Stitchy Twitch's Craft Cottage

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This is the ‘Frederick the Literate’ cross stitch kit from Dimensions.

I think this is by far the longest I’ve ever spent continuously on a single project in my five years of stitching. It took me just under nine months to complete, but even now I’m still learning new techniques.

Blending threads, extensive use of metallics and couching were all new to me in this project but I feel like they turned out pretty well.

Full progression video coming soon.

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This Yu-Gi-Oh inspired keyring is my first attempt at a pyrography project.

I made this for a friend from work who is a pretty big fan of the card game.

For a first try, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, even if the burn effect is a little inconsistent in places.

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This is the ‘Dictionary of Cakes’ kit from Bothy Threads.

Full progression video coming soon.

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This is the Toy Shelf Birth Record Kit from Dimensions.

Even after almost five years of cross stitching, this project gave me the chance to learn a couple of new techniques; these being cording (on the rocking horses reins) and lazy-daisy stitches (along the bottom of the design). 

I made this for a friend to celebrate the birth of her second child.

Full progression video coming soon.

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White Chocolate and Lemon Cookies

These are a very easy and delicious bake, with the lemon zest counteracting the chocolate chips nicely. Keep reading for the recipe.

Ingredients:

160g / 5oz unsalted butter

2 lemons, zested

85g / 2oz light muscovado sugar

85g / 2oz caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

400g / 13oz plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

200g / 7oz white chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160 for fan-assisted ovens)

Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until pale and fluffy.

Gradually beat in the eggs.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate bit by bit. Mix until fully blended after each addition.

Stir in the chocolate chips and mix until the dough comes together.

Roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls and flatten slightly. The mixture should make about twenty biscuits. Space them evenly on a baking tray, leaving room for them to spread out.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden. If possible, I highly recommend baking all the biscuits on the same shelf in the oven.

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This is the Hobbycraft-exclusive design: ‘All You Need’.

This was my first attempt at framing a project in a hoop, as well as covering and signing the reverse side. It certainly wasn’t perfect but I think, for a first try that I was playing completely by ear, it looks quite good.

I currently have no recipient in mind for this project.

[stitchytwitch]

This is the ‘Inspirational Poster’ design from The World of Cross Stitching Issue 242. 

I made this for an ex-colleague who went into business for herself after the shop we both worked at closed down. I thought this would be a great message to give to someone taking such a big jump. Thankfully, being self-employed has worked out well for her.

Full progression video coming soon.

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This is the Tiger of the Heavens kit from Design Works Crafts Inc.

I’d been looking forward to this project for a long time, and it didn’t disappoint, although making black stitches on navy blue aida certainly presented a new challenge. 

This is one of the few projects that I haven’t given to someone else yet.

Full progression video coming soon.

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Togepi, the Spike Ball Pokémon.

This was definitely the trickiest felting project I’ve done, but I was very pleased with the result.

Full credit for the crochet Poké Ball goes to Erin of Here Be Dragons. Check out more of her amazing crochet work here.

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Oddish, the Weed Pokémon.

I crafted this guy from a polystyrene ball and wool roving. He was a lot of fun to put together.

Full credit for the crochet Poké Ball goes to Erin of Here Be Dragons. Check out more of her amazing crochet crafts here.

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Jigglypuff.

This little critter was crafted from a polystyrene ball and wool roving.

Full credit for the crochet Poke Ball goes to Erin of Here Be Dragons. Check out more of her work here.

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This is the Baby Birth Record Express kit from dimensions.

I made this for a long-time friend who just gave birth to a baby boy earlier this year. As with most birth samplers, I did include the baby’s birth details on the finished piece, I just chose to leave them off this photo selection.

My friend told me that she almost cried when she saw it. Reactions like that are why I love cross stitching for other people so much.

Full progression video coming soon.

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Silver and Stone Jewellery is a business owned by Helen Drye.

She was kind enough to allow me to take some extra photos of her workshop to share here.

I thoroughly enjoyed her course and can’t wait to go back and try another one day soon.

If you have every thought about giving jewellery making a try, I can’t recommend Helen’s services enough.

You can check out her courses and products at www.silver-stonejewellery.co.uk or take a look at her Facebook page, Silver and Stone.

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Recently, I took a silver jewellery making course at Silver and Stone Jewellery near York.

I had a blast on the course and took a few photos to document the process.

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This is the ‘Caffeine Fix’ design from The World of Cross Stitching Issue 225.

I made this one for my supervisor at work.

Full progression video coming soon.

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Avengers Coasters

Many thanks to Stephan Black for the individual Avengers patterns.

Check out more of his great work at caycowa.deviantart.com

The Avengers logo pattern used for the reverse side came from Google.

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This is the Christmas Puppy design from The World of Cross Stitching Issue 209.

I’ve wanted to make this since I first saw it and finally did for my stepmum’s Christmas present.

Full progression video coming soon.