For another day I worked with the black thread, number 310, or as the French would say "Noire". Just in the right  mood for Halloween ;-)

Finished working with the black thread I had started using the last time. Concentrated on working more to the right of the gobelin. Here:

Worked in black - only the second thread colour I have used on this gobelin. Its looking more diverse already :-))

I started it!!! My first thread of choice was number 3021 (F.Y.I. I am only going to be working with DMC threads on this gobelin, so whenever I refer to a number - it is from their pallet). I really like how the gobelin began, hope you do too :-))

I put all 26 colours into their own envelopes (each colour has its own envelope) and that took the whole day!!! I did not think it will take that long, but it did - oh, well, c'est la vie ;-)

These are all the materials I bought for the new gobelin I shall be working on - it is a landscape of the Nativity Memorial Church near the town of Shipka (in Bulgarian: Храм-паметникът „Рождество Христово“, известен като Шипченски манастир). I hope you will join me in the journey ahead as I work towards this gobelin of immense beauty:

IT IS DONE!!! I HAVE FINISHED THE HORSE'S HEAD GOBELIN!!! 

All my worries about the last symbol's thread not being enough vanished; and I even have some left over now, after filling in all the required places. I am so happy it all worked out well in the end. That is why I decided (as I stated a few posts back) not to worry about anything to do with the gobelin until I reach that stage. I was right not to worry, as there evidently was nothing to worry about! I think I will now take that motto with me for life in general: not to worry about anything until I reach that stage ;-) 

What must still be done with this gobelin is for it to be washed and framed, which will happen in due course too, God willing. :-)

I would like to finish this post with Ralph Waldo Emerson saying "The reward of a thing well done is having done it."  - it certainly rings true in this case! ;-))

Worked to the right of the gobelin, I can see it and I hope you can too :-) There are still two symbols to work with on the gobelin, but I am working hard to getting it down to one and then to finishing the Horse's Head! ;-)

Another colour finished - now only two symbols remain in order for the gobelin to be finished. I worked in two areas (hence the two Small detail pictures). Hope you are enjoying the journey:

Regrettably, I could not finish with a certain colour today, so there are still three symbols' shades left on the Horse's Head. However, the gobelin is coming along so nicely. Here is what I did:

Another symbol - finished! I now only have three more until the whole gobelin is done. I am a bit worried about whether there will be enough thread, but I have decided not to think about that until it reaches that point. Fingers crossed I will have enough. So, for now, enjoy today's work:

Today I finished with another symbol. Now I only have four more symbols and then the gobelin will be done. All four symbols that are left are of colours that are a version (i.e. shade) of brown. So this is pretty much the last post with this gobelin where you have to really look in order to see the work that has been done :-) 

On a different note, I decided to fill in the one symbol that was left of the shade of gray with the white I was working with today, as I looked at the pattern and I realised that the three symbols around the one, that I was missing a thread for, were all this specific shade of white. So, I thought, it is going to blend in very well if I fill in that symbol with this white, even though it was meant to be grey. So problem/dilemma solved!!! :-))

Worked with white today, not that easy to spot, but I think the pictures do make it manageable to see the process:

Worked with a little bit of white today (image entitled smalldetail1), but more importantly I finished working with that lovely shade of grey. That came about for two reasons - firstly these are (nearly) all the symbols of this shade on the gobelin and secondly (and may I add more importantly and more annoyingly) I ran out of thread!!! I only have one symbol of this shade of grey to do, yet I do not have a thread for it. You can see that on the image (entitled smalldetail2). I now have to work on all the other symbols, fill them in, see what shade of grey I have left and try and use the one that is the closest match. Not ideal, but this will have to be the case. At least, when the gobelin is finished and I look at it I can always see if this is the one I created - as it will always have this quirky side to it that no one else's (who fully followed the pattern) will. As they say:

 When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!!!

Third day working with this favourite of mine shade of grey. Had lots of time today to spend on the gobelin, hope it shows:

Still working with the same shade of grey as yesterday, but since I have been busy today I only had half an hour to work on the gobelin. Still something is better than nothing, right :-)

I just love working with this shade of grey ;-) It is really easy to spot and it just has such a soft shine to it. It is so elegant - just LOVE it!!!

I did literally two symbols, then I remembered that today is the Nativity of the Theotokos (celebrating the birth of Mary) and it is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. So today I should not be working on the gobelin at all! Therefore, here is what was done today, before I remembered about the celebrations: 

Worked with two colours (white and brown) and I am sure you can see how much progress I made today:

Lots of work done, hence the late posting :-))

Today, I had more than an hour to work on the gobelin, so there is a lot to see:

I only had time to do literally three symbols and that was that for today. But progress is progress, regardless of how small and insignificant it may seem now, it all really does add up to the big picture and one can truly see it only when all is said and done!