A finish, two starts and IHSW

After the grocery shopping and housework, I had a very productive . 

First up, the finish. 

This is Just Nan's Holly Bows.  It's done on 32-count Stone Grey Belfast with DMC and the beads from the bead pack that came with the pattern.  I really do like this fabric color and have a few patterns that would look really nice on it.

After I finished Holly Bows I put Goldie on the frame to put a few stitches in so that I could put it on my WIPocalypse list for next year.  The stitching was so easy that I did a bit more than a few stitches:

Goldie is my in-law's German Shepherd.  I took a puppy photo of her and put in an order with Heaven and Earth Designs for a special order stocking.  If you look really carefully, you can just see an outline of her ear to the right of the large stitched area.  I worked on this Saturday evening and Sunday morning and then put Japanese Zen Garden from Chatelaine on the stand (again to just put a few stitches in).

It was nice stitching a Chatelaine again.  This is stitched on 32-count Sky Blue Jobelan (after looking at the pattern there aren't areas of solid beading so the hand-dyed 32-count should be okay).  I am using Martina's DMC conversion for all the fibers except for a couple she didn't list a conversion for.  There are lots and lots of sparkly stitches that are charted in this bit, but even with all the PTB (Petite Treasure Braid) I have, I didn't have any of the ones called for.  I have an order in for the PTB, the two silks and the bead pack.  Not sure when they'll all show up but will carry on with the DMC I do have and fill in once I get all the goodies.

Goldie and Zen are the two pieces that I will focus on in 2018 as I would really like for them to be Christmas gifts next year - boring blog with just the two pieces - you have been warned.