Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

It's been a pretty hectic and stressful couple of weeks, so my stitching time has been limited. Spent a few days with my Mom and a couple of sisters the first week of August and then came home to make my house presentable for company. One of those sisters and her son came for their usual 'last beach trip before school starts' last week and nothing gets done around here when they're visiting. It's like a whirlwind and a half have moved in! The guest room looks like Hartsfield airport baggage claim exploded in there within 30 minutes!

Then on Sunday I woke up to find that I couldn't raise my arm above my shoulder without excruciating pain. (And lowering it was even worse!) At which point I told my sister I wish she'd specialized in orthopedics instead of pulmonology. However, she gave me her diagnosis and told me to call a doctor. (At least she spared the me two aspirin bit.)

So contrary to my usual tendency to procrastinate, I called the ortho who is currently treating my husband for his "very serious foot injury" (I'm quoting the Dr.) and actually got in to see him right away. Betty was right...rotator cuff impingement. I've endured a rotator cuff injury before when Earl took off after a squirrel while I was still holding onto the leash, but the pain was in a different area of the shoulder. Anyway, one cortisone shot and a super duper anti-inflammatory Rx later and I'm stitching again. I will have to do some physical therapy to build up the supporting muscles in my shoulder, but I'm good at following directions and at least I didn't wait as long to see the Dr. as I did the first time. Hopefully, this will be fixed up relatively quickly.

So, here's what I'm doing. It's a reproduction, "Emily Gorgeina Dixon", from Ewe & Eye and Friends. I have no idea how long it's been in my stash, but who cares? It is still available from at least one source. Just Google it.  I'm using the recommended Anchor floss (which is my favorite cotton floss) on 40 count linen of some handdyed color of which I cannot remember the name.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Another Fun Finish

Obviously, I've been stitching rather than blogging.  "The Christmas Quilt" by Emie Bishop is done. I laid it on a dark green fabric for the photo so that the hardanger would show up a little better. It was a fun piece to do, except for the cross stitch part. Too much confetti stitching for my taste. Next time I run into something like this I'll take my friend, Laura's, advice and use an overdyed green and an overdyed red and call it good.  The back is a mess and I really hate that.
 
 So, I decided to work on my Star Sampler SAL by  Periphaeria Designs this weekend while visiting my mom. It's an easy project to work on in the car and doesn't require massive concentration. That's the kind of project I like when I'm not in my 'nest'.