Dither, dither, dither

In between house projects (the outside trim on the porch windows is complete – yay!), weeding, basic household stuff like laundry, and going to work, I have actually gotten some good stitching time in over the last week or so. 

The semi-rotation has been working well so far, but I’m now about to put it to a real test (more on that later).

I’ve finished LHN’s Season’s Greetings, changes and all (insert quick little happy dance here).

Mary Goodwin has become my weekday evening piece … when I have enough energy or brain left to stitch on what I still think of as school nights.  A few more letters have been added since this picture.

I’ve worked on Goat Load and on With My Needle’s Acorn Sampler Bag, but both these projects have had … issues.

I had picked out two pieces of 32 count linen as possibilities for Goat Load, but rejected first one and then the other after doing a handful of stitches on each – that bitty goat at the top simply was not going to show up when viewed from farther away than one's nose.  So I dove into my linen bin but found no small pieces of 32 in a good color.  Held my breath and cut (eeek! cutting into Larger Linen!!) a 4-inch strip from a nice long, 9 inch wide piece, and started stitching.

And wondered why my stitches looked so bad.

Said a few choice words and checked stitches against my ruler and then said a few more not very nice words – the 32 count was not.  It looks like it's 35 (explaining the problem with how my stitches looked), though a quick check with my little ruler is all I've done.  Hauled out the linen bin once again, this time opting for a darker, unbleached linen in 27-count.  The little guy is showing up better on the darker fabric, and my stitches look much more like nice little Xs now.  

And then there’s the Acorn Sampler Sewing Case/bag.  When this pattern first came out, I was very excited about it and ordered the fancy, called-for linen – Lakeside Linen Autumn Gold in 32-count – something my LNS did not carry. 

I was completely dismayed when the linen arrived in my mailbox – it was orangey-tan.  A quite dark orangey-tan.  Looking at the photo with the chart again, I figured what I received was a dyelot oddity and ordered another piece from a different shop.

With the same result. 

At this point I decided that the particular piece of fabric Ellen used must have been from a much lighter dyelot so the first chance I got, I was off to my LNS.  (Oh, to still have that LNS only 20 minutes away!!  What bliss to have been able to see and feel stitching fabric before I bought it!)   Seriously, does this fabric look dark orangey-tan to you??

Using the photo from the chart as a guide, the shop owner and I picked out two or three possibles, did a floss toss, and I came home with fabric that looks like a very light natural with a barely golden tinge – perfect!!

Since Ellen suggests using a varied collection of specialty stitches for the acorn caps, it seemed best to stitch only the vine to start.  Said vine has a rather long repeat and my eyes didn’t track it nearly as well as it seemed - the right side had an error discovered only after I was at the bottom.  Frog, frog…. 

Not sure if it’s the linen I'm using (which seems very tightly woven) or just that it’s on 32, but this is giving me the same feeling as 35/36 count sometimes does – two strands of floss feels like too much but one strand isn’t enough.  Geez, how many times do I need to change fabrics on this project???

I’m stalled at this point and thinking 28-count in a light natural would be better.  On 32, the finished width should be 5 1/2 inches while on 28 count it would be 6 … and I won’t ever complain about a stitching bag being a touch larger!! 

Thoughts?  Opinions??  Please let me know your ideas on this one!

Now to the test of my semi-rotation.  With the long weekend coming after a Friday spent running around like a headless chicken (short version:  one of my two bosses left at the end of November and we had a candidate in for interviews – guess who coordinated and had to make all the on-the-fly changes?), it seemed the perfect time to start Betsy Davis.  Great reward, right?

Betsy’s been in my stash for a long time, and while I originally bought her with DMC, a year or two ago I decided I wanted to stitch her in silks, and Marsha was happy to sell me the right colors and quantities.

After four stitching sessions – two yesterday…

… and two more today, here’s where Betsy stands.

Why is Betsy a test?  After waiting so long to start her (and I think I’ve wanted to stitch her since I first saw her years and years and years ago), it will be hard to work on anything else!

Thanks for letting me ramble on!

>^..^<

I've been working on stuff.....

I want to thank everyone who commented on my earlier post and made suggestions about what to stitch next – I really appreciate every bit of input!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I tend to be a monogamous stitcher.  This can be good because I don’t end up with a lot of WIPs/UFOs, but it can also be bad because when I get sick a bit tired of a project and don’t want to work on it, it can mean not stitching at all.  Which is Very Not Good.

Hand in hand with that particular tendency (failing?), I’ve never really done well with rotations.  But there’s a first time for everything, right?  Perhaps the issue is that any previous rotation I’ve tried has not been structured in a manner that worked for me.

Thanks to my indecisiveness, I’ve come up with a sort of rotation that I think might work.  Either that, or I’ve just found a way to justify starting a whole lot of different project starts!

Since I don’t normally stitch every day, a rotation that assigns each day of the week a different project is … not optimal.  Here’s what I came up with:

As you can sort of see, each project has several lines of empty blocks, arranged in rows of five, and the plan is this:  Every time I work on a project, I note the date in its next open block.  If I feel like working on that same project the next night / next time I stitch, that’s fine, but if I want to work on something different, that’s okay too.  If I work on the same piece five stitching days in a row, I will consider moving to another piece the next time I stitch, but I don't have to change. 

My hope is that this not-really-a-rotation will satisfy my desire to plug away at one thing, but also spice things up a bit and keep me from getting tired of whatever I’m working on.  And I might even get more projects completed.

So far, this non-rotation rotation has generated two new starts.  That’s two new starts in one week.  And there are several more projects ready to go and just waiting to be added to the list.  I just need to make sure to keep at least one small project going so that I get an occasional finish.

The new starts?  Mary Goodburn and the Acorn Sampler Sewing Case - pictures soon!  Goat Load is kitted up and waiting its chance, and the Cluny Unicorn is all contained in its own tote bag but needs a bit more prep work.  Silly me did not realize that NEARLY EVERY SYMBOL on the scary, solid -coverage chart is for a BLENDED needle.  When that little item of information finally hit home, I ordered the floss label stickers that go with the chart.  These dodads go on one’s floss bobbins and show the chart symbol plus the DMC thread numbers that make up that color.  I’m thinking a weekend afternoon playing paper dolls putting stickers on floss bobbins is in order before putting a needle into this mammoth project.  Gridding at least a section of the fabric may also be in order. - do you ever do that?

I’m also thinking that Betsy Davis needs her own bag as she is currently in a very thick pocket folder and will no doubt require more space once begun (I know I have more tote bags somewhere…).  Yes, I’m itching to start working on her too.  Perhaps I’ve gone crazy in my old age.

Or maybe I just want to make some more progress on my far-beyond-SABLE stash.

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And now for ... what?

Lately I’ve been working on LHN’s Seasons Greetings when I have both the time and energy to stitch, which has been far too seldom recently.  And while working, my mind is greatly occupied by the what-to-stitch-next conundrum. 

I’ve rooted through the main stash as well as the readily-to-hand stash (this is a real and very intentional distinction).  Of course I want to stitch it ALL, and fondling perusing all the pretties makes me want to stitch it all RIGHT NOW!!

There are … I suppose I could whittle it down to four.  There are four things I want to start.  Two are samplers Wonderful Husband gifted me with, one is a full-coverage piece (also a gift from WH), and the last is another sewing case.

Oh, better make that FIVE.  I have succeeded in acquiring the chart for Goat Load from Plum Street Samplers and want to stitch it over one as a Christmas ornament since goats are the subject of a longstanding joke between Wonderful Husband and myself. 

But how do I decide??!!

What’s that?  You can’t give out advice without seeing what I’m talking about?  Okay.

Sampler #1, aka Mary Goodburn

Not tiny, but all cross stitch and should stitch up relatively quickly.  And Mary looks like a fun stitch with lots of bright colors.

Sampler #2, aka Betsy Davis

Can’t work on this one in the winter since my hands get so dry I’d shred the silks, but it IS springtime now.  In my personal classification system, Betsy falls under the Large and Complicated heading.  She is supposed to finish up at 13 by 15, and even though she’s on 25 count (which will likely feel like I’m working on burlap since I normally prefer higher count fabrics), she will undoubtedly take quite a while to stitch.  No new stitches to learn, but there are lots of Queen stitches (which I like, but they're time consuming) plus sections that are freehand embroidery (why does that worry me so?).  Not sure I want to do another Large and Complicated yet, but I’ve loved this sampler going on twenty-five years now….

Full coverage – Cluny Unicorn detail

When I start this, it will be with the knowledge that I will NOT be monogamous with this piece, even though I’m essentially a one-at-a-time stitcher.  I’ve never done a full-coverage piece before and know I will need breaks.  Perhaps a great many breaks.

Ellen Chester’s (With My Needle) Acorn Sampler Sewing Case

Um, yes.  Apparently I *need* to have a sewing case in process.  While this piece has been kitted for several years and has been in my easily-accessed, do-these-really-soon project bag for well over a year, now that I’ve finally finish-finished a sewing case, this one’s voice has gotten considerably louder.  Perhaps it’s all those squirrels….

Goat Load

This should be a reasonably quick stitch, even over one.  But this small project will require Thought prior to beginning.  Many of the called-for colors are Classic Colorworks (Crescent Colours), and since my stash contains very few of those threads, substitutions will be necessary.

Oh wait.  Forgot about this one.  If you blow up the picture, you can see that I wrote “completed 13 July ‘92” on the pattern.  I really did stitch this guy.  I know where I worked on him most often (on the bench by the caboose in downtown Vienna , Virginia, where we used to live, stitching and keeping one eye on the kids as they clambered all over old railroad car), and I specifically remember doing his beard and adding the stars once the regular stitching was done, but as I was undecided about how to finish the back, I never cut him out.  Instead, I put him in a Safe Place.  He’s in such a safe place that I’ve looked in every reasonable place and a number of unreasonable places with no sight of the guy. 

Actually, I feel pretty lucky that I found the pattern and picture and for several years they were in hiding also!  I do have some tan perforated paper in the stash, so I’d just need to match DMC colors to the picture – you can see that the colors have names only in the thread list.  I have several other early kits in this series, but haven’t been able to bring myself to do any of the others until this first one is complete.

Thoughts?  Suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by and listening to me ramble.

>^..^<

At long last....

Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher (LINK) is our host for this compltely brilliant SAL.  Thanks again, Rachel, for the much needed kick in the pants! 

This one requires a little history.  In 1995, I was able to attend the Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival in Valley Forge.  It was the second time I’d gone to SOCS and this time I not only knew what my class projects looked like *before* class started, I was prepared for the awesome merchandise mall.  By that I mean I was ready to look for charts and supplies for classes from a previous year that I’d fallen in love with.  One of the charts I picked up was Merry Cox’s Sampler Sewing Case.  After a minor debate with myself, I also bought the SOCS video class with Merry since the project was a similarly designed sewing case.

Understand that the intent behind purchasing the video was to get detailed finishing instruction for the other chart – I had no intention of stitching the case in the video.

Are you laughing yet?

Of course at some point after finishing the first sewing case, I ended up contacting Merry in order to acquire her materials kit for the case in the video.  The original sampler case was stitched in 1997 and fully finished shortly thereafter.

While working on the second sampler case, I decided I wanted it to be different from the first one – my chart has so many notes and ideas in the margins!  The plan was to turn Merry’s normal mattress pincushion into a pocket.  And oh, while I’m at it, let’s make the needlebook a bit snazzier too.

Stitching for this small was finished in (*cough*) 2003.  Ever since, it’s been rolled up and tucked carefully into my (Merry Cox SOCS class) Shaker Box with a number of my completed smalls, patiently waiting for me to go through my making-quilts frenzy and come back to stitching.

 

(This is Merry’s case – screenshots from video class)

A few years ago I got a bug to finish the sewing case.  For some reason, I’d thought it was larger than the first case.  Nope.  As charted, it's not even as big as the first one.  So there was pondering as to how to enlarge it without losing the original feel of the project (and also without broad expanses of blank linen).  I trawled eBay to acquire more of one of the project threads, DMC flower thread (long gone from LNS inventories), then planned and stitched a border.

And then I got cold feet.

Really, what had I been thinking?  A tool-holding pouch with a flap closure in this itty-bitty case?  Back into the Shaker box it went so it could … age a bit more.

Enter Rachel’s SAL (*whoops and cheers and applause*), which got me seriously thinking about this project again.  Preparing to work on the project required some serious advance planning steps, beginning with figuring a way to transfer the video file to my laptop which does not have an integral DVD drive.  Hey, at least it was *on* a DVD rather than a now-useless VHS tape thanks to Wonderful Husband.

For the past few weekends I’ve disappeared into the back bedroom (where sewing machine, ironing board, and other essentials reside) for an hour or so a day.  Yes, in addition to being a slow stitcher, I’m a slow finisher as well.

Now when one is off the instructions map, one needs mock ups and templates to ensure plans and ideas work.  Especially when one’s design is way too fancypants for one’s own good.

  

That tiny bit of paper with staples is my pocket model and the other paper is my pattern.  I even basted the pieces to the outer case this time!

I changed the poem just a touch since I saw no reason to break words across two lines.

On the inside bits, I stitched the letters over one so there would be room for more information ... and so I could put designs and words on the undersides of those flaps.  I also added a strap to better secure my scissors - when Merry shows off her Sampler Sewing Case #1 in the video, you can see she made a scissor strap for that one, though I don't think it's called for in either pattern.

Rather than nun’s edged linen needlepages, I used felted wool to better protect my needles and pins from rust - our climate is more humid than I'd like.

Here's that pesky double pocket that took so long to go from wisp of idea to reality.

Even though I didn’t want to add all the bows that Merry used on her case, I thought the waxer pouch was a good place for the little bow charm.  The drawstring on the other pouch is made from some of the silk ribbon provided to make those triple bows (see pics of Merry's case) – they were a bit too frou-frou for me.

Happy dancing!  Certainly it took me long enough to finish this piece, but I'm generally pleased with the result.

Thanks for visiting with me today, and for allowing me to ramble.

>^..^<

Tangentially related...

... to stitching, that is.

Shortly after I began working on Jane Turner, I realized that Amy Mitten’s fat little book on everything you ever might want to know about executing the Montenegrin stitch (HERE in case you’re curious about the book) was going to be a necessity as I had never stitched it as anything but a dividing line straight across a sampler.  If you follow that link, you’ll see that Amy Mitten designed a humorous pocket to store and carry the book – fun, yes?  I thought so too, but figured I didn’t need it, so couldn’t justify it (and didn’t want to have to complete that project in order to work on Jane Turner).

Now that I’m getting really close to the bands that are filled with Montenegrin, I was thinking more and more about that pocket and how something similar would keep my book in better shape than just dropping it into my stitching bag every night.

So I dug out some supplies…

… and measured and marked and made a pattern.

Then I rooted through my denim stash till I found a piece that was tough but still soft.

And then I got too tricky for my own good – something I absolutely excel at when finishing smalls or making things like this.  Wouldn’t it be much nicer if the pocket was lined?  Yes, of course!  Cut two pieces of denim …

Uh oh.  How am I going to construct it?  Well, just sew the two pieces together, turn, and then … oh wait, can’t do the pocket side seams easily that way....  Okay, sew the pocket sides together for each piece and square off the bottom corners, turn one inside out and stuff it inside the other and then … oops, that’s a LOT of hand stitching to finish it.  Seems there should be a way that I could sew the two pieces mostly together and then turn it all through an open part (I’m still pretty sure this *can* be done… but work seems to be using the entire allotment of brain power these days and I just couldn't see how it ought to be done).

But at this point I was, as we say in our house, a bear of very little brain (apologies to A. A. Milne).  Think, think, think…

All right, let’s go for the least amount of hand sewing:  sew, turn, press, fold, pin …

Sew down the sides by hand.  Ah, at least I can shape the bottom.

Now slide the book in …

… and, finished!

>^..^<

Happy dance of the stitchy variety

Finally finished something stitchy (it's been ages), and so must show it off. I love making little tool holder-type things like sewing cases and scissor fobs (which, besides being fun and decorative, keep your small embroidery scissors from sliding down into the depths of your chair or couch and getting lost). Take a look at my newest scissor fob.

The cat, mice and flowers are tiny bits from a much larger chart, and my initial on the other side came from a different chart. The cat is a bit like my senior cat, Bonnie, though the contrast in her coloring is not as sharp as the stitched kitty. Silly, obsessive me intends to have a different fob for each month, and maybe extras for Halloween and Christmas.


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