A crafty interlude....

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

I thought that it might be quite nice to do a post about what I like to do when I am not working, reading, blogging, cooking or cleaning.  My problem is that it feels like that doesn't leave me a hell of a lot of time for other stuff - but, when I do get time, I also like doing cross stitch to relax.  If you are a friend of mine, or if you have come to this blog through social media like Twitter, you might already know this.  But if you have found this blog by serendipity or through a random search gone awry, then you probably don't.

This is really just an excuse to put up a picture of something that I have recently finished doing.  This photo is pre washing and ironing - hence the hoop mark - and I am planning to stretch it (which I hate doing) for framing.  I bought the kit in Aberystwyth for my 21st birthday (I'm now 37), but I would like to stress that I haven't been doing it for quite that long (as some of my friends would have you believe).  I will admit though that I have been sewing it for over 10 years: part of the slowness of this is due to also doing a PhD during this time while supporting myself by working, however, since I finished the PhD a few years ago, I haven't had quite such a good excuse for a while.  It's just been hard to find the time.

This is it:

I've also finished a bookmark with Tigger on it recently, and I have been doing the following project for a while which I hope to finish soon:

There is a twist on a phrase which says that those who can write, those who can't review.  I think of cross stitch as a similar outlet for me: I don't have the creative vision to design something to sew or to come up with a novel to write (although, like many, I have aspirations to do so), but I can follow a pattern.  And it's a nice feeling to have made something.

I am just starting to do another cross stitch project which is a bit smaller than the puppies.  I hope that it will take me less than 10 years to finish.....