Week Thirty-Four - August 25, 2016

Well, I didn’t get as much stitching done this past week as I had hoped. A big kerfuffle about someone hacking my Apple Store account took all of Friday on the phone and back and forth to Federal Express. And Wednesday night was filled with tornado warnings, tornado watches, sever thunderstorm warnings and heavy downpours. Both event tended to put me off my stitching “stride”, as it were.

But I did get some stitching done and the full cross-stitching right-hand-side of the birth sampler is nearly done:

 (what remains to be done in cross stitched water using single instead of double strands… And of course, there is copious backstitching and a few French knots on another set of charts…)

I hope to do better this next week! But then, I always say that, don’t I?

Week Thirty-Three - August 18, 2016 and WIPocalypse

The WIPocalypse topic for discussion this month is “Have you ever read any fictional books that involve embroidery?  If so, give us some recommendations…”

Yes, I have although I hate to say that most needlework-related fiction uses knitting - and a few years ago, quilting - as a theme more than traditional embroidery. In fact there is even a sewing circle-themed mystery series… But I digress.

There are three needlework authors in my “library” and I have read many of the books listed here. 

I can highly recommend the Needlecraft Mystery Series, all in paperback (a few in hardcover) by Monica Ferris (pseud. of Mary Pulver Kufeld), set in Minnesota.  The books include clever (albeit cozy) plots and well-developed characters and includes needlework patterns. (Note, even she has gone over to the “dark side", with her latest boom a knitting themed one!)

• 1.  Crewel World (Berkley, 1999)
• 2.  Framed in Lace (Berkley, 1999)
• 3.  Stitch in Time, A (Berkley, 2000)
• 4.  Unraveled Sleeve (Berkley, 2001)
• 5.  A Murderous Yarn  (Berkley, 2002)
• 6.  Hanging by a Thread (Berkley, 2003)
• 7.  Cutwork (Berkley, 2004)
• 8.  Crewel Yule (Berkley, 2004)
• 9.  Embroidered Truths (Berkley, 2005)
• 10.  Sins and Needles (Berkley, 2006)
• 11.  Knitting Bones (Berkley, 2008)
• 12.  Thai Die (Berkley, 2008)
• 13.  Blackwork (Berkley, 2009)
• 14.  Buttons and Bones (Berkley, 2010)
• 15.  Threadbare (Berkley, 2011)
• 16.  And Then You Dye (Berkley, Dec. 2012)
• 17.  Drowning Spool (Berkley, 2014)
• 18. Darned if Your Do (2015)
• 19. Knit Your Own Murder (2016)

I am a little less prone to recommend the two series I have on my iPad. The first is The Embroidery Mystery Series by  Amanda  Lee (aka Rebecca York), set in Oregon. To be honest, I can't remember if I have read any of these even though they are in my "read" file":

• 1.  The Quick and the Thread (Signet,2010)
• 2.  Stitch Me Deadly (Signet, Feb., 2011)
• 3.  Thread Reckoning (Signet, 2011)
• 4.  The Long Stitch Good Night (Signet, 2012)
• 5.  Thread on Arrival (Signet, 2012)
• 6.  Cross-Stitch Before Dying (Signet, 2013)
• 7. Thread End (2014)
• 8. Wicked Stitch (2015)
• 9. The Stitching Hour (2015)
• 10. Better Off Thread (coming Dec. 2016)

The other series I have on my iPad is the Mainly Needlepoint Mystery Series by Lea Wait, a cozy series set in Maine. I have the first three and have read the first one.  

• Twisted Threads (2015)
• Threads of Evidence (2015)
• Thread and Gone (2015)
• Dangling by a Thread  (2016)
• Tightening the Threads  (coming in 2017)

Last month, I had low expectations for my stitching this month. My mojo was gone and I was struggling to put in even minimal stitching. However, I DID manage to complete the "Roll Your Own" mandala series (Ironically, on the day the county fair I had been aiming for ended! Maybe next year!

Instead of moving on to the "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler, I took my own advice and started something new. Even though it has a deadline of early September, I took on the Bothy Threads "Two by Two" birth sampler and, even though it is full of fudging because of counting errors, I am making some progress on it:

It is a break from all that blue and that, along with stitching on 14ct AIDA, helps. I wouldn't call it a cure for my lack of stitchery mojo but maybe it's a start...

So next month, my plan is to have finished this piece and send it on to our niece. 

Week Thirty-Two - August 11, 2016

Since I completed the last of the “Roll Your Own” mandalas, it was possible for me to get a start on something new (I simply am not ready to get back to “Save the Stitches” yet) so I pulled the Bothy Threads “All Creatures” Birth sampler kit from my project bag and got started.

Only got the two zebras done in three nights:

This may take longer than I wish! Of course, it didn’t help that three of the colors might just  as well have been “white on white”! Even on AIDA, that’s hard to see…

Oh well, it isn’t blue!

Breaking News! A COMPLETION!

I have finished something! Woo Hoo! I couldn't wait until my usual check-in to celebrate!

Here is "Return", completed:

And here is the complete series, ready to frame (man will that cost a fortune --- the stitched portion of the fabric is a little more than  a half yard!

This started out as an online SAL, organized and moderated by Tracey Horner of InkCircles There are 9 Roll Your Own mandalas. I decided I would do them all on one piece of fabric ("Iris Garden" by Silkweaver, 32 ct Jobelin) in the "Tropical Ocean" colorway.

There were a number of preset colorways available or one could design one's own (hence the name, "Roll Your Own"). Since I'm not that comfortable with designing color schemes, I opted for one already posted. "Tropical Ocean" consists of 12 DMC threads in four color groupings: Bright Green - 3850, 3851 and 959; Teal Green - 3847, 3848 and 3849; Delft Blue - 798, 809 and 747; and Navy Blue - 823, 311 and 312, all outlined in black - DMC 310.  

I started it the week of January 21, 2014 and finished on August 8, 2016! Talk about a BAP!

Week Thirty-One, August 4, 2016

The end is in sight! I finished color 11 and am a little more than halfway through color twelve (the last color) in “Return”, the last of the nine mandalas in “Roll Your Own”!

The only open areas are now the top two and the top motif on the left (the bottom motif on the left is partly finished.) which appear to be the very palest blue. The floss color is almost exactly the same color as the fabric background!

I didn’t make my start of the year goal to finish in time to enter in the county fair for 2016 (it’s going on now, in fact), but it will be eligible for 2017. I might even forego the county fair and take a shot at the state fair (Both my neighbor and my husband are promoting the latter action and since the State Fair and the County Fair happen at the same time, I have to choose 0ne — I van’t do both!).

So, by this time next week, I expect to be able to show you the finished piece! That feels SOOO good!