Small Progress

The taller tree in this photo has been frustrating me for the last few days.  The symbol is a pale grey left parentheses, barely visible on the glossy page.  I've been stitching a branch at a time before moving on to something else in disgust.  I finally started work on the house. When that's done, I'll try counting the remaining branches from the roof line.  The dazzle effect that followed my cataract surgery has left me unable to read faint print unless I hold the paper right under my nose.

But I did manage to stitch the primitive Sheep Heart from a recent JCS using True Palette silks and Rainbow Gallery Tweed instead of the charted flosses.

Sunflower Sampler, Hummingbirds, Etc.

I finished this little sampler Thursday evening, using the recommended GAST and WDW floss and substituting additional WDW floss for the DMC as follows:
DMC 436   >   WDW Bright Leaf
DMC 469   >   WDW Ivy

I did eliminate the bees from the design since I thought a little more negative space was needed.  Samplers, in my ever so humble opinion, need to  breathe.  

I have started and finished another small, Crossed Wing Collection's Summer 1999 Hummingbird.  I had all the recommended DMC and GAST threads but one, GAST Lavender Potpourri for which I substituted GAST Hyacinth.  As I frequently do, I made a few adjustments.  For a softer look I have eliminated the outlining backstitch on the leaves, flowers and bird: stitching 3/4 rather than the charted 1/4 stitches.  I am stitching all the stems in GAST Pine rather than DMC 870, again for a softer more natural look.  I think I shall finish this as an ornament for the summertime display.

And, I finally chose my next BAP start, Primitive Needle's Witch's Hollow.   I had a little over half the recommended WDW floss and three of the four recommended GAST flosses.  I will spend a little time after posting this entry researching substitutions for the remaining threads.  I have such an extensive stash of over dyed cotton flosses from WDW, GAST, Crescent Colors that it seems silly to buy the missing charted threads when I may very well have a similar color in another brand..  I am stitching this on a 36 count linen from Silkweaver called Rock Quarry.

First Finishes of 2016

I have finished the mystery sampler.  I had to eliminate some of the charted cartouches to adapt the chart to the size of my linen.   I switched the animals about somewhat, choosing my favorites: peacock, dog parakeets, owl, robin, rabbit and squirrel, stitched in soft and bright pastels,  I filled in the empty spaces with motifs stitched in the same Blue Lagoon I used for the cartouches.  It was necessary to tinker with the motif as well, turning the roses on their side, changing the squat loving cup into a slender chalice and adding a bunch of grapes.  I wish I could provide more of a provenance for this design.  I seem to recall downloading it from one of the French free sites ... it definitely seems to be in that style.  In any case the final result is very different from the original chart.

The next finish is from Donna of By the Bay. .  I used WDW 30 count Periwinkle linen and Belle Soie silks, mainly Indigo with Boysenberry ans Lilac.  The simple words Slow Down looked pretty naked on the linen so I added a border of my own design, accenting it with some beads in the same shade as the deepest tone in the Boysenberry.  The corner treatment is a simple Rhpdes rectangle
.

And there's this one day wonder from Samplers and Such: Bitty Baskets ABC Sampler, a sampler designed to be finished as a pin keep but which I will finish as a jar top.  I used Aurora 32 count linen and Caron Waterlilies Tahiti for a subtle tone on tone [in part] effect which looks much better in reality than in this photograph.  In real life, the pale melon in the floss doesn't fade quite so badly into the background linen.

I seem to be choosing my projects to use up the odd scraps of linen I have on hand.  I guess it's a sort of New Year's sweep and clean up effort.  This latest finish is from Homespun Elegance:
Country Spirits Birds and Bees,   .  I used my Belle Soie silks instead of the recommended DMC.  They are Beanstalk, Chocolate, Cinnamon Stick, Lasagna, Old Crow and Scarecrow.  I still have an extensive stash of partial cards of Belle Soie and am using them for all my small to medium projects: waste not, want not.




All I need to finish this last piece are two Olde Brass bee charms but that will have to wait till I have the time to put together an order.  I need some scroll rods, the proper linens for Sleepy Hollow and the Workbasket Quaker animals.  I'll need a quiet moment to sit down and make up a complete list of my needs for the next few months.

Marking Time

I still haven't decided on my next new BAP start and have been marking time with a few smaller projects while I consider my options.

I finished up the Jeanette Douglas Halloween Acorn House: truly a small at just 2 inches square.  Surprisingly it took three days stitching time [about 6 hours] to finish.  What slowed things down was working the over one fence, cat and owl on 36ct. Silkweaver linen.  I am not sure whether I will finish it as an ornament or as a scissor fob yet.  I make that decision when I sit down to sew.

The next piece is a French style sampler that I am working on a 14 inch square of 28ct Blue Wing Jobelan.  I have used Belle Soie Blue Lagoon for the alphabet and the plan is to use it for all the cartouches, as well.  I'll use soft pastel silks for all the animals and flowers that fill the cartouches.    My linen isn't quite large enough for the whole chart so I'll be eliminating and rearranging motifs to suit my needs.

A BAP and Two One Day Wonders

I finished The Goblin Market and here it is in all its glory.  The spider web took forever or so it seemed.  I added a little Krenik 032 blending filament to the web  to make it shimmer as webs do in nature.   This piece was a lot of fun to stitch with all it's cheerful colors and its multitude of motifs.  The variety within the piece itself kept ,my interest.  The eagle-eyed observer will note a few counting errors but they didn't really detract from the overall design.  So I am satisfied.  The next project from the WIP list that I'll be tackling: The Mystic Smalls.

While rooting about in my stash for the next new big project, I came across three small charts: Jeanette Douglas' A Christmas Tree Ornament, Sue Donnelly's Souvenir Stitcher's Hideaway Ornament and Jeanette Douglas' The Halloween Acorn House.  I also found a few scraps of mystery linen on which to stitch them..

I paired this antique rose linen with the Jeanette Douglas chart, adjusting the color way to pale and non-traditional tints including Belle Soie's Creme de Menthe, Fern Frond, Beanstalk, Lily Pad and Cabbage Patch for the tree and GAST Pink Azalea for the tent stitched vertical strips in the background.  I am very pleased with the result, so much more subtle than the usual bright Christmas reds and greens.

The second one day wonder was this souvenir Tree Ornament from The Stitcher's Hideaway Retreat in 2013.  Better late than never.  It's pretty straigh forward stitched on raw linen in Dinky Dyes silks.

The final small resulting from my search is this little Halloween Acorn House.  I'll be using as many of the suggested WDW, GAST and Crescent Colors as I have on hand, making appropriate substitutions when necessary.  I have WDW Trick or Treat, GAST Straw Bonnet, Crescent Colors Blackbird and Hickory Sticks.  That leaves me needing replacements for CC Colonial Copper, Just Rust, Plymouth Rock and Tufted Yellow.  As soon as I have posted  this blog entry, I'll search online to see what those shades are and then I'll pull equivalents from my GAST or WDW stash, both of which are mych moe extensive than my CC stash.  Since this a two sided piece, it'll probably take three days to stitch.

And I still haven't selected my next new large project start!  Nothing is really pulling at me at the  moment.  That's probably a goof reason to stick to the WI[P list

And Startitis Strikes Again

It seems that every time I get close to finishing a large project [in this case, The Goblin Market],  I feel th need to start a new small.

So, I pulled this Morning Glory Designs complimentary chart, Friendship is a Sheltering Tree, from my stash and kitted it up using 36 ct raw linen and most of the recommended WDW flosses: Blue Spruce, Chesapeake, Curry, Frosted Teal and Ivy.  I lacked Camellia [Light Dusty Rose] and Romance [Dusty Rose] for which I will substitute some similar GAST cotton over dyed floss when I reach that point.  At present, I am enjoying a stint of over one stitching using the two blues to create a shadow effect.  The full title sentiment will take up the bottom third of the design and the pink flowers will complete the arch of the two trees.

It is a simple yet pleasing design with a motto that is not overly sentimental.  It'll work up nicely as a gift bag to hold a Christmas gift for one of my fr.ends

Catching Up

It's been a month since my last post and I really can't imagine how the time managed to slip by so quickly.  It was a busy month.  There was a family wedding: my niece/goddaughter married a very noce young man.  My husband and I took my mother on a four day Fall foliage vacation.  I finally got my glasses and all vision problems have been corrected.  And the usual routines seemed to speed up.  Halloween came and went.  I'll take things in chronological order.

First:  My niece made a beautiful bride and the whole family is delighted to welcome Steve into the fold.  The wedding ceremony itself was beautiful in the fine old church of St. Ann ... a Romanesque building with lots of gorgeous stained glass windows.  The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot.  A beautiful Indian Summer day!    It was a truly joyous occasion.

The reception was a different story.   At the beginning of the month, my ever so slowly healing eyes did not do well with the dj's strobe lights and the photographer's and videographer's hot white lights [on poles, yet, the better to blind everyone across the room].  My husband and I ended up leaving the reception early because the pressure in my eyes was becoming intolerable.  I am getting to be quite a crank about wedding receptions. One would think it  a great time to reconnect with scattered family and friends but the incessant loud music makes it impossible to have a conversation without shouting at even your nearest seat mate.  And while it is fun to watch the energetic young dance to hip hop and rap music, that pales after a while, especially since I don't really care for that sort of music.  Since none of my remaining single nieces and nephews [5 are married, leaving 14 possible brides/grooms] are likely to plan a sedate reception featuring an elegant meal with a string quartet playing chamber music in the background, I expect I'll just have to endure.  I do have a year's reprieve before the next one in October of 2016.  I'll be popping Ocuvite daily in preparation. 

The next weekend we took my Mom to our favorite spot in the Catskills, the Bavarian Manor Inn, to enjoy the fall foliage and some peace and quiet.  We did a lot of driving through beautiful country with spectacular views overlooking valleys and rising hillsides and Hudson River vistas.  Unfortunately, I was so busy enjoying the sights, I never once pulled out my camera.  I did remember to take a few shots at the inn, though.  The first is a shot of the porch, all dressed for Fall.  We spent a lot of time on the  porch, sitting, reading and talking.

I took another shot of the lawn but that's about it for the Fall color photography.  A pity since the color on our mountain drives was so much more dramatic.  We took Mom to a few antique and collectible malls.  And we ate like lords at the Inn's wonderful German restaurant.  As usual, the schnitzels and wursts were fabulous but the potato pancakes outshine every other item on the menu and are a small taste of heaven on earth.

And, of course, I have been stitching.

I finished the small PS promo design, started a week ago on Sunday and finished on Monday.  This was stitched on 30ct WDW Periwinkle linen using two strands Belle Soie Poison Apple, Oatmeal Scone, Ocean Tide, Espresso and DMC 783.  I'll finish it as an ornament.

Then I went on to do a lot more work on The Goblin Market.  When last seen, it looked like this.

But several hours of stitching daily have yielded this progress.  I am more than halfway through the piece.  The last project that I stitched to have such an extensive color palette was The English Band Sampler.  I must say I am really enjoying all the color in this piece.  To describe a goblin-themed chart as bright and cheerful must seem odd but that's the way this design strikes me.  Please excuse the poor indoor photograph.  I'll do better with the next one.

Then, I took a break with this one day wonder from Prairie Schooler, a 2013 complimentary chart of a Queen Bee. It was meant to be stitched on 18 ct black Aida and I did start it on some 36 ct black linen.  It was slow going till I decided to spare my eyes and switched to a 32 ct raw linen.  Then my needle flew.  I substituted Belle Soie silks for the recommended DMC cotton, using Buttercup, Creme de Menthe, Ocean Tide, Old Crow and Vanilla Pudding.

And, while not quite another one day wonder, the PS Year round for October is stitching up relatively quickly.  I am using a 36ct natural linen and Belle Soie silks: Carrot Cake, Collard Greens, Old Crow and Wheargrass.  I have only the leaf and stem to stitch, making this year round entry a two day project.

And finally, here's a photo of my last harvest: enough spearmint to make a large pitcher of iced tea, enough basil for a quick pesto sauce, some eggplant and some tomatoes in various stages of ripeness.  There was  enough eggplant for a small tray of eggplant parmigiana.  The green tomatoes ripened on the kitchen windowsill, keeping me supplied for two weeks.  The days are still relatively warm but the nights are getting colde.  I was afraid to leave anything on the vines much longer.

The Goblin Market and Other Projects

I went with my first instinct and used the 28 ct ivory linen.  I am using the recommended DMC floss.  So far, I have stitched the bottom border. the tile like band just above it and a bit of the left side of the booth.  I am loving the colors as I work my way from left to right across the bottom third of the design.  Since I stitch with over dyed silks and cottons so very often, I sometimes forget the pure joy of crisp solid color.



Next, I finally set up my recent needlepoint class piece [from July] on the stitching stand so I could get back to work on it.  I'd like to finish at least one class project in the same year I started it.  A quick  glance at my sidebar on class pieces would prove that this would be a major accomplishment for me

Before September whizzes past, I wanted to get the PS Year Round for the month stitched.  Like the others in the series, I stitched this on 40 ct natural linen in Belle Soie silks instead of the charted DMC.  In this case: Poison Apple, Scarecrow, and Collards

I was in the mood to do some beading.  Creating a few more Easter/Spring ornaments for my entry hall tree is one of my annual goals.  So I pulled out this Mill Hill kit, a daffodil Easter egg, and got started on it.  The instructions said to use two strands of floss but the floss was too bulky and showed between the beads, so I am using just one strand.  I hope this won't cause problems in future.  I'll be lining the back with felt, so I trust the stitches will be adequately protected.  Ornaments don't see much hard use so it ought to be fine.

And I cut some more denim strips from old jeans.  I figure when I have four balls as large as the first two, I should be able to start work on a braided rag rug.  I also had some old slipcovers in colors that will work with the denim that I can use in the ratio of two denim strips to one slipcover strip to add a little interest and variation.

Another scrap project I'd like to work on soon is a woolen penny rug.  I've got an old coat and some remnants left over from a cape I made, the first a solid dark green and the second a tweedy medium green in the same bluish green color way.  I won't actually make a full sized rug but I am fairly sure I have enough for a table runner.  Anyway, I cut up the coat [which has given me good service for a little over 30 years - LL Bean sure makes products that last] and ran it through the washer on gentle cycle using Woolite.  It has a slightly felted appearance now which is perfect for my purposes.

And, finally, I selected a winner of the giveaway ten days ago, Bette, and e-mailed her.  But she never responded so I selected a new winner, Carolyn [Stitchinowl].  I will e-mail her tomorrow morning.

Stitching Report, Such As It Is

If you have been hearing the joyful strains of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, it's just me.  I can see again.  No sooner than my right eye had healed enough after cataract surgery to allow me to see with that eye again, I had surgery on the left eye.  And the world was again a mere blur.  Apparently, I am a slow healer.  It takes three to four days for the dilation to subside.  That meant I went nearly 8 full days unable to read, stitch, use a computer or drive.  Manageable activities were limited to sleeping,  cleaning, cooking and watching TV ... none of which make it to my top ten list of preferred activities.  But now with the aid of a pair of dime store reading glasses, I can do all of the tasks requiring the ability to see clearly objects smaller that a grape.  I may even begin to enjoy puttering in the kitchen again, now that it is a choice rather than a chore.

Naturally, I had to test myself on different count linens and different style projects to see what would be most comfortable as I continue to heal.

First I picked up the July Prairie Schooler Year Round piece again and finished all the red and white points surrounding the star studded blue field.  The center field is slow going.  The 40 ct linen was not the easiest to work and I found myself frogging frequently after miscounting by one thread.  I am not sure I will even bother with the August entry in this series: a sun with a face, rather trite and uninteresting.  On the one hand, it does seem wrong to my orderly soul to skip one chart in a monthly series like this.  But on the other hand, why stitch a piece that would bore me to tears when I have so many more interesting projects on hand?

I also finished work on Sue Donnelly's Best Ships sampler, stitched on a much friendlier 28ct. linen.  It was charted without a border but I stitched a row of waves beneath the last line of text to give the piece a little more weight.

And I put in a few minutes on CEC's Swimming Instructor, working on the spider roses that form the bra.   I am not sure that the dimensionality of the stitching shows to advantage in the photograph.  But I imagine if you account for the scale, this rather buxom little mermaid wears a C cup.  I'll hold off re-charting the face for a few days till I am ready for some over one stitching.  Then it will just be a matter of adding a bead necklace and deciding if I want to embellish it with a few sea creatures. [Now that I know how to make a bullion stitch star fish, I am looking for excuses to use the new found skill.]

And because I seem to be dealing with chronic startitis this summer, I started another Prairie Schooler piece, Primitive Americana.  With all the primary election hoopla going on, it seemed an appropriate time to stitch a face off of party symbols.  I substituted silks for DMC and I am using scraps of mystery 28ct. linen sewn up  into what I have heard described as a flea market pillow top.  It's a format used in some Homespun Elegance designs I've stitched and I thought it would work nicely here.  I haven't decided yet whether I'll stitch Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty in the tall patch to the right but I have started the alphabet sampler with eagle corners that makes up the last design in this PS leaflet.on the bottom panel.  I'll probably have to make some adjustments to the chart to fit this panel.   I seem to be in a Prairie Schooler frame of mind   I can't seem to put this piece down.

So far as ease of stitching goes, the perfect project for the moment is the Jacobean Elegance afghan, stitched over two with four strands on what must be a 10 or 12 ct fabric.  I have started another of the blossom squares.  And though it is the most comfortable stitching of all the projects currently in my rotation, it is awfully bulky and warm to work with..  I think I'll alternate it with the Prairie Schooler piece for a few days.





Ah, it is so good to be able to stitch again.

Progress

In my last post, I listed a series of new starts.  Every so often I get terminally bored with my current WIPs.  Or sometimes a bunch of intriguing new charts come to my attention all at once.  In this case, it was a little of both.

CEC's The Swimming Instructor  This new complimentary chart came to my attention when I saw a link to it on a message board I frequent.  I quickly kitted it up my way, substituting silks from Caron, Rainbow Gallery Splendour and Belle Soie for the rather gaudy DMC choices charted by the designer.  I wanted my finished piece to have a fantasy look rather than a cartoon look.  More Hans Christian Andersen than Walt Disney.  Once I finished the fishtail [in carom's Monsoon] and the torso [in some leftover Splendour flesh tone from an old SNN kit], I got going on the Belle Soie Mahogany silk for the hair.  Can anyone else remember the era of big hair?  I realize the effect the designer is going for is "floating in water" but all I keep seeing are 80s era actresses.  I think I'll name my mermaid Farah.  Now that I've finished her hair, I'll get to work clothing her and re-charting the face.

Morning Glory's Buttoned Heart Pin Cushion.  This was one of the charts in the retreat gift bag.  I had to start it because I had just the right materials on hand: a small scrap of antique rose 28ct linen and a partial skein of Caron Waterlilies Meadow, not enough for a full sized project but more than enough for a small.    Sometimes, materials seem to leap out of stash, shouting "use me, use me, you know I'm perfect."  I even had some flowery meadow-ish fabric on hand for a finish and a small pearlized pink button.

Also, from the retreat gift bag was this small souvenir scissor fob, Making Waves in Sturbridge.    I don't know why I feel compelled to stitch Sue's little retreat themed gifts right away.  Perhaps because I know, deep down, I am unlikely to finish the class project within the same year.  Still, I 'll have a few smalls to show for it all.  Plus, these tiny projects feed my appetite for finishes.

And another goodie bag chart, Ginny Thompson's Sampler ornament, turned out to be a one day wonder, stitching up very quickly in the deep rose pink flower thread accompanying the chart.  This was stitched on a tiny scrap of antique rose 28ct linen.






I am not quite done with the new starts yet.   Sue Donnelly's Friendship Sampler  from the gift bag is in the hoop but I haven't stitched enough of it to be photo worthy.  And, then there's Papillion Creations monochromatic chart door prize that I want to start stitching.  This is the way the WIP list grows.

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.

Rotation Stitching To Date

Over the pre-Christmas weekend, it was stitcher's choice and I chose to jump around quite a bit:  I made a little bit of progress on several pieces but nothing worthy of a photograph.  All, in all, it was a very simple and relaxing weekend: just some very easy stitching while watching a marathon of an old PBS series, The Duchess of Duke Street.  In short, it was a hermitting weekend.

Then came Christmas week:

Monday, it was back to The English Band Sampler, picking up from where I frogged out the errors.   When last seen this flower was a mere outline, now it is quite filled in.  I stitched a few more curlicues around the acorns and stems.  Now, that I have relaxed and stopped stressing over when I will finish this piece, I have begun to make discernible progress again.I also spent a little time cutting all the boards for the stitched ornaments.

On Tuesday, I finished the Sage tea towel.and kitted up the Mint towel.  The pair of tea towels was meant to be a Christmas gift for my secretary, but clearly I didn't get it done in time.  She'll have to wait till little Christmas, The Feast of The Epiphany, on January 6.

Then on Wednesday it was back to stitching on the dragon with the result that page 1 of the chart is completely done but for a few beads that will just have to wait till all the stitching on page 2 is done.  I have gotten a good start on page 2: the breast plates; the scales along shoulders, neck and head; some of the fill stitching and a bit of the face are done.  Of course, that still leaves the wings, shoulder, front claws, neck and face to be completed as well as a bit more scenery.  I doubt this will be finished in 2014 but it may very well be the first 2015 finish.  I do have yet another reason to despise rayon fiber: it is the very devil to frog.  No matter how carefully one picks the stitches, the wretched stuff shreds, leaving one with a fuzzy tail useless for weaving under existing stitches.  The only option is to lay it carefully on the underside of the linen and ever so delicately stitch over it, avoiding bringing any of the fuzzy mess to the front of the linen as one pulls one's stitches.

Then on Thursday, I worked on the Mystic Smalls and finished up the cross stitching and over one stitching on the needle book.Now, all that's left is the ribbon embroidery.  I'll tackle that tomorrow, since the Sage tea towel has dropped out of the rotation.  [I have deferred the Mint Tea Towel to January's rotation.]  With luck the needle book will be my final finish in 2014.

I didn't do any rotation stitching on Friday and so have no assembly finishes to show.  I did page through some of my baby and toy charts to pick out a design for a bib and a burp towel for my great-nephew Liam who is now weighing in at 3 pounds, having gained a full pound since his birth in November.  He is off the ventilator and is strong enough to have yanked out his feeding tube.  The NICU nurses, of course, replaced it immediately.  But it's good to know that Liam is a tough little guy and a fighter.  I have decided on a train motif for the burp towel: a locomotive pulling four flat cars carrying the letters L - I - A - M and a caboose bringing up the rear.  I will probably just use the same alphabet to stitch Liam's name on the bib.

As to the weekend goal of doing some non-stitching activities, I tried a new recipe: Egg Nog Pancakes from cooking.com.  I can't call it an unqualified success.  Though my husband enjoyed them, I found them both too sweet and too heavy.  I also detected a slight metallic aftertaste but I am guessing that was due to baking powder past its prime.  I'll be putting that on the shopping list before I bake again.  While still in a cooking frame of mind, I made a tray of stuffed pasta shells.  Then I puttered about the house, decluttering a closet, reorganizing my kitchen counter space and cleaning out the refrigerator and oven.