Happy Halloween!

These kitty jack o'lanterns are my sister's creation, and I think they are pretty cute! She gets quite a few trick-or-treaters at her house, so her work should be widely admired. Our house is more isolated, and rain is predicted for this evening, so we will be lucky to see 10 kids, if that. Our local weatherman warned us to make sure we buy treats we like, since we may well have to eat them all ourselves!

In any case, here's to a safe and fun Hallowe'en for all!

A Start on Christmas

Ever since the deluge of "Christmas in July" marketing emails, and many blog posts too, I've been completely off the idea of Christmas. I understand that the fabric companies need to give you lead time to make your Christmas projects, but I just can't think about Christmas when it's hot and sunny outside. It's my conditioning. But, now that we've had a couple of cold and rainy days, suddenly, a cozy Christmas project seems just the thing!

So, this is a new-ish cross stitch project, "A Kiss For Snowman" from Dimensions Gold Petites. I say new-ish because I actually started it last year, but it was so similar to my Lima Beans project that I put it away again. It is stitched on 18 ct aida in crosses and half-crosses with varying weights of thread, similar to other Dimensions Gold Petites projects that I have done. The stitching will finish at 6" square, and the piece is destined for the centre of a Christmas pillow. The last Dimensions Gold project took me 5 months, so I'm not sure that I'll finish this by Christmas, but at least it gets me in the right mood!