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Wednesday 8 November 2017

Spreading Some Hallowe'en Happiness

I hope you all enjoyed the Spooky Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop this year and found the mystery phrase.  I made it quite tricky this year so no-one would guess half-way through.  The correct answer was not Honeysuckle & Hollyhocks as Rosey suggested but


Hemlock Root & Henbane


which Christine thought sounded like a Heston Blumenthal soup.  They are both used in spells to steal a witch's power.  And poison her too!

I asked everyone to pick their favourite chart from the three on offer and put all the names on a spreadsheet.  If you were a picture poster you got an extra chance in the draw.

The most popular chart was Hallowe'en Happiness by Imaginating and the winner of this one is:


Ariadne said "As Halloween is not celebrated here I haven't got any stitched pieces. I only show some Halloween things (pumpkin, carving tools, a little witch and stickers) to my pupils and we draw a haunted house. Well who knows till next year I might have my own stitched piece and might take part in the blog hop you will organize next year too!"
So I am holding her to that, next October I shall expect to see a start at the very least!

The second most popular chart was Shepherd's Bush Spooky Night and the winner is:


The final chart was Stacy Nash's Cast Your Spell and the winner is:


A lot of people did not specify a chart so I put all the names back in and drew one more.  I already have this person's address so they will get a small surprise some time before Christmas!  I don't have addresses for the other three winners, so please email them to me.

Since Dark October finished I have returned to my usual rotation, starting with the Zodiac stitching for the SAL.  I am so pleased that everyone is enjoying this SAL so far and we've had a couple of people link up too.  I was enjoying the Satsuma Street Virgo so much that I decided to do a few more days on her and try complete the top half of the chart.

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

I did better than that, the half way point is the bottom of her left arm so the zigzag coming down and the end of the sheaf is all the second part of the chart.  I just love those colours although they are hard to photograph while still getting the fabric to look black.

I put her down yesterday and today picked up Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams which is so close to a finish.  I have been stitching sparkle this afternoon:

stitched on 32 count Moondust evenweave by Crafty Kitten

There is a bit more Pearl Kreinik, a crescent moon in Kreinik and then some beads and we will have a finish this month!  

I am undecided what to stitch after that, it should really be something from my WIPocalypse list or maybe a smaller design to try get another finish?  We shall see.


Regular followers will know what that door means - it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar  Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:


Finally, I track my comments and I recently received my 15,000th comment from MsOhSewCrafty!  No, she didn't make all 15,000, that's the cumulative total from you all.  Thank you so much for commenting on each post.  I try to reply to all even those tricky no-reply people!  I do appreciate that you take the time to visit, read and comment.  Thank you.








17 comments:

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Congratulations to the Hallowe’en blog hop winners.
I love the sparkly-ness! of Dragon of the Winter Moon.
I would like to join the Advent blog hop please Jo.No preferences on a day.

Barb said...

Both projects look wonderful. Winter Dragon is going to be beautiful!!!

diamondc said...

Hi Jo: The Zodiac design is lovely, I have stitched on black fabric my eyes cross a little if I work on it for too long.
Dragon Of The Winter Moon is a sweet design, I look forward to seeing the finish.
I love Advent Calendars.

Blessings
Catherine

Mary said...

Congrats to all the winners of the blog hop! You did make the word tricky!! I never would have guessed it. I hope to participate in the future of one of your hops, they look to be so much fun.

The stitching on black looks so difficult, Winter Dragon is going to be a stunner! Mary

Katie said...

Congrats to the other winners. Oh I'm so happy I won. I will do my best to have it finished for the Halloween blog hop next year. When I finish I will pay the pattern forward on my blog too for those interested. Love your stitching. That sparkle is just too pretty. Please add my name to the Advent Blog Hop. I love that one!

gracie said...

Please sign me up for the Advent blog hop.

DJ said...

Congratulations to the winners! Astrid asked me why I hadn't signed up for the last blog hop, but things were a little crazy at my house. I would like to participate in the Advent blog hop though!! I love your stitching, the Satsuma Street Virgo looks so dramatic on the black, and your dragon looks spectacular!! Thank you for making blogging so much fun!!

Linda said...

Congrats to all of the winners. Great progress on your projects Jo.

Linda

Ariadne said...

Oh I can't believe I am the winner! Guess what. I recently won the appropriate fabric for that piece so you have my word I will stitch it for next year's Halloween to take part in the blog hop! For the time being I will be taking part in this years Advent blog hop!Thank you again so much. I will be e-mailing you!AriadnefromGreece!

rosey175 said...

Yay to all the winners! :D My suggestion was perfectly acceptable for the season though perhaps more for our Southern hemisphere friends! Glad to see all the sparkle hasn't blinded you yet, nor 'caused you to fling floss frustratedly.

Sign me up for the Advent hop~ I have no preference on day because scheduling posts is a Great Thing.

Christine said...

Well done to all the winners.
The zodiac piece really pops on the black fabric

OhSewCrafty said...

Great progress on the dragon, can't wait to see it finished. I'd like to join the Advent hop. 15,000 comment- wow! I feel special, lol. Happy stitching!

Brigitte said...

Congratulations to the lucky winners of your blog hop It was a lot of fun again doing the hop :)
And for you it was successful month I'M sure. November will be also great as you can already see a new finish in the near future ...

Anna van Schurman said...

Your rotation projects are coming along nicely. I would love to participate in the blog hop again.

Sheryl said...

Congrats to your blog hop winners. I like the Winter Moon piece, pretty design. I would like to join the Advent hop again this year. best dates 18/19/20 if possible.

Leonore Winterer said...

Congratulations to the winners, and yay for your new progress! This dragon is getting really close to a finish now. Honestly, I think after you made such good progress on your WIPocalypse list this year, you deserve to just pick whatever you feel like working on for the rest of the year :)
Of course I'm in for the Advent Calender Hop! I'll be gone on a big trip Dec 9th to 19th, but I can always schedule a post to appear on the right date :)

Bethan said...

Lovely pieces, and congratulations to the Hallowe'en blog hop winners - such an unusual phrase to use! Looking forward to the Advent Calendar Hop; I'll try and join in next year, but this year I have no Christmassy cross-stitches on the go x