The Cranberry Saga Continues

Have you ever noticed how certain stitches look like a 8 year old made them? (and I'm not talking about those 19 century 8 year olds who were stitching massive samplers) That's how I feel about four sided stitches, especially in whitework! Not to mention they're boring after the gazillionth one! And that would only be half a gazillion if I could count and didn't have to frog! By the way, frogging used to refer to the 'rip it, rip it' thing. Now it reflects the way my eyes bug out after all that unstitching!

(I laid a piece of blue paper behind it for the photo, just to enhance the design, since it doesn't photograph very well.)

Anyway, I've moved on the to the buttonhole bars and satin stitches in The Cranberry Sampler. And, as expected, those four sided stitches don't loop so crappy now.  And don't contradict me, even if you think they do! I'm not doing them over.

Here's a better view of the circular trellis that I mentioned last week. You can see it best in the light green leaves. It reminds me of a whirlpool.

Tweet

Varoooom!

Guess what? We added a new vehicle to the garage this week! Nope, I'm not driving a new car. I'm pulling a new cart with Lester riding shotgun.

In case you can't tell from the photo, Lester is missing his right front leg. It's been seven years since his amputation due to a mast cell tumor.  He's fine, just getting a little older (he's eleven now) and a lot slower.  Wear and tear has caused early arthritis so our daily walks, which he insists on, have become shorter and shorter. And since Otis, who is only five, needs a lot more exercise, my husband devised this low-to-the-ground cart for Lester. It has a pillow on it and Richard even put his name and a Lotus logo on it!

I drag it behind me until he just decides he's had enough. Then he gets on and rides the rest of the way. It saves me a lot of frustration too. I get really tired of trying to coax him along, until finally, I end up carrying him. That's twenty-two lbs. of Pug! What a load. He has regular stops we must make so his adoring fans can give him lots of love and belly rubs (same thing to him). I just hope he doesn't get so used to it that he jumps on before we get to the end of the driveway!

Tweet

A Shameless Plug!

WOW! I'm featured in ♥ Etsy Hearts Beads ♥ blog! "Meet Tommye from TJBdesigns"

This is a great team of talented beaders on Etsy. Check out the team page and all the members!

Tweet

My Favorite Part

Finally! I've completed the color bands on The Cranberry Sampler by Needle's Prayse. I love whitework and have been anxious to get  to this part of the sampler. Of course, the prep work for the needleweaving is a little tedious, but I'm on a roll now. I tried to accent that section in the photo with a darker piece of fabric, but it's too early in the process to really show up yet. Be patient.

 The large band above the whitework was a fascinating challenge. Lots of different stitches, including circular trellis, which was a new one for me. It's used in the dark green leaves on the right side motif, if you want a closer look. Like detached buttonhole, it's worked on top of the fabric for the most part. But instead of working back and forth horizontally, it is stitched around the leaf from the outer edge to the center for a very cool effect.

Unfortunately, I'm developing some pretty painful arthritis at the base of my right thumb, so long hours of stitching may be a thing of the past. So I'm trying to take short breaks more often. Then only thing that could truly keep me from stitching is amputation! LOL

Tweet