Halloween Giveaway Winner & Castle Cross Stitch Update...

A cross stitch blog may seem a solitary hobby. Stitch, stitch, stitch to get ready for the next post. Click, click, click as I photograph my stitching. Tap, tap, tap as I plug away on the computer Churning out the next post.  But then, I get 32 comments to the Hallowe'en Blog Hop Post and I know it is far from being solitary. I am immersed in a virtual cross stitch world with lovely people as though they are stitching and chatting in my living room.  Thank you for connecting. Let's keep stitching together.

It's the bagpipes announcing the winner of the Hallowe'en Giveaway from this post, not the drum roll, as comment number 11 is the winner!  (11 Pipers Piping if you are slow to get this).

Shebafudge that is you!!!  I have sent you an email.

The Royal Dunny (Aussie term for toilet) Room of The Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Castle is forming to the right of the King's   Chamber.  You can view my progress at my last castle update here.  I have never cross stitched a toilet before so it will be a milestone for me LOL! I have finished cross stitching the Wizards' Attic with the striped mauve and white wall paper.  I have never stitched such a colourful piece before. Perfect for a little boy's bedroom wall me thinks.

Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Castle
Stitched on 18 ct Aida 

The Wizard's Attic with the Royal Dunny Room appearing underneath

Thanks for wandering through my castle gardens...
                                                                         Jan x

Hallowe'en Blog Hop and Giveaway...

Boo!!!  Now I have your attention, welcome into the cemetery of thread garden, especially if you are visiting as part of the Hallowe'en Blog Hop. The fabulous Jo is hosting this from Serendipitous Stitching. Please start at Jo's Blog from the beginning and you will have a spooky trail to follow, secretly unmasking the mysterious code from within this Blog Hop. 

Sharing my Hallowe'en Stitches
The front creepy project is from the Just Cross Stitch Sep/Oct 2013 magazine which featured many Hallowe'en ornament designs.  I stitched the Spooky Eye Chart for my very own Jack (13yo DS).  It is stitched on linen with DMC black. I chose not to add the border or lines as I didn't feel they added to it.  The cross stitch in the background is The Hallow Sampler by The Primitive Needle.  I stitched this in 2009.

A Small Giveaway

If you dare on this day please enter a small giveaway. Be a follower and leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner for a mystery prize on November 4th.

A Ghost Story

On Hallowe'en in Australia, ghost stories are shared preferably at night in the dark.  I have a true story to share at this auspicous time. I was travelling through England with my young family, near the Welsh Border at a Youth Hostel called Welsh Bricknor.  The rambling stone manor was positioned at the bottom of a lonely steep gravel driveway with no passing traffic.  The hostel was spooky with its abandoned ivy-covered church surrounded by gravestone ruins within metres of it.  I woke at 2am and visited the bathroom. The bathroom had a window onto the driveway. I heard a distant noise from outside. It grew closer and closer. It wasn't just one noise but now a group. The noise became gallops which echoed through the room. Horses thundered past.  My heart matched the gallops as I ran back to bed and pulled the cover over my ears. There was no explanation in the morning why horses would be going past, let alone at 2am. Since returning over home I have googled Welsh Bricknor and relieved to read I am not the only one who has had a spooky experience. There is a legend about a young girl  many hundreds of years ago, running away from her family castle to be with her lover. The lovers fled together on horses.  They drowned trying to cross a river.  Maybe just maybe...

I know you are after the illusive and magical letter that  will spell a Hallowe'en message, so here it is:

F

You will now make your way to this spooky corner of the web, at "This and That" blog by  EvalinaMaria  if you dare. 

Don't forget about entering my giveaway!!!

Thanks for walking with a lamp through my graveyard...

                                                                           Jan x

Halloween cross stitching

I'm in the mood for stitching a spooky ornament. Master Jack,nearly 13, chose a Halloween ornament called a Spooky Eye Chart from the Just Cross Stitch Halloween magazine special. So far, spooky and fun!

Thanks for dropping in...
Jan x