Lazy know-it-all

 Holy crap.  Krista commented on my Rachel photo on Instagram and mentioned the rice stitch.  ???  Did she decide to do rice on her own or am I that arrogant and oblivious to instructions?  The latter of course.  Not only is the very large central flower rice stitch, the dividing band above it is also.  Why would that band be in rice you would wonder.  Because the three rows of large alpha above it should be dipstick!!  Part eyelet, part rice, and nary one in sight.  Dammit.  

Each graph square has a symbol, and usually a large specialty stitch symbol covers all four squares or has a different symbol.  But that's my fault entirely for not reading the chart.  I could excuse my lack of attention to a covid fog but I did the alpha before that happened.  And we're past the menomania.  Well, not completely.  I still use that defense for acquittal and sympathy while wiping my forehead from a not as hot as they used to be flash.   And thanks to masking, my face is always a little damp so it's still believable.  

But not with this flub.  Does it matter?  Unless very close to the stitching to study, rice is not as obvious in alphabets.... to me.  Eyelet?  More obvious.  Basic cross stitch?  Good enough.  But that central flower is already completed with three colors, and I believe it would be a nice feature in rice stitch.   Do I want to remove and do over?  

Give me a minute to wipe my forehead.

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Love this product

But before that .... Rachel progress.

I used to sew my own clothing back in high school, even my prom gowns, there was no option for tall skinny girls over fifty years ago.   And I hated it.  Still have the same machine.

When caring for mom, I started altering her clothing to cover coffee and food stains.  This led to other family and friends bringing tops for me to play with and do the same.  It was fun!  Also hides holes from cat claws.  The easiest was a wide print center band from top to bottom with buttons.  Recently purchased tall tops from Old Navy that are LONG to wear with leggings and I'm considering adding decoration.

Using a fusible for applique, these were so easy, I just outline the edges with a machine zig zag after fusing.  But learned that the cotton fabric MUST be washed and dried first!  On some, the edges were left to fray with just a straight stitch outline.  The top center back always had a smaller coordinating element.

I've tried sewing stretchy jersey before and it was a mess, never flat and neat.  Adding hem or other lightweight fusible offered flat hems that were stiff and obvious.  This product is not fused.  A thin strip of tacky hold that will be removed when washed, no residual stiffness.  No hot iron, no heat at all required.  You just press it on the edge (hem, zipper, applique), remove paper strip, fold over or secure the second fabric, finger press.  It held the jersey secure enough to stitch without stretching and IF my machine was working, it would be even better.  It won't pick up bobbin thread for any stitch other than straight.  

But it's a nightshirt that went from floor length to knee length and was so much easier, and the hem is neat!

About the kids' gifts.  I used to love spending hours in stores looking for top and bottoms that coordinated, but Miss Sophia has become so fussy that is a waste of time and money.  Autistic Matt rarely will accept all items so their mom is better at knowing what they will wear.  Last year we went with new blankets, comforters, pillows, underwear.  So more underwear this year and I'm thinking sleeping bags.  They use them for watching TV and unzip to add to their bed when really cold.  Been a few years, I'll bet they are tattered by now.  Cash?  Visa cards one year were not spent on them, another story, absolutely not an option for such young kids.

Monday monday melting snow.  

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Mid November

 Why?  And why are black Friday sales so early?  We no longer receive ads for major retailers in our useless local paper, and even if I had a phone I would not allow push notifications or be linked.  Guess that's why I will never get the journals or bags or anything else that stitchers are promptly made aware of.

Mary, my sister's adjacent 105 year old resident passed away last night.  To be of sound mind at that age, what a blessing.  They moved a once lovely woman who now screams nastiness all day across the hall, and when she would barge into Carole's room, Mary would enter and in no uncertain terms set her straight!  Since Carole can't walk, Mary watched over her.  I only hope the new neighbor will be kind.  It would help if she could talk to other residents that dealt with limb loss, but privacy laws prohibit sharing such info.  Mid thigh amputation is harder to adjust to than below knee and along with the pain of the remaining leg, she is having a difficult time.

All those gowns I purchased that she insisted be ankle length despite my arguments, I have to cut and hem.  Watching a video about working with knits/jersey will have Mark taking me to JoAnn's for Wash-Away Wonder Tape.  Only a few are jersey and I will try to do that this evening.  Ordered several but nothing in stock locally, arrival time is end of November.  

I'll tell you what I got for myself this morning!  From Lori Rippey......

Mary Bell.  Wowza!

My new linens were to be sorted and listed by count, but I got sidetracked.  When putting the 36 and 40 in pouches is when I realized how similar some colors were to each other.  My foggy mind could not produce a way to list color shades within counts, so that ended and I got the lemon zucchini bread out of the freezer.  Technically husband did.  Some days the weakness is profound and others better, so he is still on stair duty.  But I did offer a slice for his trouble.

Wow, this has been a ramble hasn't it?  Wish me luck on the hemming.  If it fails, it will become a raw zig zagged edge.  As I keep telling her majesty, she is not attending a prom so get over it.  

Roethlisberger is out with Covid, it will be a grumpy afternoon for my stair master. 

Thanks for visiting!

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Close enough

If you are unable to locate a particular color of linen for a project, you should be able to find a substitute that is so close you won't notice a difference.  The Affogato I received is very nice and I can't tell the difference from the Antique Lace.

This background is Oatmeal (Kitten Stitcher) as is the totally different Oatmeal (Hobby House) in the right corner.  So if a chart calls for it, which one would work with the threads?  The other two, Caramel Macchiato and Buttermilk, are no different at all from the Oatmeal.  But not the corner Oatmeal which matches my Prairie Grass.  There's no way to know which variation of a color was used for the model so close enough has to be good enough!  And it appears a completely different linen may be closer to what the model is stitched on.

I received two counts of Sand Dunes, expecting it to be tan, and I soaked both yellow pieces in bleach to remove color.  I'll play with them at some point and get the color I want.

Stayed in the car yesterday while Mark did the errands but did go into Kraynak's to see new offers.  I featured this store before, the largest Christmas shop ever.  So many string light options, theme bulbs, tabletop items, collectibles, artificial greens, ribbons, tiny to massive trees, yoi!   They opened the back area this year for more toys, which also fill the actual store.  The Christmas items are in the numerous greenhouses.  My knees were giving out so I got a few larger bells for the skimpy tree and left.   Between that and a shower, I was so exhausted.  Hard to understand when all else is so much better.  

 

This advent item was new.  I also saw cut glass trees lighted inside by battery which would be a nice sparkling decoration for Carole's tray table if she doesn't make it home in time for Christmas.

I very much like the shape and size of the shorter tree between the snowmen.  I don't know if it was my wobbly knees or not, but I swear a few of the gnomes and snow people tried to trip me.

I found two charts recently purchased that I didn't remember and they are NICE!  Hurry up Rachel Hyde!  Let's get your clusters hanging!

 High winds and rain, cold weekend.  Crapola.

Hope everyone took some time yesterday to honor our veterans.

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Another page down

Not looking forward to the right side border, or the over one, but hoping to continue without throwing in the towel.

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My greenie

 Better than orange or yellow, without this highlighter marking the completed stitches, a disaster would ensue.  I have trouble with motifs and especially meandering borders, even when one color.  The grapevine and curly cues of several color changes would have caused so much frustration that I may have stopped work on Rachel.  Why the other colors are not as helpful, don't know.  But I (and all other stitchers) are grateful for highlighters in any color!   Much less counting which usually ends in misplacement.  And surprisingly, just following the completed stitches has resulted in not one error of this PITA border.

I have used several colors to mark the chart and distinguish the color changes, and it helps also, but I found that just greening what I completed every time I need a new thread is (for me) a greater help.

We needed to get Carole a new TV for her room and I told husband that after a month, I wanted to check my stamina outside of home.  Don't have an answer as to why since home isn't that great, but ..... 'ya know.  He dropped me at the door, I grabbed a buggy as an aid and walked very slowly.  By the time he parked and came in my knees were rubber.  But we got the TV, she wants a haircut and wash, a shopping list filled, so I guess we will be making the drive Thursday and take care of this.  

Today we went to the Italian store in Youngstown, it's a very small shop, and I did OK.  Except for the pounds that will result from our purchases.  The frozen wrapped manicotti were gone, the only ravioli left were lobster and veal (I don't eat babies), as were the prepared cavatelli and other dishes I usually get.  The only place to get large frozen bags of washed and cut mixed greens for wedding soup, and their various size meatballs are fabulous.  When Carole made the soup she pressed the meat mixture into a cookie sheet and then cut into mini squares after roasting.  And oh my their home made sausage, mild, hot, briar hill.  Stop it.

It's sunny and a little warmer, but I can't push it so won't be removing summer items from the deck to be stored.  Maybe tomorrow, a little at a time.

Hope your day is swell!

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