Stitchy News!

I don't have much progress of my own to post about at the moment, so I thought I would share some interesting posts I've recently come across:

Designer Jeanne Dansby of WyrdByrd Designs has recently announced that her new blackwork patterns will soon be available from the online retailer Ant of Sweden! The patterns soon to be launched include the beautiful Monarch Variation (which I recently stitched) and her lovely new design Gloria, which was also inspired by stained-glass windows. So if you're interested in Monarch, or any other of the new retail designs, be sure to keep checking Jeanne's blog for more information!

Moonsilk Stitches has a great new post up about an antique book from the early 1900's entitled Mrs. Christie's Samplers and Stitches, with detailed information about the contents. Happily, this book is now available for download in a wide variety of formats through the Internet Archive, and Moonsilk provides the link in her post (direct access here). You can also view the entire book online before you download. Although primarily an embroidery resource, it is also of interest to cross-stitchers - like myself - who wish to learn more about specialty stitches. Some of the designs are very unusual and many look quite modern, so it's well worth checking out.

I've also recently discovered a great collection of copyright-free antique books for all kinds of crafts, including cross-stitch, over at the Antique Pattern Library. Although I had trouble displaying the home page in my browser and the copyright date is 2007, it appears that the library is still being updated as there are several new editions dated November 2010. Although I haven't yet had time to go through this catalog in detail, I am greatly looking forward to diving into the archive and seeing what I can find that might be to my taste. All books are .PDF files, and require Adobe Reader version 9.0 to view; if you do not have the reader, or need an update, there are links to the free Adobe software on site.

That's it for now; I hope that you'll find some of this information to be useful!

Stitchwise, I am still working on finishing my Blackwork Bookmark, and have put in a few more stitches on the overskirt of my Twilight Angel. I'll hopefully have some more photos to post up soon :) Until then, Happy Stitching!