Still chugging along

Making progress on Agnes Scott. Stitched farther down the side borders yesterday.

But I'm feeling the need to have a smaller alternate project. I need to decide between a UFO or maybe I should kit up the Blackbird Designs piece I picked up to stitch for my niece and her fiancee. I'm afraid of starting the Blackbird piece because I'll want to stitch right through and Agnes will languish. Again.

Ah decisions, decisions.

eh hmm

Okay. I made a mistake. And compounded it by stitching for another 6-7 hours. My Agnes Scott is no longer perfect. And I'm leaving it in. Why not? It's a reproduction sampler with original mistakes included. So I checked the pattern carefully and think I can get away with it. I inserted an extra row down and the pattern moved two threads over to the left. But I've got room to leave it and don't want to frog and restitch.

Lazy git.

a big thank you

to the national media for ignoring women's college hockey.

Thank Bob we have the internet so I can get my news.

Big congratulations to the UNH women's team for a terrific season 32-2-1! including an unbeaten streak of 28 games. They last lost in Nov and tied a game in January.

Playing Harvard in the NCAA tourney on Friday at the Whit. That place will be rockin'! Wish I could be there.

not time for stitching

Been running around with the college girl. Which is so much fun. I'm glad we genuinely like each other.

On Tuesday we even did lunch with girlfriend followed by shopping at Victoria's Secret and then found her a new skirt and a pair of winter white pants. (It always a joy for me to see her in something other than jeans.) Then it was off to get our hair cut. Just a trim (but when your hair grows an inch a month and you haven't cut it since June...) Much, much better.

Will be sad to see her return to school, but she will be back very soon. The semester ends at the beginning of May. Wow. Maybe today we'll go pick up a job application or two...

American Indian Museum

Yesterday we were going to see the Cezanne in Provence exhibit at the National Gallery, but left a little later than we should have. So first we stopped at the AIM to look around for an hour and then have lunch in that amazing cafeteria.

This was my second trip so I just went an viewed the newer Pacific Coast exhibit. They did have 3 Tinglit weavers there. Amazing stuff. Once again I was blown away by the beadwork that was included. And I admired the mother-of-pearl button blankets.

Now if you go to D.C. you must visit this cafeteria. You get to choose regional cuisine done with native food items. I had smoked trout salad on walnut apple bread with dandelion greens. Yummy. DS had a navajo taco - sort of a tostada made with fry bread. And sassafras tea - not something you can get just anywhere. DH went for the cedarplanked salmon with wildrice and a seaweed and mushroom side dish. The setting of cafeteria alone is worth the trip. If you're lucky you'll score a table near the window and get to watch the water.

Then it was off to see Cezanne. Pretty powerful stuff. Wish there had been fewer people there, but what are you gonna do.

Came home and finally had DD's birthday meal - nice thick ribeyes, with sesame green beans and pinenut couscous.

She had asked for a raspberry cake and I sold her on a chocolate cake with raspberry accents.
I used the chocolate cake recipe from the King Arthur cookbook, put raspberry jam between the layers, frosted it with a special dark cocoa frosting and served it with whipped cream and raspberry sauce and raspberries. Went well with the Oscars.

surprise

As I'm driving DH home from the airport last night (about a 10 minute drive -yeah!), I said that I thought of what I wanted from Hawaii and apologized for not thinking of it before he went - some Kona coffee please!

And what did he buy? Kona coffee. Good boy.

And what else did he buy?

LOL

You'll never guess...

Most women might be pissed, but not me...

I love that he knows me well enough to know he can do this...

Hawaiian wedding rings.

It's not that we don't already have wedding rings. In fact we have 2 sets. The original plain gold bands that us poor starving college students bought for - I think - $70 for the pair. Then we have the Black Hills rings that we bought in the early 90s. Beautiful rings, but they are silver with gold and have changed shape slightly over the years.

When we were in San Diego in 2004 we looked at Hawaiian weddings (military exchange carries them out there). We even drove to Mirmar just in case they had some we liked. The problem was finding 2 that both liked and that fit us.

So the man that won't sleep on flowered sheets, bought us flowery wedding rings. LOL ah the irony. But they are beautiful and I love them.

14K gold bands with thin black bands top and bottom with cut out flowers in the middle - plumeria, hibiscus, bird of paradise.

stitching blogger's question 3/3

What cross-stitch magazines or other publications (as opposed to blogs) do you read on a regular basis? What do you like about them? What do you not like? What would your perfect publication include?

The only mag I still subscribe to is Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly. I miss Fine Lines. I read Piecework and leaf through Just Cross Stitch at the bookstore and then usually choose not to purchase them.

The other two mags that I will always buy if I can find them are the Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch and Beading from Australia - Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch & Beading and Stitch from Great Britian - Welcome to STITCH with the Embroiderers' Guild.

I started buying the beading mag when I took a peyote beading class. So many beautiful designs. So little time.

And Stitch - wow. Why can't the Americans have a guild magazine like this?

Agnes Scott

This is a photo of my Agnes Scott sampler by With My Needle. This was the 3rd or 4th project chosen by the Internet Sampler Band (which has since moved on to a different format and name) which was being run by Ellen Chester. Look we chose one her designs!

This poor thing has been an unloved UFO for the past year.

I dug it out on Sunday and have stitched from the crowns over to the middle. Ah Au Ver A Soie on Glenshee. What a pleasure.

I was stitching this in hand, but went and bought 24" scroll rods as there is just too much material for me to keep going on that way.

I will go back later and do the satin stitch that belongs in the arcaded band below the ABCs. 

Agnes Scott

My Agnes Scott sampler was resurrected from the UFO pile this weekend. I pulled her out and spent some time going over the pattern details and what I had stitched. It's been at least a year since I've stitched on her for which I feel terrible. She doesn't deserve that fate.

I put Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" in my Walkman and put on the headphones as DS was having himself an XBox marathon and it's tough stitching to Band of Brothers, any Star Wars game, or NHL Hockey.

I have been meaning to read All the Pretty Horses for quite some time. I was just reminded of it by some saying it was one of the favorite books. So when DH finally went to check out our local library I picked it up on CD. It is unfortunately abridged. But I did manage to stitch and listen for nearly 2 hours before deciding I had better think about supper.

Once I recharge the camera battery I will post a pic of my Agnes Scott progress.

need another cup of coffee

DH is in Hawaii and I never sleep that well the first few days he's gone. Tonight should be better. And he calls me yesterday just to say hi and that he has a few minutes to kill so he's watching the surfers off Wakiki...

Um.

He'll be home at the end of the week 9 hours ahead of the college girl.