I hope everyone is safe, dry, and warm. We got a bit of the storm Monday evening and Tuesday all of the local schools were closed, mainly due to the wind. I think it got to be about 50 mph, but that is nothing compared to what the coast got. My heart aches for everyone who lost their homes and unfortunately those who have lost a family member.
I haven't been doing much crafting lately. I finished a punch needle ornament for a swap that Amy of Bumble Bee Lane coordinated.
I had talked about using over-dyed floss in a previous post here and I found a local shop, Blueberry Hill Stitchery in Akron, Ohio, that sells Weeks Dye Works, Crescent Colours, and The Gentle Art. Alas, no Valdani there so I ordered a few balls from Snowflake Memories (check them out - free shipping on 3-strand floss!) in two different sizes to see which I liked the best since I've never worked with it - heck, I've never even seen it! I do believe over-dyed floss by any company is simply beautiful and worth every penny.... I just wish I had more pennies. : )
So about Blueberry Hill Stitchery shop....you would drive right by if you didn't know it was there. I sure did. It's not in a traditional shop location and I was quite surprised when I walked inside. Full of all of my favorite stitchers, many of whose blogs I follow! It was so neat to see so many familiar names. My goal was to check out the threads. Drawers and drawers. I had no plan and since it was nearing fall I figured I would get some autumn colors to maybe do some kind of a pumpkin. So I chose a few from each of the three companies and wiped the drool from my face. They are gorgeous! For about 20 minutes all you could hear in the shop was the sound of little drawers opening and closing, opening and closing, lol. I could not decide! : ) I behaved myself and walked out with only seven hanks (3 of one to do a pumpkin and 2 of another for the background, with absolutely no pattern in mind).
Aren't they just beautiful!
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| From L-R: Weeks Dye Works 2238 - Sweet Potato. Crescent Colours Polliwog and German Chocolate. The Gentle Art 7088 - Baked Clay. |
And here are the balls from Valdani from Snowflake Memories.
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| Pearl Cotton Size 12 O 196, 3-strand O 532, 3-strand O 217 |
I also ordered 2 threaders for my Cameo punch from Snowflake Memories because making my own threaders didn't really work out too well, lol, but it got me through my crisis desire to punch. Do you get that way? I just *had* to punch and nothing could get in my way, lol. A little OCD maybe? Eh, guess there are worse things I could be doing, right?
If you use Valdani in your punching, what is your favorite thread weight? The pearl cotton is definitely a better "buy" I think as it comes in 100m where as the 3-strand is in 27m. I will have to punch something up and see which I like the best as I'm sure they will look a bit different when punched. I also love that I can buy 3-strand from Valdani as I absolutely go crazy trying to separate 6-strand floss. For a while I was punching with 6 strands, but got a little "cheap" I guess. I did find that I had to be careful not to leave any spaces when punching with only 3 strands. Maybe I better go back to 6. Hmm...so many decisions, so little crafting time.
This girl needs to get ready for work. I've rambled on about floss long enough.
Stay safe and warm my friends.
~michelle
