Good Stitching Day

 It may not look like it, but I had a very good stitching day.

I'm working on the big stem on my crewel project for my online class with Sara Rickards. There's a row of raised chain down the middle, and then rows of chain stitch shading from light to dark on either side.

I've done rows of chain stitch as a filling before, but never had to fit things in around a raised chain, so I'm having to work very slowly and carefully. With a sharp needle, so even more slowly and carefully. I've left enough DNA in other projects for a future textile researcher to figure out my identity--I don't need to leave any more.

I think that now I'm going to switch over to Barbara Jackson's ornament. I did all the Queen stitches for the tree last night, so I think now I'll start on the little people standing on either side of it. Or I may go to bed early--I'm still trying to adjust to the time change and I've been yawning for the last hour.

Ever since the sun went down, as a matter of fact.

Oh, Christmas Tree

 Short post today--here's the beginning of the tree on Barbara Jackson's Spirit of Christmas ornament.

Meanwhile, I am glued to the TV and the election results. I try to keep politics out of my blog, but I have to say how very proud I am of North Carolina--and South Carolina!--today.

No Surprise Here

 I started Barbara Jackson's Spirit of Christmas.

This should not be any surprise to anyone since I almost always start Barbara's annual Christmas ornaments as soon as the mail carrier drops them in the mailbox.

Even better, I think I have all the lettering done, right from the start.

I would love to continue stitching tonight, but I have physical therapy tomorrow for my arthritic knees. I need to rest up before I am put through my paces.

My very wobbly paces . . . 

Jumpstart!

 Well, if today's mail doesn't jumpstart the stitching mojo, it can't be revived!

On the left, we have Barbara Jackson's 2026 Christmas ornament from Shining Needle Society. I've been stitching Barbara's ornaments ever since she started doing them through SNS, plus I have some others that I bought from the late, great Haus Tirol in Williamsburg. Basically, I could say Barbara decorates my tree every Christmas.

And, on the right, I have the materials pack from Clara Warschauer for the Pomegranate class she is teaching through Ecclesiastical Stitching in early December. This will be my first Clara class, and I'm really looking forward to it--I have heard so many good things about her.

So my Christmas season has started. I think I may pull out the Muppets Christmas Carol DVD, or maybe White Christmas, or A Christmas Story.

Dearly Beloved is just sitting here, shaking his head.

(Today is his Natal Anniversary. If you've been reading me for awhile, you know he doesn't like having his birthday celebrated whereas I think birthdays deserve much rejoicing. How we've stayed married for 50 years is a mystery.)

True Confession Time

I have confessions to make.

I'm taking another really wonderful class from Sara Rickards of Deep Dive class fame. I am way, way, way behind. Like we've had five classes thus far. And I haven't done anything.

This morning I watched the tape for the first class and started working on the very first part of the project.

It took a minute for the stitch to sink into my brain--like I had to watch the tape for that part about three times to reach the Ah-HA! moment--but I think I can get it done now.

The second confession:

This is all that I've managed to stitch on the Stitcher's Pocket since I last posted.

I am SOOOOOOO close to a finish on stitching the design. I mean, I just have to fill in these two patterns and do the part that will become the flap for the pocket and it will be ready for a Final Finish.

Third confession:

The ironing board has been sitting in the corner for three months now, with a project ready for pressing and sewing together all spread out on it. Nothing has been pressed or sewn.

Fourth and Final Confession:

If I would stay away from Instagram and Flosstubes, seeing what other people are doing instead of doing things myself, I would likely have more accomplished.

However, it's a new month. And nothing says you have to wait for New Year's to make plans for a change. And it's November, when, in the olden days of blogging, you were supposed to blog every day. So let's see where we're going from here.

The Fall Funk

I'm getting ready to vent. You may want to skip this post.

Yes, I have been absent again, for even longer this time.

This is a stitching blog. If I don't stitch, I have nothing to blog about.

I did not thread a needle for a solid week.

Not one stitch was stitched.

I'm in my Fall Funk. 

Flosstubes and Facebook posts and Instagram pictures are full of lovely projects stitched in Fall colors or celebrating Halloween. It seems like three out of three stitchers say that Fall is their favorite season. They love the oranges and browns and golds of this time of year.

Okay, I'm very happy that the weather is cooler and the humidity level is much, much lower. That's it.

Fall means that the days are getting shorter and shorter, and the weather is going to get colder and colder. Neither of those things make me happier. Of all the colors in the palette, orange and brown are my least favorites. There, I said it. I don't like Fall colors. I prefer the soft greens and pastels of the Spring, the vivid colors of Summer. I even find the stark grays and blues and black of Winter attractive (plus once the Winter Solstice passes, the days start getting longer, thus more daylight).

And I am not into Halloween. I love Christmas and Easter and the Fourth of July. I do not love Halloween. I do enjoy ghost stories, but Halloween now seems to be more horror-oriented than haunted.

The only way for me to get out of any funk is to stitch. So I finally hitched up the Granny panties and pulled out Jackie's Stitcher's Pocket and made some forward progress.

I want to get this finished--there isn't much left to stitch--and I want to work on Kate Barlow's Heartsease and sew the petals on Zina's Elizabethan Rose and catch up with my Sara Rickard crewel class.

And then we'll see where I go from there.

Out of the Fall Funk.

May I Present

A Carter is done!

I am very happy with how she turned out. I love the colors and the motifs (even the bugs) and I especially adore the two little ladies with their hands on their hips and their umbrellas by their sides.

I will admit  that I had to force myself to finish that last dancing crab urn, but I had two Zoom stitch-ins yesterday, and that gave me dedicated stitching time.

So today I'm going to decide what other trouble I can get into. I have options.

Which leads me to something else. Tara of Sully Stitches on Flosstube has started doing a Stitch Roulette. Basically, she picked 25 projects from her stash, plopped them into manila envelopes, and stuck a number from 1 to 25 on the outside of each envelope. She mixed things up so she would have no idea what was in each bag. On Sundays, she pulls a. number from her Roulette tray, and that's the project she starts that week. She isn't limiting herself to working on just that one project--but every week there's a new start.

And now Brenda and Laura of Brenda and the Serial Starter are pulling out projects for their Stitch Roulettes for 2027. They showed piles of potential projects. They're mixing it up a little; I think Brenda is putting in some things she has already started.

I admit, I thought about it. I'm still thinking about it. I'm thinking I get into enough trouble starting things without a program. 

But I'm still thinking.

Definitely a Rose

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw a crab in the urn on A. Carter! Thank you for your comments!

However, the next motif is most definitely a rose:

 And I am on the home stretch! One more butterfly, four little flowers along the bottom, and a second crab urn and this can go in the Finished column!

However, please notice that there is yet another bug that apparently escaped the top panel of the sampler and is heading toward the rose. Dearly Beloved has declared that it is an aphid, and he should know. At one point, he was growing roses and was on a daily mission to eradicate aphids from the natural world.  It was a battle to the death. Literally. When I say that the man was in a homicidal--or should that be a bugicidal--rage, I am not exaggerating. 

I will say that the roses were finally healthy and aphid-free.

Long Time, No See

 I realized last night that we're a third of the way through October and I haven't blogged at all. There are reasons.

Unfortunately, the big one is that Mother has been in the hospital. As usual, The Saint has been doing all the heavy lifting, but we're hoping she will be released back to The Home today--depending on today's lab results. She is two months away from her 99th birthday, so each day is a gift.

And I had both Covid and flu shots in the same arm on the same day. I understand this year's flu shot for those of us over 65 is a little more powerful because this year's strain of flu is more virulent. All I know is that for the first time in several years, I was foggy for a couple of days afterwards.

Then, apparently A. Carter turned me into a monogamous stitcher. I think I mentioned before that I was thinking about working the side borders down to the next big chunk of grass, then stitching grass, then doing the bottom border. I did that, but didn't feel like any of it merited a blog post since stitching big swaths of grass is about as boring as, well, watching grass grow.

Finally I got past all that and now have the first big urn on the bottom finished.

I've been trying to figure out what that figure on the base of the urn could possibly be. My first thought was a crab.

The design kept nagging at me until I remembered that one of my great-aunts had a tea set with a rose pattern in gold. If you kind of squint at it, you could "see" a rose with leaves coming out the top and one side and a stem at the bottom.

Or you can squint and see a crab.

Happy Colors!

 I've finished the next section of A. Carter, and I am officially halfway through.

And, oh, the colors! They are so happy--and really pop! against the darker background.

I'm thinking about finishing the side borders, then stitching the six rows of green across the bottom of the sampler. This is REALLY eating one's veggies before getting to dessert, since the bottom panel of the sampler has two giant urns with equally large flowers, plus a beautiful rose in the center. Those would be so much fun to end the sampler with, as opposed to stitch after stitch of green, green, green.

I'm not so crazy about block stitching.

Can you tell?

Faux Fall

Mother Nature is pulling her usual tricks on us here in the Sunny South. We've had chilly weather--lows in the upper 40's for a couple of nights--and Mother packed away the humidity. Temporarily. It's going to reach the high 80's by the end of next week.

Thus, we have not turned the heat on, and the house has been a little chilly, especially overnight.

Last night, I made sure to have a blanket on the bed and pulled the comforter up as well. I thought this would be sufficient.

Have you ever had the experience where you're just uncomfortable enough to be unable to sleep, but too comfortable to get up and do anything about it?

I needed another blanket. The blankets are in a closet that isn't 10 feet from the bed. But, I thought, Dearly Beloved will be coming to bed eventually, and I can get him to pull another blanket down off the upper shelf.

What you need to know is that Dearly Beloved is a night owl. He doesn't come to bed until sometime between 1 and 2, and that's A.M. So I tossed and turned and shivered until he finally wandered upstairs and I could request the blanket. Yes, I could have gotten up, but, like I said, I was just comfortable enough to avoid it.

And while I'm on the subject of Fall, The Great British Baking Show is back.

Let me say that I absolutely adore this program. It is one of the very few that I don't stitch during.

But I do not like Nigella. She spends too much time criticizing and not enough encouraging, and all in a quite condescending tone of voice. And she just never shuts up. I will continue to watch, and I will hold onto the hope that she will get over herself by the end of the season.

I can always mute her.

But this is a stitching blog, so here is the small amount of stitching I've been able to do in the past week. It's just pitiful, but at least I did a little in the last couple of days.

I love the little lady with her hands on her hips and her furled umbrella. I like the urn and the birds perched on top of the flowers growing out of it. And the house is small and the pattern is easy to stitch. Why I haven't stitched very much this week is a mystery to me, because this is quite an enjoyable sampler.

I do have to say that I'm not quite sure why the lady has red eyes, but maybe she's suffering from seasonal allergies.

It is Fall, after all.

BO-RRRRRRRING

Oh, Lord, grass is boring to stitch!

I decided that it might be a good idea to have something to stitch on during our EGA Region's stitch-in that I didn't have to count or think about too much since the conversations tend to get lively. So I got the scaffolding of the house set up and the bare bones of the borders set in and started stitching grass.

I'm still stitching grass.

There's only so much grass you can plant in two hours, apparently.

So I'm going to find something binge-worthy on TV and try to finish the lawn today.

And also, I'm going to ignore the six rows of grass at the bottom of the sampler until later.

Before I turn the scroll bars

 I finished the top fourth of A. Carter last night.

I'm in a bit of a stitching slump at the moment, as in everything I've touched on my more complicated projects has been a problem. So, I've decided to stay with plain old cross stitch until my brain and fingers re-engage. It really helps that this is a very pretty little sampler.

One of my stitching buddies calls the small projects she works on between the ginormous things she usually tackles "palate cleansers."

So, like a lovely sorbet between courses, I'm going to work on the next section of A. Carter until I'm ready for more intense things.

Margriet Hogue

Margriet Hogue left us yesterday.

I have been stitching Margriet's reproduction samplers for about thirty years. I've been lucky enough to take classes from her, the first with the Carolina Sampler Guild decades ago, followed by sessions at Jeannine's Sampler Symposiums and events at Winterthur.

Her designs have challenged me, sometimes frustrated me, and always increased my skills, as well as deepening my fascination with Tudor and Stewart needlework.

It was always a joy to see a new pattern appear on her website. While I know that time has ended, I will treasure the projects I have stitched and have yet to do. 

I will miss her. 

A Little Buggy

 The last few days have flown by and my days have been a little discombobulated.

Thursday was one of those days when no stitching was accomplished. This domestic diva stuff is necessary but not as enjoyable as being a Stitching Fool.

Friday. I had my first class with Sara Rickards and her Sunburst crewel design. I would show you pictures of what I did in class if I hadn't ripped every stitch out afterwards. Don't ask--I didn't sleep well the night before and could not seem to make any two stitches the same size or shape nor could I follow directions. My plan is to review the taped instructions tomorrow morning and redo what I should have been able to just whip out.

Then yesterday, the Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild had a class with Jackie du Plessis, which I, of course, took via Zoom. Jackie reproduced a Berlin woodwork sampler, and the wool thread she put in the kit is absolutely luscious! Once I get the linen on the scroll frame and do a stitch or two, I'll show and tell.

I do wish Jackie hadn't said something along the lines of doing a motif an evening . . . which would mean I could finish this in a month . . . famous last words.

Which leads me to something else: If I'm in and out of the blog for a bit, I have a piece that I need to start working on which I cannot share for awhile. It's going to take some time to stitch, and that's all I can say.

Anyway, I have been doing some stitching in the evening on A. Carter 1833.

I think this child was a budding entomologist. She (or possibly he?) stitched bugs all over the place.

Butterflies I'm all down with, but what's with the beetles? They're not even ladybugs, just little brown beetles.

Crawling everywhere on the top of this sampler.

I guess it's better to see beetles stitched on a sampler than have real-life beetles wandering around the house, but still . . . 

Yuck!

Just like Christmas

 When the mail arrived yesterday, it was just like Christmas around here. I almost decided to pull out the tree so I could put the packages under it.

I got three--three!!!--sampler kits I had ordered. I'll show you the others later this week.

First of all,  A. Carter from The Scarlett House. I saw this on a shop site in the last week or so. I told myself I absolutely was not going to add another sampler kit to the stash. I was not, no way, not gonna happen.

I did. I couldn't remember where I had seen the sampler, but when you dream about stitching something, you just about have to order it. 123 Stitch had it, and they ship very quickly.

And then I sewed the linen to scroll bars and started it last night. What can I say? I am weak in the face of temptation.

It is possible that I need an intervention.

Dilemma

I finished the flower on Spot that I've been laboring over on Labor Day.

So then it was time to work on something else.

And herein lies the dilemma.

I want to do All the Things. And I want to Finish All the Things. And therefore, I spent most of the day picking things up and putting them down and moving things from one stack to another and back again.

Schedules and plans and rotations don't work for me. Neither does the carrot-and-the-stick method, like if I finish two projects, I can start a new one.

I may just write down the names of this pile of projects on little slips of paper, put them in a basket, and get Dearly Beloved to pull one, and I'll just work on that for today. At least I'll be making progress on something!

The Wall

 That's what I hit at about 8 p.m. last night.

I could not force myself to put a single, solitary stitch in this flower at that point.

Granted, I had been working on it all day. And there are 1,296 stitches per square inch.

Just writing that made me weak in the knees.

Anyway, I was planning to work on Heartsease today and maybe later do a few more stitches in the stem, but Lucy Worsley's "Queens and Kings" book arrived on the doorstep and I may have to fall into British history instead.

Striped Flower

 I was so close to getting this flower bud(?) stitched before I went to bed, but eyes and hands decided to stop working at about the same time. So, I'll finish that part today.

I'd like to say I would get the leaves and stems finished as well, but that's a lot of teeny tent stitches over one, and I think I would be overly optimistic.

And, speaking of being overly optimistic, I saw this project finished on Cathy's blog and knew I had to have it. Pdf from Lucy Beam was in my hot little hands before you could say "Lucy Beam."

I should probably substitute "Needlework" for Cross Stitch since I fall down a lot of stitching rabbit holes, but this may suffice.

Sampler September

It has occurred to me that this is Sampler September and I have yet to stitch on a sampler. I have also been remiss in keeping up with Sampler Sundays. This must be corrected!

So yesterday I pulled Spot out of her pillowcase and started a new motif:

 Because I had green in my needle after doing all the outlining, I just kept on stitching some of the sections that also use that shade. I think, though, that I may work on the flower today and save the green fill-in for the counted thread Special Interest Group (aka SIG) that EGA sponsors on Sunday.

Or maybe I'll work on Heartsease today.

Or maybe I'll go back to bed for awhile. I woke up after about five hours of sleep and couldn't get settled again, so I just got up. I'm drowsy now, so maybe I can get the rest of a good night's sleep accomplished. On only five hours, I'm not safe to be around.

Spoiler!

 If you order the Frostings boxes from Tricia Nguyen at Thistle Threads and want to be surprised, go no further.

If you want to see what's in there, here it is:

The new colors in the range were introduced in the last Frostings box. This one has those colors in other types of thread.

And there are metal threads and trims of all sorts and tiny little metal bits and pieces that can be added to your embroidery--some were used on the last Christmas Tree ornament project that is a free download on the Thistle Threads site.

So, I'm going to play with threads today.

Over one?

 Remember when I said I didn't want to start either of the projects I pulled out of the stash because of all the over-one stitching?

I think that may have been just yesterday.

And this is what I ended up doing:

These are the bits that will make up the waxer pocket on Betsy Morgan's This Ones for Betty. Do you see the motif on the right? 

That pretty, delicate, little design with the hearts and leaves?

Over one.

And I stayed up hours past my bedtime to finish it, so today I feel like I have been hit by a truck which then backed up and ran over me again.

I don't think I will work on Heartsease today. Actually, I may go back to bed. 

From the Vault

 I decided to rummage around in the stash for a bit. That always seems to jump start a recovery from a stitching slump. It also meant that I could rearrange a couple of bins so I would have all my linen in one place instead of stowed into whatever bin had room. That way lies madness when you want to kit something up.

So anyway, I found a small pile of projects that sort of tickled my fancy.

Well, this has been aging quite nicely for decades. I don't remember how or when or where I acquired this kit--it may have been in the boutique for Christmas in Williamsburg in the classic days when the Hoffmans were still running things.

So, I pulled it out. And I decided to glance at the directions. 

It's beautiful and I want to stitch it, but all those intricate details are worked in cross stitch over one.

Maybe later.

Then I found this:

Again, aging for decades but one of those projects that makes my heart sing.

Also cross stitch over one with fully filled in backgrounds. Not what I'm in the mood for.

And, close to my heart, a couple of Barbara Jackson projects:

Usually I jump right on Barbara's designs, but these arrived in the months after I finished RST 1779. It was totally Queen stitch, and I swore I would not touch a project with Queen stitch in it until I recovered. I think I've recovered and can manage the few Queens in either of these projects. I also have Barbara's scissors stand to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country, so any or all of these projects could go on the stand.

However, in the middle of the night, I thought about Heartsease, and I thought about Betsy Morgan's "This One's for Betty" and I decided to stick a needle in one or both of those when I sit down to stitch later today.

I've also decided I need to pay attention to my Three-Day Rule. I have found that my attention starts to lag after three days of focused work on any project. At one time, I thought I should just move to something else after three days. Eventually, I do go back to everything I start (even though it may take years to do so), so that may be the best way forward.

So, All That Glitters is going to wait a bit for a finish.

I think we'll all be much happier.

September Slump

 I've hit a stitching slump.

This is the extent of my stitching since last I wrote.

Phooey.

I've made lists of things I want to stitch and things I need to stitch and rearranged some of my storage bins (mainly to get all my linen bits and pieces in one place so I can find them when I want to kit something), and nothing has helped. Even the thought of starting a new sampler for Sampler September hasn't shaken me out of the malaise.

It will pass, it always does.

And I know the cure.

It's to stitch on something--anything--and that will jump start the mojo.

So I will.

The Blues

 I'm back to the blue motifs on All That Glitters.

I got this much stitched during the Tudor Rose stitch-in last night. It was a lovely groups--lots of enabling and eye candy as we saw what everyone was working on.

There was some discussion of Sampler September. People were talking about whether they planned to start something new or work on something old. One of the participants said she was planning to pull out all her started samplers and put at least a thread or two in one of them every day in September--or decide if they no longer appeal and can be set aside permanently.

Meanwhile, I've wasted spent a lot of time thinking about scheduling my stitching projects and getting some older UFOs into WIP status, and some WIPs into FFOs. I even set up a calendar with each prospective project assigned specific days.

We all know that's not how I roll.

So . . . I'm still going to try to get a couple of UFOs into WIP status, and a couple of WIPs FFO'd but I'm not going to schedule them. I'm just going to stitch. And avoid wasting time doom scrolling and playing games on my phone. That alone should add literally hours to my stitching time!

Does this look familiar?

 I haven't had much brain this week, so I have poked at All That Glitters since it practically stitches itself without a lot of counting or thinking. 

The thinking will come when it's time to assemble it. As always.

Anyway, here it is at the moment:

I think I'm about at the halfway point, maybe a little further. I still love the way it looks, and I'm enjoying the stitch. There are times when repetition is soothing and needful.

***

I have to say something about the passing of Miss Dolly. There are some people in this world who just make it better by their existence. I miss knowing that she's here. I miss her wit and her wisdom, and the fact that she was proud of where she came from. People tend to underestimate the Appalachians and the South in general and stereotype us as ignorant, narrow-minded, Confederate-flag-waving jackasses. Miss Dolly, like Jimmy Carter, showed the world our empathy and generosity.

And then Tim Curry, whose acting range was so vast and, many times, under appreciated. I wish I had seen his portrayal of Mozart in Amadeus on Broadway. And his two-episode arc on Criminal Minds creeped me out so much that I had to stop watching the show for awhile.

***

And now for the petty aggravations of the week, also known as being nibbled to death by ducks. For the second time this month, USPS says they delivered a package which they had not. The first time the missing package appeared. This second time, it has not. I am more than aggravated.

Then the TV remote went kaput. I did everything YouTube and google said to do to revive it to no avail. Amazon came through and we received a new remote overnight. Dearly Beloved said it works. I've been afraid to try it.

And, finally, remind me that two elderly people should not eat dinner later than usual and include Brussels sprouts in the menu. No further comments are necessary.

May I Present

 Miss Sarah Ann Purdy 1844 is finished!

I really enjoyed stitching this one, loved the little motifs and wasn't driven completely crazy doing the border. Borders are generally where I bog down in schoolgirl samplers.

Now I need to decide what to focus on next. 

 I think I'm going to pick up Heartsease, the online class I took last weekend, or finally finish the Elizabethan Rose project from Zina Kazban. And I think I'm going to pull All That Glitters out of the pillowcase.

I've also been thinking about working on the more complicated or challenging things in the morning when both hands and eyes are fresher. My counted thread pieces could be my late afternoon and evening projects. Hopefully I won't burn out on my projects as quickly as I generally do if I alternate.

I had a friend who was an incredibly prolific stitcher.  She assigned each of her current projects to one day a week and that was it. She always made sure to set up for the next day's stitching before she stopped for the evening. I tried her method for a couple of weeks, but I felt too scattered--just when I got in the groove, it was time to stop and set up for the next day.

I still think I work best when I have a bunch of things going. It's just trying to decide which bunch of things to do that's the problem.

If this is the worst problem I have, I'm doing well.

One blossom short

 I thought I would get the big pot on Sarah Ann Purdy stitched today, but I'm one bloom short of a bouquet.

I may rest my eyes (and hands) for a few and make a valiant effort to get the other one done before I go to bed tonight, but I'm making no promises. 

I'd love to do it because then I have only the two doggies and the two urns and this will go in the Finish Pile and I can pull All That Glitters out again.

But meanwhile . . . 

Last night I was enjoying the conversation and enabling during a Zoom stitch-in, when one of the participants reported that a neighbor in her condo development was worried about her because all she did was "sit on her a** and stitch all day."

Excuse me?

And what's wrong with that?

Quite frankly, I spent decades of my work life sitting on my a** and staring at a computer screen and no one commented on that. I remember longing for the days when I could sit on my a** and stitch all day. I found the neighbor's comment quite offensive. 

Harrumph!!!

Twin Pines

It took all day to get two simple motifs stitched.

Actually, it probably didn't take all day, but they were so boring to stitch that I had to stop and do other things to avoid nodding off.

These same trees show up on a lot of schoolgirl samplers. It occurred to me to try to find out if there was a particular area or school that used them, so I spent some time gazing at the Wall of Needlework Books in the stash room. I thought I had a book on sampler motifs, but I couldn't find it. Actually, this is not the first needlework book that has gone missing since we moved. I know I packed all my needlework books. It is possible that either one box never made it onto the truck, or didn't make it off.

But the search continues.

A Leaf and a Letter (or two)

I took a wonderful class from Kate Barlow this past weekend.

As usual, I didn't get much stitching done in class. Actually, I got the prep work finished and half a leaf, then I finished the leaf yesterday.

 Kate said that it would be possible to finish the whole design in a week.

Not for me.

The older I get the slower I stitch, and most of this is worked with a couple of strands of filament silk that are each about the size of a hair.  If you have very fine hair . . . so you may be seeing this on the blog for awhile.

However, in the evenings, I did a little more on Sarah Ann Purdy. Her border is finished and I've stitched part of the attribution.

As soon as I get the rest of the lettering done, I can go back to the fun stuff in the middle. I have a couple of trees, two more urns, a big flower arrangement in the middle, and a pair of dogs.

There may be more to do than I thought. Hmmmmmm . . . .

It Matched!

The border connected and it matched! 

It took me way longer to stitch this last bit of the border than I anticipated, but it met up and I didn't have to do any compensation. So now I can do the strawberries without fear of the Frog.

But it's going to have to wait for the next several days since I am taking a class online from Kate Barlow. It starts at 9 tomorrow morning, which means I have to be out of bed, dressed, and ready to thread a needle at the time I'm usually staggering out of bed.

Obviously, my whole schedule shifted later when I retired.

Taking sides

 I stitched the border down both sides of Sarah Ann Purdy yesterday.

I have a dreadful feeling that I am one stitch off on one side or the other.

At this point, I have determined the best course of action is to add or subtract a stitch to make it work somehow because I am absolutely not going to frog a border for one stitch.

And because the alternative is to have a bonfire.

Catching Up

 I have had difficulty wresting the laptop from Dearly Beloved this week, plus I have been unusually busy, so today is catch-up day.

First of all, I've had my last class on needlelace this past Wednesday. I have two big problems--my tension, as mentioned earlier, and my spacing, because I cannot estimate what 3 millimeters actually looks like. So, after another series of drunken spiderwebs, I have set up another piece of fabric, stitched more little blocks, and drawn lines within each one that are exactly 3 millimeters apart. And I'm going to work the stitches on those to see if there is improvement.

With my failings admitted, I do want to say that Amy Burt is an excellent teacher, very patient and encouraging. I do wish the class had been longer--maybe three hours instead of two--since, as I have mentioned many times before, I don't stitch well in class, and have a hard time listening to instructions, watching the instructor's demonstrations, and stitching myself simultaneously.

But, in the evenings, I've been enjoying some downtime with Sarah Ann Purdy.

I am almost to the halfway point, and I am still enjoying her tremendously, to the point that I think I should keep a schoolgirl sampler going in the background all the time. Or, rather, a schoolgirl sampler when the girl has learned her alphabet and likes stitching pretty designs.

I'm thinking I may try to extend the borders to the bottom today--maybe even finish the whole border before I go back to motifs. Or I may get attracted to something else--All That Glitters is also calling my name as is This One's for Betty.

Now on to the mundane:

This week's Domestic Disaster: the heating element in the oven died last Sunday. I think I mentioned that we are renting the condo where we live, so we have to deal with a property management company to have repairs done. It's taken a week for them to assign the job to an outside contractor, but hopefully we'll have a functioning oven by Monday evening of next week. I did not realize how much I use the oven until I couldn't. Oh, I have peaches that are getting very ripe so I should bake a cobbler! NOPE! Oh, wouldn't some baked apples be lovely with those pork chops?  NOPE! I'd like to have a summer squash casserole with the baked chicken. NOPE to BOTH!!!

It's put a crimp in my style.

I have also had steroid shots in both knees this week, and I can walk comfortably for the first time in months. And the sports medicine guy I saw is referring me for physical therapy to help continue improving the mobility issues, which had gotten really bad. When I say I was tottering, I mean tottering.

BDE also mentioned that the steroids have made me talk faster than usual. This may be why Dearly Beloved has had the headphones on while watching something on the laptop.

It's all making sense now.

Tension!!!!

I finished the first three samples for my needlelace class, and AGHHHHHH!!! the TENSION!!!!

That is my downfall when it comes to needlelace.

The corded Brussels (which we call "detached buttonhole with return" on this side of the pond) is ok.

The double Brussels is mostly ok--this is the one where I switched from one thread to another and then another as I went.

The triple Brussels looks like a drunk spider on a bender did it.

I didn't even try to work on the next three samples.

I think I'm going to make another little box and try the triple Brussels again. If it's not any better, I'll say that third time's the charm and give my fingers one more chance to get it. If that one looks as bad if not worse, I will look for projects that do not involve triple Brussels and call it a day.

Already August

How did it get to be August already?

Suddenly I have a lot to talk about, so this may run long. You have been warned.

First of all, obligatory stitching photo:

 Here's the bottom? Base? Whatever, of the waxer carrier for Betsy Morgan's "This One's for Betty." Lots of specialty stitches (which I like), pretty colors, I am enjoying this.

However, this was done Friday and a needle was not threaded at all yesterday. Best Daughter Ever and I went on a road trip.

Williamsburg isn't all that far away, and America's Tapestry is on display at the Muscarelle Museum at William & Mary. I've wanted to see all the panels together since I had a feeling you couldn't see the details from the photographs online. I was right. It is an amazing body of work, the result of thousands of hours of stitching from talented fingers. We were both amazed and impressed at the variety of needlework skills embodied in each panel--everything from lacemaking to goldwork and in between.

The exhibit will be in Williamsburg until September 6, and if you're anywhere in the area--or want to make a road trip--I highly recommend the experience.

The additional allure of the trip was a chance for brunch at Le Yaca. Just check their website and take a look at the brunch menu, available on Saturdays and Sundays. The food is amazing, the service is impeccable, it's a lovely way to spend a relaxed hour or so. 

And, no, I didn't need supper when I got home.

Now, on to August and stitching plans.

I've been following the Snitch Stitcher on Instagram for awhile. She announced something she called "Annihilation August" a week or so ago. Basically, we all have projects that are very close to a finish, those things that will just require a little more work and they will be done. So, she suggests we "annihilate" them in August, just pull them out of their hiding places and finish them off.

I think I'm going to get my class samples for the needlelace class I'm taking finished, and then get the needlelace petals attached to Elizabethan Rose done.

There seems to be a needlelace thing going on.

And then, what would I like to see done?

I'd really love to significantly lower the level in one of the finishing baskets. I don't know how far I'll get, but I'd like to try to see some FFO's instead of UFO's in my life. 

Then maybe I wouldn't feel so guilty when I start yet another new project.

A Day Late

Happy World Embroidery Day!

Yes, I'm a day late.

I was trying to decide which project I wanted to do in celebration of my favorite pastime, and I couldn't make up my mind. I have a lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda projects but nothing really calling my name. Actually, it has nothing to do with the projects themselves, just that I've had a bad case of the blahs and don't feel like doing anything that requires thought or movement.

Basically, I've turned into a summer slug.

It ain't the heat, it's the humidity.

Which is dreadful.

Anyway, I finally decided I had to do something to celebrate, so I started something new.

New-ish.

I've had the kit for Betsy Morgan's This One's for Betty in the stash for maybe twenty years, and now is the time for it to come out of hibernation. I got this much done:

This will be the waxer pocket. I think I'm going to work on it for a little longer today. Or maybe I'll work on my classwork before the last minute before class.

BDE says waiting to the last minute before finishing my homework is one of the things I nagged her about when I was attempting to civilize her, and she finds this ironic. I think this comes under the heading of "do as I say, not as I do" and she should show some respect for her aged mother.

We'll see how that goes. 

A little at a time

You may have noticed that I'm blogging more lately than I have in quite awhile. 

Part of it has to do with keeping a record of when I started something and when I worked on it and when (or if) it was finished. But the major reason is simple. If I'm going to blog, I need to stitch. Even if I only put in a thread or two, I'm stitching. And I want to winnow down the size of the stash, so I need to stitch daily.

The last few days, I've barely threaded a needle, but a needle has been threaded. I don't have much to show, but I do have a little, and here it is.

Last night was our local EGA chapter's meeting. I took All that Glitters because it is the ultimate fill-in project, and easy to do and still talk to people and ooh and aah over what they're doing. I got a little of the glitter done:

  I believe that's going to be my evening stitching for a few days.

And then, today I had my RSN class on needlelace:

Really not much to see here at all!

As usual, I don't stitch much or well in class. And the three stitches we did today require a lot of care in terms of tension. And tension is my downfall when I'm doing needlelace. I am not a relaxed stitcher. There are those who would say I am not a relaxing stitcher to be around. (Dearly Beloved has been listening to my ranting and raving when I pull out the stitches on Carmen, which were quite firmly stitched to the linen.) In class, I'm so busy listening and trying to take notes and remembering what the teacher is talking about that I generally can't stitch at the same time.

So I have a lot to do before next week's last class. I'm going to take everything slowly and try to relax so I don't strangle the stitches.

Christmas in July

Nope, not stitching for Christmas in July--but I got something that should count as a Christmas present!

And it didn't arrive all wrapped up in pretty paper. Actually, the box was so beaten and battered and torn on one side that I am amazed that it made it from the UK to the US.

The kit for my next class with Sara Rickards arrived.

This was (thankfully) wrapped in bubble wrap inside the box, tied with pretty pink grosgrain ribbon:

And then you open it, and WOW--raspberry colored tissue!

Honestly, I almost hated to tear the sticker that held it closed. But I did, and here are the goodies inside:

I must be patient--the class doesn't start for several weeks, and I have my online class on needlelace to finish and that beautiful design from Kate Barlow to stitch--but then I can jump into this one.

So today I will work on my needlelace homework and add this to the pile of goodies I want to work on.

One Thing

I only needed to order one thing, one little spool of Soie Surfine.

 Well, it couldn't travel alone, so I filled in some Weeks Dye Works threads for a couple of other projects.

It most definitely didn't travel alone.

Although why I think I need threads is the question. The last couple of days I've been in a bit of a slump and this is all I managed to get done.

I think I'm going to make myself finish this motif today and then switch to something else entirely.

Like, maybe I'll get my homework done for my online class?

Seeing Double

 The problem with schoolgirl motif samplers is that they tend to have two of everything.

The first time you stitch a motif, you can be entertained by figuring out the best way to move from one part of the design to another, seeing how the colors look once they're stitched in and are affected by what's next to them, and discovering any little quirks or idiosyncrasies of the stitcher.

Then you have to do it again.

Unless the child goes off on a tangent, it can be just a shade boring.

My plan for today was to get the right side stitched to the same point as the left side on Sarah Ann Purdy.

I didn't make it. The longer I worked, the more sloooooooowly I stitched.

I got this far.

I may pick this up again after a little break.

Or I may work on All That Glitters.

And I just realized that I will be filling in the red motifs on All That Glitters.

Which I have done before.