Long overdue update

I apologise for my long absence - there have been various things going on which I won't go into here (not worrying, just time consuming!) - but they have seriously cut into my stitching and blogging time.

I have managed to make all the new starts I had intended to do although they all just look like little blobs of stitches at the moment. These are, in order, WIPs of Sleeping Beauty, Celtic Winter and Fantasy Triptych. I have also made a start on the HAED Waiting for Neptune but can't post a pic of that just yet as its on scroll bars tucked away in a cupboard in the bedroom where DH is currently sleeping ..... I'll post a pic asap.



Sleeping Beauty I am really enjoying. I love the fresh colours. My stitching is a bit directionless at the moment - I usually like to stitch either in clear patches of the design or in 10 stitches square blocks - but I am being led all over the place at the moment with this one - not really sure which bit to stitch next - I have not totally got 'into' this one yet but I'm sure I will in the next round of the rotation.
Celtic Winter I've only done a tiny bit of - 5 blocks. I'm not enjoying it all that much - I have an aversion to grey. I sort of wish I'd started on Celtic Spring instead but I do eventually want to stitch all the L&L Celtic Ladies so I may as well stick with this one now.
Fantasy Triptych. The above is really only one days work. FT has got to be the most complicated cross stitch pattern I've ever tackled. It is virtually all blends, and involves plenty of the usual TW fractionals & backstitch as well as various other speciality stitches, plus metallics and beads to boot. I am loving it! The chart is on a big scale and is lovely and clear. I'm currently short 5 DMC skeins which are very prevalent in the castle wall, which is what the above pic is a bit of - so I need to get them in time for the next rotation round.
I'm currently back on Taj Mahal - will post a WIP in a day or so.
Stitching Bloggers Questions
Do you stitch for events like weddings, engagements, or other things
that might not last? If you have been unlucky and the two people broke
up, what happened to your stitched gift?
Nope. I'm very unlikely to ever do anything like that for the very reasons described!

Which way do you stitch (/// and then \\\ or \\\ and then ///)? Can
you (or if you haven't done it before, do you think you could) change
the way that you stitch temporarily if it is asked of you?
Always the first way. For the second of my early cottage trio, I stitched the other way round, just to make a change! I could do it, but there's always the fear that I'd lose concentration and revert to the way I usually stitch without thinking, and end up having to do mucho frogging. So its best to stick with the way that works naturally for me.