Good Mojo

When my stitching mojo kicks in, it's lethal! The Thistle Celebration piece was so fun I finished it in a week! I loved every minute of it...okay, except for the 3 frogging episodes I had.  Now what?

I should be working on ornaments, but I just can't get psyched up for it. At the very least I should be in the Christmas Panic. (Yes, it's capitalized because it's REAL and usually starts in June!)  I've done 25-30 every year for the last 30 years for family and friends, but the string may be broken. 

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It's Like Christmas in the Bead Cave

I hate getting surprise phone calls, especially late at night. You know what I mean. But I LOVE surprise packages in the mail! 

I participate in a bead exchange on one of my Etsy teams and today I received an envelope full of beautiful beads. My friend, Cynthia, of CLeasBeadwork, is so generous and talented. She learned beadwork from her grandmother and continues the tradition with very nature-inspired creations. 

So I didn't even sit down in the bead chair in the bead cave before I ripped open the envelope and found such a bounty of beautiful beads.  Apparently everyone knows my favorite color is blue because there are several different envelopes of blue beads. Here's a sampling of my new stash.  Now I get to create lots of new fobs and counting pins and stitch markers and eyeglass leashes...

 

 

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THIS is What I Love to Do!

The Thistle Celebration by Periwinkle Promises is sooooo much fun to stitch. I just love Barbara Rakosnik's use of stitches and color in her designs.  Even though I've frogged a bit already, I'm really enjoying this piece.  The only problem I'm having is that the colors are so close that I have to be extremely careful not to mix them up.

Thistle Celebration 09-18-12

I only had one miscount on the Holbein band, which I thought was pretty impressive. I usually get lost and have to do a lot of frogging, but no this time. And I didn't even use Barbara's very explicit diagram.  I've decided that figuring out Holbein motifs without a chart is my way of staving off dementia.  It's definitely a puzzle.

As you can see, I've just started the large satin stitch band. The satin stitch motifs are divided by bands of diagonal cross stitch. What a relief! At first I thought it was Diagonal Montenegrin which taxes my brain considerably. 

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Finally...a New Finish!

I'm not going to bother apologizing or make excuses for not posting in almost three months...eeek! But I hope to be a little more consistent, at least for a while. I will say that the Etsy shop has been keeping me pretty busy and I haven't had as much time to stitch. However, I finally finished "Bagatelle" by Whispered by the Wind on Sunday. I can't believe how long it took me considering it is only about 6.5 inches square...of course, that's on 40 count linen. For those who want the gory details, it is stitched on Lakeside Linen 40 count Strawflower, with Caron Collection Waterlilies (silk) Olive and Geranium. (1 strand) It's a beautiful piece and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. It just called to me.

Now I'm moving on to the Thistle Celebration by Periwinkle Promises. I can always count on some fun stitches in Barbara Rakosnik's designs.

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