Stitching Round-Up

I am still dealing with vision issues and, unfortunately, will be doing so for a while longer.  I couldn't schedule my cataract surgeries any earlier than August 3rd and 17th.  And, of course, I have only just finished dealing with the end of the school year madness, which has limited my stitching and other leisure activities considerably.

This post will be a bit long and somewhat picture heavy as I have been stitching smalls for the most part in the weeks that I haven't been blogging.  It's been two months or so since I last posted photos, so I have a bit of catching up to do:

From the Prairie Schooler's Year Rounds:

March: The Shamrock: I substituted Belle Soie silks for the DMC called for in this piece.

April: The Rabbit and Tulip.  I substituted Belle Soie silks for the DMC called for in this piece.

May: Flower Basket.  I used the recommended DMC for this entry in the series.

June: Bird on a Branch:  I have substituted Belle Soie's Collard Greens, Cinnamon, Pecan, Chocolate and Poison Apple for the suggested DMC flosses.  

Workbasket's Quaker Animal series:

Workbasket's Quaker Owl:Stitched in several different dye lots of GAST Maple Syrup.

Workbasket's Quaker Bat.  Stitched in GAST Crow.

Workbasket's Quaker Squirrel  Started stitching using GAST Cinnamon and Sarsaprilla.  I suppose the designer lives in an area where reddish squirrels abound.  In my neck of the woods, we see mostly grey squirrels with the very rare black squirrel.  I must admit, I prefer stitching this little guy in warm browns rather than greys.  All the black in the bat was quite enough drab floss for me.  I am at a standstill, for the moment though, as I am waiting for two skeins of Cinnamon in the same dyelot with which to stitch the main body of the squirrel.

The Town Square series:  I have finished work on Sandie's Sweet Shop  and The Creamery.

For Sandie's Sweet Shop, I used the recommended DMC flosses.  There were just so many color changes, some with very subtle variations, that it just wasn't practicable to substitute Belle Soie or WDW or GAST as I tend to do with this series.  Better to stick with the charted thread selections than to make a mess with poor substitutions.

For The Creamery, I had a few of the recommended WDW: Tin Roof, Chestnut, Sophia's Pink.  For the rest, I had to make the following substitutions:

WDW Purple Haze > GAST Sweet Pea

WDW Camelia > GAST Tea Rose

WDW Grapefruit >GAST Terra Cotta

WDW Daffodil >  a rice stitch done in GAST Daffodil and WDW Chartreuse.  [Never assume that just because two different manufacturers use the same name for a color that they are indeed referring to the same shade.  A mistake I corrected by turning a cross stitch into a rice stitch using something closer to the correct shade.]

WDW Winter White > Whitewash

WDW Kohl > GAST Soot

WDW Morris Blue > GAST President's Blue

WDW Periwinkle >GAST Babbling Brook

These Town Square charts are deceptively time-consuming.  They are smalls in size, being between three or four inches square.  But they are densely stitched and very detailed.  Though I've been working with the series for nearly two years now, every chart takes more time to stitch than I anticipate.  You'd think I'd learn.  Each of these charts took most of two weeks' stitching time.  I'd probably have given The Creamery a pass had I seen a stitched model; it's very kitschy what with the spotted walls a la cow hide.  Most of the details [topiary, door, window trim, etc.] are pastels that almost bleed into the off white walls.  There just isn't a sharp enough contrast for my taste.  The Sweet Shop is a bit more to my taste even though it, too, uses a pastel palette.

Next up is The ABeCeDarium, stitched in the recommended WDW and GAST, for the most part.  I didn't have enough WDW Brick and have substituted CC Used Brick in its stead  I found some 30ct. medium blue [periwinkle] linen that I bought at the last Stitcher;s Hideaway retreat I attended.  The irritating thing about this chart is that the key lists five colors and the chart has six symbols.  To further complicate matters, not all the symbols on the chart match up with the symbols on the key.  Doesn't anybody proof read charts anymore?  So I am winging it and pretty much guessing what color goes where.  Since it is 30ct, it has become my current travel project, at least until my next order from 123stitch comes in with the flosses I need for my Quaker Squirrel, Bear and Peacock [all of which are stitched on 28ct linen].  Again it is hard to tell without a photo of a stitched model but I am thinking this colorway will be more to my liking.  I am even tempted to think it will be a quick stitch, not as much fussy detail and not as many color changes.  Did I mention I have a somewhat steep learning curve?

And finally, last week I found myself needing to start a new traveling piece on 28ct since I can't manage my regular 36ct and 40ct WIPs away from my craft lamp/magnifier.  I had a piece of 28ct antique pink linen that I had been saving to stitch something for the Diva of All Things Pink [aka, my granddaughter].  I thought I'd make her a summer tote for lugging her stuff to beaches, parks and picnics and I figured this ice cream cone chart from Cross Eyed Cricket would do nicely as the central motif.  Of course, strawberry ice cream had to be one of the scoops, in keeping with the pink theme.   The other scoop is pistachio.  While the tote will be for the Diva, I am thinking of filling it with all the makings for a great ice cream cone: several different kinds of sprinkles, those pourable "syrups" from Smuckers that harden up into candy shells, some cherries, chopped nuts and of course, several different kinds of cones.  Doing that will make it a gift for the whole West Coast clan.  Some of my happiest childhood memories revolve around walking a block and a half to the corner candy store with my grandfather to buy hand-dipped cones for the whole family.  The choices may have been limited to chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or butter pecan, with the occasional addition of pistachio or peach to the list when the summertime gods smiled, but, my word, were those cones the most delicious ever.  Eating ice cream cones and catching fireflies [the 50's were not a particularly ecologically enlightened era] on warm summer nights were a child's idea of pure bliss!  I can't take my grandchildren out for ice cream cones; the walk from NY to Seattle is a bit of a deterrent.  But I can do the next best thing and send them all the fixings: all my son will have to do is spring for some ice cream.  I'll have to include a letter describing the memories of Brooklyn in the 50s.  I think old timers should share their stories with the young.  It gives the grandchildren a sense of where they came from and it gives the grandparents a sense of continuity.  I will enjoy writing about my grandfather and about Jack who ran the corner candy store on the corner of Church and Schenectady Aves and even about the insulated bags we used in the olden days to carry ice cream home: foil lined with a layer of waxed paper.  Simpler times.  I expect, I'll even write about the old ice cream trucks: Bungalow Bar trucks whose doors were pieces of white picket fencing and roofs were done up in red shingles and the Good Humor trucks that played a cheerful melody that could be heard a block away, giving us children plenty of time to beg our parents for nickels and dimes.  Yes, I am old enough to remember paying only a dime for an ice cream cone!  I can also remember when a chocolate bar cost a nickel.  Wouldn't it be fun to have today's income and yesteryear's prices, if only for a day?

My little granddaughter has made me very proud: when asked what she wanted for her upcoming birthday, she told her Dad that she wanted something she could "sew" just like Grandma.  So I am sending her some child-friendly and age appropriate needlepoint kits.  I think a large mesh, a blunt needle and a simple tent stitch might be more manageable than cross stitch for a six year old.  If that makes a hit, I'll try and find some stamped cross stitch suitable for a child her age. It's a pity we are 3,000 miles apart. I'd really enjoy teaching her the craft myself.  I'll bring some large check gingham , a hoop and some pretty floss when I visit next and start her on cross stitching.

Granted this isn't all that much accomplished for a full two months: mostly small and medium projects.  But when I retire in September, I plan to hit the ground running, tackling BAPs and major sewing, crafting and re-decorating projects.  For the moment, I will content myself with slow and steady progress on projects that are easy on the eyes.  I'll have most of the month of July off and will work most of the month of August, taking off only for the eye surgeries and follow-ups.  So I should get a bit of a start on the stitching, crafting, gardening and re-decorating then as well.

By the way, I am not loving the new computer.  Loading photos to my blog was once a 4 step process and is now a 6 step process that feels like a gazillion steps because I  keep forgetting what comes next,  Once I get used to the routine, I'll stop using foul words at every second keystroke.