It's getting close...

I get so involved with stitching on this piece that I forget to take pictures and post about it. I looked at the last picture I posted and I've done a lot of work since last Tuesday!

I hope to be done by the middle of the week, because...wait for it. I'm anxious to start my next project. All you multi-taskers out there just rotate between projects. I wish I could, but it makes my brain hurt. So I have to finish one before I start another. Doesn't mean I don't have a gazillion lined up to start, but sometimes being left-brained is annoying.

Here's a close up view of top bands which are so pale that you can hardly see them in the picture of the full sampler. And the bottom band as I left it last night. Actually, there's a personalization band to follow, but that doesn't really count.

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Did I tell you?

I've added beaded bookmarks to my Etsy shop! I have some shepherd's crook style and book thongs. They're fun and functional. A teacher friend of mine suggested the book thongs and she should know. She and her boys are avid readers and they even beta tested them for me. I was holding my breath til I heard from them. Fortunately, they like the slightly heavier cord that I use and the color combinations worked too. Here are a few examples.

Peach and Pearl Book Thong






Red and Black Shepherd's Crook













Purple and Silver Book Thong

















Turquoise Crook

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Now I've really done it.

I've been making coordinating scissor fobs and counting pins for a while. Well, now I've matched a scissor fob (pins, too) to a set of stitch markers for knitting. Don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Knitters use scissors too.

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I'm really cooking now

DH and I spent the weekend at my mom's so I didn't spend a lot of time on the computer. Boy, did I miss reading all the blogs I follow. Hope I didn't miss anything earth shattering. I'll try to catch up, but you know how it is.

Anyway, I did get some stitching done thanks to DH. I forgot my Ott lite and he saw me struggling to stitch under a floor lamp with a 40 watt bulb! What a nightmare that was. So he went over to Lowe's and got an Ott lite bulb for the lamp. Wow, what a difference. Then I stitched all the way home in the car. However, 3 hours of car stitching equals about 2 hours of couch stitching. I-95 in SC desperately needs repaving! I should email the DOT and tell them they are causing me stitching distress. Do you think they'd listen?

So I'm down to the last major band and it's a biggie. All the vine pieces are done in rice stitches, which I enjoy. The flowers, which I haven't done yet, are various other stitches.

These 4 bands were just chock full of fun stitches. The large flowers are satin and cross stitches. The acorns are palestrina knots (ych) and satin stitch. The bottom row of flowers are queen stitches.

So I should be done in about a week. I need to spend some time on my scissor fobs and counting pins, but I'd rather stitch.

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Great Hardanger tutorial

Hardanger has what I call a huge "Oh, Wow"! factor. It's one of my favorite forms of needlework, probably because it's logical and symmetrical. Yes, I'm very left-brained. LOL. I love to teach it, but teaching someone how to read the diagrams is the most important part since there are so many filling stitches that no one can actually memorize all of them. And, as I'm fond of telling anyone I teach, "I'm not going home with you".

I get the Nordic Needle email newsletter every Monday morning. Recently Roz posted a great tutorial on hardanger. Since this is one of my needlework favorites I'm always thrilled when I can convince someone that it isn't as hard as it looks. The link provided is for this specific archived newsletter, so if you don't get the newsletter regularly be sure to sign up for it and check the rest of the archives. There is some wonderful stuff there.

Happy Stitching!

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Etsy Goes Wolfpack!

I was just browsing the Treasuries on Etsy and came across this one which just made me smile. NCSU Wolfpack rules.!

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Back to Band Sampler I

Well, I've had a bunch of other stuff to do lately, but I'm back to working on Band Sampler I. Do you have stitches you love and stitches you hate? I'm pretty sure we all do. I've had a little of both so far on this piece. I'm not a big fan of knots of any kind because it's so hard to make them consistent in appearance. The acorn tops are Palestrina knots which are easier than some others, but I still do not enjoy them. And I NEVER look at them under the magnifier. It just makes me want to rip them out. However, I absolutely love Queen stitches! Once I figured out that the key to a beautiful Queen stitch is pulling each leg snugly I was hooked. Eileen Bennett (The Sampler House) is the only instructor/designer that has ever given that tip, as far as I know, and I will be forever grateful to her.

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