Muffin the Mule

I have plenty of space for designing and one desk for paperwork…..

But the sewing is slowly creeping across the studio to cover this desk as well. It is no bad thing as I have discovered that a little cross stitching done whilst a file downloads or some printing is reeling off can make for quite a lot of progress by the end of the day. I just have to be careful not to get too carried away and forget to go back to the Excel spreadsheet!

I am rather pleased with my current work in progress. Not my own design but a vintage pattern of Muffin the Mule that I found in a favourite charity shop. At the time I didn’t buy him but having spent the evening regretting this decision I rushed back in the morning and thankfully he was still there, tucked away at the back of a large cardboard box.

The original pattern is dreadful, tiny black and white symbols that make one quite cross-eyed. A little time spent on the computer and I now have a lovely clear colour chart. It has also allowed me to get an idea of how the colours work – so a rather vibrant pink has now been toned down a little.

I am currently stitching Muffin on 12hpi waste canvas over a fine linen, a technique I much prefer to stitching on Aida as it offers an unlimited range of background options.

I have a lot of Photoshop scheduled for the coming week, so it may not be too long before Muffin emerges in his full glory.