In the Midnight Hour

This is a progress pic of my Laura Perin, which some may know as Amethyst Dreams.

You'd think I was constitutionally opposed to purple, but actually I love it. It just doesn't fit into my decor.

I was trying to kit this with blues. But ended up with the black/gray/silver working for me.

The canvas is, I think, French blue, which is a very gray blue. In this photo it just looks gray. The canvas won't really show at all when finished.

P.S.

Note:

It's marshmallow, people, not marshmellow.

You'd think you would run names through spell check before marketing something.

Ah Blogger

Notice the new RSS feeds?
If you're on blogger, you can add them, too!

It was easy. Or they wouldn't be here.

I will keep adding more every day.

I exhausted the needlework books in the UMW library in about one hour. Though there was one unexpected find. A book published in 1859. American stitchers were already into some "modern" looking things by then. Canvaswork was starting to come into play. Of course, the Berlin work was huge popular. And quilts were starting to be appreciated as more than just a frugal way to deal with leftover fabric.

Ah the Weekend

I'm sitting here trying to wrap my brain around everyone's schedule - one leaving Alaska for Massachusetts. One heading Illinois. One needing transport back and forth to school - one hour drive one way - four days a week. Now let's plan a vacation. And see if we can coordinate this with school ending, summer internship ending, and one needing to go to California.

I'm so confused.

But I did spend the majority of yesterday afternoon working on my Laura Perin piece. I've done all the required work before we meet again next Saturday and started moving ahead. Because I can. I am wishing I had made different choices about my waste knots. But I think I can live this. I finally gave up stitching in the 11th inning of Red Sox/Cardinals game. Which we won in the 13th.

Now what I've got for the next four weeks is two hours of driving four days a week with two hours of time to kill at DS's campus and surrounding community. I plan on putting this time to good use. I figure if I bring stitching I can hang in the library. Maybe some days bring the laptop. And I can get in a little bit of shopping maybe? Dinner time is about to get interesting. By rights we should get home a bit after 4 every day. But experience has shown that I-95 can turn into a parking lot at weird times.

Meanwhile I have to call my sister and tell her we won't make the 4th of July party. But we will show up at the end of July instead.

Stitch n Pitch

We went into extra innings - 14 to be exact. My family left after 2/3rds of the fans had already left, in the bottom of the 14th. This meant the Metro was not crowded at all. Nats won.

Got some good stuff in the goody bags. Will detail later.

Did not stitch anywhere near as much as last year.

I did not see a single reference to Stitch n Pitch during the game. Maybe I missed something on the large screen.

Whatever. I'm exhausted. We got home at 12:45 and the cat woke up us this morning quite early demanding attention and food.

Books and the Ice Bath

I just gave myself an unexpected ice bath when I picked up my glass with six ice cubes and water and dropped it in my lap.

What strange neurological sign is this? It just slipped right through my hand once I had the glass over my lap. Fortunately I was alone and no one saw. Instead I come here and tell the world. But the boys in my life do not know.

The past two days have been about acquiring used books. Here's what I got:

Hip to Crochet by Judith Swartz. I think I'll try the slippers and maybe even the tank top.

Blackwork by Marion Scoular, an old Leisure Arts pamphlet. How old? It's number 82. And it has the original unused transfers.

Creating Historic Samplers by Grow and McGrail. Can't find an image for this one. But it's the first edition published in 1974.

A Stitch In Rhyme from the Scarlet Letter. A very interesting reference book for me.

American Samplers by Bolton and Coe. Hmmm. I've been looking and this is apparently a hardcover reissue of a previously published softcover from the 1920s.

Jacobean Embroidery and Traditional Designs by Penelope. I see this one on Ebay for $48.50. Definitely not worth that. I paid $2.

Stitchery, Needlepoint, Applique and Patchwork by Shirley Marein. I was interested in her chapter on designing.

and lastly,

Embroidery Magic on Patterned Fabric by Parker and Martin. I'm not finding a photo of this one either. I find this one extremely interesting. Find a patterned fabric you love and add to it to create one of kind designs.

Stitch N Pitch

Tonight is our turn for Stitch N Pitch at the new Nationals Stadium in Washington D.C. This year we get an interleague game as the Texas Rangers are in town.

This means I've set the DVR to record the Red Sox pregame show and the game as St. Louis is coming to Boston for the first since the 2004 World Series and we all know how that series turned out. Plus the Red Sox will be saluting the Celtics Championship team.

Ah. Baseball.

And in stitching news:

I've picked up my Monkey Works project - In the Sea - for the first time in a year and chose it as my project to bring to tonight's game. I, of course, changed the colors and will post a progress pic sometime this weekend.

Also spent 2 hours yesterday afternoon outside with my newly rechristened "in the midnight hour." (Which for those not paying attention is Laura J. Perin's Amethyst Dreams.) I've got like 80% of my divider lines stitched. DH thinks it looks weird. Okay. Whatever. Will look beautiful soon.

BoInk

These are my choices for BoInk, the mystery SAL by Tracy Horner. I'm stitching this over one on 32ct. Country French Latte with a selection of floss from Anchor, GAST, and Carrie's Creations. I haven't gotten very far, but I've been busy.

Organizing

Photo could be clearer. Oh well. But this is one of the eighteen cases project cases I bought. This particular project is a little bag to go over a small magnifier. The stitching is finished. Now I need to assemble it. For the record, I do not recommend stitching over one with DMC's Light Effects. It can be done, but if you've got to frog, it abrades the fabric and leaves little fuzzy patches.

Latest Canvas Work

Not the best photo. Oops. But you get the idea. This is Laura J. Perin's Amethyst Dreams. You can see I've left the purple far behind and have gone for a mix of grays, silvers, and black. The Watercolours and Waterlilies are called Midnight. So henceforth, this piece shall be known to me as "In the Midnight Hour."