A stitch in time?

I have acquired yet another needlework obsession:
Embroidery.

I blame it all on Kat who planted the seed with her most adorable little tomte

I was recently reminded of those little elves (gnomes?) while browsing through Making mathematics with needlework. And began scouring the web for information.

Two library books, and several web sites later, I downloaded some clip art, got out my needles and floss and got to work:

His was my first piece, and boy can you ever tell. My stitching was awful and uneven.



my second attempt:
Getting better, much more even stitching, but I think I was pulling the stitches too tight, because I got a lot of holes. Also I didn't quite have curves and corners down yet.


third:
made yesterday.
Still need a lot of work, but I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out. my French knots started out horrible, but I finally got them down in the end.



Today were going into Watertown for supplies and I'll be stopping by jo-anns for more thread and a better hoop. Weeee