Doin' the Hokey Pokey

Dearly Beloved was both amazed and amused when I tottered from my chair and performed the Hokey Pokey this afternoon, with gestures, lyrics, and complete movement. I will never be on Dancing with the Stars, but it was definitely a happy dance.

In the Mood Blue is done!

I've been asked about the thread used for the "B's."  The blue one is worked in a metallic thread. The others are worked in AVAS and an overdyed silk. The strands were gently persuaded to lie parallel to each other by use of a laying tool. I've been thinking that they perhaps look a little too heavy and blocky, so I've been thinking of taking them out and either changing the alphabet or using only two strands to make them airier. I'm going to set this somewhere where I can look at it from a distance and see if it still bothers me enough to redo.

However, it's all beaded and bordered and I'm ready to go on to something else.

As I'm still in a canvas mood, I'm going to work on some Christmas ornaments that I found in the stash. They're part of a series designed by Tony Minieri. I stitched the first two years ago and then was distracted by something else. It's time to get a couple more done--I'm not going to say I'll get the whole series finished before this Christmas.

It's a good thing I had decided to do Christmas ornaments since my dear, faithful, and aged Grip-It frame stand has lost its grip. It's had a hard time holding up its head for awhile, but I could prop the edge of the stretcher bars on the arm of the chair and we could muddle along. Now the head  will only tighten up on one side, which meant that occasionally the frame would plunge to the floor, startling me and causing Dearly Beloved to wake with a start. Excuse me, he was not asleep on the corner of the couch, he was simply "resting his eyes." The man has the most rested eyes in the fifty United States.

Anyway, he has been tinkering with it for the last couple of days while I've been stitching away on In the Mood. He's swapped out screws and sanded things and fiddled with the joints and finally pronounced that it was beyond aid.

Somewhere there is a back-up stand, disassembled and in a box, that I can use for awhile. I'm leaning towards getting a K's Creations stand eventually, but that will likely wait until next year.

Meanwhile, I'm off to set up a new canvas.  Don't you just love starting new projects?

Lace and embellishments

Nope, I didn't stitch all of this. Most of it is a piece of lace that has been stitched down to the canvas, then held down by embellishing stitches.  It was a pain to do, and yes, I'm going to fix that corner with the loose thread as soon as I post this.

I wish we had had step-by-step photos showing the best way to stitch this. Actually, there are several areas where this kind of instruction would have been extremely useful. Most of the online teachers provide that level of information and it really helps when you're not in a face-to-face class.

On the domestic front, we now have a dishwasher that is installed and functioning. I almost kissed the plumber who hooked it up--then I almost kissed the dishwasher. I managed to restrain myself, but it was a close thing.

I may love to stitch things from the 17th century (the current project notwithstanding) but I definitely love my modern conveniences!

Sneezing and stitching

Well, obviously I will not be posting every day in November.  I am not going to whine about my cold, other than the fact that I have all but lost my voice. This is entertaining Dearly Beloved to no end.

Despite having to stitch with one hand while I blow my nose with a tissue in the other, I have managed to stitch another section of In the Mood.

The end is nigh . . .not mine (I hope) but I'm soon to see the end of this project. The temptation is great to make a giant pot of vegetable soup for the week-end and toil on this until it is complete. There are two more motifs and a bunch of borders, then the beading.

And then I get to decide what project to bring downstairs next. I am leaning towards Christmas ornaments. As I have already had my Thanksgiving, I'm getting in the Fa-la-la mood early.

Monday and Achoo!

If it weren't November, and if I hadn't committed to a fellow blogger that I, too, would blog every day in November, there would be no entry tonight.  I believe John succeeded in sharing his respiratory malady since I now have a scratchy throat and runny nose. I'm sneezing. A lot. To the point it feels like my eyeballs are rolling around in my head with the force of the sneezes.

His has metamorphosed into laryngitis--or he talked too much this week-end. It could be either or both.

Meanwhile, I'm going to chug some orange juice and go to bed.

Needless to say, there is no stitching tonight.

Thanksgiving!

We have had our very, very, very early Thanksgiving, and it was lovely.

The turkey was absolute perfection if I do say so myself. And almost everything else was devoured down to the flowers on the plates.

I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not, as I was hoping for leftovers to take care of meals for the next few days. However, I do have enough turkey for several sandwiches and possibly a pot pie.

The Flash absolutely charmed his great-grandmother. This is no surprise. She was prepared to be charmed.

And now,everyone has cleared out, the kitchen is clean, the turkey roaster is soaking, and my feet are up.

I've even managed to stitch for about an hour.

I have three sections left to stitch, then the borders to fill in, then the beads to add at the very end. This section does have stones attached, but they needed to be added before the area behind them was filled in.

And, thanks to a friend who came up with a spool of the border thread I had run out of, I can see that finish in the very near future.

I have to say, that extra hour came in very handy this morning! But now, I think I may be heading to bed. The last three days have been packed to the brim and I think I'm ready to fall back into a routine for awhile. Who knew that going to work could seem restful?

SO glad there's an extra hour tonight!

I went to the workshop this morning, leaving Dearly Beloved to launder towels and sheets and to run the dishwasher.

The Big Kid, Wife, and The Flash went to the Renaissance Festival, where the Big Kid came in second in the archery contest.  Those Welsh genes came in handy!

Dearly Beloved discovered that the dishwasher was pouring water all over the floor. He called for aid and assistance.

We need a new dishwasher.

I arrived home a little early from the workshop. That helped since the stuff that was in the dishwasher didn't get clean before the dishwasher pooped out on us. I washed dishes.

Baby Girl arrived and was swept into this latest Domestic Disaster.

She observed that this should be it for awhile. First the water heater flooded the hall, then the next door neighbors flooded the living room, and now the dishwasher flooded the kitchen. If things come in threes, we should have had our water problems resolved.

The kitchen floor is cleaner than I think it has ever been before. Apparently dishwasher detergent and extremely hot water is the secret. I have been scrubbing a grape juice stain for years with everything known to mankind including straight bleach. It's gone now.

The Big Kid family arrived triumphant and were fed dinner.

We have chopped and mixed and baked and chilled. All we have to do tomorrow is take care of the turkey.

And wash dishes.

Busy, busy day . . .

The Flash is in town and in bed, much to the great relief of his parental units.

Their trip down was punctuated by heavy traffic and heavy rains. It is nothing that a good night's sleep won't cure, so they have been sent off to rest and recuperate.

While they were traveling, I was attending a workshop with Betsy Morgan.  And I came home with something totally stitched and assembled.

 This is the thimble holder that goes with The Toy Chest Etui. It's a stitched version of one of those ball and cup games. I need to redo the hedebo loop that holds it closed. The first time I made it, it was too small. The second time it was too big. Hopefully the third time it will be just right. If not, then Goldilocks has some explaining to do.

Tomorrow I have another day at the workshop, and the Big Kid is taking his family to the Renaissance Faire.  Baby Girl is arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon. We are having dinner together, then we're going to start putting together our very early Thanksgiving feast, scheduled for Sunday.

Given all this activity, I do believe I'm going to settle down for some rest and recuperation myself.