Phew!  Winter Market in Long Beach CA is over!  3 weeks later and the Nashville Market in TN is over!  9 days later and I'm in the final stretch for the shop's annual Camp Stitchalot Stitcher's Retreat!  Some may say they don't know why I plan everything so close together .. but the only thing *I* have a part of in planning is Camp Stitchalot!  And the St.Patrick's weekend has become a tradition it seems .... shortly after Nashville Market and before Easter begins!
    I always bring my shop 'on the road' with me to Camp and have a room at the hotel that becomes the SNT Boutique.  This year we will be hosting 5, count em 4 Designer Trunk Shows at Camp!  Featuring stitched designs from ERICA MICHAELS... from ROSEWOOD MANOR .. from SAMSARAH .. and from THE STITCHING BEAR!!   It's going to be interesting to see just 'how' I'll get all their stitched models AND charts set up and displayed in my Boutique room along with all the other stitching goodies & essentials that I bring.

   YOU .. the stitching public .. are invited to come to the Stitches N Things Boutique to see (and purchase) the Trunk Shows from these incredible designers!

   We'll be at the Davison Inn (previously known as The Comfort Inn) at  10082 Lapeer Rd.  in Davison Michigan ... Friday March 15 from 4pm through Sunday March 17, 2013 at 2pm  

   

Hope to see you at our Trunk Show!    And maybe ... next year ... you will join us at Camp Stitchalot for our entire stitcher's retreat!  We'd love to have you!

NEEDLE Little Help?

Where would we be without needles?  The women who crossed the plains in covered wagons treasured their cases filled with .. not gold jewelry .. but fine steel needles.  In the territories to which they were going there were no stores and who knew when the next peddler with his pack of necessities would come by.   Those precious needles would have to last for months, and maybe even years!  Today a pioneer woman would probably think she'd struck gold if she ever tore apart a stitcher's overstuffed recliner!

Traditionally, tapestry needles are used for counted cross stitch and usually found from size 18 (the largest) to size 28 (the smallest).  Tapestry needles have a blunt point as opposed to Chenille needles which have a very sharp point (and are idea for waste canvas stitching!).  The blunt rounded end of the tapestry needle slips easily into the weave of the fabric without snagging or piercing.

Did you know that the Danish use a larger needle for different counts of fabric than Americans do?  It's true.  They believe a bigger needle opens the hole wider to allow the plies of floss to flow through with less friction or wear and allows then to loft out so that the strands can lie better side by side.  Conversely, they feel that a smaller needle compresses the plies and cause them to become fuzzy by wearing on the floss as it comes through the fabric .. the hole the needle makes is just not big enough for the floss to follow through. 

If you have trouble getting your floss to go through the eye of your needle on the first try (or second .. or third), perhaps this little tidbit will help:     
        Roll the needle 180 degrees and try again. 
Did you know that needles have a 'right' and 'wrong' side to them?  The naked eye may not be able to see a difference, but one side of the eye is rougher than the other.  This comes from the fact that needles are punched out of the metal from which they are made (usually steel-plated with nickle, or gold, or platinum).  The side FROM which they are punched is smoother than the side THROUGH which they are punched.  So, if your floss is trying to pass through the rougher side, it may catch on the edges and begin to spread out instead of gliding smoothly through.

Here are some general guidelines for selecting a particular size of tapestry needle for different counts of fabrics.  But remember .. you need to stitch with what is most comfortable for you!

     NEEDLE                                            FABRIC
size 28                                        18ct Aida,   36 - 40ct Linen
size 26                                        16 - 18ct Aida,  32 - 36ct Linen
size 24                                        14 - 16ct Aida,  28 - 32ct Linen
size 22, 20 & 18                            6 - 11ct Aida

Remember too, that you'll need to adjust your needle size for the number of floss plies you are using.  Use a size 26 needle if you're stitching with one or two ply; a size 24 for 3 or 4 ply, and a 26 for 4 - 6 ply.  Again, the key word is:  Experiment.

                        Hope This Helps!  Happy Stitching!

Did you know about Harikuyo .. the Festival of Broken Needles?

In the Hari-Kuyo ceremony, Japanese women gather once a year on Febuary 8th at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to thank their worn out needles and pins for good service.

It is also a time to value the small, everyday objects of daily living and to wish for progress in one’s needle work. In what is known as the Festival of Broken Needles, women gather to offer a funeral-type service by laying the needles to rest in soft jelly cakes or tofu. This burial is meant to bring rest to the needles and wrap them with tenderness and gratitude. This practice reflects the animist belief that all beings and objects have a soul.

 

Further to the idea of laying the needles to rest for good service is the idea that women have many secret sorrows in life. These sorrows are often passed to the needles during long hours of stitching and the needles are thought to take on the burden of some of these sorrows, thus taking them away with the stitching that they do. This “rest” is brought to the needles in appreciation for their faithful service.

 

Another aspect of the ceremony is the consideration for “the value of small things.” The concept of Mottainai, or not being wasteful, is related to the usefulness of the needles. These small but important tools would give long, useful service throughout the year. They were not to be lost or wasted nor carelessly replaced.

Scissors! Who Knew??

I found the following while browsing the web and thought you'd be interested too!

 

It is not surprising that modern cross-bladed scissors would have many superstitions surround them since most household items that have been in parts of our history as far back as early 100 AD hold some imagined ideas with them.  Here is a list of some of those beliefs:

Hope you didn’t use your scissors this past New Year as you might have “cut off” your fortune or wealth for the year.
Decrease the likelihood that your house will be struck by lightning in a storm by putting your scissors away.

Placing a pair of scissors under your pillow may help a variety of pains. It is said that a woman in labor can “cut her pain in half” by doing so. Likewise it would halve the discomfort of any others in bed ridden pain. Some believe that putting an open pair of scissors is a way to sleep better even if you are cursed.

Dropping a pair of scissors is said to warn that a lover is being unfaithful.

Breaking one blade is an omen of quarrel, while breaking both blades is a sign of an impending disaster.

Do not give scissors as a gift or the friendship will be “cut in half”. To subdue this superstition a little money should be exchanged for the scissors as buying them doesn’t count.

Ward off evil and witches with a pair of scissors nailed above a door in the ‘open’ position, so they somewhat resemble a cross.

The cross-bladed scissors origins point to Rome but have a widespread place in international cultural superstitions as well which can be specific to a region.

• To curse a bridegroom in North Africa wait until he is on horseback, then hold an open pair of scissors while calling his name. If he answers you, snap the scissors closed and he will not be able to consummate the marriage.
• It is bad luck to idly open and close scissors without a purpose in Pakistan.
• It is held in some Eastern Europe countries that leaving scissors open causes disagreements and discord within a household.

Good luck with those scissors!

Christmas Memories

Wow .. I'm sorry I've not been posting for such an incredibly long time!  I guess with Facebook and Newsletters I forget to come here to write too.  I think my real problem is that I seem to be incapable of 'short' here's what I want to say postings!  The holidays brought me back here.
Christmas Memories!

I guess this Christmas really has me a bit down .. longing for the holiday times of being able to be with family and .. those days, unfortunately as I've grown older, are gone.

ONLY gifts that came in the mail went under the Christmas tree.  Or gifts that were for my sister and brother in law and 2 nieces that would be coming over on Christmas Day to celebrate with us.   Mom and Dad would wait until after I was asleep to put their (and Santa's) gifts under the tree.  I'd wake up on Christmas morning and go running down the hall and ... there was the tree with what seemed like thousands of festively wrapped presents spreading out from beneath the boughs and across the floor!
I used to hunt and hunt the days preceding Christmas to try to find my potential gifts .. in closets, in the basement, in the garage, under beds, and .. when I got older .. up in the attic.  Never found a one!!  Mom says they were there in the house, but to this day will NOT tell me exactly 'where' they might have been.  I still don't believe they were there!
I was in my early 40's and it was Christmas morning at my parent's home.  We (Dave and I) both woke up early and came walking down the hall to get a cup of coffee .  I glanced into the living room .. and there was the Christmas Tree with TONS of presents under it (Mom and Dad had once again waited until I went to bed to put out their presents)!  My first thought ... my very first instant thought was ...... SANTA!!!!  And I shivered with excitement. 

We'd have to wait until my sister had their Christmas before they'd get to our house when I was young.  That meant that I'd have already been into my stocking by 6am (candy, oranges, small simple toy type gifts), had breakfast (juice and Christmas Stollen bread), and now was pacing excitedly waiting till nearly 10am for the rest of the family to gather so we could all begin to open gifts!  My mother, to get me out of her hair for 4 hours or so, would allow me to open ONE gift!  I'd stand staring at the gifts under the tree and mom would point to one and say "there's one from Santa, I'll bet that's a good one to open first".  I'd tear into the paper and ... it would be a BOOK!  I loved books!  I'd read quietly for hours curled up in my favorite chair.  That ruse always worked and Santa always picked out the best books!

Going up to my parents house several years ago for Christmas with a sick cat ... we couldn't leave him alone and  my mother was extremely upset that we would sacrifice the holiday because of a cat.  (she can really lay on the guilt, believe you me!)  So Dave and I packed up the cat crate and hit the highway on Christmas Eve Day.  We all went to early evening church services (that's another favorite memory .. candlelight church services on Christmas Eve!  Not like they are today where, due to fire codes and insurance regulations, you can only have the lit candle for one song at the end .. those days we'd be holding lit candles for the last part of the ministry and several songs .. always ending with "Away In A Manger").  When we got home, found that our cat was now incredibly sick!  Called my sister for the numbers of any 'local' vet clinics .. the closest one that was actually open was over an hour away.  That night it was snowing heavily so meant it took nearly 2 hours to get there.  Good thing we had .. poor kitty was at death's door and the vet wasn't sure he would last the night ... so we had to leave Abbie there hooked up to IV's and such.  Driving back, the snow storm had stopped and there was a full moon out ..... "The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below".  Dave and I both looked up at the same time and laughed as we both searched the skies - since it was just after midnight now - perhaps we'd see Santa in his sleigh flying across the face of that moon.  We didn't.  And Abbie? We had to stay up north a bit longer than we'd planned and were able to pick him up 2 days later .. that vet saved his life .. our little "Christmas Miracle"!

Christmas memories .. what wonderful things to take you back to those special times in your life!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas with warm memories to last a lifetime!

SQUIRREL!!!!

When I saw the movie "UP", I got the largest chuckle out of the dogs and their "SQUIRREL" and immediate inattention.
Now, once again, I am reminded that SQUIRREL and SPARKLY ('my' inattention word) have nothing whatsoever in common.

Going back slightly in time ... to when the ground squirrel was trapped in our garage and had to 'eat' his way through our garage door to freedom.  And then, once outside, decided that back inside the garage was the bestest place for hiding nuts, hanging with his friends, and getting out of the elements .. so  he moved back in!  Many many nights of listening to him and what seemed like 37 of his closest friends paying 'roll the acorn' and 'hide and seek' within my bedroom wall, it was time to get a trap.
After several live trap attempts (said squirrel would go into the trap AND remove the ear of corn with him without setting off the trap and on another try, went into the trap, couldn't get the corn out with him (we had tied it to the inside wiring), stayed and ate all the corn off the cob and then, again without setting off the trap, took his bounty and went back into our 'walls'!).
Now it was time for the exterminator who came and set up several traps as well as attaching a 'can get out but cannot get back in' trap to the hole in the garage door.  He caught several large mice in his trap, but the squirrel remained free to cavort within the walls ... I'm sure the fuzzy little guy had painted his face 'blue' and was yelling 'freedom freedom' while he scampered about in relative safety!
Finally it would seem the squirrel left for the day, we sealed the hole back up with a metal plate, and silence once again (after MONTHS!!!) within the Koch household walls.  The cleanup mess in the attic would take weeks and involve throwing out just about anything that had been stored up there, including most of my Christmas decorations.

Fast forward to summer and the advent of warmer weather (what am I saying? Hot hot hot weather) and the need to use my car's air conditioning system ... which just was not putting out any cool, much less cold, air into my car.  Getting ready to drive to the Columbus Market in early June meant that I would need my AC and vents working properly, so drove into the car dealer (after finding one who still worked on Saturns .. deep sign .. how could they stop production of such a wonderful brand???).
After waiting at the dealers for a bit, the mechanics called me into the garage to show me what they had found ... a huge squirrel nest had been blocking my vents!  Fuzzy little  #&%(*  had gotten into my car's blower system and decided, since I wouldn't let them in my walls any more, that my VUE was the second best home!   Got that all cleaned out to the tune of I've not forgotten how much money, and drove merrily on my way to Columbus in a 'cool' vehicle!

NOW ... I am getting ready to fly to the Fall Baltimore Market and on the day before I leave,  had errands to run.  Once again the weather is hot, but rather than try my AC, I just turned my air vent blower up to 'high' ......  CLUNK THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP ..,,,, quickly turned off the blower!  What the hell was that?  Turned it on to *1* .. no problem ... turned it up to *2* .. no problem ... turned it up to *3* .. THUMPITY THUMP THUMP.  Oh shit what in the world is going on this time?  Another nest??   Don't turn on the fan motor again .. just opened the windows.  Flew off the next day - a Thursday.
Drove back to the shop on Tuesday, cool morning, didn't think about the fan.  Drove back home and back to the shop on Wednesday.  Wednesday night driving home it was quite warm, turned on the fan ... nothing happened.  Thursday, started smelling a smell.  Didn't think too much about it as the car had been parked on the other side of the house that night where we came across a dead animal (of some sort - phew)  and disposed of it bu burying it.  Friday, smell is there.  Saturday smell is stronger
.
Yesterday, Monday took car into dealer.  Kind of thought I knew what had happened.  Remember that THUMP THUMP THUMP?   Yeah, my mind went there too.
Service department called me that afternoon ... I was right.  There WAS a dead animal (they didn't know what it was) IN my blower motor!!  It had EATEN its way through the plastic housing that covers the fan area! Was completely blocking the motor, it wouldn't turn at all!
Need a new fan motor, need to have the fan area sanitized .. so far the cost is $400.00 - they don't know what all else has to be replaced until they can remove said SQUIRREL (I know it is, was!), and get everything cleaned out.  I am SO NOT a happy camper.  Saturn Vue  =  Sqirrelmobile
Some kill squirrels with their cars by driving over them, I kill them by trying to get cool!
I am now joining Nick on his mad dash squirrel attacks out our back door and across our deck and into the yard.  Him with his ferocious bark/growl (ok, so it's really a loud yelp/squeak - out of an 85# Golden, it is a ridiculous sound!!), me brandishing a pick axe (if I had one, I think we have one, just don't know where it is, if we have one!)!  And, don't think I'll swerve out of their way anymore when they stand in my lane and try to stare me down.

I got Crabs while in Baltimore!

Yep .. crabs!  And I'm proud of it too!
1st indication that I was getting Crabs was while in the "Meet The Designers Class" on Friday afternoon.  Cecille of Just Another Button Company had made and assembled the cutest little crab pincushion for each of the class attendees.  AND .. enabled those 30 some shops (ONLY!!) to be able to get more CRABS too!
Sydney The Crab Pincushion (on the right .. his gal friend is shown on the left) is very limited!  Like I said, only 30 some shops are able to get him to you!  We were making all kinds of crab jokes ... I mean, obviously Sydney is a SOFT shelled crab.  If you stitch a black squiggly line on his back, you'll have a CRACKED crab.  You can stitch a couple of these up and give crabs to your best friend.  If you changed the color of his 'felt' to blue, you'd have steamed crab.   I'm so glad I got crabs from JABCo!!!

 My second indication I was getting crabs came on Friday night.  We went in search of crab dinner and found G&M Restaurant - they are known for their Crab Cakes!  There were 6 of us and everyone was ordering the single crab cake platter.  Now I know crab cakes .. I love crab cakes .. I know how 'big' crab cakes are .. so I, being the little piggy that I am, ordered the TWO crab cake platter.  These babies are 8 OZ EACH!!!!!  All lump crab, no filler!  Needless to say, we did NOT have dessert, and I had an entire crab cake for my lunch the next day.   They ship fresh nationwide ... I sure wish Dave liked seafood.  Oh well, he'll have to have mac and cheese when I order and receive my crab cake in the mail!!!
Had crab every chance I could while in Baltimore ... yum yum!

Thursday night I went on a "Night Tour of Washington DC" ... took the Marc Amtrack train from Baltimore to DC and got to see (and eat in) Union Station ... what an incredible place that is!  I thought we'd be just looking at the sights from the bus window, but the trolly we were on stopped and gave us 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there at the Jefferson Memorial, at the Lincoln Memorial.  I got to see the Vietnam Wall, and the Korean Memorial up close and personal too.  Very very moving!!!  Lots of info gained about our capital city and it was so much fun!

Saturday night I was invited to attend a baseball game at Camden Field (Orioles vs my Tigers ... and my Tigers won!!!).  Sullivan's Floss company reserved a sky box suite for us, and we had dinner up there, watched the game, had pictures taken with 'the Bird', and partook of the most incredible dessert cart service ever!  Again, yum yum

Oh .. how was the actual Market??   Sorry ... got carried away.
MARKET WAS FANTASTIC!!! Absolutely Fantastic!  I bought lots and lots, had time to smooze with my designer and shop friends, and bought more and yet more!  I only wish that the designers who chose NOT to attend (too far, etc, etc, ) had been there!  Everyone I spoke with was having an incredible show!  A note to those designers who didn't attend:  If distance IS a problem, the show does NOT have to be a 'cash and carry' only show for you.  SHIP YOUR MODELS - that's what we want to see .. your new stuffs stitched up - and Take Orders!!  Let's all work together to make this industry, and it's shows, the best it can be!!

My best part .. coming home with one suitcase weighing 43# (still under the prohibitive weight limit for Delta) and the other weighting 57#.  That suitcase should have cost me an additional $90 to get on the plane, but .. the wonderfully harried desk clerk refused my credit card and yelled ... next!
YIPPEE  I was able to get ALL my goodies home with me this time!  Love it!!