Who Knew I'd Still Be Struggling With the Alphabet at My Age

I think Spring is finally here.  The pine pollen has come and gone so we can open up the house and enjoy a few days of bearable humidity.  I might even take my stitching out to the screened porch for a little stress relief.

I finally got to the motif part of Janet Carsels.  I had to make a couple of color adjustments because the chosen colors just didn't look right.  It could be that the DMC to AVS conversion wasn't accurate or more likely, the colors/dye lots themselves have changed.  That seems to happen a lot.  I had three different dye lots for one of the colors I switched to and the best match was the oldest one.  So even when there's a printed conversion, it's probably best to confirm it whenever possible.  Fortunately, I have a fairly large stash of AVS that makes that possible.  One of the perks of having owned a couple of needlework shops in the past. :)

These illuminated alphabets take a lot more focus, and therefore, time than you might think.  Especially when they aren't necessarily symmetrical.  A little froggie told me that.

 

This is probably a good point at which to switch back to Le Jardin de Plaisir, but who knows?  Stay tuned.

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Frog Fest

I'm not even going to apologize for taking the month off.  Just accept it.  I'm an inconsistent blogger. 

I have found some time to stitch even though I lost about 4 days while visiting my mom.  Things were just too chaotic.  Between creating, photographing and listing over thirty new items to my Etsy shop, I managed to make significant progress on Le Jardin de PLaisir and Janet Carsels. 

Hard to believe that any one of these little sections could be more trouble than another since they're all basically the same, just in a different orientation.  But I stitched one of them three times!  I frogged the first time, but didn't go back far enough. Geez, how dumb.  So I had to rip it out a second time.   But, as they say, the third time's the charm.

JC has also presented some difficulties on what should have been a simple vine.  The flat part of the vine is eight stitches and the angled parts are nine stitches.  How hard is that to remember?  Well, apparently, I'm easily distracted.  Of course, it is NCAA basketball tourney time and I tend to get emotionally involved.  But I can't watch without doing something.  So, stitch and frog it is.

I love stitching reproductions because of the stories behind them.  Even if I just make them up, they feel real to me.  This is the first one I've done where the personalization is at the top of the sampler.  I didn't even notice until I started stitching what I thought would be the alphabet.  And I said to myself, "Hey Self, that's not an 'A'."  Maybe Janet had a little ego thing going on.  Maybe she was worried one of her sisters (and I don't even know if she had any) would steal it and try to take credit for stitching it.  But it's an interesting change to the norm. 

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Pork Chops or Tomato Soup?

Have you ever changed your mind at the last minute on what to stitch next?  (rhetorical question, btw)  I had every intention of starting a small needle roll after I finished Jean Scrimgeowr, but when I went upstairs to kit it up, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  So I scrounged around in the 'to-do basket' and found this little reproduction by Handworks.   I think I meant to stitch it for someone's birthday last year and found something better because I had already cut the fabric (40 cnt Sandstone) for it.  So all I had to do was pull six colors of floss and I was ready to go. 

I don't usually do motif samplers.  The randomness messes with my brain, but it's fun and uncomplicated.  Now don't assume that it's Christmas-y because of the colors.  I happen to work a piece by color and I started with the red, then the green.  I prefer to do all the counting rather than thread a bunch of different needles required to stitch by area.   Yeah, I know.  Most of you are shaking your heads and picking your chins up off the floor.   I know I'm in the minority, but it's just the way my brain works.

I should be done in a couple of days, so it's a good thing I got in the mood to kit up the needle roll yesterday.  It really wasn't a big deal, but it's like planning pork chops for supper and realizing about half an hour before supper that you want tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  Tastes good at the time, but the next day you're ready for those pork chops.

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Let the Happy Dance Commence!

 

Margret Gatis Sampler

from The Scarlet Letter

Stitched on 40 count linen (color similar to Sandstone)

DMC cotton floss

 

I feel like singing the Hallelujah Chorus! I put the last stitches in this beautiful satin stitch band last night.

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January Challenge - My Version

As you may have noticed, I haven't started anything new yet this year! Just the thought of 15 WIPs makes my brain hurt. That's a side effect of being left-brained, I guess. However, I did start my 2011 stitching list. "Margaret Gatis" from Scarlet Letter is the only WIP on it...maybe because it's the only one I have! I started it in 2009 sometime, I think, but got sidetracked by some other piece which had a deadline. Or maybe it was the stitching over 3 threads that sent me over the edge. You have no idea how frustrating it is to stitch over 3 threads unless you've actually tried it.

In any case, when I finished my class model last Friday, I didn't have anything new kitted up yet. So I pulled out MG, unenthusiastically remembering the 'over 3' thing. Much to my surprise I had stopped in the middle of a lovely 'over 2' band. So it must've been a birthday or Christmas gift that caused me to put it away.

 

 I love working on 40 count linen because whether you're using silk or cotton, you only have to use one strand. No railroading or laying tool required. It's a really big piece (8" x 26" on 40 count) so I'll probably lay it down again at some point to work on another deadline piece, but I'm enjoying it right now. And that's what counts.

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