I say it every month but even with the extra hour from putting our clocks back last weekend, time is still flying by so quickly. It’s unstoppable, of course. Time is all we have, and it keeps on rolling. And time is what I’m trying to illustrate here. A map of time, moments in days, days in a life.
Today is Samhain, in the traditional pagan calendar the beginning of winter. The days are already short, and the nights are already dark. Some say the veil between the worlds is thinner today.
I know a lot of people don’t enjoy the dark days and nights, but I’ll take hats and scarves and boots over shorts and sandals any day. There’s a lot to look forward to: cosy evenings with good books, lamps and candles, warm quilts to wrap around chilly knees, hot soup, and (even better) hot chocolate. I sometimes wonder if the season of our birth somehow becomes our favourite time of year. Maybe having a winter birthday means I enjoy this time of year more than summer.
So far there have been falling leaves and blue-grey skies, and more to come.
As usual, keeping it simple. Little stitches marking the passage of time.
I don’t often use backstitch – I find it a bit finicky – but I do like this one, worked in a space-dyed silk perle 8 thread:
I like the other side even better. The other side of back-stitch is split stitch:
There isn’t much left of this year:
I’m starting to think about next year’s template, of course. I only have enough of this lovely vintage linen for one more year. My remaining piece measures about 5 feet by about 3 feet, and I’m thinking about whether to make another large cloth, this time in a 3 x 4 formation, or whether to cut and join strips of it to make a long cloth.
What I’ve enjoyed most about this year’s template is the variety. I really like the way every day is a different size and shape, as they often are in reality, and the way the days fit so seamlessly together, also as they do in real life.
I’m finding myself repeatedly drawing a kind of wavy grid in my sketchbook work lately, and I’m thinking I might base my new template on something like that. The grid pattern makes me think of an enlarged photo showing the weave of a piece of gauzy fabric, like cheesecloth or scrim.
It’s very much a work in progress.
At some point I will be ready for 2025, but not just yet.
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I’ve really been enjoying your posts.
thanks so much Elaine
That is just so lovely!
thanks so much 🙂
I love this as always. It’s so fun to see with so much variety. And always so beautiful. Personally, I’m partial to the long strip, but I could see it being more difficult to display than a square or a book. (I also like stitch books very much.)
I think with this much warning, I should finally be able to join in in 2025. And despite what I just said, I’m probably doing a book style.
I don’t like back-stitch at all, so I don’t do it, which is probably silly of me. So today I learned something new: that the back of back-stitch is split stitch! (I’m finishing up something that is almost entirely split stitch and a few French knots. Ready to move on from that!)
Whatever way you decide to go, I look forward to the coming year and to the rest of this year.
ha! we might think of split stitch as back stitch by stealth, really. Or by accident, maybe. I’m still thinking about the format for next year but I too favour the long strip so that may well be how it turns out, despite having to cut up the precious one remaining piece of linen. I’m trying to design the template so it tessellates all ways – lengthways, crossways, as a 3 x 4 grid and as a single repeating page – to give maximum flexibility for the finished thing. It’s got to be possible. Thanks so much for being here 🙂
Karen, that sounds a lot like math. 😂
not one of my strengths 😆😆
It does look lovely. Do you look back at your previous years of stitching? Do they remind you of the day you stitched them?
thanks so much Rachel. Somewhat unbelievably, yes, sometimes. Mostly I vaguely remember what I was thinking about rather than what happened that day.
The way your stitching fits neatly in and follows so closely the template for October perfectly suits the passing month. Your choice of colours and stitches is an exact match for the time of year when we can see some of nature’s most glorious colours; once again Karen, you have managed to mark the last 31 days in such an exquisite way!
thanks so much, Mags. We really are spoilt for choice at this time of year, so many beautiful rich colours everywhere
I really enjoy your posts. I’m gearing up to having a go myself but want to find suitable cloth. Things I have done before have pulled the cloth out of shape. Any tips please?
thanks so much Karen. A medium weight linen/cotton (or similar) should work fine. You do need to be careful about managing the tension if you’re not using an embroidery hoop or frame. I find supporting the work on a table helps to keep everything flat.
I have been stitching along this year, using last year’s templates. I was a bit nervous to tackle a big whole cloth but I am IN for whatever you decide next year. Thank you for the inspiration!
thanks so much Kat – and for the vote of confidence! Next year’s template is under construction and will be flexible enough to either do a page at a time or a big cloth. That’s the plan at least 🙂