Sauntering Vaguely Downward

Someone chucked a load of bread into the canal near the pub, and the black-headed gulls got wind of it. They're a lot less noisy and aggressive than herring gulls, so we enjoyed watching them dipping and diving for choice morsels.

I bought this cross-stitch from Hobbycraft because I had a voucher to spend, and because I wanted to practise other types of stitching (back-stitching and lazy daisy) before trying my hand at the funkier bespoke designs off Etsy. The contrast between the rather mushy quality of the cross-stitch alone and the crispness after back-stitching is quite dramatic, as you can see below.

Front and back, cross-stitch only





Front and back, all stitching complete









There are 3 or 4 mistakes or "deviations from the pattern", but I don't think they're ruinous. I find the pink plastic hoop that came with the kit a bit naff, so I'll get a wooden one to finish it off. Question for fellow stitchers: Do you bother with doing anything other than trimming the cloth to the edge of the hoop? I've been leaving an inch or so and doing a running stitch to pull it tight at the back, but I have seen some very nice and more effortful finishes involving felt, which I'm tempted to do on the ones that will be gifted.

Next up: Behold, the field &c!