It's fall holidays for those of us in Berlin. Traditionally, German schools have a two week holiday in the fall and the Berlin schools have this week and next week. Our school year is 195 days spread out pretty evenly over the year. We only have 5 1/2 weeks in the summer (6 weeks for the students) but longer breaks throughout the year. It's taken me a while to get used to this calendar since I grew up and first taught  in Iowa where long, long summer vacations were the norm. However, these golden October days are so beautiful and it's really nice to have some time off at this special time of year.So what am I doing during my break? Well, a little fall house cleaning, going to doctors and dentists, cleaning the car, washing curtains and stitching a lot! It's wonderful to wake up and think about what I will work on each day. For the past 3 days all I've wanted to do is work on the Marriage Pillowe. I wanted to see the first 1/3 of the piece finished. And now it is!After the flower at the top was done, it was time to move on to the multicolored stem. It's all worked in stem stitch, using a single thread at the top and double thread at the bottom. The colors blend beautifully and the stem really pulled the whole large flower together.It takes some skill to make a smooth transition from the narrow stem to the thicker stem. I admit I had to take out a few stitches and begin again when I got the angle slightly wrong. It's still a bit sharper than I'd like and I might go back and fix it later by adding a few stitches in blue on the top edge...we'll see. It looks fabulous from afar. These close up shots show every, single imperfection in my stitching! A bit like the wrinkles on faces one sees on HDTV! I'm a BIG fan of the old days when things were a bit blurry and everyone and everything looked better.This is where the photos that are included in the kit, especially the one of the finished pillow, were invaluable. The photo of the finished pillow is of high enough resolution that it's possible to really zoom in and see how it looks down to the tiniest stitch.The final area to be worked was the little hillock at the bottom of the tree. It's all done in layered French knots of different colors. I just love the bumpy, uneven, rustic look the French knots give the hillock.This last photo I snapped just as I finished the left third of the piece. When I look at it I get a sense of the movement and shape of the flower and how it arches over the couple in the middle. Ahhh...how romantic!For any of you in the UK who are going to the Knitting and Stitching Show, take time to stop and see Phillipa at her stand, The Crewel Work Company. For those of us who can't be there, here's a message from Phillipa that she posted as a comment on the post "Marriage Pillowe: Laid Work" on September 21, 2011. I asked her if I could repost this part of the comment so all of you would have the opportunity to give her input about the book she wants to write and to let her know if you're interested in helping her as a test stitcher."I would like to ask your followers a question – do you want a general Crewel Work instructional book, a “coffee table” book of crewel work in castles etc. or a book of rarely seen historic stitches combined with the originals (there would be some kits to accompany them). You can guess the one which is closest to my heart!I need a couple of new kit testers who are novice stitchers. Anyone wanting to try out a kit before it is released then please come and see me at the K&S Show or email here. (sorry, UK only please).Bye for now,Px"This is your chance to give her feedback! Leave a comment with your wishes for a book and contact her if you want to be a test stitcher!