Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2023

 Welcome, and happy Halloween! I haven't been able to do as much blogging this year, but I always enjoy participating in Jo's blog hops. 

I did get a little stitching done. Rosewood Manor's Blackbirds on a Pumpkin, which I started a couple of years ago, finished up quickly (I only had two colors left to do):

I stitched two designs from XStitch the Rainbow's Autumn Garden collaboration, Ardith Design's Autumn Floral Urn:

and Bendy Stitchy Designs' Autumn Colors (my favorite):

But the stitching I'm most excited about is the first two of Wild Violet's Primitive Tarot trio:

 I think I might push myself to stitch the third before I get started on any Christmas ornaments. I guess I did more stitching than I realized!

In any event, you are all here for a letter:

(It's an I, and part of my ongoing alphabet series; in my head, the letter I is white.)

You're also here for the link to the next blog, which is Jeremiah's Mom. Happy hopping!

Sparkling Leaves

 I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but they were fun to stitch.

They were stitched on wool-blend felt with Gloriana silk threads and size 8 seed beads.

Book Round-Up

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien: I'm working my way through the metafiction canon. This was a bonkers satire of Irish folklore, literature, and culture; it includes three beginnings, three endings, constant digressions and asides, and most amusingly, an author put on trial by his characters. It's not the easiest read but it was fun. Someday I'll be ready to tackle Ulysses!

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: Like The Plot, but with fewer murders and more wokeness. It's a brutal satire of publishing, book culture, and racism, and Kuang threaded the needle perfectly with a protagonist who is by turns sympathetic, frustrating, and monstrous. I loved it.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs: This was loads of fun -- a novel take (har har) on the creation and use of magic books, along with some family drama and long-buried secrets. I found the writing style to be a little melodramatic, but I stopped caring a few chapters in. I look forward to Törzs' next book.