2019 Needlecrafts Review

One last annual catch up post: We've made it to 2019!  I seem to have photos of all the finishes from this year, except one super chunky knit cardigan, which photographed very badly indeed.

The first one, above, was a wedding handbag I made for my bestie when she got married in June, just 6 days before our 20th wedding anniversary.  I designed the floral embroidery myself and painted the appliqued silk, all based on the floral design on her bridal gown, but in the colour of her afternoon dress.  The bag construction wasn't stellar, but it did the job and I was pleased to see her using it.

And now, after being in progress for around five years, we present:

The completed Paradise Island cross stitch!

I was really pleased with how it turned out, especially as I'd had to design quite a bit of the lower sky myself (it was designed on blue Aida, but I'd done it on black Jobelan instead).  It looks great in a gold frame with a white mount.

For the above mentioned 20th wedding anniversary, I made this card for Sir, which he was pleased with.  Each part was cut out and the fabric stiffened before being glued to the paper sky background.  It was something quite different for me to do, so it was enjoyable - even if the kite tails didn't quite behave as I'd hoped.

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This last cross stitch piece for the year is one I'd been drooling over since I saw it sparkling in the lighting of a stand at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate a couple of years before.  I finally bought the kit and stitched it up.  I haven't framed it yet, but I'm thinking a small silver frame with bright white mount.  The fabric is actually a pale lilac.  It would have been the perfect match for the early February weather, no?

Part cross stitch, part hardanger and part other counted thread stitch work was this rose cushion.  This was a quick stitch and I'm pleased to say it took first prize in the cushion class at the 2019 Bingley Show.  It now lives in our bedroom.

The final stitchery piece for the year was the 'Hardanger With Bling' bellpull that now stands out nicely against the red of our living room feature wall.  This is only the top section as I don't seem to have any full photos to hand, but I will share some more later on.

If embroidery is your only interest, then this is where you exit as we now move on to knitting and no less than seven adult garment completions this year, although two were begun (including one almost finished) in 2018.  The five chunky jumpers are worked in my favourite King Cole Tweed Chunky, three of which were for friends.  It's virtually impossible to get actually warm woollens, so I take orders from close friends.

My first adult DK finish was the  lilac shoulder cable jumper for me.  I love this one and wear it a lot.  Some of it was a challenge to do, but I love that I learn something new with each garment.

The grey cardigan was worked in Brett's Chunky with Merino and, again, was for a friend.  Jenny had admired my black cardy I was making with the same yarn and kept stroking it, so I ran her one up in a colour I was sure she would like.  It made a nice surprise for her when we met in the summer.

The dark green here was one of the woolies for cold friends, as was the cream one below and the violet one near the top of this section.

That's all for the catch up posts.  The next annual needlecrafts review will be at the end of this year or the beginning of next.  Hope you've enjoyed seeing some of the things I've been busy making.  Some will be featured in their own right with more detail, so look out for some of those in Friday Finish and Sunday Yarn posts, as well as ongoing projects in Work in Progress Wednesdays.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021