End of Year Shock

 An email arrived from the library saying that two books I had put on request were now available so after this year's last visit to the supermarket I braved a visit to the library.    Besides the two requests I found another three and confidently logged in to the self serve issue machine.   

Well, what a shock.   A bright red message telling me that these books could not be issued as my library card was about to expire.  What????   How could this be possible?   I could feel tears welling up and crept up to the counter.   The lovely lady tells me this happens once every two years to make patrons come to the counter where their contact details can be re-confirmed.   Ah, the relief!

Today the DBEM has been unwell and spent the morning in bed so I made a start on re-upholstering the third dining chair.   It's not finished but good progress.

Also good progress on the new piece of hardanger -  a traycloth on 27 count "tea" coloured linen sent me as a gift more years ago than I care to remember.   I've done one round of kloster blocks and know that everything matches up and am now almost completed the outer round of buttonhole stitch.   There is no hurry for this and I am enjoying going at a slowish pace.

Merry Christmas

 

Early New Year Resolution

 The DBEM has made a decision (early New Year's) resolution -  once her current stash of knitting wool is knitted up she will retire.   We estimate there is still sufficient for two sweaters to fit a 2 year old.  

To say I am relieved would be understating it.  While she never says anything I can feel the vibes of frustration which emanate from her chair when her arthritic fingers fail or her eyes miss a stitch.   And no doubt she feels my inward sigh as I reverse her knitting and pick up dropped stitches knowing that I will have to sew in the ends of the countless stripes, stitch the garment all together, put on the buttons and steam the little sweater or cardigan to make it ready for donation.   

Anyway we counted and there are currently 22 small garments in the container so she has done well and her dedication to these knitting donations for the Hospice charity shop has continued for around 30 years so she has certainly earned her retirement.

Trying out something new

 This week we’ve had a couple of days of very heavy rain so confined indoors I determined to cross some items off my list.  First up was re-upholstering my dining room chairs.   The previous fabric had been on for 32 years so had worn well:). Removing it was hard and I have the blisters to prove it but eventually all staples were out and I had my pattern.   One YouTube lesson and off I went and am so pleased with the finished product.   Blistered hands mean the remaining two chairs will have to wait, perhaps until the next rainy day?   Meanwhile I’m enjoying my Sanderson ‘Madagascar’ dining chairs.

Tomorrow is forecast to be fine so it will be laundry, lawn and garden (and a trip to the library to pick up the books I've requested).

My head is hanging in shame - a long absence

Today I was reading about a woman who described herself as "my mother's PA'.   Me too, I said, as my diary is full of the DBEM's entries: "Order prescription; Schedule podiatrist; Hearing Aid checks; Knitting yarn top up shop; Vaccine passport" etc etc etc.   Just occasionally I squeeze in "Embroiderers Guild; Stitching Group; Library" for myself:-)   I didn't realise it was so long since I had posted on my blog - no excuse really, just that life got in the way.

There has been lots of activity though -  the garden keeps me busy this time of year but I have had a lot of pleasure from all the flowers.   Our recent rains have ruined a lot of the roses but the Christmas lilies are about to pop, gladioli are flowering well and every day a different colour of Calla lily seems to pop up.   Strange things do happen though -  my deep blue hydrangea is a lovely shade of lilac this year!   I need to find out how to get it to revert to my favourite blue.   Any ideas?

It is fun to watch - even if my neighbour grins and says "Do you know you can't eat flowers.   How are your vegetables doing?"    "Very well", says I.   The asparagus has been abundant; the silverbeet,  broccoli and lettuce provide our necessary intake of leafy green veges; celery and white and red cabbage have made excellent coleslaw and my rhubarb needs to be renamed Red Triffid it is growing so well,   As a trial I grew some potatoes in a tub and they have surpassed expectations so I will have new potatoes for Christmas.   And there are carrots, red beet, runner beans etc coming along too.   

This week I completed the Frisian Whitework sewing set for one of my Great-nieces.   I received Yvette Stanton's book for my birthday and it has been really easy to follow her excellent instructions and teach myself about this new-to-me counted work technique.   

A needlebook, pincushion biscornu and a scissor fob are all contained in a small drawstring bag.   

Here's hoping I be back again quickly.

Progress

 First up my picture framer did well and I am thrilled with the chess board which looks just as I imagined it.   Now I need to source a suitable size set of black and white chessmen.

And I have made a start on the biscornu from the Frisian Whitework book.  So far so good but it is slightly bigger than I expected.  All the better to hold more pins?

Progress on the Sajou sewing set too.   After a lot of thinking about what words to put in the gaps I realised that this great niece was born in the French speaking canton of Switzerland and as the design is from France I rather think it does require a touch of la Francais ! Voila!   I had blue silk dupion in my stash and so in spare moments  I will complete the construction - a pinkeep, a needle page and a scissor pocket.

Yesterday was fine so outdoor chores took priority and  the windows have been cleaned to a sparkle and the lawns have been mown.   Just as well,  for my sister and brother in law called in this afternoon.   And I was able to pick a lettuce from my garden for my salad tonight so I am very pleased.   We have another few days of fine weather promised so I will get the laundry up to date in between the appointments that look to make up a busy week.

Big news

 The big news this past week is that the DBEM has got her hearing aids.   Now I no longer need to shout and repeat myself; the TV volume has dropped from 36 to 28 and the beaming smile on her face says it all.   We are both very happy with this foray into hi-tech although I am secretly a little disappointed that bionic eyes are not a realistic possibility for her.   Meanwhile I think she will remain the Deaf Blind Elderly Mother on this blog:)

The stitching on my Frisian Whitework needlecase is complete.  I enjoyed stitching this and learning a new technique.  I will try the biscornu too and perhaps a scissor fob. 

Now I am trying to finish off the Sajou alphabet project which I have decided not to make into a bag but to follow the inspiration I printed off the internet well over a decade ago.  This will entail a long hardanger style border all around the above and then further construction so finished product is some way off.   Still the ship is pointed in the right direction.  At the time I downloaded this it was called SALexandre.   Mine should be termed the Very Very Slow Sew:)

And I finally obtained some green linen suitable to repeat a project stitched around 20 years ago but which was on the wrong linen (Permin = too open a weave) and unsuccessful with the opening garden gate (the buttonhole edge pulled out and frayed).   With increased experience since and a better linen I am hopeful of a successful repeat.   So with high hopes I am finishing what I have on the go and dreaming of a new start.

And a good night to all

New Start

 The DBEM bought me two needlework books as an early birthday gift and this week I decided to try my hand at “self teaching”.   Frisian Whitework is done on very fine count linen apparently so I thought I’d start there and reduce my stash of that while my sight is still so so.   

This piece of 34 count linen came all the way from the States when the Criss Cross Row  was still a viable entity.   Colour is Wren’s Wing ( a close match to DMC 642) and fortuitously I had the matching Perle thread in stash.   All was going well until I realised that Frisian Whitework is counted in threes and after years of stitching hard anger my brain is wired to counting in fours:).  After a little reversing I began to make progress and am more than happy with progress so far.   Hopefully all will go well and a neat little needle book will result.

Yesterday I took the chess board to my friendly picture framer who is now removed from my “best friends list” as she wanted to glue it to a foam core!!!   She told me she framed a lot of needlework and indeed she did The Birds one for me last year but as this was not a picture to go on the wall she was adamant it could not be laced and she needed to use adhesive.  No way says I and retreated to take my precious chess board to the other, slightly more expensive framer in town.   He was ready for the challenge agreeing to perspex not glass, suggesting a flat backing board to which he would affix suede and without prompting informing me he would take care as this could well become an heirloom piece.   Ah, I do like a tall handsome Dutchman!!   In four weeks time my precious piece should be back home with me.

Now the remaining conundrum for next week is what to do with the other half of the Wren’s Wing linen.

After many years

Back in March 1994 I purchased a needlework magazine purely because it had in it the instructions for a blackwork  chessboard.   This has been maturing in my stash for all those years until last week I decided the time had come.   And now I am obsessed, not with the blackwork per se, but with the idea of a hand stitched chess board.   Hopefully my picture framer will be able to fulfill my mental image of the finished piece but meanwhile I plod on one square at a time.

And my new 'M' is framed and hanging on the wall.   I am really pleased with this one and it completes my collection I think.   There doesn't seem to be a need to continue this on and on.... even though I have two Great-Nieces both with the same initial.   Neither share my love of embroidery :-(

Once again it is raining but I am grateful as I planted out some lettuce plants.   A new variety for me, this one is called Drunken Woman.   I also planted a cherry tomato plant.  Ever so slowly my garden is filling up and the potatoes planted in a tub are showing sprouts so it will probably be new potatoes for Christmas.   Lovely.

Lockdown project completed

This map of New Zealand was a joy to stitch.  I started it as a lockdown project planning on doing one icon each day during the 1pm TV broadcast of the Prime Minister and Director General of Health giving their Covid update.   But I rapidly became addicted and although we are still in lockdown, albeit at a lower level I have completed the map.   Only one icon remains a complete mystery and as the designer did not provide a list I’m left puzzled.   The DBEM is doing her best to persuade me to have it framed and hang it on the wall but I don’t really have space and the pleasure was in the stitching so this will remain hidden in a drawer for the foreseeable future.

My next project is a floral M.  A month or so ago I purchased a small circular wooden frame and am determined to add another initial to the collection I have hanging in my bedroom wall.   Over the years I have stitched floral initials in many iterations for friends birthdays and other gifts so it is about time I have my own.   

Then I think I will decide on a Betsy Morgan project from my birthday book.  Naomi asked what threads I use instead of Gloriana as those are not readily available here in New Zealand.   Amateur though this sounds I look up in Google to see an image of the colour and then choose a substitute from my DMC collection.   Friends in the Embroiderers Guild are helpful with final advice on colours too (although some of them probably wonder why I don’t just order the Gloriana on line.   I have neither budget nor inclination to do that in present day circumstances).   On the whole this works reasonably well for me especially as the finished project is never destined for exhibition but only for personal pleasure.

Now we are in a lower level of lockdown I was able to get out to the store and purchase the zips to complete the two purses I have stitched.   We have rain predicted for the next few days and really high winds so I'm happy to stay inside and get these done - the one on the top left needs its lining finished.

But tonight a book is calling me...Patchwork by Claire Wilcox which I ordered from the library after seeing it on someone else's blog.   My library kindly kept it for me and I picked it up along with a few others yesterday.

Spring has Sprung

 We are only 15 days into our second lockdown and I’m already feeling confined.   Some of the jobs on the To Do list have been done and parts of the garden are looking much better..   I have been cooking up some new recipes - two of which proved to be successful and will remain in my repertoire but I am quite unsettled.

I am trying to use up a tin of “origin unknown” embroidery floss and the last oddments of my mono canvas but even that has come to a grinding halt as I do not have the zippers for the closure of the small purses these are to become.   One is done in simple Florentine Stitch using six threads of the floss on 18 count mono canvas (all from stash). Plans are underway for another in a different Florentine pattern but using the same random colours.   

Another was done on some 28 count "Dirty Linen" using threads from this same "origin unknown" stash.   I followed some of the stitches from the recent class I took and tried to have some sort of cohesion in the colour scheme.   

Once lockdown is over I will make these into small zipper close purses.

Currently it is only my sore shoulder preventing a concerted effort to complete these and move onto a more satisfying project.   I had a telephone consultation with both the doctor and the physio and both concurred that with a fracture of the greater tuberosity of the humerus, a tear in the rotator cuff and bursitis, I should not be using my right hand and arm any more than is absolutely necessary.   Wouldn't you all agree that stitching is necessary?   But today I have made some more face masks.   Given the current situation it is likely that the wearing of these will be mandatory everywhere and not just in the present restricted areas so I decided to add to our supply.   

I have started a "Map of New Zealand", constructed of a careful arrangement of New Zealand icons.   The chart came from an Etsy shop after I stumbled across a finished product on Pinterest.  This is the top of the South Island and is so far a Wine Bottle and Wine Glass, a packet of NZ's favourite Pineapple Lumps chocolates and a Rugby Ball.  It is fun and I can do one icon each day without any painful repercussions in my shoulder.   Tonight is a Tui (bird).  This will turn into my Lockdown 2021 project although I'm yet to decide if I will have it framed and give it wall space.

And to improve the shining hour I have been reading aloud to the DBEM.   Just before lockdown I found a promising book in the local Christian Bookstore and while reading it I was relating various portions to the DBEM.   At about two thirds of the way through I realised it would be easier to read her the whole thing so that’s what I am doing.   As a child she read aloud to me Treasures of the Snow, a much loved children’s book written by Patricia St John.  So I am returning the favour by reading to her that author's autobiography.  We are both enjoying it very much and should finish tonight.

And so Spring has begun and we had beautiful weather today to prove it.   Both the DBEM and I managed a walk in the sunshine and we have had a special chicken and chips dinner tonight to celebrate her birthday.   Lockdown precludes us going out for a treat so it is homemade I'm afraid.

Another lockdown

 Once again we have a nationwide lockdown and this time community spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant.   I admit to thinking  “oh no not again” but I have plenty of food in the fridge and freezer and ample stash in the embroidery cupboard so I will be able to sit out this siege quite comfortably.   How fortunate that I had been to the library just the day before!

I decided that I don’t need another big project but can use the time to complete various smaller tasks so yesterday I finished the stitching on the book cover.   I’m so pleased with this and hope to finish it off completely by the end of the week.

Today I cut up two old towels that had threadbare patches at each end.  With the still thick and absorbent middle area I made a couple of kitchen towels.   My friend Sophie gave me instructions as to how to do the binding and for a first attempt it went reasonably well.   My current kitchen towels were a gift when I left Japan in 1987 so they have lasted well.   The binding efforts today are preparation for the inevitable day when holes do break through:)

And I have started another alphabet panel for the blue bag.   These are fun to stitch even though I get tired with the fine count linen and using only one thread of floss.

Yesterday I received a text message from my doctor - the ultrasound and X-ray that my physio eventually decided were necessary after my fall a month ago showed not the rotator cuff tear he had been blithely treating but a fracture!!   With the current lockdown I’m not able to get to see my doctor until at least the end of next week and meantime have been resisting a visit to Dr Google as I don’t really have any information on which to base a search.   At times like these an inability to tolerate painkillers is really quite a nuisance but this is a good excuse to rest and read??

The DBEM is quite well and has finally agreed to an appointment with the audiologist.  Hopefully hearing aids are to come soon.  

Look at these beauties

 My lovely next door neighbour is the re-incarnation of Beatrix Potter’s Mr McGregor and his garden is something I am trying to emulate.   But it is no good me planting the same vegetables as he does because inevitably he supplies me :). This week it was this perfect cauliflower which I am now going to have to cook in a multitude of ways and freeze as the DBEM cannot eat this vege.   I love a pizza base made with cauliflower rice  so much of it will be frozen in suitable portions for that.  

Yesterday I stitched up the small pocket made with the “thrums” from Claire. I had sat up late to complete the stitching and then had a sore shoulder from the repetition and a sore thumb from pushing the thick thread through the unforgiving canvas.  But the finished result is just what I envisaged and will be most useful.

The luncheon mats are completed too and the DBEM is delighted with them and is being very careful not to spill anything :)

Now I have only four projects lying in the basket so have promised myself I will not start anything new until two of those are finally finished.  Onwards and upwards!  I am making some progress on the notebook cover too - the chives, the tansy and the sage are complete.   Just the borage and the comfrey to go.  Can you tell this is from an English book?   

Well that's all for  now.

A new start

 Last week a friend gave me a pile of "thrums" from her weaving and I diligently separated them into blue and white and then pondered what use I could make of these.   At first I thought tassel but the lengths are too short to successfully make the requisite hanging cord so I thought again and eventually decided on a small zipper closure purse.   The canvas scrap was from stash and I think I even have an appropriate zipper so this could be a very economical project.   So far so good....in the empty diamonds I will stitch satin stitch in the off white thread and although an uninteresting design it will be practical and hard wearing.

And tonight I am back to getting the last Kogin luncheon mat completed.   I have the backing fabric and the pellon so once this one is stitched I can get them both made and into use.

The Blue Alphabet bag is coming along well with three panels complete.   What was originally planned to be eight panels will now be only six and I will finish it into a small hexagonal bag - inspired by a Betsy Morgan project in my new book.

The DBEM gave me this book as an early (very early) birthday present and although I may never stitch all the projects I am having a great deal of pleasure in reading this book thoroughly and drooling over the photos.

It is a very cold night here and we are promised icy winds from the Polar Blast.   Some areas will have snow to sea level - how fortunate we live some distance from the sea!   But it is hot water bottles and extra blankets for both of us:-)

I’m back again

I’ve not much stitching progress to report really. Following the successful replacement of pacemaker and its associated wiring my right arm/shoulder is sore and stiff.   Not helped by the fact that when I was out on my walk at the beginning of the week I took a tumble and my upper right arm was the cushion in the fall.  Slowly I am coming right but it was a shock.   The cardiology technician checked me out and everything is still in place and I’m ticking away.

However the DBEM has been assiduously knitting and I have been doing my part in sewing up the garments and ensuring that they are completed ready to put away in ‘the box’.   I feel hugely successful in having assisted in reducing her yarn stash to one small plastic bag, thereby ensuring that any unwanted knitting inheritance will be minimal:)

I was not allowed to drive at all for a couple of weeks so was grateful for dry days that I can get out and walk.   Frosty mornings are not so welcome but I have jonquils, freesias and daffodils blooming in the garden so Spring can’t be too far away.   The roses are still flowering generously but in a couple of weeks when my arm is better I will prune them back.  Surely by the end of July any danger of frost will be past.

And I am bored with the Kogin and not really yet hooked on the fine cross stitch so I’m thinking of what I can do next.  This seems unreasonable given I have four projects currently in progress so I’m trying to keep calm and continue with what I’m doing. 

Anyway, one Kogin luncheon mat is completed and the other about half done.   When I am next out I will look for suitable fabric to back these and we can begin using them.

The cross stitch bag is very fine work and progress is slow but I like the DMC930 on this vintaged beige/cream linen and really want to make this bag so will persist, however slowly.

And now I'm off to pick up a dropped stitch for the DBEM and then add a few crosses to mine.

Kogin and Cross Stitch

 It’s about time for another catch up - at least to record progress on my stitching.   Currently I am obsessed with Kogin and with some of what’s left of the red Lugana I am making two tray mats.   The DBEM and I usually have our evening meal on a tray in front of the television so we will appreciate a new cloth each for that.   There are many stitches in these so this is a long term project and we will continue to use our old ones meanwhile :) I am stitching one "diamond" on each mat first as the book needs to go back to the library and I can then copy my stitching to complete the mats.

Many years ago I found the instructions for a folding etui on a French blog and carefully kept the instructions.   

Then more recently I burrowed down a Pinterest hole and found this.   

So I have started a new sewing/stitching/project bag.   In DMC930 I am stitching over one thread of fabric on 28 count Cashel linen so this too will not be a quick finish.

And the weather has turned bitterly cold and my head and ears get really cold on my daily walk so I am knitting myself a beret in left over yarn.   I’m not a fan of knitting in the round and as this is definitely a “ needs must” project I’m going to knit it flat and put a seam up the back.  

Today was sunny (but still bitterly cold) and I managed to get my lawns mowed and also a quick pulling of weeds in the vegetable garden.   There are carrots ready and broccoli and silverbeet coming on apace.   The leeks are doing well but it is a slower race with those!   In the flower garden I still have roses blooming at the same time as the daffodils are in bud.   Our weather has certainly been strange this year.   Next week I am scheduled for my pacemaker lead replacement (finally I hope) and so won't be mowing lawns or doing gardening for a couple of weeks.   I'm working my way through a "must do before the 30th" list of jobs.   Tomorrow the weatherman has promised fine but cold so I may be outdoors again and the baking and other indoor jobs can wait until the wet weekend.

New month, new resolutions and a new start

 Well, where to begin.   It seems ages since I have updated this blog so here we are...

First, the Kogin coasters are completed and I am pleased with them.    Next I shall begin a set of placemats for my own use but not in red!   I am most definitely a blue person so it shall be the traditional indigo navy and white for me.   

Nearly two weeks has passed since my last post and the DBEM has been for her various appointments and  has her “warrant of fitness” for 3 months so this week I have some time to myself.   We have been to the Optometrist and are waiting on new spectacles which have sharpened up the little sight that the DBEM has remaining.   And we are waiting for an appointment with the Opthalmologist too as the right eye needs looking at.   So it was a good and bad report but the DBEM is still happy she can continue with her knitting so all good.

Little Sister came up last weekend and stayed while I went to a very interesting embroidery class.  This 'Grecian Urn' is constructed of surface embroidery stitches converted to counted work so I had fun.   But I have to confess that my plan on learning about colour combination didn't really come to fruition.   The variegated thread I chose for the initial row of 'spider web wheels' set the colours and that was that.   However I am pleased with the effect so far.   What do you think?   

By the way - thank you Mary for the introduction to https://stitchpalettes.com/   I shall certainly be making use of this in the future:-)

And I have made good progress on the Acorn Etui and even stitched a few of the detached buttonhole leaves.   The realisation is that this will take a loooong time to stitch -  those leaves are not conducive to quick progress.   But there is no hurry;-)

And that's all for tonight.

A new start

 Once again the DBEM and associated care have interrupted my plans and stitching progress has been slow.

The 14 year old television decided to stop showing pictures.   Sound was good and all other functions OK but no picture.   So after a few days I succumbed and Saturday afternoon a new one was delivered and installed.   So I have settled back to the regular life rhythm of The Chase followed by the news broadcast and then I hit the off switch.  

Deruta Sfilato has come off the frame and I have only the antique hem stitch to do.   This was a trial piece and would not pass any close inspection but I plan to mount it on a piece of plain silk and keep it in my drawer.   Later on I would like to try again and see if I can improve my technique.  I am happy that I managed to follow instructions and teach myself a new technique.

So I began the Acorn Etui and rather than “begin at the very beginning” I started with the Acorn Cap for the back and rapidly grew bored with the honeycomb stitch.   Effective it might be but there is little scope for imagination.  Now I have started in the back acorn itself and despite the lettering being stitched one over one, I am enjoying the variegation of the floss and am happy that it will all look well when finished. Thus I have started on parts two and three of the instructions which are by far the simplest but give me a good idea of the completed size.   

And to show you the 'verse' and the cute little acorns.   A compound monogram goes in the box and the year below it so guess what I will be stitching next.

And as a palate cleanser I have stitched some more on the Kogin Coasters.   I rather like these and hope I don't "fluff" the construction.  Somehow I never have a great deal of confidence at that stage of the stitching :-)

At the end of the month our Embroiderers Guild have a two day class which I have decided to do.   Little Sister is coming for the weekend so that the DBEM has company while I am out.   I have done the required preparation for the class and have sorted all my ‘non DMC threads’ into colour groups.   At this class I hope to learn something of the science of how to choose colours that harmonise rather than clash.   Up till now it has all been rather hit and miss for me and that could well be the reason I prefer to follow instructions rather venture into unknown territory.   I’m hoping for some increase in colour knowledge from this weekend class.    At the end of August there is another class scheduled at which Dorset Buttons will be taught but I’m not sure I will go to that one as it’s to be held during the week.

Progress on all fronts

 First up a confession -  I have not fallen in love with Deruta Sfilato :-)   However I am delighted to have managed to decipher the instructions and to translate the drawings into linen and thread. There are four solitary 'blossom' to go in each corner and then the filling stitch to complete this piece.   An antique hemstitch border completes the piece which I think will just live in my drawer.   But all in all I am pleased and after sufficient break I may try another piece or even another style of drawn thread work. There are several more pieces of fine linen in my stash which are very suitable for this type of stitching.

And I have started a set of Kogin coasters for a Christmas Gift.   The recipient doesn't know I have a blog so I'm quite safe showing you this.   All five will be the same design and will be stitched into squares although I have yet to decide on a backing fabric.   In Japan there are usually five in any set of kitchen or house wares so I will make five despite the fact that New Zealand generally has sets of six or twelve.  Japanese stitching needs to adhere to Japanese convention I think.

I have the fabric and threads ready for an Acorn Needlework Etui -  the chart for this was in four successive issues of Fine Lines back in 2003!!  Does anyone else remember this magazine?    I was so sorry when it went extinct.    For all these years I have kept the chart and suitable linen so at long last I am about to push the start button on this project.   The first piece is 27" by 9" on honeycomb stitch which forms the bag and creates the Acorn Cap for the top of the etui.   Confused?  I promise to show progress photos once I begin.   I don't intend to put the HNG in the branches of the tree either -  more branches would be better I think.

The instructions prescribe Gloriana threads but in the end the cost of obtaining those was prohibitive and The Ribbon Rose was able to provide a Threadworx alternative that I am happy with so I'm almost organised enough to begin.   I'm looking forward to this one -  but the Deruta needs to get finished first otherwise I will have too many projects on at one time.   Currently I have three in my basket and that is really two too many for my peace of mind :-)

On to the next project

This week I finished the Kogin for the fifth little bag.   The DBEM will testify that I got into a good rhythm with this and the speed increased.   But lesson learned -  I will not be attempting Kogin on fine 36 count linen again.   In my fabric stash there is plenty of much coarser linen and I will use that.   Next up I plan on making placemats.  Watch this space.

With some difficulty I traced off one side of the pattern for the Noodle Box Bag and have stitched it. 

There are just the gold bugle beads to go at the upturns of the pagoda roofs but they can wait until the very end.   I'm using a Perle 12 from Gumnut Threads as once again I was determined to use only stash.  Isn't it amazing what limited access to a specialty needlework shop can do?  Ha ha.   I really desperately miss my Ribbon Rose (LNS in Auckland) and even more so as I am contemplating another big project which requires Gloriana threads.   I'm sure that Ribbon rose would have something suitable to substitute if I were able to visit in person.   I've been researching on line but the international post and packaging from Needle in a Haystack are extortionate so I'm thinking about alternatives.

And the Deruta Sfilato (Italian Drawn Threadwork) is coming along.   The first attempt at drawing the threads resulted in disaster.  I had miscounted:(   However that piece is being used as a "doodle cloth" to test out the stitches and I started again and was more careful and the second time it has worked.   

The daisy in the centre is now complete and I am ready to put in stars and a net filling.   I am enjoying this very much and forsee more Drawn Threadwork in my future.

Tomorrow is a public holiday here in New Zealand but that will make little difference to my normal routine of life.   This week looks like being rather busy with DBEM's medical appointments.   I'll be back soon.