So far I’m managing to keep up to date with my black-work stitch-a-long. It’s a free one by Peppermint Purple and a new block is released each Wednesday. It’s a few weeks since I posted about it so there’s enough of a change to share it. Last time was in the middle of February so just six weeks had been stitched …

As you can see I’m making mine into a picture rather than the colourways given, just to make life complicated!

We are now on week ten, so Catbells is growing. The blocks do vary a lot in complexity, so the one on the far right took a lot more concentration than the one next to it!

I’ve been pondering about whether I should outline Catbells to make it a little clearer, in the end I asked on the facebook group and the overwhelming opinion was to wait and see. I’m making a note of which threads I use for each block, so if I choose to outline it later it won’t be a huge issue.

I’ve also been trying to decide what thread to use as a surround and for the border which makes it square. I think I’ve come up with a possible selection, definitely for the sky. The surround I’m using is a bit like a basket-weave pattern and I’m thinking of using a Weeks over-dyed thread so it is subtly variegated. I ordered four different shades one of which is called sky and looks pretty perfect for the top of the surrounding stitching. I still haven’t decided whether to continue the line of the range of hills across to the border or whether to just use one colour…

I think I’ll start off with the blue and see how I feel about it when I’ve stitched a few rows. You never know, I might even have made a few decisions next time you see it!