Writing N Not Sleeping

26 hours awake .. not my idea, just couldn't fall asleep last night. Had to take 1/2 a pill the night before to doze off, but was wide awake by 2:30am. Not Fun! Stress? Who knows? I just know I would like to be able to sleep like I did when I was 'young' .. when I went to sleep and died for 9 - 10 hours!
Nearly finished Ruby Slipper Designs' "Outside The Lines" on 40ct silk gauze ... the colors are absolutely wild (maybe that's what is keeping me awake??) and this one has been so much fun to work on! I can't wait until it's through so I can see how I want to frame it up.
Having 2 days off for the 4th Holiday was phenomenal!! Dave cut down trees (they're dying all over the place!!!) and I declared war on the two HUGE cedar bushes in the very front of the house. It was very Zen-like work actually; feeling the sun on my shoulders, slight breeze in the air rustling through the trees , the sounds of the birds. But I think I destroyed whatever zen karma I may have been creating by Hacking Madly With My Shears While Muttering Softly To Myself. Took me 2 days to get them cut down, cut in, shaped (not so well) and what-have-you, using small clippers, a pole saw, hedge shears and arm power. You can tell they've been 'hacked', but they actually look oh so much better! I so rarely ever have 2 days in a row with nothing to do so that I CAN accomplish something (and yes, I ignored mom over the holiday weekend .. I'll see her tomorrow)!

Stitching N ...

I'd just finished this one up last evening. From By The Bay Needlework, this is Donna's "Autumn Cove" stitched on 40ct Silk Gauze using the same fibers she called for. I've not mounted it yet - obviously - but did include a quarter so you could see the size of the finished needlework. There is a mat board that is a blue-marble .. that's what I'm going to use directly behind the stitchery as the mounting board. Will look like a blue cloudy day that way!
I've not yet had time to lay frames and/or mounting boards on it yet ... so I'm not sure if it will have several autumnal shaded mats with the frame, or just a large striking frame to set it off! I'm really pleased with this one .. the colors are incredible and it is easily the most lovely gauze piece I've done. (as of today, that is )


In order to do the 'rigging' on the sailboat, I had to get some fine sewing machine thread .... floss was just 'too thick' for the size of the design on the gauze!!!





Now .. what shall I stitch next??? Or felt?? Or, maybe needle punch? There's a new designer that was featured at the TNNA Market at Norden Crafts' booth that I just fell in love with and would love to punch up just for the FUN of it all! The designer is called Piccalilli Too and below you will see "Strutting Out" and "The Sheriff".

... Stitchin N ...

I know I'd shown these pics to you prior, but here they are back from the framer so you can see how I had them finished off. I added a quarter to each design so you could get a better idea of the actual size of the finished piece.

Carriage House Sampling's "Happy Hallow'een"

was stitched on 32ct Black Silk Gauze (which Kreinik is currently having problems getting back into stock). I stitched it with DMC floss and had it mounted on a black Suede Mat board as the backing ... to absorb the look of the gauze and make it look more like fabric. I love the frame .. all crackly, deep browns and golds.

This one is "Picasso's Rooster" from Ladybug Designs. I don't know why this one appealed to me so, but I'd seen it offered as a kit over a few years in catalogs like The Stitchery and have always loved it. But .. I do not care at all for kits (other than those the designers have put together) .. and during the Online Needlework Show saw this designer 'showing' and found you could get the chart only and jumped on it .. for the shop AND for ME! It's on 40ct Silk Gauze, but I had my framer put Spacers between the gauze AND the white mounting board. This way you actually get a bit of 'shadow' from the stitched lines when you look at it from different angels. It was a 'hey let's try it and see what happens' and ... I LOVE the effect!!!

When I wanted to stitch Handblessing's "Hooked On Reading", I didn't have the color fabric in stock that the designer called for, so I pulled the colors used and started laying them out on what I did have in the shop. I decided on hand-dyed Jobelan Blueberry ... loved the look of purples and blues mottled together!

One of the June Freebie Charts Of The Month that we were offering was In A Gentle Spirit's little Norwegian proverb. Since that past month or three have been 'hell', I figured this one HAD to be stitched up by me FOR me! I used "Earthen" from Picture This Plus and since there are only two shades of floss used, chose a coppery-red for the flowers and a deep green for the lettering and vine. Hopefully I'll glance at this one often .. put it where I can see it from my stitching chair .. and remind myself ... as long as I can laugh about it ... I'll survive!!

... N Dying

I'll start with the 'dying'. At the Summer TNNA Market, I took a class 'just for me' ... nothing for the shop, just for me! What a treat! It was 'How To Dye Yarn'. Now, I don't knit nor do I have any plans to, but I contacted the instructor prior to signing up for the class to see if this technique would also relate to wool batt .. for felting. When I was told it was the same principal,

I had to take it!

We started with the undyed yarn as shown above, and then this is how 'mine' turned out!

There's something 'weird' that knitters do ... they purchase a completely knitted 'blank' ... looks like a hand-dyed scarf ... and then they pull it apart into yarn again and knit something else out of it! The first two pictures are of a 'blank' blank in the process of being dyed to the 'student's own' design.

I had already decided that MINE would stay a scarf .. so Diana is going to finish off the long edges so that they will not come apart! The colors look really 'blue' here ... it's a pumpkin yellow, teal blue and a deep teal green.

It was a really fun class! We were warned to bring an apron or smock of some type so that we would not get dye on our clothing. I realized the night before the class that I had the tee-shirt I was going to wear over my clothing at home! Luckily, the hotel 'loaned' me a 30-gallon trash bag! (they didn't want it back though .. so perhaps they really gave it to me!)

Since I was wearing a black skirt that day for the trade show, I think I looked quite fashionable! So fashionable that the gal behind me who also forgot a smock really thought I had a great idea. So we shared it .... just tore it down the center and made two halves ... add a neck hole and arm holes .. and ta da! Two Dyers = Dye Proof!!!

Writing N Reading N Stuffs

Hives! I woke up with hives all over my neck! (thanks mom .. this too shall pass!) Came to work armed with Extra Strength Benadryl AND calming Chamomile Tea!

Had some 'twitter' problems on the drive in this morning too.
About a half mile out of my driveway, out comes a wild turkey. Slowed way down .. they don't always travel alone you know .. then had to come to a complete halt. Turkey standing in middle of road .. staring me down! Then, it slowly started leading me, broke out into a gentle Turkey Trot while I idled slowly along. Finally after about 2 minutes decided it had toyed with me enough, crossed to the road side and down into a ditch, into the weeds, and ... freedom!
Got moving along again only to turn a curve and see a bird sitting in the middle of the road. I got closer .. it still sat. I got closer yet .. slammed on the brakes .. backed up, and yeah .. it was still sitting there. Upon close up examination through the windshield, I realized it was a very young bird that just didn't have flying down pat yet. Put emergency blinkers on .. got out of car .. walked up to bird, who is ruffling his feathers but still sitting there. Pushed him gently back to the shoulder of the road into some weed coverage. Apparently mom had gone to get breakfast and baby was waiting for her return. Back into car .. back on my way to work.

A bit further down the road .. right where I come into civilization (meaning where the road turns from dirt to actual pavement ... aka where Oakland county outbacks end and where Genesee county begins) .. there is momma and daddy swan swimming along at the side of the road ... and they had their three baby swanlings with them! (I know, they're called cygnets, but that's a stupid word .. I like mine better!) I had seen them earlier in the month from quite a distance and I was so glad to see babies .. we've had this pair in that small lake for several years now and this was a first!!
So .. stop the car, turn on the 4-ways, just happened to have my camera with me (for once) and got these pics before daddy swan got his family well away from the dangerous formidable 'me'.

Nice start to my morning ... still itchy though!
And .. not to help my mental matters any .. I just finished another book. Read about this one on Gloria's (Milady's Needle) blog, went to Amazon and downloaded a 'preview' of it to my Kindle, read that chapter, and bought the book to be downloaded fully. Called "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova .. it's a portrayal of the Alzheimer's journey from one suffering from early onset Alzheimers at age 50. From Publishers Weekly: Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova mines years of experience in her field to craft a realistic portrait of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice Howland has a career not unlike Genova's—she's an esteemed psychology professor at Harvard, living a comfortable life in Cambridge with her husband, John, arguing about the usual (making quality time together, their daughter's move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer's begin to emerge. First, Alice can't find her Blackberry, then she becomes hopelessly disoriented in her own town. Alice is shocked to be diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's (she had suspected a brain tumor or menopause), after which her life begins steadily to unravel. She loses track of rooms in her home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children. The brutal facts of Alzheimer's are heartbreaking, and it's impossible not to feel for Alice and her loved ones, but Genova's prose style is clumsy and her dialogue heavy-handed. This novel will appeal to those dealing with the disease and may prove helpful, but beyond the heartbreaking record of illness there's little here to remember.

Powerful .. disturbing .. I have symptoms (Dave told me to 'knock it off' LOL) .. and I'm so glad I read it (finished it last evening) Did that cause the hives this morning? (if so, thanks Gloria!!!) Or was it my mother calling my husband last evening to tell him her phone didn't work and she couldn't call anyone? (yeah, you read right .. and then when he called back, she didn't pick up)

Deep sigh .. off to immerse myself in WORK!

Stitching N Celebrating

I'm done! I finished Carriage House Samplings "Happy Hallowe'en" on the 32ct Black Gauze!

You'd think that with being used to 40ct gauze, that 32ct - even though it was black - would be easier! And you'd be wrong. At least .. it was a minor pain for me even with my Ott light over my shoulder and something 'white' on my lap. Not sure if I'll do black gauze again and Doug at Kreinik just told me he's having trouble getting it back into stock, so that may not be a problem to consider in the future. I can see where my stitches are not uniform in tension, but oh well .. I'm done, I'm happy with it and I'm on to new stitching - think I'll start "Hooked On Reading" tonight!

I'll have this one framed with a wide rustic frame and will have a black suede matt board under the gauze as a mounting board. The design really POPS!! (To take this picture, I put the suede matt board corner under the stitched design - the grey you see at the upper right is 'the chair' I had it placed everything on .. and of course, the quarter was placed simply to enable you to estimate the stitched size!)

I did some more 'painting with wool' pictures on Thursday. One is a branch of cherry blossoms against a blue sky but it's too pale/pastel/light/whatever to really show up. I've got to play around with that one a bit more to see if it can be rescued before I can show it to you here. The other is still drying .. vivid colors .. three doves against a sunset, one with an olive branch in his beak. I want to give that one to my mother's roommate at Crestwood .. I think Doris will be very pleased with it. She's been admiring the other two I did for my mother, and the strong colors and religious overtones (undertones?) in this one are right up her alley! I'll take a pic of that one over this weekend and share it with you here.

I am so looking forward to a weekend off .. Sunday and Monday .. to do whatever I want to do! What JOY!!

Been feeling in a bit of a 'funk' lately. Not really sure why, probably stress with mom and all .. and I'm sure the economy is playing into that too. I know my shop is 'strong' even if it does feel from time to time like I'm bobbing in the water with an occasional wave breaking over my head .. at least I'm not going under! This too shall pass .. keep a positive attitude and keep on a' going.

It could be that in about 3 weeks I'll be going to another trade show market and really shouldn't be putting that kind of money out there. But .. if I don't go, I won't know what's going on in the industry. And if I don't know what's going on in the industry, how can I stay up to date with my shop? This is an 'order only' market, and will be a lot more needlepoint and knitting than counted thread, so I'll save some $$ that way. I'll be rooming with Theresa from Homestead Needlepoint too, so won't have the entire week worth of hotel bills to front myself .. and if I live on the chocolate and treats each vendor has in their show spaces, I won't need to worry too much about 'meals'! LOL

Looking forward to two days off starting tomorrow .. got a bit more cleaning to do, this time my bedroom closet, and want to do a small bit of felting and finish my silk gauze hallowe'en design. And, the weather is supposed to be fantastic .. so maybe .. just maybe!!! Then we've got a holiday weekend coming up (which I JUST found out about yesterday!) .. I thought I had weeks to go before Memorial weekend. Where IS the time going?!

Oh and yeah .. I forgot. I have another itty bitty design to stitch up on 40ct gauze! It looks like I 'may' be teaching a Silk gauze class at the St. Charles Market in September to other shop owners (IF anyone signs up for it, that is!). Since I like to do the gauze without doing the stitched background (boring to me!), I want another stitched model to take with me from the same design leaflet to show examples of this with. (The class model worked up to about 1 1/4" x 1" total in size ... it's the little red barn/house from Prairie Schooler's "Autumn Leaves" .. I think the other will be either the pumpkin or the owl, but without the background color done). Funny how my 'Hooked On Reading' project keeps getting pushed a bit further to the bottom. (deep sigh)

Well, I'd better get back to working here ... got some fabric to put away and some more to add to the Sale Page. Later!!!