An easy stitch

doesn't always correlate with an error free stitch.  Off one thread, really don't care, stitched the same error on the other side to match it.

 

35 count R&R Mink.  Started it on 30 count and decided it would be a little too large to hang from a cupboard, so moved to one thread on the 35 count making it less than 6 1/2" wide.  I haven't stitched the lion in the middle of the row yet, not crazy about a pink lion (sorry Vickie), may try a yellow toned beige.  Eyelet is a stitch I like to see in samplers but most require it for the entire alphabet and that gets to be tedious for me.  This one line is perfect. 

 

 

 

I have been having evil thoughts for a while now.  Giving up the needle.  In fact, selling off some pieces.  Mark said just roll them up and store them because I will be sorry.  That makes sense since I usually regret a LOT of my decisions.  I don't know if I am nearing the end zone of menopause and it is putting forth a final blitz, but everything seems to be changing.

 

Mia, I cannot reply to you.  This design is very old and may be available on Ebay or Etsy, possibly Em-li's http://www.emlis.com/.  Sheepish Designs Rosanna Pinkham.

 

Have a great start to an even better week.

 

**************************************

"It's always something"

Are you too young to remember who that quote is from?  If so, "never mind".

 

This sampler isn't from Rosanne Rosannadanna, but it is a Rosanna.  Long ago I stitched this sampler as a gift to a friend, and she asked to borrow it for her friend, I obliged before I stitched it for myself, time passed, friend passed away suddenly.  What I found in my mess of messes is a beat up written on worksheet.  I decided to search online for a color photo to jog my memory and there she was.

Rosanna Pinkham from Sheepish Designs.  Ain't she a sweetie?  Forgot all about her.  My worksheet is old and beat, the symbols are not clear, but I can easily see color placements from the photo.  I think you can get this very old chart from Em-Li's. 

This was a tough call because I had planned to work on 1739 from R&R, very primitive and definitely on the to-do list, and couldn't decide between these two.  Rosanna won because her colors are easy.  1739 has a lot of very light threads that I want to change and that drags me down.  I have searched several engines and I still haven't seen a photo of it other than the chart's, hard to see.  And both are very close in size.  Harry's Lion will be in the second basket in my new bench, and I will go back and forth.  Hopefully. 

 

 Kielbasa stew for dinner today.  Used my pressure cooker for the cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and in just two minutes, they are well done.  I saved the steamed liquid to add to the stew's broth and it is so full of flavor and rich, full of the nutrients.  The Instant Pot is big, can also be used as a slow cooker, and I can saute in the pot before pressurizing.  We love the French Market Bean soup which takes quite a while with dried beans, and I think the Pot will do a great job in short time. We took the old heavy aluminum (manual) cookers to the recycler.  They take metal cookware but only if the handles (usually plastic) are removed.  I use several old stainless fry pans as water dishes and bird baths.  Easy to clean and they don't break.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

********************************

Findings

Found two heart boxes during my closet cleaning.

 

 

May try the other one with the Barrick heart I just finished.

 

 

 

 

*******************

The Lion sleeps tonight

Greetings buds.  The Lion, Harry Tyler's to be specific, is on hold.  Although I love the colors of Weeks Dye Work's linens, I have a problem stitching them.  My tension is never good, but not as noticeable on a stiffer coarse linen.  The heavier threads in the weave don't collapse when I tug a little.  A softer linen tends to stretch out when I hold in hand and stitches are pulled in leaving a little space between, collapsing the weave. Normally it's not an issue but light floss on dark linen shows this much more and wasn't covering well. 

 

Barrick's 1848 Sampler was stitched light on dark (32 count Belfast Charcoal) and look how nice their flesh tone stitches are. 

 

 

So I compared the two and I could see I wasn't going to get good coverage for the large lion area.  They are the same count, and look how skimpy the bottom ones look on the WDW Gunmetal.
 

And now for the real truth.  I cut the linen too short.  Had no choice but to start over!  

But now I know to always use a heavier linen for light floss on darker ground. 

 

But did I stop there?  Hell no.  I kept looking at Harry's photo and thought the blue should be darker.  Should I try to order something online and hope I like it?  No.  I dipped the Charcoal into a mix of two blues and it's richer, deeper, good.  I'm hoping  the stitches will fill better and that I cut it correctly.  But honestly, I may set it aside and work on a small sampler.  Sometimes being sidetracked throws me off-track. Tomorrow will tell.

 

January is coming to a close quickly!  Enjoy what's left.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

*****************************

A place for my ponies

Finally!  My ponies have been wandering around for quite some time, not able to find a good resting place.  The bag wasn't working, too large for a hanging pillow, what to do?  Well today I was working on the final few boxes I found, and while searching the new computer for the old files, came across the ponies circled.  ????  What the hell, give it a try. 

So I made the label and I was gobsmacked.  You have no idea how long I've waited to use that word.  And this is the time.  WHY did I not think of this before?  The poor ponies have been hidden in the dark, waiting, and it never occurred to me to try a padded round lid finish. 

 I will lose some of the stitching but that's fine with me. 

Then I remembered the stack of tall rounds waiting for labels and tried the larger size.  Bingo.

 

I don't want to use this very tall box and it belongs to a set I plan to label, so I will check HL for this size in the short series and if not, will use the smaller short and lose more of the stitching.  But at least I finally have a solution to displaying my ponies.

Whiskey for me and beer for my horses!!! 

Black Velvet Roasted Caramel will do just fine.

 

*********************************

It was bound to happen

Chocolate.  On my linen.  For years I have been eating, drinking, snacking while stitching, without incident.  Today, it all came to an end.  Hard to believe that a tiny piece of Dove dark would be overlooked.  I examine the red foil to make sure there aren't any loose tiny flakes, lick the outside edges that hold that delicate chocolate dust, so for a tiny crumb to get by me was more surprising than it showing up on the linen.  Wasn't even in an area that my fingers would have been.  Nevertheless, there it was.  I used warm water to drip through the linen, hoping it would take the chocolate with it.  It didn't completely and like a dodo, I rubbed it a little.  So there is a small lighter area now, and I believe the leaves from the tree will hide it.  I'll work that side and see what happens, before flipping the linen over (the back side is not nearly as bad).  A lighter spot on a solid like Belfast's Charcoal would be very noticeable, but the very slight variations in this overdyed helps hide it.  I guess I'm so used to using my almost indestructible unbleached rough stuff, that I am too lax in the care of my projects.  Well....  too bad.  I'm not changing.