Pink Roses

I have twelve completed #inthehoop stitchscapes now, and I can't wait to photograph them all together this weekend and play around with organising them into seasons. It is hard for me to keep blogging regularly at this time of year because I pretty much live in darkness, emerging in the morning and coming home at night, all in the dark. This doesn't make for good photo opportunities so I have to make use of my weekends which are always fully booked with one activity or another.
This weekend just gone I was winter camping with the Guides. Actually outside. In tents. In the sub-zero temperatures! It's safe to say that I think I have finally gone loopy, but the girls enjoyed themselves and that's all that matters (even if the tips of my fingers went a weird colour).

I did manage to photograph this little lovely for you though and it is now all tidied up with the felt backing stitched on too. The best part about these little #inthehoop 'scapes is that it gives me free reign to experiment with fabrics and fabric combinations. I am rummaging through the back of my fabric collection and pulling out any fabrics that haven't been used before, laying them out with plains and patterns and regular favourites. It's a real joy!

This hoop has a kind of vintage prettiness to it with the muted colours. It is pink enough to be girly and frilly but has the more subdued tones of chocolate and evergreen bringing in the more sensible side of the conversation. I also love the fact that I don't have to over think what I am going to do, and as I progress through these, even creating an obvious image has kind of faded into the distance. At this point it's just about complimenting colours and patterns, never mind rolling hills and blue skies.

So in this piece we have the regular favourites; satin stitch, detached chain stitch, back stitch, bullion knots, french knots, seed stitch, running stitch (kantha), cross stitch, straight stitch. Simple, easy, effective.

I thought the back of this piece was also very pretty. It blends the colours in such an abstract way and I love turning the hoop over to see what's being created on the other side.