A stitchy giveaway

I think that we are all in need in a bit of cheer on a cold weekend so here at last is my long-promised giveaway.

As I told you it is one of a stitchy nature, just the thing to keep your shivering fingers busy as you sit by the fire warming your pot of gruel.

Those lovely people at Search Press sent me these three very pretty books before Christmas, and in all the flurry and bustle of seasonal excitement (not to mention the depths of my misery at having to take a sewing break) I forgot all about them until I did my little sort-out and tidy-up the other day and found them in my embroidery drawer.

As you will see from my pet stork, I have had a bit of a penchant for cross-stitch. I stitched his ball and chain on one very foggy holiday on the isle of Lundy, all the while convinced that I was rapidly losing my sight. It wasn't until I returned home that I realized that a higher than usual stitch count, not to mention a gloomy fogbound cottage and poor lighting were the cause of all my difficulties.

The books I am giving away are all very tempting. The first is the Liberty Book of Cross Stitch, which is a feast for the eyes.

There are a series of pattern and instructions for all sorts of items from home decor to baby to accessories, with a mixture of sewing and embroidery.

Then there is Jan Eaton's 1000 Cross-Stitch Motifs:

This is a wonderful cornucopia of charted designs on every subject that you could possibly need, with a whole range of individual motifs, as well as borders and pictures.

And last but not least there is a book from one of the doyennes of the cross-stitch world, Jane Greenoff, entitled 100 Cross-Stitch Patterns to Mix and Match.

This has a clever split-page format so that you can swap about and have two different pattern pages open at the same time. I think the range of different alphabets is particularly useful.

So there you have it - to spread the blessings further, I will pick three winners, rather than sending all three books to one person.

If you already have one of the books, or are only interested in one, then say so in your comment, but those who have no preference obviously have more chance of winning.

Being a Follower gives you your first entry in the draw, and if you put me on your blog sidebar or engage in any other social media promotion then you can get further entries - please do a separate comment to tell me about each of these as it makes it easier for me when I do the draw.

[And No-Reply Bloggers - please note! If you don't have your email address listed on your Blogger Profile page (just look at my Profile here to see what I mean - my email is on the top left under Contact Me, and you can make sure yours is by using the orange Edit Profile button on the top right of your Profile page), then you can't win because I can't email you. (If I have never replied to one of your comments, chances are you are a No-Reply Blogger). If you are not on Blogger, then please make sure you put your email address in your comment.]

I'll leave the giveaway open until early next week - I am wondering whether I can persuade one of the robins and blackbirds lurking on the table outside my window to do the draw this time. They are very keen on picking bits of food out of bowls - perhaps I could rub the comment slips with bacon fat . . .