Thumbs resting

I have been on a wild crafting tear these last several days.  Well into cross-stitching (or rather, blackwork but with color), my left thumb started aching, and now both my thumbs are begging for mercy.  So instead of crafting tonight, I will write a post and show all the reasons that my thumbs hurt.  

I found this pattern on Etsy (Rainbow Blackwork) and stitched it up over the last several weeks.  It called for a single strand of thread, but for each color, I chose two colors that were pretty close together for a slightly deeper color. 

Boy it was a lot of work, but I love how it came out.  Found a frame for it (11x17) and am trying to figure out how to mount it - if I were starting over, I'd leave more space around the bottom and left sides.  

This next one is a Norby hat made from a handspun from TDF last year. 

And speaking of the TDF, here is a lot of spinning that I mostly did before the Tour and then a tiny bit I did on the second to last night of it.  Whoops.  
 

And finally, here is some of the color selection that will become The Lion, a gift for my brother.  Not as spectacular is the Abstraction version, but I don't think he needs five feet of lion in his house.  This as a wallhanging will be more his speed.  

English Paper Piecing is almost certainly addictive, and there is a little niggling piece of me that has latched onto the idea that one could make one's own patterns pretty easily, were one so inclined.  The prep work is a lot, which I think is part of what my thumbs are so pissed off about.  I had to order most of the yellows and a couple grays, so this is not all ready to go yet, but I stitched a few pieces together last night, and yes, this will be good.  

Happy crafting!