Chiara's Bathtime Round Robin

For the past day or so, I've been painfully reminded of how much I love evenweave and linen. And this is the reason for it:

By the time I finished stitching Archie, I've developed an intense love-hate relationship with him, or more accurately, his shower cap, soap bar and bubbles. Check out the backstitches that are determined to defy, break and basically ignore all laws of aida! I swear, patterns like these should come with a warning: "Never attempt on aida" and NOT give aida as the suggested fabric! That aside, the backstitches does bring out the clarity of the whole design and give Archie a 3D look. Just to clarify, I did enjoy stitching him. How could I not? Look at him, so smug and satisfied in the tub. Seems like he's having the time of his life. I love the bright colours too. For those of you who're wondering, "Pamper Yourself" Archie can be found in the November 2005 issue of Britain's Cross Stitcher.

Anyway, this is a favour for Chiara whose "Bathtime" round robin was returned with an empty square. She had already chosen Archie for the square before I offered to fill it in for her and I thought I'd obligue with her decision. The mat and some bubbles were left out in order for it to fit the square. Now, some of you might have noticed that the B and E of the word Bathtime in the middle are missing. I have to confess, that was a complete mistake on my part. I did some big time miscounting before I started stitching and thought the letters would be in the way. I gained Chira's permission to frog them and then realised too late that it wasn't even necessary in the first place! Sorrie, Chiara. Well, I hope to have it in the mail sometime next week so you can have it back as soon as possible. It'd look fantastic hanging in your bathroom.