Stitching During Sandy's Aftermath

Before I get to the main message of this post, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind comments on yesterday's Thanksgiving ornament post.  I think the tree could use a few more ornaments, maybe three or four more, to look properly full but what I have works well enough for now.  I am always on the look out for something new.  And I am feeling especially thankful this year, since we came through Sandy so well.

We were without power Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday, so I had to rely on what light was available from windows and the backdoor when stitching.  Since I didn't have to go to work on Tuesday and Wednesday [no power at the office], those days were pretty much spent stitching and listening to an all news station on our battery powered radio.  I moved a chair and a snack table to make the most of the light from the open backdoor.  The days were still overcast of course, but such light as there was worked for simple stitching and for reading.  I set The Woodland Angel aside for a while and concentrated on smaller projects that were stitched on 28ct linens.  

The first small piece I finished was Sue Donnelly's complimentary free design, a souvenir of the Spooky Retreat 2012.  This colorful witch's hat was a fun little stitch and especially appropriate since so many of the attendees at the retreat had donned elaborately adorned witch's hats.  When I finish this as a pin pillow or pin keep, it will make a nice addition to my growing basket of smalls.

 The next piece I worked on was Mosey and Me's contribution to the 2006 Indy Town Square series, The Book Shop.  This piece called for Anchor floss of which I have very little in my stash.  So I decided to go upscale and stitch it entirely in Belle Soie on 28ct Meditation linen, a pale blue overdyed fabric.  My substitutions are as follows: Icing for #2, Old Crow for #403, Wheatgrass for #831, Cabbage Patch for #875, Collard Greens for #876, Creme de Menthe for 878, Wheatgrass for 886, Ocean Tide for #1035, Chocolat for #1050, Bahama Breeze for #9159 and Cranberry for GAST Rhubarb.  I realize my version makes for a somewhat darker shop than was charted but I always think of bookshops and libraries as having the colors of an old English gentleman's club: rich, elegant deep tones.  At least, if I owned a bookshop, that's the way I would paint it.  I particularly like the roof, made to look like an open book laid down in a spine destroying manner of which I would never be guilty ... but a clever conceit nonetheless.

I picked up the JAB Co Button Shop in the Indy 2006 series next.  I didn't order the button pack as charted since I have a fairly extensive collection of buttons, having inherited both my mother's and my grandmother's button jars.  I found replacements that suited my purposes.  And as to the fibers, I did have more than half of the recommended WDW colors in my stash and substituted near-matches from my stash of WDW and GAST for the remainder.  I changed the colors around a bit though.  The WDW Whitewash storefront is now WDW Collards to match the roof and provide better contrast for my  mother-of-pearl buttons.  The WDW Raspberry door and gutter trim are now WDW Whitewash to compensate for removing the white from the storefront.

And finally, I picked up an old Stitcher's Hideaway souvenir chart from the 2007 retreat which I am stitching as a needlebook.  There is a very nice little fern stitch in this chart that I am enjoying immensely.

And, now that the power is back.  I am ordering a new stitching lamp: a smaller, more portable lamp with the option of using batteries or an adapter for a plug-in.  This will be a better choice for retreats.  I really need to replace the bulb in my Ott light before going back to The Woodland Angel.  The bulb blew while I was at the Stitcher's Hideaway last weekend and I really can't do any work on something as complex as a TW project without optimum lighting.  An ordinary table lamp just doesn't provide the same clarity.  So, I'll be heading to the Electrical Supply Shop on Monday to scout out a new round florescent bulb for the Ott lamp.