Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful Christmas. This time last year, I hadn't discovered the world of Craft and Needlework blogs and so I'd like to express my thanks to the wealth of talent and inspiration so freely shared by so many people around the world.

I thought I'd share with you a few items I made many years ago that form a set part of the Christmas tradition in my family. The cross stitch stocking in the photo above I made for James when he was about 3 years old from a kit from Readicut. It is 16 inches from top to bottom and 10 inches across at the 'foot' part of the stocking. It is stitched on 11 count Aida and the backing is a cream coloured cotton material. It took me ages to complete, primarily because the black and white chart that I had to follow was the most difficult one I have ever done! It had obscure Greek letters as the chart symbols and the pattern was very faint in some areas. I'm sure it was a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy!

In the following photos are the tent stitch Christmas tree ornaments that I did so long ago, I can't remember exactly when they were made. Again, it was a kit from Readicut and they are stitched on 10 count plastic canvas. They vary in size from 2.5 to 3 inches. However, they were fun to do and they are lovely and colourful on our tree. One added advantage is that they can't be broken! This is useful when you have two cats who think it is great fun to 'hook' things off the Christmas tree :)