Amazing

The family Grande Dame who orchestrated yesterday's family event decreed that everything was under control and that all who attended were free to do as they liked, whether that be taking a stroll outside or watching the Masters or just conversing with each other.

So I found a sunny corner in the living room, listened to family gossip, and stitched. It is simply amazing what can be accomplished in a whole day of nothing but needlework, with the occasional foray for food.

I finished the prework for Betsy Morgan's Edinburgh Etui and Reticule classes, which I will be taking the first week-end in May:

And I finished a band and stitched two more dividing bands on Mary Atwood:

These bands are also stitched reversibly.

I've been asked about reversible cross stitches. You don't see them much in contemporary cross stitch designs, but they were the default method in the 17th century, when Mary stitched her sampler. Since cross stitches were used to mark linens, and since you want them to be neat on both sides, they needed to be reversible. Depending on the type of reversible cross you use, you get a variety of different looks on the wrong side.

And the stitches do not have to cross the same way on the front. They can go every which way, it does not matter. You may have to make more than one pass on the front (or back) to get the effect you want. It's actually a very liberating way to work--you find yourself turning the linen up and down and sideways and poking the needle hither and thither to get the reversibility.

There's an additional bonus. Because of the layers of thread, the color is intensified simply because there's more of it.

I've decided it's a good mental work-out as well. It's hard to worry about something when you have to focus on the pattern your needle is creating. And I am convinced it's another way to create more neural pathways in the brain to help stave off mental decline. Who needs to subscribe to a brain-game site when you can ply your needle?

slow . . . very slow

Look at this very tiny band:

There are three different kinds of stitches in this thing:  diagonal cross stitch, reversible cross stitch, and double running. This is one thread's worth.

That may be as far as I get with this one for a few days. Although I no longer have to sit very still with my eyes shut and my hands clenching the arms of the wing chair to keep from hurtling off the surface of the earth, I'm still a little woozy. I have made it into the office and lived to tell the tale, but doing anything more complicated than maybe the background on a piece of needlepoint is quite possibly beyond my capabilities. This little bit of a motif took over an hour--mainly because of reverse stitching.

And I may be off the grid for the week-end. I have to make a command appearance at a family thing, and I'm not sure if I'll have internet. I'm not sure I'll be able to stitch, depending on what social engagements have been planned. I'm taking a couple of projects--I can't leave home without at least a couple of projects--and the laptop--but whether anything will see the light of day is unforeseen.

V is for Vertigo

I am dealing with my semi-annual bout of vertigo, brought on by a sinus infection, brought on by the pollen level. Currently I am heavily drugged with a variety of medications, but at least the spins have stopped.

Before the world started whirling, I had managed to finish the second alphabet on Mary Atwood:

And it is stitched reversibly so the back is a four-sided stitch:

I am very proud of this although it definitely gave me brain cramps to do.

Maybe I'm blaming the pollen for being dizzier than usual when I should blame stitching in a reversible manner.

New Beginnings (I hope)

Yesterday I was channeling my inner Crankypants.

First there was the Mylar problem with Fair Maiden, in which I forgot the whole "measure twice, cut once" mantra.

Then I decided I should put the print-outs from the most recent online class postings into their notebooks, only to discover that I didn't have enough page protectors. Since these are all long-term projects, I want to make sure that the instructions are as well-preserved and maintained as possible.

As much as I love Shepherdess, I got off one thread and ended up ripping everything I had stitched on her skirt.

Generally, I was out-of-sorts and ill-tempered.

Dearly Beloved was ducking and covering, because when I am out-of-sorts and ill-tempered, I'm really out-of-sorts and ill-tempered.

On the third walk I took yesterday in an attempt to raise my endorphins, I gave myself a stern talking-to.  As a wage slave, I only get two days off a week to enjoy myself completely, and here I was, ruining one of them with my own bad attitude.

As I have always told my children:

Life is short

Misery is optional.

Deal with it and move on.

So I came in, sat down, and thought about what I really would like to do, other than turn back the clock and start the day over.

There have been yearnings to stitch a complicated sampler stirring in my heart for several weeks now, and so Mary Atwood came out of her pillowcase again. I had worked one of the two alphabets weeks ago in one form of reversible cross stitch, and she needed the second one done.

I stitched in her initials, worked the dividing band, and started on the alphabet. This is the reversible cross that results in a four-sided stitch on the back of the work.

Like so:

Please excuse the strands from the waste knots. One thing I need to remember to ask Joanne the next time I take a class from her is how they started the threads so they would be invisible from both front and back. I know to end the threads by running them behind the cross stitches on the front, but how do you start them? Inquiring minds want to know.

*********************************************************************************

Another thing inquiring minds want to know:  When did the Post Office start making Sunday--and Easter Sunday at that--deliveries?

I was sitting here with the Sunday newspaper earlier, when I heard a thump on the front stoop and a quick knock on the door. As I didn't expect a delivery from the Easter bunny--or anyone else--my curiosity was aroused. Naturally, I went to the door to find a box from Amazon sitting on the doorstep and a PO truck pulling out of the cul-de-sac.

As we do not have Amazon Prime and didn't request expedited delivery, I am puzzled. I'm not complaining, mind you, but I am puzzled.

me no brainin' good today

After spending last evening doing absolutely nothing blogworthy, with a needle or without, I had decided I would work on the next step of finishing the Fair Maiden Etui today.

This is what it looks like after I've taken apart everything I've done so far, which, quite frankly, wasn't much.

The minute I cut the first piece of Mylar to the wrong dimensions, I should have packed everything away and gone for a long walk.  Or I could have put on my shoes and headed out to buy a new piece of Mylar to replace the one I miscut.  But noooooooooo, I had to try to make it work.

And it didn't.

So I have pulled it apart and put everything away and will wait for another day.

Maybe when the moon is not full.

Pretty Woman

My little Shepherdess is coming right along.

At the moment she reminds me of the china half dolls that are made into pincushions to adorn one's dressing table.

I've been trying to avoid becoming obsessed with making one of them, mainly because I know if I start with one, I'll have to have every single one ever designed. I have enough obsessions as it is. I don't need any more.

However, after seeing a friend's work at sampler guild last night, I'm wavering. She's been collecting antique and vintage pin cushion dolls for years. In fact, she used one of her half dolls as the base for the design featured on the cover of SANQ recently, and it was beautiful.

Actually, if I could get my hands on the one Bobbie Chase designed for an EGA seminar a number of years ago, and the one Rae Iverson taught at her Arizona gathering, I would be a very happy camper.

Of course, I may be stitching from prison because I may have to murder one of my neighbors in the near future.

He is No Longer Married. He has purchased a Harley. While I understand the primordial allure of the basso profundo rumble of a Harley motor, I do not appreciate it at 5:15 a.m. when I have another 45 minutes of restful slumber available before my alarm clock starts yelling at me.

One of my other neighbors is in the restaurant business and rarely gets home before 2 in the morning. He, however, is very considerate of others. I never hear him come in. His problem is that he has only had two or three hours of sleep when the revving starts. I do believe he is more irritable about the situation than I am.

Actually, I think the crankiest is the couple with the fairly new baby who has problems sleeping as it is.

It has occurred to me that we may have a Murder on the Orient Express situation shaping up.

April Fool

I've been to a sampler guild meeting, the moon is almost full, and it's April Fool's Day.

If you think I'm stitching tonight,  you are incorrect.

On another topic, based on the results of my very unscientific survey and emails from friends, I am going to continue to post more frequently. I will not promise to blog every day because even I run out of things to say (shocking, I know), but I'm going to lurch and totter along with this thing.