EmnEllie Cross Stitch Blog

  Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash A Cozy Evening Dear reader, let me walk you through my idea of a cozy evening. It's a chilly night, and it's raining outside. Not a torrential downpour, but soft, steady rain. You're in your favorite stitchy spot, and your cross stitch is ready to go nearby. All the lights in the room are off, except for the light from your crafting lamp and the fairy lights that you have strung up. You have your favorite snack, for when you feel snackish (remember to wash your hands before you touch your stitching!), and a movie that you love playing on the TV. It's a movie you've seen before, like an old friend who's come to visit you. You're re-watching a movie because science says that this is good for you, but also because it's almost impossible to watch something new while stitching. There's a risk of looking like this:  funny cross stitch meme When you want to look like this:  funny cross stitch meme After you take a sip o...

Happy Tuesday! I love red floss. My favorite shade is DMC 816. When I design red charts, I try to stick with 816. Everyone has their favorite color, but when you start talking cross stitch floss, things become a bit more technical. For instance; do you like a deeper, more maroon shade of red? Or the rich, Turkey kind of red? Speaking of red cross stitch charts, here’s my progress on Red Alphabet Sampler: Since my last WIP update, I’ve finished the second row, made the second squiggly line between the second and third rows, and started stitching the third row. Very pleased with how that flower motif turned out! While I didn’t have any particular flower in mind when I was designing it, that flower reminds me of a rose. The letter G has a nice sprinkling of motifs, but when I got to the letter H, I decided to balance out the sampler by making H a little less busy. The first motif of the second row is a heart (H for heart!). Here's my progress pictures throughout the week: If you like ...

Happy Tuesday! We need to have a serious discussion about how underrated Ginger Ale is. I think that most people will only reach for the bubbly beverage when they feel ill, but I like the taste all the time. It could be because I like the taste of ginger in general, especially Gin Gins (a delicious ginger candy with amazing illustrations of Ginger People on the bag;  the link is HERE for those of you who are interested ). The flavor isn’t the only appealing thing. Think about it; the bubbles, the crisp, clean flavor that you don’t get after drinking a Coke, and that champagne-like color all combine to make it one of my favorite drinks. Full disclosure- I’m sipping a can of one right now as I write this post. Making some steady progress on Trick-Or-Treat Moon:  Filling in the pale yellow on the face was super quick. I think I was off one somewhere on the word “Treat” at the top, but it won’t make a big difference, so I won’t worry about ripping it out. It’s such a treat (haha, ...

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...

 *Trumpets blasting, herald walks down a red carpet* The first okra of the season has arrived! Fresh from the garden, the perfect length, and oh so beautiful! Mind you, it's literally one single okra. The okra has been a bit of a puzzle the past few years. I used to grow okra that would get really tall (the plant itself, not the produce). Sometimes it would almost be 6 feet tall (1.8 meters). But the past few seasons the okra is downright short, maybe just a foot and a half tall (.46 meters). What's that about? Has this happened to anyone else?  Earth100, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Not my okra, just a picture from the internet. Isn't it beautiful? Naturally, when I get enough okra in, I'll be eating fried okra, the indisputable king of all okra dishes. Recipe is here if you've never made it or heard of it before. Some ranch dressing, fried okra, baked chicken, and a glass of sweet tea. What more do you...

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...

You know how it is. When you look at Etsy, browse a bit, find an amazing chart... BAM! Suddenly, your project pile (that you just promised to stop growing) is in sudden need of a new chart. Here's what I saw. Hobbiton looks amazing, but I want Rohan too. Okay, so this one needs to go on my rotation as well... I might need more project bags and Q Snaps.  Exciting developments this week on the Mystery band sampler by Linen & Threads! I'll let the picture speak for itself: The sun has arrived, and the first dragon has too! Now I can start brainstorming a name for it. Leave a comment below if you have any ideas.  You know how when you go on city tours, the tour guide lifts her umbrella and says, "Follow the umbrella! This way please!" Well, follow the umbrella to the next WIP, Paris Market: Isn't the 10 x 10 method remarkable? You can cover a TON of ground in no time flat. This part of the chart is almost exclusively half stitches as well, so that has something to...

 Some good news and some bad news to start off with. Good news; it's sunny again so I can take photos in great lighting. Bad news; it's gotten hotter as it's gotten sunnier, to the tune of a 104 degree day. I'm melting. Now let's ignore the melting blogger and turn our attention to my cross stitch progress. First up is the Mystery Sampler: The dragon is really starting to appear! I would have quite a bit more of the dragon to show you, but unfortunately the frog came to visit... twice. And in the same part of the chart. It happens! Now we’ll zoom out and see the wider chart: Next is Paris Market: You can sort of distinguish the side of the building now. There is a mistake somewhere, but I think I can fudge. New plan for this week though. Instead of continuing up the building, I'm going to go to the bottom left, and start stitching in ten by ten blocks again. I really enjoyed stitching in ten by ten blocks when I was working on Nikolai (Russian Hunting by Riolis...