It's not much...

But it's enough to make me whine.

I started Fanny Erb tonight.   Love the floss colors.

I was putting off picking fabric and pulling threads, and I realized if I didn't do it today, I wouldn't do it at all.  I was hoping that blogging would in some way force me to continue stitching and I guess it's working.  Doing a larger project than I expected to do may not last - might move to a small - but at least I'm stitching.  As I said before, I have never put a project down and started another, but I may now!   I've cut the stitched part out of the linen piece, thrown a few in the trash, even burned them.  One way or another, they were finished!   I'm a firebug.  Love to make fires outside, which is dangerous when your hair is wild.   I've had to cut off crinkled smelly chunks several times.   Good thing is, when it's wild, you can't tell.  It never dawned on me to use small areas of the unwanted project for unique pieces as Beth Twist did here.
She made a neat fob from an abandoned piece for her giveaway.  And guess what?   I was a runner up!  Her puppy pics are killing me.  
 I found a piece of blue 32 linen and I was thinking about Nash's Peacock Sewing Roll for the second project.

 It calls for 32 and 40 which I don't have so I worked out the chart for both sides being 32, using pale blue and unbleached linen.  The silk matka backing she uses is not available here, so that's another item to blindly order online.  So hard to imagine color and feel from a computer screen but that's the only way I can get wool or silk.   Right now I need a few chunks of chocolate and a towel to dry off.  What will tomorrow bring?  Hopefully, NO MORE SNOW, and a commitment to Fanny.
Thanks for joining my journey.

Decisions, decisions

I went through my stash looking for another small project and came across a few mediums that I would consider.

I've always loved Elizabeth Moor and she has no border (big plus), but after some reading I found that the first letter in all the verse is over two, the other letters are over one.  Nah.

Moving on, Fanny Erb is promising.  Only four colors of floss and each line is one color.  That's an easy stitch!  The stitches are running, 4-sided, Algerian Eye, and cross.  Not too bad. 

Next is a tiny one from Hinzeit.  Sweet, easy, and quick.  A contender for sure.

And finally, Stacy Nash, 28 count, done in DMC.  Yeah Stacy!!  So today I'll decide  but Elizabeth is definitely 3rd runner up.

 

I'm still not feeling the love though.  I look at all these charts and ..... as much as I love them .... I don't feel the love enough to get excited about starting.  I wondered what I'm doing with all these, especially the monsters.   I don't know.  The menopause moods may be rearing their heads again.   These three finalists shouldn't be any trouble at all so I'll keep on keeping on!   I didn't stitch Gathering Basket into a pincushion yet but I did redo the Beehive.  I used the same steam 'n smash method to flatten it and I like it, even though it's hanging crooked. 

The sun is out but it's bitter cold, and I'm going for groceries and coffee this morning.   I've been craving a nut twisty so I need to steer that buggy away from the good smells section.   It seems I always get a buggy that has wheel problems and those have a mind of their own and are really hard to control. 

Thank you for reading!

Moving along

Except for the satin stitches in the basket, Gathering Basket is finished. 

  I had problems and removed them several times.  I will either fill it in with X's or change the X's pattern and do small squares of satin.  I also removed the little thingy on the wing.  There were other counting errors so I did a lot of stitch removal on this project.  I haven't aged it yet and not sure if I will.   I also worked on the the last CBU and instead of following the tombstone top, I gave it an angular finish with a little of the backing showing around it, some rick rack, and buttons. 

Think it will stay this way?  Nah.  I was playing around because the color I changed in the design made the Goldenrod rick rack match.   Cute, but I think too cute for the more primitive looking design.  I think I might like the other shape better and it would be really easy to disassemble and change.  So tonight I will be thinking about what small or medium sized project to do next, and what fabric to use in finishing Gathering Basket.  

On another note......for the few of you that emailed about BJ, yes she was on medication for pain and mobility.  We used Previcox but only a half tablet.  Those arthritic drugs are very expensive and not always safe, so we did some research and asked the vet for Tramadol (it's non-steroidal).  She didn't recommend the extended release and ordered 360 pills a month (3 every 4-6 hours) which lasted longer than a month and the Walmart price was only $20.  We only gave her as many as she needed at the time so she rarely got all 3 pills, some times only 1.  She took them for over a year and had no problems.  Huge savings, better pain control, less adverse effects.  For her anyway.  Hope this helps.

ADDED - I finished the basket with regular cross stitches.

And I obviously don't have a good camera!

A year ago today.....

we lost our sweet girl.  She was 15, still in good health and playful, but her back legs could no longer hold her.  For a year we used a sling that I made to take her for walks and help her around.  She never lost her hearing, eyesight, or functions, just her back leg muscles.  It was so heartbreaking. Our first Lab knew when it was time for "dad " to come home and watched from the window for his car.  As soon as she saw it coming, she would whimper and run to the door.

This one also knew the time, which I still can't figure out, and she would keep looking at me until I opened the door so she could watch for him to pull into the garage. 









The daily ritual continued with her jumping on the sofa and resting her head on his shoulder while he tried to read the paper.

Her next move was to slide down onto his lap, as if she didn't weigh 95 pounds.  Both our Labs were from the same kennel and BJ's sire was a huge fox red from Scotland.   

She was lovable and affectionate and very attached to hub.  What joy they bring us, and what indescribable sadness when they leave.

We're so sorry we had to let you go....you are loved and missed.

Wake up!

This is my progress from last evening.  I ripped out the few letters I had completed with 356 and decided to go with the designer's choices of 223 and 152.  Why?  I can't keep waffling every time I have a flash.  From now on, what it is, it is.  If I don't like it, too bad.  I will eventually! 

And after reading Siobhan's comment, I had a good laugh and realized that I was my own worst enemy.  How could I compare what I was doing in DMC to a photo that was done in a different type of thread?  Because back in the old days, DMC was it, and it never registered in my fried brain that it would be anything else.  And the border?  That's what the chart is, so be it.  I don't see any corrections on their web page so it's good enough for me.  And why am I so worried about a few stitches and a different shade of pink, when I end up throwing coffee on it and then torturing it with heat!!!  I woke up!  And I thank you all for your help.

Unrequited love

Second post today of my problems with Gathering Basket.  I've been working on it this evening, completed the corrected vines and leaves, and finished the left side border.  It's one stitch off.  The bottom half of the border is indented and I followed the chart.  Is it an error?  Whether it is or not, it looks like one and I need to rip it out and correct it, but not until I complete the design.  Maybe it won't be noticeable?  It doesn't look too bad in the photo but I noticed it right away when I completed that color and set it down.  I love this tiny design but it's not loving me back!