New starts and Christmas in July

First of all, how on earth am I suppose to stitch with Smudge taking over my lap?  Honestly cat!  There are other places to sit!  Of course, he is only bothering with me as Colin and the children are away.  Usually he prefers a male lap but will slum it on Rachael if Colin or Luke are not 'available'.  No doubt when they all come back later, he will leave me in peace again!

Smudge is in the doghouse at the moment. I have had the back door open so the cats can just wander in and out at will and he came in, jumped up on my lap which contained my cross stitch and had wet paws. Thankfully a quick wipe with a damp paper towel removed the mark...but still!

So, onto my new starts.  I thought as Colin and the kids are away this week that I would treat myself to a new start and see how much I could get done before they come back.  I chose Bothy Threads Haberdasher's which I had the chart of rather than the kit (hate the fabric, hate the threads but apart from that the kits are fine!)  I found a piece of 28ct jobelan, what else? and away I went.  Don't ask me why I decided to start at the bottom but I did and I have found it made for speedy stitching!  This is progress so far.  The bottom left page is completed bar the backstitch.  The big lilac column is the start of the left middle page. 211 is one of my favourite DMC colours so I am really enjoying this page.

My second new start is the one that Colin bought me to celebrate the conclusion of my degree.  Paris holds a special place in our hearts as it is where we went for our honeymoon (16 years ago next month...yikes!) so I had a look for a Paris chart that I liked.  I was rather taken with Thea Gouverneur's design but wasn't sure about getting a kit and ending up with threads I didn't like as it just says 'stranded cotton' and not what brand they are.  Then I found this one from Artecy which we both liked. I ordered it as a printed chart which cost under £10 including postage from Australia!  What a bargain!!  I  received the chart in around a week, again fantastic coming from Australia. I have never seen an Artecy chart before but it is great.  Nice clear symbols which are large enough for me to see clearly without constantly picking up the chart or squinting at it.

Anyway, this is my progress from last night and an hour or so this morning.  I'm giving gridding a go to see if it will help me, but the jury is still out on it at the moment.  It won't surprise you to know that I am stitching it on 28ct white jobelan will it?

Donna emailed to say that she received her Christmas in July exchange from me (luckily just in July!)  So here is a quick photo of what I sent her.

And a close up of the 3 stitched pieces that I sent her too.  I have never used ric rac as a trim and was reasonably pleased with how it turned out.  It's not perfect but isn't too bad for a first attempt.  Oh, and the fabric was dyed by me too, using coffee.  The designs are Plum Street Sampler's 'Christmas is coming'.