Want vs Need

As I've been unpacking my stash, I keep saying to myself, "I don't need to ever add another project."

But, then, there's wanting another project, especially a design that sings to you. (Apparently a lot of designs sing to me, but that's another issue entirely.)

Today the mail carrier brought me both a want and a need.

My copy of Catherine Barley's needlelace book fell apart awhile back. Actually, I had a rubber band holding it together. The rubber band was aged, and it disintegrated as I was taking the book out of the box. Pages cascaded across the floor. Colorful language was used.

This book has been out of print for a long time--the Bay of Evil had a copy priced at almost $200--and Catherine Barley has reprinted it herself and you can find it on her website. But in poking around the innerwebs, I found an independent book store that had a copy for less than $15. And today it came:

I was very happy to find it, and it arrived within a week of ordering!

And, then, as mentioned, there is want. And I wanted this:

If you read Inspirations magazine, you've seen Anna Scott's work. This was a class she recently,  and she had a few kits left over.

I wish I could say that I fought with Temptation, struggling to overcome the siren call. Nope, minute I saw it, I ordered it. I didn't even make an effort to tell myself I have enough. I just went for it.

And I wish I could start it, but I need to find my unoccupied scroll frames. So, back to unpacking.

Branching Out

The tulip tree has its branches and leaves:

 I'm a little surprised I can focus my eyes. I woke up shortly after 4 a.m. this morning, and stared at the ceiling until 6:45 when I decided I may as well get up and do something.

So I did. 

I went in the stash room to open more boxes. I swear, those boxes are breeding. I empty two, and five appear in their place. I am not sure how that's happening, but I have a lot more stitching stuff than I realized.

Of course, in the old place, it was spread around three rooms instead of being concentrated in one, but still. . .

Anyway, I got a lot of stuff sorted out and stowed away, but I need for Dearly Beloved to get the last shelving unit up before I can do much more. I will sweetly request that in the morning. Or nag. Depends on whether I sleep tonight.

For his sake, hope I get a good night's sleep!

Getting Back on Track

I know I said yesterday that I was in a No-Stitch Zone, but last night, my fingers needed to do something even if my brain was not in the right place.

So, what is the least brain-taxing thing I can do?

I went upstairs and pulled out one of the Merry Cox kits I unearthed as I unpacked. And then I sat in my corner and did Nun stitch for the border.

 I'm not a big fan of Nun stitch--sadly, I discovered just how easily it can pull out--but it was just the sort of stitching I needed to do. Almost auto-pilot . . . 

Then, today we had one of our EGA Regional stitch-ins, and I picked up my crewel project:

Not much more, and the trunk will be finished and I can move on to a prettier color. And also, I can do this without thinking too much.

Tomorrow we get flu shots, so we'll see if I can stitch or unpack with a sore arm. Just when I was getting back in a stitching mood!

Stitch-Free Zone

 After yesterday, I decided maybe I should stay far, far away from a threaded needle for a day or so.

Well, I sorta did. I unpacked more boxes in the stash room, thus clearing a space for Dearly Beloved to instal more shelving units. And the mail carrier brought me more stuff to stitch, when it's safe to stitch again.

Please excuse the glare.

Cynthia Jackson is an expert on Tudor embroidery. She taught the class I took a couple of years ago that was a sampler of various techniques loved by Elizabethan embroiderers. She offers a number of designs in pdf's on her website, Gutter Lane Embroidery. 

I wandered over the other day to see if she had added anything new, and lo and behold, she had a limited number of kits with the threads needed for some of the designs. I jumped in with both feet.

The pdf for each design is still available, if you see something you like and have a stash of gold and silks and beads. My stash of metal threads is tiny, my bead stash all but non-existent. The fabric is not included with the kits, but somewhere I have a meter of Duchess satin.

And that means that tomorrow I need to unpack more boxes in the stash room.

Move along, nothing to see here

 As I am in the process of frogging this row of the framework for the last flame for the second time, I believe that it is going into time out for a day or so.

That is all.

Not Flames

 The morning started with thunder, lightning, and torrential rains--so I stayed in bed far later than I usually do. Domestic Diva chores took longer than I wanted--don't Domestic Diva chores always take longer than you want them to?--and then I worked on my stumpwork class for several hours.

Finally I sat down to work on the last Flame, and decided I needed to work on something less intense--so I stitched the rest of the diamonds that fit around the flames.

I'm not sure what I'll do for the rest of the evening. I could work on the next motif for the stumpwork class that I'm catching up on--but I think I may need a break. The motif I did earlier today uses Hollie Point. Hollie Point has always been my Waterloo when it comes to needlelace. I think I finally got the mechanics down, but my tension is all over the place.

What I should do is set up a piece of linen and just practice all the needlelace stitches I can find until I not only understand the steps, but also get my tension right. I could work my way through Catherine Barley's book. 

What I have to do is find the bin with my linen stash. I believe I saw it come in one of the first loads the movers brought in. And that means it's on the bottom of the pile in the far reaches of the guest room.

I will think about that later.

Final Flame

So I'm back to Eternal Flame today, and have outlined the last flame on the outside of the huswif. Actually, I've done part of it twice since I missed a stitch on the first attempt and had to frog. I counted twice and stitched once on the second attempt, and everything matched up this time.

 The critter is still in the wall. He did not take advantage of the escape route provided by Wildlife Rescue; they are coming back tomorrow to tempt him/her with Lord-only-knows-what.

I do not need this kind of excitement in my life.