Another progress pic

Grace is starting to look like an angel now. The wings are finished, and I really do like the effect of the beads, though the first person to see the wings finished commented that gold beads would have been a better choice. I'm still happy with the result - it is in keeping with the charted floss colours, and the wings have a lovely subtle glittery appearance.
My Dad is not well, and I have been spending quite a lot of time with him in hospital. He suffered a cardiac arrest and then developed aspiration pneumonia following a gastroscopy, and had a couple of days in Intensive Care Unit, but he is now back in the medical ward. He is very up and down - appears to be improving one day, then slips back the next. We (his children)have made the difficult decision to find him a bed in a nursing home when he is well enough to leave hospital. He has reluctantly agreed to this move, though he is certainly not enthusiastic about the prospect. It will be a difficult transition for him, and for us as well. I had no idea that finding and organising admission to a nursing home was such a complicated business - My sisters and I are on a steep learning curve here, but luckily there is a lot of guidance and support from the hospital team.

Progress pic - Angel of Grace

My Angel is growing very slowly, I'm afraid. So many choices about where to stitch, and as you can see I have bits started all over the place. But still no wings in sight . I will be making a start on stitching the wings tomorrow, just as soon as I decide whether or not to replace one or both of the darker stitches in the wings with beads. I keep vacillating between using beads and sticking with the floss as charted. I will probably go with the floss, but I think the beads would look lovely. Of course, I don't yet have any beads in the right shades, so I'll need to make a trip to my lns soon if I do go with the beads option. I'm certainly using floss for the white stitches, so I guess I could start with those, and defer the bead/floss decision till later if necessary.

My Angel is growing slowly

I am really enjoying stitching this Angel. I have always liked stitching L&L designs, and this is no exception. The picture really doesn't do it justice. I have made a few little changes. I dislike stitching with metallic thread, so I substituted some DMC floss and some Mill Hill beads for the metallics in the bodice and at the wrists. I also substituted Mill Hill beads instead of the charted cross stitches for the floral trim in the hair. She needs a few beads, as she will be hanging near the heavily-beaded L&L Angel of Love at Christmas. I was hoping to have that second sleeve finished by the end of today's stitching, but it just didn't happen. I am keen to get the sleeve finished so that I can start on her wing, because right now she really doesn't look particularly like an Angel.