Stitch With Me

The stitching on my Tropical Fish is finished.  I got the Silk Lame I needed from the Needleworks this morning and finished all the stitching on the fish.

Alas the background stitching is not finished and I’m almost out of thread.  I have one strand with three plies and two other plies.  Not nearly enough to finish that corner.

I did celebrate when the stitching came together perfectly.

I hate it when the sides coming down and the sides coming up don’t meet perfectly and I’m left with making the decision, “do I make it work or do I find where I made a mistake and take it all out to that point?”

Colleen doesn’t have any more of this thread but has put in a call to Caron to see if they have any.

Anyone else have any Caron Watercolours 233 Glacier Dyelot CS233502?

I don’t have any pictures today.

It’s hot.

I haven’t done much that’s picture worthy.

I have put down the knitting needles for the time being.  I was frustrated.  I wasn’t accomplishing very much.  Which was frustrating me even further.  Then Jacob decided he needed one of my balls of yarn as a bed for his bear.  So, I let him take it and got some of my needlepoint back out.

I have been stitching on my Barbara Bergsten’s Pink Tropical Fish.  I have finished the fish except for a little of the pink scales.  I have ordered more of Rainbow Gallery’s Silk Lame from Colleen at The Needleworks which should arrive any day now and will allow her to be complete.

I still have quite a bit of the background to stitch.  My alternating stitching on the fish stitching on the background worked – to a degree.  I have a lot of background to finish, but it’s not an overwhelming amount.  And the stitch I’m using goes fast, is interesting and I find it very soothing.

My concern now is that I will run out of the Watercolours.  I’ve opend the last of my four skeins.  I’ve got part of the lower left corner to stitch and part of the upper left corner.  I’ve never been very good at estimating how much thread it will take to stitch a piece; hence my huge stash of unopened skeins of thread.  Colleen is also suppose to be checking to see if she has anymore of my dyelot available or whether she can find some for me.

I actually see the end in sight for this piece and I feel like I need to finish something.

I’ve ordered Christmas Ornaments for the children.  Jacob designed them and Gail Hendrix at Squiggee Designs is executing them on needlepoint for me.  This year they will have bells with the year and their initials on them.  While Christmas is still six months away, I feel like I’ve waited late to get these ordered.  I’ll be stitching like a fiend to get them finished.

The heat here is opressive.  It is suppose to be 100 degrees or more every day this week and climb higher over the weekend.  Oh well!  It’s good for my stitching.  Hopefully, I’ll have some photos for you soon.

I am often approached to write reviews of one kind or another on this blog.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you view reviews)  many of the items I’m asked to review don’t have much  relevance to what I write about here, so I decline those requests.

Recently, I was asked to review, The Lacemakers of Glemara by Heather Barbieri scheduled for release June 23, 2009. Having no other summer reading plans, I signed up.

I finished reading it in two days.  It was that good.

The novel revolves around Kate, a seamstress-hopeful fashion designer who has recently suffered tremendous losses; her mother died, her fashion line failed to be picked up at the fashion show and her long-time boyfriend dumped her for a fashion model.  Needing a change, Kate decides to take the trip she and her mother talked about taking before Kate’s mother died from cancer.

While backpacking through the country side in Ireland, Kate stumbles upon Glenmara, a Gaelic hamlet seemingly forgotten by time.  There is no internet access (shocking, I know)  no jobs, and no reason for the young people to stay or to return.  A sad state of affairs in many small towns in the U.S. and abroad, apparently.

In Glenmara, Kate meets the Lacemakers; Aileen, Bernie, Colleen, Moira and Oona.  They take Kate in and teach her to make various types of lace.  Together the Glenmara Lacemakers  decide to use their talents to create lace lingerie for themselves; which affects each of them differently.  Ultimately, they decide to market a line of lingerie to create jobs in the local community.

The author has woven together a great story with believable characters.  One of the reasons I devoured the book so quickly is because I actually cared about the characters and wanted to see what happened to them.  There is realistic conflict and even more realistic resolutions.   I thought it was relevant here because interwoven within the story is the soothing, satisfying nature of needlework  and how it can often bring together diverse groups of women (and the occasional man) in a way that nothing else can.

I highly recommend this book!  Look for it at your local bookstore on July 23, 2009.

This is a review for Mother Talk where readers and writers connect through blog tours, podcasts, radio, a writers community, and more.

Oh and didn’t she turn out nice?

My photo doesn’t really do her justice.  She’s all sparkley and shiney, in an understated sort of way.

I’m so pleased!

Thank you, Kandace Merric for the great designs!

Thank you, Michelle for the fabulous finishing!

Thank you, Jane for the wonderful idea!

My knitting may be a little frustrating, but I can see progress on the front flower bed.

Ta da!

The photo in the upper left hand corner was taken today,  next to it was a week ago, below that was two weeks ago and to the right of that was three weeks ago.

The Moneywart seems to enjoy the heat and has the potential to be invasive.

The Russian Sage has finally begun to get some more height and has pretty blue blooms.

The ornamental grass, I thought it had died, has begun to get a little taller.

The Day Lillies have been blooming but haven’t the last few days.

The Begonia’s are doing o.k. but I think the ones furthest from this corner may not be getting enough sun light.

At this point, I’m just please that nothing has died.  The summer’s not over yet, so some of it may die yet, but I put this stuff in the first weekend of May and I’ve not had a casualty yet.  For me.  That’s successful gardening!