Jo's October Ornament

Just in case I run out of time this month to stitch a separate Ghostie ornie I am including this one!  It is Just Nan's Ghoulies and Ghosties so quite suitable:

That's the Ghostie part for this month!

Here is the Black Cats part used for August:

And here is the whole thing:

stitched on 32 count tan evenweave

There are so many nice little details in this design, from the witch's face to the goofy pumpkin including Nan's signature smyrna stitch spiders.

October - Ghosts and Halloween in my bedroom.

Halloween Cross Stitch

design by Lorraine Niestyo

★ ★

Rita's October Ghost

My choice came from the JCS 2012 Halloween special issue.  I had planned to use beads for the stars and the cat's eyes but didn't have the right colors at home (and I was too lazy to go out for some at the time).  I changed the color from orange to yellow for the stars.

Since I can't post a picture on a response to Jo's post about black cats, I thought I'd post a picture of my favorite black cat design that I've stitched.  As I stated in the response, my mom made a pumpkin costume for my sister one year and all 4 of my kids have worn it too.  (I've since sent the costume to my sister for her kids.)  Little did Mom know when she made that costume just how many kids would use it.  My BIL put together pics of all 5 of them wearing the costume.

BOAF Halloween Cat

I think Jo also asked about our Halloween decorations.  One thing I like to do for holidays is to frame into holiday frames pictures of our kids during a particular holiday and set them out with the holiday decorations.  I wish I could say I thought of that idea on my own but I "stole" it from a friend of mine.

C is for Coven, Cauldron and Cats - Revisited

When we first started this blog I made a series of posts beginning with each letter of the alphabet starting with A.  Unfortunately, they ground to a halt after L.  So in honour of The Alphabet Club hosted by Chiara I have decided to resurrect the original posts and link up each month with the rest of the Alphabet Club posters.  To learn more about this SAL follow the Alphabet Club link to Chiara's blog.

C is for Coven from A Dark Alphabet designed by Julie and Becky's Note of Friendship blog.

A coven is a group of witches of any number from three to thirteen.  Once the coven grows larger than thirteen it will split into two smaller covens to keep the number manageable.  One of the most famous covens is the trio of witches that Macbeth encounters on the heath who give him the prophesies that ultimately lead to his downfall.

And what does a coven of witches need to cast their spell?  A cauldron, of course!  A cauldron is simply a cast iron pot found in many homes in the past, used for cooking or maybe boiling up herbs and potions.  Like the broom and the cat a cauldron could be used as "evidence" by the Witch Finders that an innocent old woman was in fact a Witch!

I found lots of lovely cauldron patterns online:

The Stitcherhood

White Willow Stitching

And onto cats, our third C.  Black cats obviously as it is Hallowe'en!  In England black cats are seen as lucky animals as they are in Japan too.  However other areas are not so enlightened and view them as very bad luck.  To the extent that they are often left in cat shelters long after their multi-coloured friends have been adopted.  I have owned a black cat myself, named Spook who was very timid and shy.  We also adopted a stray for a while until she wandered away.  Here she is in a pot!

Many superstitious people believe that black cats can turn into other animals or even that the witch can take the place of her cat to spy on her neighbours.  Often, just owning a black cat would be grounds for accusing a woman of witchcraft.  So it is not surprising to find many designs featuring black cats (with or without accompanying witches!)

Fence Cat by Jaunty Fox Designs

JBW Hallowe'en Cat from JCS Hallowe'en Special 2012

And another:

Imaginating

So now it's over to you.  When you comment on this post please could you include a link to your favourite Black Cat cross stitch design.

Spooky Words

Here's my spooky eye chart for September.  I've been wanting to stitch this design for a while.  It was in one of the JCS Halloween issues, but I can't remember which one.  Stitched on 30ct WDW pumpkin linen, custom cording, and a little witch flying underneath!

Boo!

My Spooky word of the month.

Boo! 

freebie: Glory Bee

Gwen

Cheryl's September Spooky Words Ornament

shake, rattle and roll aren't usually spooky words ... but once you apply them to a skeleton, they take on a new meaning and there you have it!

shake them bones!

rattle them bones!

and heads will roll! 

The pattern is Shake, Rattle 'n Roll by Pam Lewis and Susan Rohm of Praiseworthy Stitches.  Featured in Just Cross Stitch magazine in the October 2015 issue.

I stitched this pattern on a wee piece of 32 ct. tea stained fabric of unknown origin.  2over2 for the skeleton & border, and 1over1 for the text - using both magnifying glasses and a hand held magnifying lens (where did I put my good eyes?)

I'm not sure how I will finish it, just yet ... but stay tuned for further developments.

Happy Spooky Stitching!

Noni's September Spooky Words

Eek!! Spooky Words.... wow what a great theme for September.

I had this one planned right from the start of the year!  Even though I knew exactly what I was going to stitch for September I did also have a look at some other "spooky" word designs just in case... after all we can never have too many spooky charts in our stash!!

So what did I stitch for September's theme?  Well, it just had to be Lizzie Kate's "Eek!"

"Eek!" - Lizzie Kate

This chart/kit is a Limited Edition Kit and was given to me a couple of years ago.  It included the fabric, beads and buttons but not the threads, so I stitched it with DMC threads which is why it does look slightly different to the model piece in the chart pack photo.

See you next month!

Happy Spooky Stitching

September - Spooky Words.

I can drive a stick!

Lizzie ★ Kate

★

May - Anne S

A quick one today to catch up on May's theme of pumpkins ...

"Eek" freebie by Lizzie*Kate

Stitched on 32ct Thunderstorm Belfast linen

with recommended GAST threads

August & September - Anne S

I've been in a stitching wasteland since April so I have a lot of catching up to do - the Hallowe'en SAL is helping to get me back into stitching again. My choices for the two months have been as follows:

For September:

"Eek Boo Hiss" by Lizzie*Kate (the Boo part)

Stitched on 32ct Thunderstorm Belfast linen

with a mix of GAST, DMC and Carrie's Creations threads

For August:

"Boo To You" by The Prairie Schooler

Stitched on 30ct Guacemole Weeks Dye Works linen

with recommended DMC threads 

Jo's September Ornament

Like Rita I wasn't sure I would easily be able to find something for this month's theme but as I looked through my issues of JCS I realised there were loads of designs I liked!  Which is probably why I chose this as one of the themes in the first place.

I found a nice design which said Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble which reminded me of another chart I owned.  When I found that one it was too large for an ornie but in with it was this one which was the perfect size stitched over one.  I do love my over one stitching.

This is the debut design from 2009 by Tammy who has a blog called Witchy Stitches.  It's not easy to see if she has many other designs because there's no page for her own stuff.  But there is a sweet Wynter Witch.

Anyway, I stitched this one using the recommended DMC conversion except for the lettering and mug which I subbed 3799 for plain black.  I thought it was closer to the Gentle Art thread the model stitcher used.  Because I stitched the design over one I was able to cheat on the border and stitch it over two which saved so much time hahaha.  I also added some little starry stitches around the word "hex" just because I wanted to.

I'm not sure whether to scrapbook this with the others or frame it and put it next to the kettle to drop a hint to my family!

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Advance notice of a giveaway.  Kaye has kindly offered to sponsor a giveaway next month.  There will be a number of ways to enter, one of which will involve making a post for your October themed ornie.  So make sure you have one!  The theme is Ghosts, most suitable for Hallowe'en month.

Rita's September Spooky Words

As I was starting to think about what to stitch for this theme, I was thinking it might be difficult to find something.  The difficulty turned out to be narrowing down all the possibilities to just one.

I chose to stitch part of a bigger design found in the JCS 2014 Halloween special issue:

The lighting is poor for the photo...it isn't even dawn yet.  It's stitched with black DMC on antique white linen.

B is for Brimstone, Bats and Brooms - Revisited

When we first started this blog I made a series of posts beginning with each letter of the alphabet starting with A.  Unfortunately, they ground to a halt after L.  So in honour of The Alphabet Club hosted by Chiara I have decided to resurrect the original posts and link up each month with the rest of the Alphabet Club posters.  To learn more about this SAL follow the Alphabet Club link to Chiara's blog.

And B is for Bargello Brimstone from A Dark Alphabet designed by Julie and Becky's Note of Friendship blog.

Bargello has a variety of names; Irish Stitch, Flame Stitch and Florentine to name but three more.  Careful counting is required when using this stitch!

Onto bats.  So why are bats associated with Hallowe'en?  

"Bats have long been associated with Halloween but the connection is by far less ominous than some would suspect. In Halloween's ancient origins people would gather together around giant bonfires to ward off evil spirits. Attracted to the warmth and bright light of these fires were many small flying insects; natural food for hungry bats.  People saw the bats flickering in and out of the firelight during the festivals and they became a feature of Halloween lore.

The link between the bat and Halloween became strengthened with the discovery of the Vampire Bat in the 17th century.  Tales of bats that drank blood had circulated throughout Europe for centuries before but it wasn't till the Spanish exploration of Central and South America that there was physical proof.  It was a natural association for a dark holiday, a creature that lapse the life blood of its prey in the dark of night."

Haunted Bay

There are some great batty designs around, here a couple I found online:

Tantes Zolder - Bats in the Round

White Willow Stitching - Tribal Bat

Freebie from Oakhaven Designs

And moving swiftly onto Brooms or Besoms.  Why are brooms so closely connected to witches?  I suppose a broom is something everyone had in their home, on its own it wouldn't attract attention or suspicion.  It is also an easy piece of evidence for the Witchfinder to use against the local wisewoman.

Besom is another word for a traditionally made broom with a bundle of twigs attached to a sturdy pole, as a result the besom is round rather than flat.  The besom is often used in Wiccan and other Pagan traditions as it represents both genders.  The pole is male and the twigs are female.  You often find brooms used in marriages ceremonies, either in addition to a religious or legal ceremony or in place of when the two people could not marry legally.

In parts of Wales, a broom could be placed at an angle across a doorway.  The groom would jump over followed by his bride.  If the broom stayed where it was the marriage was on, if it fell down the marriage was then called off!  You may have heard the term "living over the brush" meaning living together without being married.  This is where it come from.

Barbara Ana Designs - Halloween (The Moon Laughs)

Sue Hillis Designs - Drive Stick

And to finish, here is an image which popped up on Google when I asked Why do witches ride brooms - 

Ancient Light

Noni's August Black Cat

Oops... a day late posting for August!  But, surprise surprise... I do have a black cat to show you!!

While I had always planned to stitch the Black Cat from the Sneak Peek Halloween design for this month, it didn't stop me looking at all of the other beautiful black cat designs that are out there in the big wide stitching world....

So without further ado... here he is:  Black Cat (Sneak Peek Halloween - designed by The Trilogy).

"Black Cat"
Sneak Peek - Halloween
Designer: The Trilogy

Another square finished on this cute design... next up will be the "ghost" square for October.... just in time for Halloween!

Happy spooky stitching..... see you all soon....

Gwen:August's Black Cat

This month I stitched one of LynnB's Mini Black Cats.

He has a beaded collar and spidey has eyes.

Gwen

August - Black Cats.

I love Black Cats...

...and Black Birds too!

Plum Pudding Needleart

★

Jo's August Ornament

Black cats is always a great theme, there are black cats everywhere around the internet.  But do you find sometimes that too much choice makes it harder to choose instead of easier?

I was looking through my Just Nan Hallowe'en chart collection and found one called Ghoulies and Ghosties.  It's bigger than an ornie so I just stitched the bottom part for this month and will do the rest another time.  Hopefully before Hallowe'en this year.

stitched on 28 count tan evenweave.

There's a lot of detail in this for a small piece - cats, pumpkin, toad, ghosts and spiders!  You can see the full design on Just Nan's website here - JN180 Ghoulies and Ghosties

Cheryl's August Black Cat

Yeow!

Designed by Pamela Byrd Smith of The Prairie Schooler.

Featured in the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Halloween Issue.

PS: I thought I would add a photo of the black cat ornament I stitched last year:

Majestic Cat

Designed by Sandra Sullivan of Homespun Elegance.

Featured in the Sept/Oct 2013 Issue of Just Cross Stitch. 

Theresa's April to August Ornies

Hello everyone - I've been absent for a while stitching gifts and larger pieces.  Now I'm back to Halloween ornies.  One of my bigger-than-ornie-size pieces is Last Stitch Cemetery by Hinzeit.  Perhaps this one can pass for my April ornie?!

Stitched on 32ct Legacy lugana by Picture This Plus.  Yet to be framed.  My May pumpkin ornie is Along Came a Spider by Amy Brueckin from the Sept/Oct 2011 JCS.  Stitched on 30ct WDW peoria purple linen (it's really a very bright purple, but looks gray in this pic) with DMC.  I decided to do something out of the ordinary for the shape.  I like how it turned out!

My choice for June is a Lizzie*Kate freebie, All Hallows Eve stitched on 32 ct. olive linen and finished with a pom-pom trim.

My July haunted house is a popular choice as I've seen it a few times.  Called Boo Mansion from Blue Ribbon Designs in the Sept/Oct 2011 JCS Halloween issue.  Finished into a pillow with hand-made cording.

And, finally, my black cat for August is a section of a larger piece called All Boxed Up by Michelle Lutzen in the Sept 2014 issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework Mag.  Stitched with DMC on a 28ct purple linen scrap and finished with fabric, cording, and buttons.

Whew!  I think I'm all caught up.  Yeah!  Hope you enjoy.  Theresa