Funny Flowers

While I've been waiting for the washer to stop chugging and the dryer to stop spinning, I've been filling in petals on Briar Rose.

Some of the petals are green due to the overdyed silk pattern. I thought about removing those sections. I also thought about trying to do some sort of color manipulation so all the flowers in one position had one color pattern and all the flowers in another position had another color pattern.

And then I looked at the overdyed silk and I love all the colors in it and I like the way they flow from one to another and I decided that I could live with random.

Never thought you'd hear me say that . . . maybe I'm getting more flexible in my old age.

Nah.

By the way, I am heading back to Salty Yarns this week-end. First leg of the trip is to Baby Girl's tomorrow, then we will head to Maryland Friday morning for a Saturday class--then we reverse the process. I am taking the camera and laptop. I do not know if either will come out of their cases, so if I am incommunicado for a couple of days, that's why.

And, enabling report:  Amy Mitten is offering a new set of Casket Toys. I am doomed. I have already signed up. I need to stitch faster.

But now I need to finish packing.

Strewing Posies

A couple more flowers have bloomed on Briar Rose:

This should be boring, since I don't do repetition well. But it's not. I'm not sure why. It may have something to do with the fact that I've figured out the most efficient way for me to stitch each flower. It may be because I have reached that sweet spot where I don't need to refer to the chart. It may be that I'm in need of a Zen stitching experience. Or it may be that I don't have the brain to handle anything other than repetition.

I need my brain--I'm getting ready to go back to Salty Yarns this week-end for a workshop with Betsy Morgan. Yes, I am taking another workshop with Betsy--deja vu all over again. And I need to think about packing, and need to decide if I'm going to take my traveling project that has yet to see a stitch, or if I should just go with the flow of more and more posies.

Going with the flow sounds good at the moment.

What doesn't happen

This is what my traveling project looked like before we left to visit The Flash.

This is what it looked like by the time we got home yesterday.

Obviously I didn't have much time to stitch.

I did get a little stitched last night between certain Domestic Diva activities that had to be accomplished.

I've started the roses around Briar Rose. I work a few outlines, then go back and fill in the petals. This is going to take awhile, I'm afraid.

The stitching portion of this blog is now over and onto a grandchild story.

The Flash informed me that he was going to be through with kindergarten very soon, and that he was going to first grade. It soon became obvious that he thinks that he will finish with kindergarten on Friday and begin first grade the following Monday. I do not envy The Big Kid or The Big Kid's Wife, who will have to deal with his disappointment.

They have already figured out a number of activities for the summer for him, since a busy Flash is a happy Flash. I just don't think they've realized that they need to have something major planned for the Monday after school ends.

I'm glad I'm a couple of hundred miles away for the first and only time since he was born.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

No stitching report today . . .we have traveled a couple of hundred miles to visit The Flash and The Big Kid and The Big Kid's Wife.

The drive up yesterday was not pleasant.

There was the lake traffic before we even made it 30 miles from home. We are blessed with several large lakes in our area, perfect areas for boating, water sports, and relaxation. For some reason, people who have homes on the lake, whether year-round or week-end, all seem to want to go to them on Friday afternoon--so there are lake traffic delays. I quite honestly think you could leave at 5 a.m. on Friday and still get into lake traffic.

I had to drive because Dearly Beloved had to work Thursday night. I was tired before we left. The Plague Cough is still with me and I am so tired of coughing as well as from coughing, that I have asked The Big Kid's Wife, who is a Reiki practitioner, to Reiki my bronchial tubes while we're here. (I'm the pragmatic and practical person who thinks the best reasons for living in the 21st century are Modern Medicine, Modern Plumbing, and the Ability to take Online Needlework Classes. I do not go in for alternative methods of healing--but I'm willing to give this a shot.)

Then the rains came. It took us about an hour to go 30 miles because the rain was so torrential I was driving by the tail lights of the car in front of me. There was no visibility, and we were on the winding mountain road part of the journey. Dearly Beloved, who had been sleeping until the rain hit, was wide awake and trying to help navigate the stormy seas--because it felt more like guiding a boat than driving a car.

We finally arrived at our destination almost two hours later than it usually takes. At that point, it was almost The Flash's bedtime, but we wanted to at least give him a hug and read a story. So we stopped by on our way to get dinner (we had told them we'd take care of ourselves when it became obvious we were going to be very late in arriving).

We were asked what we were going to do with ourselves for the rest of the evening. I said I thought we'd get a bite to eat, then go to our hotel, fall facedown on the bed, and die.

The Flash, with concern in his voice, said, "Are you going to die tonight?"

Ah, the literal mind of a 6 year old . . ."No, we're going to sleep so soundly it will be like we're dead, but we're not planning to die."

"Well," said he. "You do know you're kind of old."

We all laughed . . . until we got back to the hotel to discover that the only elevator in the place was out of order, and we had to climb the stairs to the third floor.

Definitely kind of old.

Framing it in

All the outlining and the vine on Briar Rose are done!

I have admitted to being a very methodical stitcher, so normally I would now outline all the petals on all the flowers before filling them in. It is quite possible that I am going to do something totally abnormal for me and get two needles threaded, one with the rose silk for the outlines and one with the overdyed for the innards. I could potentially work an entire flower before moving to another one.

I'm not sure I'm up for that much alteration in my routine.

It is possible that I am a little OCD.

Or a lot OCD.

Inventory

The kit for Catherine the Great from Gay Ann Rogers arrived on my doorstep this afternoon.

I have been inventorying the supplies since I got home from work:

The thread colors are subtle, but there are beads and lots of glitz, as befitting the Empress of all the Russias.

Now I need to find stretcher bars and decide how best I want to organize the threads to make it easiest for me to stitch.

There are times when I enjoy organizing as much as I enjoy stitching, and I think tonight is one of those nights.

A new start

After I've finished the stitching on a project, it takes me a day or so to figure out what to work on next. It doesn't make any difference how many projects are sitting by my chair or lurking in the stash room, I seem to need some time to decide on the next focus piece.

And sometimes, I take a day off completely.

Yesterday we went to a movie (Age of Ultron and yes, we are that kind of geek and yes, we were the oldest people in the audience), then we went for a late lunch, and then we had to come home and take a nap and then we had to decide on something for dinner and then it was fairly late in the evening.

However, I have today off, so I could play in the stash a little before bed and not worry about staying up too late.

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do next, so I thought I'd get something set up for my traveling project. I have two week-end trips in a row coming up, and one must have a stitching project if one is to travel.

So Briar Rose came out. It has my usual hotel room stitching requirements: not too many colors, fairly small, no complicated stitches. I decided I wanted to use stretcher bars rather than a scroll frame or a hoop.

And the most amazing thing happened!  I found two sets of 10" stretcher bars that match in construction and size!  Inevitably, I'll find two of each kind--like regular size and minis--or two of each kind that have rounded edges on one pair and squared off edges on the other--or four whose connecting ends are not cut to mesh with any other stretcher bar in the world. These cooperated on all fronts!

So I ironed the linen and tacked it to the bars and found the center and then I just had to put a thread in.

And that's when I realized this was not going to be a travel piece.

The linen is dark--you can't tell from the picture, but it is very dark--and the count is teeny--and I need full light and magnification to be able to see the stitches since they're over one thread.

So this is the current home project and I'll have to decide on something else as the travel one.

I will be stash diving again today.