Backstitch as you go

The Castle Sampler is back on the go. The actual castle itself isn't quite finished. There is some more of the wispy cloud around it still to do, and it is my intention to do the backstitch on the castle before going on to the rest of the design. The reason I started on the border is because I haven't touched it for almost a month and I thought it would be easier to get back into it that way. It was, the border is enjoyable to do but comparatively simple. It gives, I think, a quality of depth to the castle which I really like. I think there's a strong case for backstitching as you go along where possible, and with this design as there's clearly defined sections I am intending to do this. Much better than leaving it until the end when I will have probably lost familiarity with the earlier stitched bits of the design making it much harder. I did the backstitch as I went along with 'Numbers' and actually enjoyed doing that more than the characters, because it brought them to life.

My goodies from Sew Discounted finally arrived on Saturday, so now Celtic Spring and Butternut Road's A Christmas Visit are now fully kitted up and ready to go. All I'm still waiting for is the Dusty Green linen from Tandem Cottage. There isn't any real hurry as long as it arrives eventually, I'm just impatient! When I was working out what DMC threads I needed for the Lavender & Lace designs I was surprised I needed so many since I already have an extensive thread collection, but now they have arrived I know why. There are some really rich, sumptuous colours in these designs which I have never worked with before, I particularly love the reds of Celtic Christmas. They make the colours in my thread boxes look very muted in comparison. I may have to start on one of these before finishing the Castle Sampler because, beautiful though it is it is all muted tones and may get a bit much for me. But for now it is the only WIP.