Helping the DBEM

Tonight I got a plantive call from the bedroom, "there's a big black spider on my wall".   This from the DBEM who has known for the past sixty six years of my almost paranoid aversion to spiders!!   Indeed, on the memorable "Spider Day" when I was but four years old, she was cleaning out a top cupboard in the kitchen and tossed a small supposedly empty cardboard box down at me.   It fell on my head but not  before I had glimpsed the Daddy Long Legs Spider living inside it.   I yelled and rushed out the back door and fell head long down the back steps.   On that occasion the DBEM was filled with remorse and full of loving comfort.  BUT not so tonight.   I, the daughter who hates spiders, had to go to her rescue :-)    She's now soundly asleep so all good.

I have begun construction of the Hardanger Apron and the bib insert is almost completed.   So far so good. Cutting around the hardanger piece seemed to take forever as I went fabric thread by fabric thread so as to avoid any nasty mishaps.   The wider band to go along the bottom will be even more stressful to cut out but slowly slowly...

My next project is a Christmas gift - a notebook cover for which I dyed the fabric, a 40 count linen which was Persil white and therefore totally unsuitable for a book cover.   Google came to the rescue and a coffee dye bath later the linen is a much more satisfactory and practical colour.   This will be surface embroidery rather than counted as my eyesight couldn't cope with counting 40 threads to the inch!  However before I start I need to consult at Embroiderers Guild as to the colours I have chosen from stash.  Several of the members are really expert at that sort of thing so I will seek their advice.   That's Monday night so I should be able to make a start early next week.