an enigmatic round-up

hey hey! so you’ve been following the clues and guessed your way through this years’ enigma! 🙂 some of you already know, some of you don’t.. well, the solution to the enigma was..

Frosty Forest by Country Cottage Needleworks!

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I want to take the time to thank everyone who posted comments, guessed, read, and followed the game in general. I’ve been looking at your activity from here and was so so pleased to see you around. thank you so much!

I got the feeling you found this enigma kind of challenging.. 😉 well, that was the plan! 😀 I’ll sum up the names of those who guessed correctly (which, apart from Heather, get +4 extra entries in the final drawing I’ll take later on today), if you want you can trace their comments – which have now been published in the respective posts. I’ve decided to explain every clue as well, many of you got misdirected by some (something I set up myself, although Heather didn’t fall into my trap 😀 ) and I thought you would like the answer to “what was she thinking when she wrote THAT??!“. this way you’ll read my mind more easily the next time! 😉

who solved this years’ enigma: well, we had a total of 20 commenters and 6 people who guessed correctly. of course Heather (who guessed first, and has already received her prize) is not in the draw so there’ll be 19 names in the bowl of destiny, some of them 5 times because they solved the enigma too. let’s see who they are. 🙂

1. Heather from It’s geek to me – guessed after the 1st clue
2. Irene from Ricamire – guessed after the 12th clue
3. Joanne from Serendipitous Stitching – guessed after the 13th clue
4. Jocondine from Jocondine – guessed after the 13th clue
5. Brenda from Time to Xstitch – guessed after the 15th clue
6. Anu from Le petit monde d’Anu – guessed after the 15th clue

congratulations, ladies! 🙂

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now onto the explanation to the clues, I’m sure many of you are waiting for this 😉

• 1st clue: the enigma piece.. could depict a scene from a successful animated film. – well, being this a forest that has been covered with snow and ice it could depict a scene from Frozen 😉

• 2nd clue: the enigma piece.. I’m stitching has tones that are not exactly the called for, so when you see it you might not recognise it at first glance, but not to worry – one thing always looks the same. – what always looks the same no matter what thread you’re using for it? snow! snow is always white! 🙂 and this design is insanely covered with snow!

• 3rd clue: the enigma piece.. shows many sides, but the place is the same. – of course the forest is the same, but it’s divided into scenes that show many sides of it, and squares that also have many sides.. 😉

• 4th clue: the enigma piece.. has many French-knotted eyes. – ’cause in the Forest there are woodland creatures and snowpeople, all looking at us

• 5th clue: picture of a blank, greyish linen. ok, not very helpful, I agree 😉

• 6th clue: the enigma piece.. will make me really happy, hanging on my wall – but not all year round. – by this we get it’s seasonal stitching, but which season? 😉

• 7th clue: the enigma piece.. is fairly good measured, especially on a higher count. – now, this was meant to add to the “many sides” and suggest you we’re not talking about a small/ornament. it’s something you want to stitch on a higher count in order to save wall-space (Frosty Forest’s total stitch count is 199 x 199)

• 8th clue: the enigma piece.. is in a way an enigma to us all. – now, this is when we hit big stuff! “is an enigma to us all” suggests it’s a mystery design that is currently being released – how many seasonal pieces are going on right now that have one distinctive colour? 😉

• 9th clue: this close up of FF’s second part, Snowy Deers

• 10th clue: the enigma piece.. repeats itself twice or more, depends on what you look at. – another big clue in my mind: FF repeats itself in many ways; there are two similar cottages and two cabins, 5 scenes showing woodland creatures/scenarios, all in all 9 squares with the same, repetitive stitch count and border 😉 also, by reading the single chart’s names you get the feeling of pairs (“repeats itself twice”): Snowman’s Cottage and Snowgirl’s Cottage, Snowy Deer and Snowy Reindeer, Raccoon Cabin and Bluebird Cabin, Snowy Friends and Snowy Foxes.

• 11th clue: the enigma piece.. was designed by what Italians call “figlio d’arte”. – this required a bit of googling but it was pretty easy to learn that “son/daughter of art” is someone who works in the same area as one of their parents, in this case Country Cottage Needleworks’ designer Nikki is the daughter of Diane of Little House Needleworks 🙂

• 12th clue: this close up of FF’s third part, Snowman’s Cottage

• 13th clue: the enigma piece.. has been here the entire time. – well, this is supposed to hit you really hard once you notice it! 🙂 in order to keep track of all my WIPs and SALs I decided to put icons on the right side of my blog, so that every time I feel like joining a new one I get a reminder of how many I still have going on. Frosty Forest is right there on the right, and “has been there the entire time” hahahaha!! 😀

• 14th clue: another close up of FF’s third part, Snowman’s Cottage

• 15th clue: this close up of FF’s first part, Raccoon Cabin showing a raccoon, and a cabin! 😉

Frosty Forest part 1, Raccoon Cabin

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I really hope you enjoyed the game, I promise I won’t raise the bar the next time (ok, Jo! 😀 ). I had a great time reading all your comments, I’ll have my sis pick a name from the bowl of destiny t0day and announce the winner of the other prize pack. good luck everybody! 🙂

you had troubles guessing the enigma piece? why didn’t you ask me?! 😀

have a nice day and many happy xxx,

chiara & BaBa