fall is here, and it's prime time to settle in with a warm mug of tea, a pile of books, and some embroidery. say hello to 'book nook,' our october stitch club pattern!

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i've started mine with the light blue floss, and these small sprigs of leaves. satin [2 strands] for the leaves, and back [2 strands] for the stems.
for the steam rising above the mug, i also used the light blue, but i want these lines to be thin and delicate, so my back stitches here are a single strand. 

moving on to the tiny pink flowers:
when you look the pattern lines, these flowers are represented by five straight stitches arranged in a flower-like shape.
i started with a single straight stitch [2 strands] for each petal, as shown, and then i added two more straight stitches for each petal to fill in the flowers. (each petal is 3 straight stitches, side by side)

i'll fill in the centers a little bit later, once i decide on what color to make them.

next, it's time to stitch these books!
i'm beginning with a simple outline for each book, using back stitch [2 strands].

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ok, now i've finished the outlines of the books, and i've stitched a few elements on the spines:
for the red book on top, i used satin and back [2 strands] for the vine, and the same for the green book with the almond-shaped design on it.
for the little ferns along the spine of the bottom book, i used (appropriately) fern stitch [2 strands]. 

i also stitched the mug, using back stitch [2 strands] for the outline, and straight stitch [1 strand] for the checkered design on the mug.

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next up: i stitched the little mushrooms! 🍄🍄 i used satin stitch [2 strands] for the caps and stems, and colonial knots [2 strands] for the spots.

i also used colonial knots in the center of the small pink flowers [2 strands of the yellow floss] and outlined the moon phase and stars using back stitch [2 strands again].

i looooove the way this one is turning out, and i love all this #slowdowngetcozygetcrafty time!

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ok, now i'm stitching the large flower petals with satin stitch [2 strands].
i'm orienting the stitches horizontally across each petal because sometimes when satin stitches are too long, they don't stay as neat and flat. it takes a little more time this way, but i believe it's worth it.
good things take time. 💙

for these flower stems and leaves, i'm using some satin stitch (for the small leaves and the centers of the large leaves) and whipped back stitch for the outlines. 2 strands for everything. (so for whipped back stitch, that means 2 strands for the back stitch foundation row, and 2 strands for the whipping.)

and last, but not least, i've used colonial knots [2 strands] to fill in the centers of the large flowers. 
for the little pink sparkles, i used a single strand, colonial knots and straight stitches. (a colonial knot in the center, and then 4 little 'arms' coming out from the center. each arm is a straight stitch with a colonial knot at the end.):

she's all finished now! one of my new favorites. 💙