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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Day 16 of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Welcome to day 16 of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  This is my third year participating and I thoroughly enjoy visiting everyone's blogs and seeing all the beautiful Christmas/holiday/winter stitching.  

My stitched piece this year is one I stitched and FFOd this year, which is as close to a Christmas miracle as I'm likely to get.  This is Needle Nick from Lizzie*Kate:


He's stitched on 28-count Lambswool Jobelan with the DMC conversion.  I used DMC Blanc in his beard rather than the called for Wisper as I detest stitching with Wisper.  He is designed to be a stand-up, but I thought this frame fit him perfectly.  The frame originally had a clipboard clip and bow to hold a 4"x6" photo.  After I mounted Nick on some chipboard, I removed the clip, glued Nick down and reused the bow.  Not as fancy or embellished as a lot of things I've seen recently but I figured there were enough embellishments on the piece.

This year's question is:  What is your favorite Christmas book?  I am particularly fond of How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess and the other four  of Dickens' Christmas stories, but my absolute favorite is A Christmas Carol in Prose, being a Ghost Story of Christmas.  I start the book on December 1st every year.  Once I finish the print version, I turn to the audiobook versions.  I'm not sure how many different versions I have but, as I think I've mentioned before, the Tim Curry version is my favorite.  When I'm not reading, or listening, I'm watching.  I have four versions that I cycle through.  The Patrick Stewart version is my favorite followed closely by the George C. Scott and Muppet versions, my fourth is the Alastair Sim version.  What's that?  No, I don't get tired of it and I find myself pulling it up in my Audible feed throughout the year.  Why?  I don't know - redemption? hope? love?  The story has them all.  

Did you miss some of the earlier posts?  Click on that link to Jo's blog up top there to find the links to previous posts and the doors for future ones.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Christmas or winter observance of your choosing.

13 comments:

Clare-Aimetu said...

Needle Nick is lovely, your book is a lovely story written by one of the greats, Merry Christmas

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

Your Needle Nick finish is lovely. He doesn't need further embellishments. Dickens' Christmas Carol is timeless.

A Patchwork of Crafts said...

I do like that finish, very innovative. There are a lot of "Classic" versions of A Christmas Carol and even more interesting interpretations based on it as well. My favourite is the Muppets but you have captures the others that I will make the effort to watch.

Denise :) said...

Wow, your Santa is spectacular! You did a great job on him ... and I think your embellishments are a great balance of just enough, and not so much to detract from your stitching. Great finish! Funnily, Alastair Sim is my favorite Scrooge, though it's not my favorite version of the movie (the George C. Scott one is my favorite telling). I'll have to check out the Tim Curry narrated ab version! Thanks for the info!! Merry Christmas! :)

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Thanks for taking part in the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this year.
That frame is perfect for your Santa, I love his little basket too.
Greta choice of books, maybe next year's question should be "What is your favourite version of The Christmas Carol?"! Everyone seems to love it. I must check out the audiobook versions.

FlashinScissors said...

Needle Nick is lovely, you found a great frame for him too! No he doesn’t need any embellishments he’s just great!
I haven’t seen The Grinch yet but I’ll be looking out for it as I am told the tree I am embroidering at the moment looks like it comes from the Grinch!
Wishing you and yours a Very Happy Christmas!
Hugs,
Barbara xx

Elfie said...

Your Santa is gorgeous, and love how you finished him. You are very creative. Your book choices are interesting. I'm not familiar with some, so I'm going to try to remedy that. I jope your Christmas is a happy one.

gracie said...

Such a wonderful Santa and finish.

Astrids dragon said...

Your Needle Nick turned out beautifully! I think it's a lovely finish and the basket is the perfect addition.
So many versions of A Christmas Carol, it's hard to pick a favourite!

jocondine said...

Great Santa, nice finish with the frame. Joyeuses fêtes de Noël ! xxx

Christine said...

What a lovely ornament. I love how you've finished it

Leonore Winterer said...

Santa looks great, well done finishing him in time for Christmas!
I do enjoy the Christmas Carol, but I only read it for the first time in my 20s.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Your Santa is adorable! I love the idea of framing him the way you did. As for the Christmas Carol - it's one of my favourites too (have you seen the 'American Christmas Carol' version with Henry Winkler?). And Christmas isn't Christmas without seeing seeing the cartoon version of the Grinch.
Merry Christmas!