Back to the routine

 Re-entry is tough.

It took me a day to recuperate from the drive, then another day to unpack and rearrange and sort out stash and haul and figure out what I wanted to do next.

I wanted to do everything next.

As I am not an octopus, nor do I have any clones, I had to limit my plans. So I wrote down everything I wanted to do and everything I needed to do. The length of the list was terrifying--so I made some difficult decisions and winnowed the list down to something that I thought would be manageable this week. And, no, I'm not going to publish that list. The minute I state publicly that I have specific and certain goals, something gets in the way and none of it gets done. Maybe I should report on the progress of the list at the end of the week. We'll see . . . 

Anyway, I am working on Carmen again. When you have several hours of Zoom meetings spread over several days, it is amazing what you can accomplish if you stitch during the meetings.

I think I'll work on this for a bit longer tonight and see what I can accomplish before bedtime. 

Last class and home again

 I'm home again, after a very, very long day of travel. I am not sure why the trip home always seems to take so much longer than the trip to the destination, but I was beginning to think that road would never end.

But before we set out for the drive home, I had one last day of class.

The Artisan Workbox was not like any class I've taken before. There were no written directions, so we jumped right into actually working on the component pieces for the construction of the etui that will live in the box. 

This is a slit for a pocket. I also have a model pocket that will be attached to this piece and the beginnings of the internal structure of the etui and a pin cushion. I also have pages and pages of notes and loads of photographs, but I'm thinking it would be a very good idea to work on this one right away while I understand what my notes mean.

Don't remind me that I say that with every class I take.

Yet another class

Today I lined a box with a lovely silk for the sides and a rich velvet for the bottom.

I almost got the pin cushion that will live on the inside cover of the box stitched, and I learned how to make the pockets that will fit inside the needlework case. 

This was a very productive day, quite unlike my usual time in class where I rarely stitch and never get anything done. 

I could get used to this!

Morning, Glory!

It's cold and rainy here at Ocean City, but I actually stitched in class! Wonders will never cease.

I also ripped because I can't count and follow a chart at the same time in a class, but it's all fixed and everything is fine now.

And I indulged in a bit of retail therapy. Aside from replenishing my needle supply and replacing my broken clip & flip magnifiers and picking up a skein of AVAS I need for a sampler project, I found this:

I saw this design by Ellen Chester on Facebook the other day and thought it looked like it would be fun to stitch and a good travel project. And then I decided I would really rather stitch it in silk, and Salty Yarns has a nice supply of Gloriana, so BDE and I had a color consultation and I'm going to work it in this. It's a little more muted than the original colors, but I think it will be fine.

There are two more days of class and two more projects to add to the pile of things I want to do right this minute. (I need more minutes.)

And, interestingly, Dearly Beloved has been checking off items on his Honey-Do list while I've been gone. I am beginning to wonder if I should leave him alone more often. He seems to be much more industrious when I'm not around. Hmmmmmm . . . .

 

A very, very, very fine house

 At the moment, it doesn't look so very fine. Actually, it looks as if it barely survived a typhoon.

This is the paper mock-up for the etui from the class I've been taking with Jackie at Salty Yarns for the last couple of days.

I am assuming (and hoping) it will look more like the photo on the front of the instructions.

Both BDE and I have been coveting this project since I first saw the photo of it, and finally, it is within our grasp--plus, I have decided that the pattern for the pin cushion that goes with it would be absolutely adorable worked in gold metallic thread with green and red silk accents as a Christmas ornament.

So many stitches . . . so little time.

And I have three more classes during this trip. BDE may have been more realistic and is only taking one of them.

Or she has realized that she is going to get all my stitching stuff anyway, and has the patience to wait.

Leafing Out

 The next band of Carmen has these lovely, lovely leaves.

This pattern forms a framework across the band. I would love to get that done today, but I am doing the pre-trip laundry, then I'm going to start packing for this week's gallivanting with BDE to Salty Yarns for classes with Jackie. I continue to stalk Jackie.

Besides, the minute I make stitching plans, something always interferes. Therefore, I am NOT planning to stitch leaves today between loads of laundry and organizing stitching supplies.

Slowly, slowly

I have been stitching, very slowly and somewhat painfully at times, but, quite frankly, I'd rather stitch with some discomfort as opposed to not stitching at all. There are just too many pretty things in the world that I need to stick a needle in to waste time!

And, I am thrilled to announce, I have finally finished the part of the border that surrounds the first band on Carmen.

Now I have options.

I could go ahead, while I have the border pattern in my head (more or less), and work the border areas for the next band. Just to get them out of the way, you understand.

There is a little zigzag interior border that I could zip through.

Or there is a new band pattern, a lovely new pattern, that I can't wait to stitch.

Do you even have to ask? I'm going to start the new pattern today. 

Radio Silence

 

This is Ethel.

She is supposed to keep my wrist stable while it recovers from being hyperextended when I tripped up the stairs. She is also supposed to stop me from re-injuring myself.

I can stitch with her, but it's slow and awkward. Hopefully, though, she will do her job quickly and efficiently.

In other news, I just had the recent Covid shot, recommended for people over 65. Every other one I've had has left me tired and vaguely achey. This one did me in--unbelievable fatigue and chills and fever--and to top it all off, I had a dizzy spell and keeled over. Luckily I landed on the best padded part of my anatomy, but I have a rather large bruise. And I have bruises elsewhere as well, so I am stiff and sore.

These times do try us.

Hopefully I will have something of a stitching nature to show in the near future.

The Haul

 An apologetic employee of the Post Office appeared with my box from Inspirations today, 

I have decided I am not allowed online when I am too ill to stitch. It's dangerous.

Here's the Betsy Morgan sampler I mentioned.

Lovely Gloriana silks, lovely linen, all colors I'm drawn to and patterns that will be fun to stitch--what a joy!

And, because this Deep Dive into Whitework class I'm taking has pulled me into loving that particular branch of needlework, with all its offshoots, again:

Tiny little pictures of projects worked in white on white don't show up well, but I have a Richelieu Lace piece and two Schwalm pieces, one of which can go on the rack on the antique golden oak washstand that was the first antique we bought we were newlyweds. I already have a couple of Barbara Kershaw's finger towels hanging there, and I think this will be a nice addition.

I only need 36 hours in the day.

More frustration and aggravation

I get into trouble when I don't feel like stitching, and I didn't feel like stitching while I had that horrible cold. 

What I do feel like doing is wandering around the innerwebs looking at needlework. And I wandered to Inspirations magazine's site, and I ordered a Betsy Morgan kit.

Which the PO said they delivered today in the parcel box at our neighborhood mail box.

They did not. 

And trying to navigate the PO site is also frustrating and aggravating.

We'll see what the PO says. If the results are anything like the issues we've had getting mail forwarded from our old place to our new address, I have a terrible feeling I'm SOL.

Frustration and Aggravation

 Who would think this tiny piece of linen could cause such angst?

There are supposed to be 99 Nun stitches across the top. I have counted four times and had four different counts. And no two counts agreed.

I believe I will do something else for the rest of the day.

April 3

When the kit arrived several weeks ago, I fully intended to start this when the first class was posted on April 3.

 Instead, when I finally pulled myself out of bed at the crack of noon today, I worked on this:

I didn't sleep well last night (which is why I ended up staying in bed all morning). First I was too hot, so I turned on the ceiling fan. Then I was too cold, so I pulled up a blanket. Then I seemed to have too many arms and legs for comfort because I couldn't get any of them situated in the right place. I finally got up and read for awhile, then sat and stared at my worktable and all the baskets and bins around it, and decided I have too many things started and not enough things finished.

At that point it was after 7 in the morning and I was finally tired enough to sleep.

But other than the four classes I'm taking in a couple of weeks at Salty Yarns, and the other online and guild projects I've agreed to do, I am not starting anything new.

I think I see the problem.

Hundreds of Hours . . .

Awhile back I was wandering around the website of one of my favorite designers. I found a project I liked, and read the description.

Which included the phrase, "hundreds of hours of stitching pleasure."

Hundreds of hours.

Well, that's intimidating to think of.

But I'm beginning to believe this border is going to take hundreds of hours.

It's a pretty border, and it adds a lot to the piece, but I'm not sure it's going to be hundreds of hours of stitching pleasure. There's a lot of stopping and starting, and of course, a lot of repetition.

And this is why I tend to prefer band samplers and spot samplers. They don't have borders.

One of my stitching buddies once said that band samplers were just rows and rows of border patterns. I stuck my fingers in my ears and said, "La la la la la" very loudly. 

But I shall persevere, if for no other reason than to move to the next band of this sampler guilt-free.

Back in the Saddle Again

 Carmen has not been out of her pillowcase for almost a month.

That was rectified yesterday.

I stitched more of the vine, the stems, the leaves, and the buds yesterday. I do believe the border for this monster sampler is going to do me in, but I think I would rather stitch it as I go instead of waiting until all the fun stuff is done. It does add a burst of color--I did, briefly, consider leaving it out and stitching this as an adaptation--and I decided it needs it. If I could just get all this section done so I can move on to something more interesting to stitch, I think I would be a happy camper.

Meanwhile, I woke up this morning, realizing that a third of 2024 has flown by and I have not accomplished anything that I had planned for the year. I have nine months left. If you can make a whole human being in nine months, surely I can get a sampler and a few UFO's to the finish line.