Pomodoro technique ) I’ve decided that I have more than enough time to add another WIP to my rotation. So which one did I choose? Off the top of my head, I think I have under ten WIPS in total. While that’s not as much as other people, I feel a tad bit overwhelmed with that number. Last year, I did manage to get a few finished. That felt good, so I’m not going to allow myself any new starts until I complete my current set of WIPS. With that being said, I had a bunch of very pretty WIPS to choose from! My living room turned into center stage for a WIP parade (apologies for not taking any p...

Happy April everybody! They say that April showers bring May flowers, so let's hope that's true this year. It seems like April mostly brings me a bad case of allergies, but let's be optimists this year and say it will bring lots of lovely rain storms.  Don't you just love the sound of rain? I do. There's nothing quite like being in the middle of a rain storm, hearing the patter of the drops, and smelling that fresh, clean rain water smell. If we don't get calming spring showers, then I'll be forced to take drastic steps- digital rain. Have you seen this type of video before?  Isn't that just the most cozy looking stitching chair? And look, there's a nice lamp too. This video is very pleasant to have on in the background when you're stitching or reading. Over Christmas I read the Lord of the Rings books with this playing. Side note; what the heck did they do to Faramir in the films? The difference between the book Faramir and the film Faramir is s...

Spring is definitely in the air at my cottage. Many of the trees in my neighborhood have their first blush of green after a winter of being dry, gray and drab. In the cottage garden, the blueberries have started to bloom, hopefully a sign that this year we will have a good harvest for various blueberry desserts. Speaking of desserts, I changed the lock screen wallpaper of my tablet recently. It has this option of giving you a different picture every time you open the screen. There were different themes, but I chose "desserts." Not only is the food delicious looking, but it's also quite photogenic! It's such a joy to see such pretty pictures. It has been a good long while since I've posted a progress picture for Russian Hunting. My excuse for not posting was a good one though, as I was trying to meet the deadline for my Irish House Sampler (to read about that adventure and get a coupon code for that chart click on this link here ). But even though there haven't...

I like creating things. Ever since I was a little girl, I've tried my hand at different crafts; watercolor, finger-painting (messy), Lego's, even making hand puppets. Cross Stitch has stuck with me the longest, but once in a while I like to branch out into something completely different. The other day I was seized by a creative brainstorm, and signed up for an account on Canva. (Nope, not a promoted post! I just like sharing new sites and tools!)  I was promised a fun site, infinite tools for designing and creating beautiful graphic art- and they delivered! Here is the fruit of my brief but productive sojourn in Canva-land.  Isn't that just pretty? Here is a picture of one of my first creations: Simple, but I'm fond of it! In case you want a copy, here is a link to my Etsy shop. On the Cross Stitch frontier, things are going very well with my new Irish sampler. My progress so far: Loved stitching that band on the right.  And I'm just chugging away with R...

Thanksgiving was wonderful, as always. The million dollar question is; what's better? Thanksgiving dinner, or the Thanksgiving leftovers?  Every year, I look forward to making the leftovers into what can only be called the ultimate sandwich. It's commonly called a Monte Cristo . The blog  Taste and Tell  describes a Monte Cristo like this: "It is believed that the Monte Cristo started off as the French Croque Monsieur, a grilled cheese sandwich with Gruyere and ham. Then, starting in the 1930s, more variations of this sandwich started to show up cookbooks, then in the 1950s, it made its way onto a menu in a southern California restaurant under the name of Monte Cristo. It then made its debut at Disneyland in 1966." There's a recipe at the link too. For Thanskgiving leftover purposes, I like to use turkey, pepperjack cheese (because that's the melty cheese in my fridge) and jellied cranberry. Give the sandwich a try, it's absolutely delicious . So since we...