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.