"Scary Halloween to you!"

ON HALLOWEEN

The witches fly

Across the sky,
The owls go, "Who? Who? Who?"
The black cats yowl
And green ghosts howl,
"Scary Halloween to you!"

~Nina Willis Walter~

The Red Witch

This is really not what I should be stitching at the moment but I just couldn't resist. The pattern is called "The Red Witch" and it's from Mosey 'n Me. I received it from my friend 'B' who has just finished and framed this BEAUTY. I tea-dyed the 28-count even-weave to give it more of a fall feeling. Isn't she wild? Just wait until you see her finished!!

Will write again soon, but just had to share.

Hope everyone is having a great week!!!

PS: After reading Karen's comment it suddenly dawned on me who the red witch reminds me of - the witch from the Little Lulu comic books. She probably looked completely different but this is what she certainly could have looked like. Anyone else a Little Lulu fan? She was my absolute favorite as a child. When my DD was a little girl several of these comics came out in Holland translated into Dutch. 'E' loved them just as much as I did.

Books, Books, Books

Last night when I saw Heidi's message that I had been tagged I thought "Oh no, I'm no good at this!!" When I realized that the tagging concerns one of my favorite passtimes I felt so much better.

To the people I've tagged - I think you too are booklovers and hope you will enjoy sharing with us.

1) One book that changed your life:
"Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book" received from my dear friend "A" in 1975. Before this I didn't know the first thing about cooking. Now I love it.
2) One book that you’d read more than once:
"De Ontdekking van de Hemel" (The Discovery of Heaven) - Harry Mulisch
3) One book you’d want on a deserted island:
Very difficult to decide!!!! Can't I take a boxfull of favorites? No? Then it would probably be "De Ontdekking van de Hemel"
4) One book that made you laugh:
"To Say Nothing of the Dog" Connie Willis
5) One book that made you cry:
"I Dreamed of Africa" Kuki Gallman
6) One book you wish you’d written:
"De Ontdekking van de Hemel"
7) One book you wish had never been written:
Anything very gruesome.
8) One book you’re currently reading:
"The Time Traveler's Wife" Audry Niffenegger
9) One book you’ve been meaning to read:
"Vanity Fair" William Makepeace Thackeray
10) Tag five people: Ali, Barbara, Felicity, Isabelle, Lili

3K's

This past week was very busy but after tomorrow I think the stores will all be set for the Christmas rush. It's always great fun to add all the goodies to the sites and I'll tell you I get pretty hungry for all the Christmas food just from looking at the images. Good way to enjoy food without gaining weight I guess. I did manage to take Wednesday morning off to go to Centennial Quilts. Rather than work on GFG I cross-stitched all morning and was able to make a lot of progress towards the upcoming deadlines.

This morning I finally finished two projects and here they are!!

First of all - "Katie Rose and her Kitty". Please note that they both have eyes. Yes, you're right KR's are not French knots. After I'd made a pretty decent job on the kitty's eyes KR's just wouldn't work. Decisions, decisions - keep on trying and possibly mess up her face or make do with what you now see? OK! OK! the solution is not perfect but I think she looks sweet. This was such a fun pattern to stitch and since I have two more by the same designer I may do another one for a love quilt square next year.

And the third 'K', the cute little kitty Solo. This pattern may not have been my best choice to stitch on a tea towel but I can assure you I tried to keep the back as neat as possible. I spent this morning doing a lot of the back-stitching which was certainly very challenging. The back-stitching part of a project is always such fun because it brings the piece to life but this one was a little different with many long stitches. It had me a little worried as I was working on it but all in all I'm happy with the result.

Mailing Deadlines

November 1 and it's mailing deadlines seemed far away. So far away in fact that I hadn't even started on the projects which are to be sent out that day. Instead I was happily stitching away on Katie Rose's quilt square which isn't due until February 1. This week I was reminded that we are already one week into October and November REALLY is the next month. Oops...time to get my priorities straight. Thank goodness I had already decided on patterns.

For a Christmas tea towel exchange I'm stitching a cute little kitty named Solo. The pattern is from the 50th birthday issue of Cross Stitch Card Shop which Alison sent. (You must compare him to the real live Solo, Alison). This is such a fun & quick stitch that I really didn't mind putting all other things aside until it is finished.



Once Solo is completed I will have to quickly start on a Christmas bread cover which is also due out on the 1st. The Gingerbread Man is from a booklet called "Bake-a-Batch Bread Cloths" by Leisure Arts. This will be my first bread cloth but quite possibly not my last as the booklet has many more cute patterns.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments on the quilt square. It has been such fun to see her come alive. I would show the finished square now if I could.....but it's not finished. I have been practicing french knots & I think "I've got it!!!!!" The big test will come soon & if/when I pass I'll post a picture.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians - I hope you have a wonderful long weekend. To the Americans - Happy Columbus Day. And to the rest of you wonderful stitching friends - have a great weekend.

Sunday update

First of all thanks for all your sweet remarks regarding my lost GFG flower. Although I didn't find it myself you're right - hopefully someone found it & liked it well enough to do something with it.

Friday was a wonderful mail day - two packages with foreign stamps addressed to ME!! Thank you so much Alison http://thesquirrel01.blogspot.com/ for the beautiful 'Cross Stitch Card Shop' magazine. As I wrote you, I'm already choosing patterns from it for Christmas stitching. Bliss http://blissxstitches.blogspot.com/ I want to thank you so much for sending the wonderful 'The Ultimate Margaret Sherry Collection'. It has many adorable patterns which will be such fun to stitch. Much time has already been spent browsing through both & I know they will give me many more hours of pleasure. THANK YOU!!

Not too much stitching done this week. This is a busy time of the year for us as we get our on-line stores ready for Christmas. The coming week will be hectic as well but I do hope to finish Katie Rose's quilt square. Most of the backstitching is done & with a bit of luck I can finish that this afternoon. Then all I have left to stitch is the border with a rose in each corner. That should be very relaxing. I'm sure you noticed something strange about my girl (who I now call KR) and her cat ----- no eyes. Before I tackle those I think I'll practice some French knots on a scrap of Aida as I certainly don't want to mess it up.

Hope everyone had/is having a great weekend & I wish you all a good week.

Almost forgot. For my fellow bookworms - I've just started "The Hungry Tide" by Amitav Ghosh.