That little PITA

Except for a few rows to add to the outline, he's done.  I added purple and a bowtie, a few changes to his clothes because I was weary, just did what I wanted.  And he's centered!  No idea how that happened, hard to count with these tiny stitches of hair-ish threads.

I now wish a larger finish was considered, maybe 30 or 32 count with two threads.  The three colorful characters in this chart would be great hanging on a door or cupboard knob.  I need to think about the other two and check sizing.

 Back at the greenhouse, there are two fertilizers he recommends for petunia and calibrachoa, all flowering plants.  Both contain iron necessary for tunias.

I have used Miracle Grow Bloom Booster and also Jack's Bloom Booster, totally different ingredient ratios from these, iron not offered.  Strange that my MG booster box is 10-52-10 but online claims 15-30-15.  One ad shows both percentages in the same description.  I guess research would offer the correct one for each flower, but I'm lazy and will just take his advice.

Haven't decided on lung scan yet.  My neighbor was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer eight months after a clear CT scan.  The nodule was not there in January.  Sharp pain and feeling breathless led to the second scan.  There is a procedure called cryoablation, that can freeze small nodules and GGO while also obtaining a sample, killing the cancer, that otherwise are too small to biopsy.  

Hope you have a pleasant day.

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The comeback

First off, stitching.  Damn.  Never made this many errors.  A major reason is the linen.

Can you see that hair thin linen thread?  So easy to miss and where many errors are found.  Higher than 40 for some reason with loads of these extremely thin threads. They seem to disappear at some point in their length.

Now for the comebacks.  My wasted dried stem petunias that I cut back to several inches.  Didn't take long to grow back.  Buds are starting on all these ends, will be a ball of pink soon.

This one was trimmed to end at the pot's bottom, not as severe as the other.

Even the spindly impatiens that I reduced to a few inches have surprised me.

Warm days this week, maybe next week too.

Be well, be safe.

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WTH?

How much time have I wasted searching for errors? 

I'm too embarrassed to say.

Somehow, this 40 count became 45.  Shrunk when dyed?  Having a difficult time and several stitches over three instead of two have happened.  Adjustments made.

The border's top and upper angles were not changed, yet I am off three rows on the right side of this little bastard's head.  Top count- correct.  Side angles- correct.  Head width- correct. Tail to head- correct. Counted everything three times!  His tail is one row to the right (which makes it four off actually), and I can't find that miss either.

Look at his right ear on the chart compared to mine. Three rows off.  I give up. His whiskers will be shortened, inside outline of border less, he'll be fine.  A lot of guys wish for longer whiskers, ain't happening.

But where the hell is my error??

How irritating.  ........ wait.   After looking at these photos, he will be more centered, and since I prefer balance, this worked out great!  Wow. 

Yay for me.

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Amish flowers

 Visited the Amish greenhouse for a few mums.  This place has two huge two story homes with wrap around porches, far from other homes atop a hill.  These are some of their flowers.

Huge and healthy.

The owner, a very nice family, said the trick to blooms like this into September is petunia food every week. They use it on everything, especially those plants that like acidic soil.  I use bloom booster, but will try this next year.   Avoid fertilizer with more phosphorus.  

About that CT scan.  My dad passed in 2001 and I saw a pulmonologist after since I was short of breath.  It was anxiety after watching him suffocate and panic for two weeks when the idiot failed to diagnose a pulmonary embolism.  A CT showed two nodules which required watching (Carole's husband had passed before Dad from lung cancer).  The anxiety level was unbearable while I waited six months for the second scan.  Protocol was a CT every six months for three years.  Every few years or when I had a cough, another was ordered.  Then the incorrect reckless diagnosis of "rapid onset pulmonary fibrosis" several years ago required two more scans.  I don't qualify for the smoker's low dose radiation scan, and he finds them not to be as precise.  The nodules have minor growth over the last few years, along with GGOs (ground glass opacities) which have no guidelines.  Too small and scattered to biopsy unless they develop into a solid.  Scary. It is up to me to decide, insurance approved, radiologist recommends, doctor is concerned that all that radiation may do more harm since I had no change on the last one.

Tootsie is looking for Ollie and I miss that big head in my window.

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Balancing act

I need symmetry in projects.  Many a sampler has had motifs or verse centered or balanced when possible.  I can look at a wood project and tell you if the trim or door is off 1/4 inch, same when studying a chart.  The outline border of these three had me puzzled.

When stitching, I make my routine mistake of continuing without checking the chart, assuming they align.  I counted top, side, angle, thought the opposite was the same.  It ain't.  A frog-o-rama ensued. I patched and corrected the lower right side and bottom to make them equal.  Two stitches need correction on the patch yet.

  So I changed the straight bottom stitch count to match the top, moved the right angle, it lined up with the side. This pushed the angle out two rows and bottom down one, all is aligned now.  I'm OK.

Reduced those bottom angles to two rows (instead of charted three) of the outer outline to match the sides and top which have two rows.  

I see the pumpkin design top is 18 across, bottom is 20, so I will use my amended chart for all three rather than do this for each of the three.  Nothing wrong with the chart, just my own preference for symmetry.

Lungs CT scan is on hold.  Doc said I've had too many, lots of radiation can cause an issue.

Bye.

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Shortcut with color

I received my new chart, and since I have no tears when I cry, had no blurriness problem reading it. But when I realized the background was full coverage, not linen color, my eyes got bigger.  And the Rit came out.

 

Much easier.

I also dyed this amethyst for the needle case from Durene Jones.

I plan to change the blue shades.  Visit to HL proved that the 924 series is indeed, not as warm, not as teal, as the originals.  The change in the darker 924 is not as noticeable as the others.

Not sure if the berries charts, the black cat, the raven I can't find, or these goofy guys will be next.  My right hand fingers are going numb quite often, lasting way too long, can't hold a needle. 

Thank you for your comments about Ollie. Since we could not touch him, or get within three feet without a warning from him, taking him to the ER vet more than a half hour from here was not possible, and he would have run if we approached.  Yet he would always move to a spot closer to me if I was outside.  The trap had been near his shelter for months, but he was too wise for that. Whether cancer or infection, we will never know.  For two+ days we watched him suddenly deteriorate, and we tried to block him from leaving the deck.  I sat close by and talked to him, but when he made his way around the blockade to the woods, we knew he didn't have much longer and we let him go to where he wanted as most animals do when they feel death is near.  But we still stayed close to him until he passed. 

Hope all is well with everyone.

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