Fall Stitching Retreat at Elim Lodge

This weekend was our guild's fall stitching retreat. I drove up to Elim Lodge on Thursday morning, arriving at about 11:30am and promptly got set up to stitch.

As I had done at a previous retreat, I took a bunch of UFOs/WIPs and planned to spend at least an hour on each one on one of the retreat days. That day ended up being Friday.

I figured I loved each one of these projects when I started them so would give them a bit of love again and see if I would actually want to finish some of them.

In no particular order, I worked on 9 projects, at least an hour on each.

The turtle project was a kit I started in 2020. It has a combination of stitching with one or two strands with 28 colours and about a dozen blended colours (two different colours in the needle). I'm not stitching it on the Aida cloth it came with but substituted some white linen, possibly 28ct or 32ct. It's slow going with all the colour changes but boy, am I ever glad I gridded it.

It had been so long since I worked on it, it took me a while to see which way was up to find my place in the pattern. 

The next one was whitework on a linen band which I hadn't touched since the fall of 2021 at Elim. It's from a Mary Hickmott magazine from 1997. 

I got the bottom 4 rows done and will definitely work on this some more.

I finished the first of the Green Pears from Annie Beez. The pattern, silk floss, and fabric were a birthday gift this year.

I started the next pear which is a funky, script alphabet.

I worked on two of the white flowers on my Teresa Kogut 'Newcastle Bouquet' which I started in July 2020.

I also did the dragonfly. I had to change the called-for colour for the dragonfly wings and flowers as they were too close to the colour of the fabric. I'm going to outline them with light grey backstitching.

I did a little bit more on "It's Spring Fever" from Blackbird Designs. I'm really close to being finished.

The photo on the pattern does not do it any justice. I did however, realize I had used the wrong colour for the bottom half of the bottom fruit in the bowl - brown instead of light blue. Oh well. It looks OK the way I did it. 

I finished a couple of the stars on the Live On Little piece. I had planned to start the 'mortar' on the house but neglected to bring my collection of floss for selecting it. I also left my wallet at home and had to bum Poppy's debit card when I went to Jesse's for dinner in Ennismore. We don't get food service at the retreat until Friday night so customarily some of us go to Jesse's for supper on the Thursday night.

I started this in the fall a year ago. The pattern came with the silk threads.

I'm doing it on 46ct Bristol linen and it's an eyeball buster. I just realized I stitched the part below the star in the wrong place so need to do some calculating to see if I'll run out of fabric if I keep going or will I have to pick out 1 over 2 silk floss on 46ct. And this is supposed to be a relaxing hobby...

My final UFO/WIP was the whitework I started last week from Yvette Stanton's book "Frisian Whitework". 

I achieved my goal of finishing the top band. I then did the row of chain stitches underneath which took WAY longer than I thought they would.

The final project I worked on was a new start, the Autumn Biscornu from Erin Elizabeth Designs - a pattern I bought at Colorado Cross Stitcher a couple of weeks ago. 

I'm using some mystery 35ct tea dyed linen from my stash which was a remnant from something or other. It's a darned good thing it was tea dyed because I spilled my Bengal Spice tea all over it. The spill doesn't show at all and my fabric now smells nice and spicy. It could have been disastrous had I been working on any other project!

Maggie Mae and the Sunflower Sewing Pouch were a big hit, on the Show and Share table.

We had beautiful weather this weekend; warm with lots of sunshine. Some of us stayed in cabins for the first time. They had everything we needed. As usual I took my foam mattress pad and duvet so was very cozy on the hard beds they provide. After stitching each evening, Barb and I would come back to our lodgings and play NYTimes Games on my iPad. The food served in the dining hall was well-prepared as well. All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend.

I probably won't be attending our spring retreat as I just registered for the Hobby House event the same weekend. Featured designers are Beth Twist from Heartstring Samplery and Paulette Stewart from Plum Street Samplers. I'm always happy to have an excuse to visit Hobby House Needleworks and it's sure to be a fun event.

I FFOd Maggie Mae

I kinda made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t start any new projects unless I finished one - either finish stitching or FFOing. Aside from finishing the Sunflower Hardanger Pocket and starting the Whitework, I have another project I want to start, so I thought I’d FFO another one.

I’ve had the fabric for the back for several weeks.

First, as per the instructions,  I drew around the back of the stitching 1/4” away from the edge of the stitching with a pencil.

Then, with the right side of the lining facing the right side of the stitching, I sewed on the drawn line with my sewing machine leaving the bottom open for stuffing. After clipping the round bits and into the corners, I turned it right side out and stuffed it. Then sewed the bottom closed.

The instructions state to attach 6 strands of the teal threads and double knot at the opening of the cardigan. Instead, I tied a little bow and added a drop of Fray Check to secure the bow. She measures 3” x 6 1/2”

The designer gave a template for a piece of felt to be cut and attached to the back to create a little scissor pocket. I won’t be doing that; I’m happy for it to just be a cute, little pincushion.

I’ve emptied that project bag and can now use it for another project..

FFOing Another Project

I’ve had this Durene Jones Sunflower Sewing Pouch stitched and assembled for months.

All I had left to do was put a wee border on a coordinating piece of felt for pins and needles  and attach it to the flap.

I tried a few different ways to sew a binding on the felt and finally happened upon one way that looked acceptable.

I stuck the bee-themed Just Another Button Company pins that I bought at Colorado Cross Stitcher into the felt.

I’m happy to have another project done even though I started another before this one’s completion.

I got a little more done on my whitework piece.

I didn’t do much on it this morning because I forgot to take my light to stitching. I’ll have lots of time to work on it at our stitching retreat this weekend.

A Crafty Day

Jen1 came over for some stitching today. She is working on a very large sampler from Long Dog Samplers.

We chatted about our upcoming guild retreat - when we plan to arrive, where we’ll eat the first night as the kitchen won’t be open until the next evening, what projects we think we’ll work on, etc. etc.

Using magnification, I continued working on the whitework piece I started last night. 

I had admired some whitework at Sharon’s home in her entryway. She told me it had been a gift from Sylvia. When I asked Sylvia where I could find the pattern, she told me it was from the Yvette Stanton book ‘Frisian Whitework’.

She told me it was this project but she had done it all in white.

Poppy loaned me the book and I raided my stash for the 28ct white linen and #12 B5200 Perle cotton.

My 3.0 magnifying reading glasses weren’t enough to stitch this comfortably last night so today I used the magnifier on my OTT lite and things went a lot better.

This will definitely be something I work on at our stitching retreat.

On a completely different topic, last week on Facebook, I found an online artist who was offering an online painting class - much like a paint night one would attend in person. 

It was going to be aired live on YouTube over three nights but the episodes could be saved and viewed at leisure indefinitely. This really appealed to me because I was not going to be able to participate live and all of this was only going to cost $10US.

Being a lover of sunflowers 🌻 , autumn, and autumnal colours, I quickly signed up. 

I debated starting it with all my stitching UFOs and lots of yard work to do but hey, what better things to do on a Sunday afternoon but go to Michaels for the supplies. I took inventory of the paints I already had (only 3 that would work for this project). I found the tracing paper, 20” x 16” canvas, an array of paint brushes, and the rest of the paint colours I need for this project.

Back at home, I printed out the template, and taped it together.

Then I put the tracing paper face down on the canvas and taped the template on top of it, then traced over the dark lines with a pencil. The lines transferred to the canvas.

Finally, I drew over the traced lines with a black sharpie as directed by the video.

The instructor said not to worry about such bold lines on the canvas as they all will be covered up with paint.

That’s all I decided to do on this tonight. I still have the wee Hobbes’ ear to crochet and the new Matlock pilot with Kathy Bates to watch.

Home From Away and a Wee Hobbes

I had a seamless trip home from Colorado yesterday. Francey got me to the 5:35am (MT) shuttle bus. As I had checked in online ahead of time and didn’t plan to check my suitcase I got through security quickly and found my way to the departure gate. The breakfast offerings in that area of the terminal were pretty bad so I had a yogurt with fruit and granola. 

Of course there was a call for some folks to check their carry-on bags. I volunteered mine as it would move me from boarding group 5 to boarding group 2. It also would be the first suitcase off the plane at our destination. The flight went quickly for me as I listened to several episodes of a podcast.

Upon arrival, I checked that my suitcase had actually been loaded and the app made it look like the suitcase was still in Denver. I had a slight anxiety attack but realized there was nothing in there that I needed right away. Once through the automated Customs area and Immigration, I ventured down to the baggage claim (lots of walking) and there was my suitcase. I think the AirPod needed to be connected to Wifi to register properly - crisis averted. 

It was my first time using the UP Express - very easily located in Terminal 1. It was a very quick and comfortable ride to Union Station using my Presto card. Then at Union, I had about 10 minutes to get to my GO Train. Once aboard, I texted my neighbour to let her know which train to meet to retrieve me from the GO station.

It was good to be home. The house was very stuffy so I got all the windows opened to cool the place off in the cool of the evening. 

I worked away on the tail of the little Hobbes I’ve been crocheting. I decided to watch a couple more YouTube videos on a jogless join. This morning I started a second tail and just finished it. I made it one stripe of each colour shorter, too.

I got better at the jogless striping as I had more practice.

All that I have left to finish are the muzzle, tummy, and ears. 

This is DK weight yarn. Fingering weight would make an even itty bitty-ier Hobbes

It’s been a pretty fun project. 

More Holiday Fun

The other day we visited My Sister Knits, another yarn shop in Fort Collins.

It’s in a carriage house behind a beautiful home shaded by mature trees on a main street. 

I didn’t buy anything as I didn’t have any projects in mind (and my stash at home is embarrassingly vast) but I certainly appreciated the beautiful display. I haven’t been much of a knitter these past 10 years or so and didn’t recognize most of the names of the indie yarns. 

I started crocheting the little Hobbes. The head, body, and legs are done. 

It’s only going to be about 10” tall once it’s stuffed and assembled. I have started the first arm and might get it done today - our day of sloth and relaxation.

We had to return to Lambspun so I could purchase a second ball of the orange Rowan baby cashsoft merino yarn. I wanted to make sure I have enough to finish this little Hobbes. Since I only have the two arms and tail left that I need the orange for, I will probably not finish the first ball after all. Oh well, I can crochet another one with the leftovers.

Fort Collins has many microbreweries. We toured what might be the oldest one - New Belgium. 

It was a 90 minute tour where we learned the correct way to pour beer from a tap - so there wouldn’t be too much foam.

We viewed the bottling area which no longer runs 24/7 as most people like buying beer in cans.

However there was one line running  and we could see the finished cartons of beer coming off the line.

Our ticket entitled us to a complimentary can of beer and at a couple of other stops in the factory, we were just handed cans of beer to sample there or take home. Francey and I managed to snag 5 different brands.

There is also a New Belgium plant in Asheville NC.

The climate is pretty arid here in the foothills so there is a lot of xeriscaping. I was pleased to see the neighbour’s sunflowers in various stages.

The local college is Colorado State University. Yesterday was the Rocky Mountain Showdown between CSU and the U of Colorado - ‘Coach Prime’, Deion Sanders is their coach and his son is their quarterback. The CBS folks had set up a booth downtown (sponsored by Mountain Dew) and we drove by the stadiums’s parking lot where the tailgate parties were in full swing. We enjoyed the game quietly at home.

Although they did lead in the first quarter, sadly they lost 28 - 9. The next time these two schools will meet will be in 2029.

Today we are having a crafty day and really do not have anything planned. Francey took me to a local Mexican restaurant when I first arrived and I was thrilled to see they were selling pork tamales.🫔 I will be having some of those for lunch. Yum!😋