Just Make Yourself at Home

I was planning to stitch all afternoon, but I made the mistake of going down to my workbench for "just a minute". I ended up spending the afternoon working on crochet stitch markers, scissor fobs, and counting pins! Apparently, Otis missed me. I turned around to move some things to the photo station and this pile of old towels was on the floor and Otis had settled himself on the shelf from which he'd removed the towels. Now he has a little nest. I can't bring myself to put them back.

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It Pays to Read Ahead

Okay, I know, you look at this picture and think: "She hasn't blogged in a week and this is all she's manged to get done!" 

I stitched absolutely nothing while visiting my mom last weekend. And frankly, I'm happy to be this far! You know how I love to stitch on 36 and 40 count. So I changed the fabric on this piece to 40 count Pear from Lakeside Linens. (See, I finally remembered.) However, I should have studied the pattern a little before making this change.

You see that pink dividing band that looks like a zigzag? Well, that is French stitch. Not a particularly common stitch and not really difficult either. It's kinda like a Queen stitch in that each vertical leg over 4 threads is tacked down horizontally in the middle. But the stitches are done in pairs and are verically offset by 2 threads, hence the zigzag look. I love Queen stitches, even on 40 count, but somehow this little band took three nights for me to complete!!! And I had to use the magnifier for the whole thing. Very easy to misplace the couching stitches. Plus, since it's a hand dyed it's already been wet and dryed so shrinkage has already occurred. So the weave is tighter and harder to see. Again, not usually a problem for me, but this was a bugger! I love the effect and since Tuesday night, I've completed the alphabet and almost finished the next dividing band of Bosnia stitch (the dark green one). What a difference. Bosnia is so quick and easy that you're done almost before you start!

I'd love to be able to stitch more during the day, but I'm staying busy make fobs and counting pins and stitch markers, etc. for several new needlework shops. And here's my shameless plug, feel free to tell your LNS about my needlework bling and direct them to my Etsy shop or they can contact me about having some in their shops!

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Winter at My House

Okay, there is no snow and not likely to be any time soon. (We had snow about 9 years ago.) But it is cold and windy and I'm a weather wimp, so that's good enough to keep me inside and stitching. Actually, I've been so busy trying to catch up with my scissor fobs and pins and stitch markers that I've only been stitching at night while watching TV.

I've hesitated to post pics because there's not much to show. This is what Shores of Hawk Run Hollow (SoHRH) looked like when I put it away Oct 1st. (Remember the Christmas Panic?) So I pulled it out as soon as I finished my tree skirt piece. But all I've done is some more border and a little of Block 8. Not very exciting, but at least I'm stitching.

Now for the shock of the decade! I started a new project without finishing SoHRH! Do not panic, the world is not coming to an end, Hell has not frozen over...but it's awfully close. It's Spinster Stitcher's fault. I was reading about her "stitch whatever you want" attitude and I caved. I pulled out "Pigalle" by Long Dog Samplers. That's the good news.

The bad news is that I have to do some frog stitching. Sometime last fall I decided to change most of the colors because I'm just not into orangy reds. So I spent I don't know how many hours playing with it until I had chosen some blue and purple hues to go with one of the original reds that I did like. So I started it last night and after a couple of hours I realized it just wasn't going to work. So I trucked off to the stash room and started playing again. I now have reverted to warm reds...just not the ones listed in the chart. I'll show them to you after I make some progress. Here's what it looked like when I made the big decision.

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Woefully Shameless Plug

Here it is, my woefully shameless plug. If you are thinking of giving a gift to a needleworking friend, please take a walk through my Etsy shop. It's like giving jewelry, but it's functional too! Beaded scissor fobs with handmade tassels...some even have matching counting pins for needlepoint and/or cross stitch.

Everybody needs a beaded needle threader.

And for the knitters and crocheters (is that a word?) on your list, I have beaded row and stitch markers.

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