Not all stockings should be huge and make you cry "uncle" repeatedly.  I love Susan Roberts' stockings--they are just the right size to match more "vintage" stockings and her sense of perspective and whimsy make them great fun...plus, her Santas always have a happy, not scary, face.

I kept the stitches pretty basic for Harrison's stocking; I had visions of years of running to the mantle to snatch it down, turning it upside down and shaking it to make the goodies fall out.  Since this is Harrison's first Christmas, I wanted to make it durable enough to last until he is an adult...and perhaps still performing the same excited ritual.  (You are only young once, but you can be immature forever.)

My favorite things: 

I used Silk & Ivory Stardust in white for the cuff in a vertical stitch.  By just unwinding the thread a little as I went along, I got great coverage and I loved the sparkly effect.

The basketball is stitched with perle cotton and the Dotted stitch from "the Bible".  This gives a great nubby texture, just like an actual basketball.

I loved using Frosty Rays for the garland with a simple satin stitch.

And that is stocking number 17--two more are on the (hopefully) expanding list.

More Halloween!

You have probably seen a ship in a bottle, but what about a skull in a bottle?  This is really spooky!

A cool stretcher bar tool

I recently went out of town and left Chris and the dogs in charge of the Bristly Thistle.  On Chris' to do list was putting together 20 sets of stretcher bars, with my special admonition that they be square.  Chris' solution (at around $5) was a T square from the LHS (local hardware store).  You can even use it to see if your stretcher bars are level!

Ringmaster by Kirk & Hamilton

Our oldest daughter chose this Kirk & Hamilton ornament for her 2012 selection.  She asked to have it framed to hang in her home office.  Hmmm.

My favorite thing:  beading the ring with cube shaped Japanese seed beads.

Christmas snail

This snail from Kirk & Hamilton was really fun to stitch.  My favorite things:  Ribbon Floss satin stitched over a perle cotton chain stitch for the raised brown stripes and the T-stitch worked in size 8 Kreinik in Moonstone.  (Sharon G once said that silver thread in an open stitch seems to age better than other colors in open stitches.)

After speaking to a couple of my finishers, I have started my annual panic.  Finishers say they are getting buried early--one has even moved their finishing deadline for Christmas back by 2 weeks.  Either we are all getting smarter and finishing earlier (unlikely, I think) or we are stitching like mad!

So, don't be a snail, get stitching!

The Happy Witch

This is the second panel of 5 from Julie Mar & Friends, with the stitch guide by Patricia Dee.

Sometimes I am a stickler for mirror image stitches, i.e., one side has the stitch slanting in one direction, the opposite side slants in the opposite direction.  I loved Pat's choice of the Souffle stitch for the Happy Witch's cloak, but I wanted the left side to mirror the right.

Usually, you just need to turn a stitch diagram a 1/4 turn to get the mirror image.  You can see that this doesn't work with this stitch.  So here is Reverse Souffle, "for your alleged pleasantry" as one of my beloved high school English teacher used to say.  (She would introduce herself at the beginning of the year--"My name is Mrs. Null, it rhymes with dull."  She was anything but dull.)

Count Dracula by Julie Mar

How handsome is this guy?  Widow's peak, bedroom eyes, cleft chin, and there's something about that smile....

This is one of 5 canvases in a series by Patricia Dee of Julie Mar Designs.  You can choose individual characters or, as I did, buy all 5 with the stitch guide and the ceramic painted knob.  They make up into a very cool lidded box for Halloween.

I tweaked the guide a bit to make it my own...and these are a few of my favorite things.  I found a great Mandarin floss color for his pasty face; the candle flame is a glowing Fyre Werks; the candle is stitched with a Renaissance thread and the dripping wax is made of French knots using an over-dyed Kreinik.

Next up--the Happy Witch.