A Very Cool Surprise

A couple of weeks ago, the Spring 2023 issue of Embroidery Canada arrived. It is the magazine of the Embroiderers' Association of Canada, Inc. (EAC)

When I turned to page 5 I was so surprised to see a photo of one of my triangular scissor cases! What the heck!?

It was an article about our guild and highlighted one of the programs we did last year - the designing, stitching, and construction of the triangular scissor case. Marilyn had submitted the article as the EAC was welcoming new guilds to their association. 

Very cool!

Socks for Bill

Last year I pledged to always have some socks on the needles in an attempt to whittle down my sock yarn stash. Many years ago, a friend gave me a ball of sock yarn which disappeared into my stash. I unearthed it and knit a pair of men's socks. I asked the donor if he wanted the socks and he said yes.

There wasn't a ball band but I'm guessing it was a good quality sock yarn. It was easy to knit identical twins.

A couple of weeks ago he dropped off a couple of blankets for me to donate to the chemo department at our local cancer centre. He also asked if I'd mind knitting him another pair of socks. I had several skeins of yarn for him to choose and he, being of very discriminating tastes, picked the lovely Fleece Artist Kidazzle yarn - 70% merino, 20% kid mohair, 10% nylon. I remember purchasing it at the first KnitEast at St, Andrews-By-The-Sea NB back in 2011 on the recommendation of Cat Bordhi (RIP). She raved about this sock yarn during the Insouciant Sock workshop I took with her. 

I finished the first sock a couple of weeks ago. He requested a longer cuff so this has an 8" one.

I used my favourite Eye of Partridge heel,

and continued it on the bottom of the heel to provide extra thickness in this area that wears out the quickest. I generally do it on all the decrease rounds for the gusset.

I have started the second sock and have about an inch and a half done on the cuff.

I've been doing some stitching when I get a chance during the day but am generally too tired at night to do much. I really want to get the model for Teresa done by the end of April. I haven't touched Winter Rose Manor nor finished the Rudolph ornament. And you know what? I'm OK with that. I accept that I'm a process stitcher.

I do have a project that I want to do, possibly as a prototype for a program for our guild. It's a box made out of embroidery hoops.

Vonna Pfeiffer has a great tutorial on how to make these: 

Basically you glue 5 embroidery hoops together, glue them to a wooden base, and use the 6th hoop as the lid.

A round piece of stitching can be used on the outer lid or like the printed fabric inside the lid above, another piece of stitching inside. Then a hinge is added. Poppy saw another example where ribbons had been added to each side of the lid and attached to the 'box' to prevent the lid from flopping all the way back.

I've ordered a bunch of 4" embroidery hoops, bought the 5" base, and now need to decide what stitched piece I want for the outside of the lid. Poppy gave me some stain for the bamboo hoops. Once the hoops arrive, I'll set to work on assembling the project.

Ready to Assemble

Over the last couple of days, I've been getting ready to FFO the pears project. I took several fabrics to my stitching group on Monday and had them help me select one appropriate for the backs of the 3D pears.

This is what we came up with.

It is fabric that has been in my stash for a couple of decades and should work out well.

I traced the stitching line around the back of each fabric to use as a guide when I'm sewing them together. I also decided to use an actual piece of a twig for the pear stem instead of a rolled up piece of felt.

What a surprise! I had the perfect felted wool in my stash for the leaves and base.

I also prepped the stitching by fusing interfacing to the back. The pattern has templates for the fabric back, leaves, base and a separate one for the interfacing - which omits the seam allowance. It's good to fuse interfacing to the back of stitching before FFOing. It stabilizes the fabric and locks the backs of the stitches in place. There's less distortion of the stitching when stretching or stuffing it as a 3D item.

They're all ready to assemble! Now to find the motivation to do it. I'm great on the planning and stitching. I just seem to have a block when it comes to FFO an item. I guess that's why doing model stitching is so satisfying for me. Once my bit is done, I just send it off to the designer to finish as they want. 
 

Stitching is Done on Redwork Pears

I used Vonna Pfeiffer's trick of using a large needle to stitch with silk. This avoids drag on the threads and fuzzing with the silk threads in particular.

I got all three pears done.

I haven't made a final decision on which fabric I'll use for the backs of the pears. I really don't have anything other than the striped fabric I mentioned in the previous post.

They're all ready to cut apart.

The pattern comes with the template for cutting the fabric for the back. But it's scaled for 36ct and I stitched on 40 ct. The resulting images are 10% smaller (20 stitches per inch vs 18 stitches per inch) so I will scale the templates down on my printer. 

I haven't done any more on the Rudolph ornament. More work needs to be done on the stars and snowflakes. 

I have been working sporadically on the model I'm stitching for Teresa Kogut. I would like to get it finished for her by the end of April.

Skip and I are adapting to our 'new normal'. We have established routines which are very manageable. I don't feel overwhelmed most of the time. We have a couple of days next week with several appointments/treatments but I know we'll manage just fine.

Stitching in Tandem

A bunch of stitcherly friends headed to a lovely stitching retreat today until Friday. So I wouldn't feel so much FOMO, I started another small stitching project, Redwork Pears by Annie Beez Folk Art:

I bought the pattern and the called-for silk floss (Dinky Dyes #258 Cranberry Cocktail) back in the fall when we went on our road trip to Hobby House Needleworks in Pittsford NY. 

I rummaged through my vast fabric stash and found the perfect fabric for this, 40ct Vintage Country Mocha linen. It was a remnant measuring 13.5" x 5.5". I folded it into threes and pressed creases. I will do all three on this piece and cut them apart.

I realize I should have bought the fabric for the finishing first and then matched the thread to it but if I don't already have something appropriate in my fabric stash, I know a couple of quilt shops that, I'm sure, will have something appropriate for the back of the pears. This striped fabric could actually work, too!

The other two designs will take longer as there are way more stitches in them.

Watching Vonna Pfeiffer's vlog the other day, she spoke about what needle sizes she uses (at 48:30) on what count of fabric. Especially when stitching with silk, she likes to use a much larger needle than normally would be used (eg. size 22 on 40ct fabric). That way, the needle parts the fabric threads and allows the silk floss to glide through with a minimum of friction, hence, less shredding of the floss. 

I usually stitch with a #28 needle on 40ct but tried using a #24. It felt a bit ungainly at first but the silk floss really did slide through easily - even using the sewing method.  So take that tip for what it's worth; it worked for me.

Tonight I'll tackle another one. 

Today's sunshine and blue skies really lifted my spirits. Skip even sat outdoors for a while and soaked in some Vitamin D. Spring is coming... 

A Wee New Project

I'm working on two large-ish projects right now. But I wanted to start something small so I could actually complete something in a reasonable amount of time.

I follow a Just Cross Stitch ornament SAL on Facebook but don't participate. The one they're working on for March 2023 is Century Farm Stitching's 'Rudolph' in the 2022 JCS Ornament issue.

I am doing it on 32ct Seaspray linen from my stash - a remnant I picked up a couple of years ago at the now-closed A Stitcher's Garden outside of Syracuse NY. The fabric is stiff and crunchy but it was the right colour. It pops in and out of my spring hoop easily enough. The finished ornament will be about 3.5" x 4.25".

I substituted DMC Blanc for the Ecru and as I'm using only 1 thread over two, and didn't blend the two green colours for the big tree. I only used the darker green DMC 3051.

I didn't  like how the snowflakes looked with the floss and picked them out, so will try #12 perle cotton instead. I will use HotFix 'jewels' on the tree decorations, Rudolph's nose, and the snowflakes.

I have been working on the model for Teresa Kogut which I can't show, alternating with Winter Rose Manor.

Because I chose a lighter fabric, I will need to backstitch around the house and between the house and the snow. It would have been better to orient the fabric so the house would be over the darker mottled part. Oh well. I don't stitch at night as much as I used to so I don't get nearly as much done. However, I did go to Monday morning stitching yesterday, which was fun.