Another Finish

Today has been busy but I did find a moment to sew on a pearl bead fastener for this tiny cylindrical "pochette".  

Too small to be of much practical use - this was merely to use a scrap of linen and to practise the counted techniques of Tallesyning.   So as far as goals are concerned this is a success.

I'm going to look for small scissors and a tiny tape measure and make this into a sewing/mending set for my god daughter.   It was fun way to practise a new stitch and has given me some confidence to try more of this new technique.   Teaching oneself from photographs in a book where the text is all written in Danish is certainly a challenge!
This morning the HD3QBEM and I took the remaining 16 knitted sweaters and cardigans to the local hospice shop.   At the beginning of the month we took 20 to another hospice shop in a different suburb.   This year the HD3QBEM has spread her largesse!   Today was an interesting experience.   We took the garments to the store where an eagle eyed customer watched as the manager took at look at the two top sweaters.  I suspect that she would have wanted to buy one as soon as we left the store.   The manager was very happy to receive these but would have been happier still to sell one immediately.   At around $25 each these provide a good donation to the wonderful work of the Mercy Hospice here in Auckland.
After lunch the rain stopped and I managed to tidy up the vegetable garden and plant broccoli and cabbage plants.   These now have crushed egg shell and Blitzem around them to stop any marauding snails from destroying them before our still warm weather and now plentiful rain can grow them a little bigger.
Now I am going to finish the Strawberry side of my blue Redwork Bag and perhaps make a start on the hardanger for a book cover for Kazumi.   And there's a very interesting audio book on the HD3QBEM's Talking Book machine -  smuggling, fishing, prize fighting and a gripping saga by E V Thompson.

Surprises all round!

This afternoon I came home tired after a hard day at work and there was a surprise package waiting for me.   Packages with Royal Mail on the top right hand corner are always welcome in my house and look what this wonderful surprise contained.

Already I am designing (in my mind) an etui using some of the linen and the wonderful lining fabric.   The colours of wine red, blue and a hint of beige work wonderfully together.  
Can you see the small royal blue ort bag -  that will help me be a tidy Kiwi!
This next photo is of a surprise I am making for my friend Kazumi.  

You didn't think I was going to show you the whole piece and spoil the surprise did you?   No way.   Her husband reads my blog and he might drop a hint to her  ;-)  
I am stitching with DMC perle on a 28 count variegated linen which came to me in a gift package from the USA.   The star in the centre is a Tallesyning Star -  as opposed to a Hardanger Star.   After stitching both I am now convinced that Hardanger is easier but that could possible be because I am copying these Tallesyning stitches from photographs and am finding that a whole lot more difficult that a chart.
Tonight I think I need some colour in my life.   For some weeks now I have stitched tone on tone and I am feeling more than a little colour deprived  so plan to look out a multi-colour project to start.   The HD3QBEM and I are going for a few days holiday in a couple of weeks and I will need multiple projects for that trip.   That, good friends, is my rationalization for starting yet another project when I haven't completed those already on the go.

My "experiment in frugality" is almost complete.
The Confetti of Hardanger only needs to be cut out.   
The hardanger tassel only needs to be cut out and constructed.  
The self-designed tallesyning hussif needs to have two ends worked before I can construct the cylinder.   Oh yes and then there are a couple of small needlework tools to go inside the cylindrical hussif.   Yep.   Quite a lot more work on this one :-(

The "angel hardanger" bookmark has six more angels to be stitched before I can cut it out.

Oh dear.   I'm not really as near completion as I had thought.   But I definitely need some colour.   Surely if I stitch only from stash I could consider a new project to be frugal??  

Leftovers

How do you use up left over fabric?   I had four "corners" left from the Confetti of Hardanger HAL and at the price linen is nowadays didn't want it to be wasted.   Knowing that if I cut out the completed piece I would find all the little triangles difficult to manage, I elected to keep the piece as intact as possible.

A small Wessex Stitcher needlecase has been stitched and cut from the 'bite' in one corner.   I stitched up all the pieces for a hardanger tassel in another corner.   Last night I decided to embrace my latent creativity (blame my Brain Day lectures for this!) and made a start on a self-designed needlework roll hussif.  I love counted work but wanted to try something new.   Late last year I found a book in our Embroiderers Guild Library called Tallesyning which is apparently the counted form of Hedebo and cousins of Hardanger. The book was written in one of the Scandinavian languages but had clear photographs.

So clear that the small portion in this photograph is the fourth time I have stitched the beast.   Merely satin stitch and cable, I wonder why I took so long to master this but an uneven count combined with a fizzy photo proved to be a hurdle too high.   I am working this in DMC Perle #8 in colour 928 which is the exact colour of the linen.
I definitely do not need another hussif, but already in my mind's eye I can see this complete.   A small cylinder lined with silk holding scissors, a tiny biscornu pin cushion, a packet of needles and a couple of floss tags. Maybe even a tape measure.   The appeal of this project is threefold
-  using up the last of the linen is a definite nod to my Scottish forebears and satisfies the desire for frugality
- mastering a new technique is satisfying and stretches the frontiers of my embroidery knowledge
- adding another hussif to my collection (while all are basically unnecessary) gratifies the acquisitive side of my nature
The HD3QBEM has been ill all last week and still doesn't look too good.   Next weekend is Easter and a four day holiday weekend for us so I am hoping to find time to relax, do some gardening, make a start on my winter sewing ( a skirt) and sort out stitching projects to take when the HD3QBEM and I go for a week's holiday (mid April) to see Little Brother and his mini-farm.  
Hope you all have a good week.