Apologies for the unexpected blog holiday for the last two weeks… I promise at least some of it has been for nice, crafty things but unfortunately the rest was more the inevitable pile-up of deadlines and work-related fires that even the most serene levels of organisation can’t keep under control.

As I’ve been getting annoying with my supposedly easy Slouchy Sockhead Hat project (I think this project is cursed, it’s the only way I can explain the inexplicable number of unlucky things that have happened to it), I thought it would be nice to go back to my lovely Sue Hawkins’s canvaswork piece. This one has been on the backburner for a while as I tend to work on projects that need a frame/hoop when I’m at home but seemed like a nice, cheery choice.

As an aside, dear fellow knitters, if you’ve somehow seemingly lost a stitch in miles of stockinette, but can’t find where, is there a good way to add a stitch in without ruining the ribbing or will it be not that noticeable anyway? I’m just doing the ribbed brim at the moment and I swear my total stitch count is down by one but can’t seem to find a set of k k p p that doesn’t look complete…

Another motivation to get on with this piece is that I may have rather overindulged myself in Sue Hawkin’s recent sale… Whoops. Well, hopefully this will be the motivation to try some stumpwork soon, which is one of the techniques that I still have on the ‘to try’ list! I don’t know what it is about Sue Hawkins’s kits but they just ooze fun. I think the bright colour schemes and well-written patterns help.

I’ve managed to finish the first repeat of the pattern so it should all smooth sailing from here. It’s an immensely therapeutic piece – the only tricky parts I’m finding are some of the counting for the swirl shaped section when getting the first set of shapes in. There have been a few bits of unpicking for that. I think I am gradually getting the hang of securing the beads tightly. I expect they will still prove a liability when the piece is finished but hopefully at least a smaller one!

There have been a few thread casualties on the way, particularly on the long-legged cross stitch which has a raised texture. When snipping thread ends I’ve managed to catch a few strands of the floss from time to time which is irritating when it’s mid-section. The good thing is I can remove a few stitches, finish the existing bit of thread, work in the new piece and it’s like nothing ever happened. Sometimes embroidery can be forgiving.

But for now, on with the stitching!