Not a Lot of Stitching This Week

I did a bit of stitching on Monday morning but haven’t done a stitch since then. I got notification from my bank that two $600 PayPal transactions were withdrawn from my bank, supposedly transferred to my PayPal account.  I responded quickly to confirm that they were not authorized by me. A couple of days later I noticed they had indeed been withdrawn from my bank account. Turns out, in my haste to respond to the original notification, it was to an email address that isn’t monitored. I checked PayPal and the money from my bank didn’t go into my PayPal account so it must have gone into some hacker’s account. Damn! 

I submitted disputes with my bank for the two withdrawals and crossed my fingers they could track down the unauthorized account they went into. I’m not worrier (I have trained myself for that) but it was in the back of my mind. I also had what I thought was decaffeinated tea that evening so couldn’t fall asleep until 4am. Listening to my audiobook didn’t help. I got an email a day later that the funds were put back into my account. YAY! 

I have changed both my PayPal and bank passwords.

The same day I learned about the bank/PayPal fraud, I got a call from my financial planner to set up a meeting for next week. I needed to find some information for that meeting and was having trouble doing it. I was also not sure about a couple of things that would have caused a big problem with Skip’s estate - yet another concern that night of insomnia. 

I finally did find the documents I needed and after making a couple of phone calls, learned that everything was good and I didn’t need to be concerned after all. Glad I didn’t fret too much.

I’m planning to do the Arne and Carlos Mystery Christmas Stocking Knitalong which will run from November 1 to 24. Every day, 6 rounds of the knitting design will be revealed. Today I realized that November 1 is tomorrow so I whipped out to the big box craft store for the yarn for the project.

They’re using Rowan Norwegian wool which I didn’t even try to source,  so the Patons Astra is about the same weight yarn. I believe I did last year’s with worsted weight - Probably Patons Canadiana - but they didn’t have the right colours when I was shopping today. In fact, what few Patons yarns they did have left  were all shoved in a small area. 98% of the yarns they sell now are their Loops & Threads brand. Not impressed.

I also picked up yarn for a hat I was commissioned to knit for the husband of a friend. To keep the cost down, and to use non-scratchy yarn (he shaves his head), I went with Patons Canadiana. Fortunately Michaels had most of the colours I need for this pattern. 

I used some creative licence for the colour selection:

I have some orange in my stash that I’ll use for the puffin beaks and some navy blue from my stash for the dark blue above the puffins. I didn’t need to purchase full balls of those two colours.

I started the hat and added one more repeat of the puffin pattern because the recipient has a big noggin. I also added a couple of rounds of the darker yarn above the ribbing before starting the puffin’s design.

I pulled my usual dumb stunt of forgetting to change to a larger needle size once I finished the ribbing. I realized this on the 7th round of the chart and had to rip back to the solid part to change needle size. Of course all this was happening while getting up and down to hand out Halloween candy.

All has been corrected. I had 24 Trick or Treaters - the most since I started recording in 2018. We have mostly retirees in my 40 year-old neighbourhood.

I don’t remember but there must have been a ban on Halloween in 2020 because of COVID.

I got word today about the dates for next year’s Pastime Pieces retreat and I should be able to attend as I don’t have anything planned for that weekend yet.

I’m looking forward to starting the knitalong tomorrow. It’ll probably just be the toe of the stocking in green like last year.

Another Project Roll

I made another project roll for a birthday gift. I followed the same procedure as previous ones, all of which were inspired by Vonna Pfeiffer's video tutorial.

I used a 1 1/2" mailing tube from the stationery supply store, two pieces of 20" x 32" fabric for the outside and lining, and a piece of batting the same size. I also needed a 3" x 6" piece of the outer fabric and batting for the tube ends, and two 32" lengths of 1/2" grosgrain ribbon (satin works, too).

I've had this fabric in my stash a long time - years, in fact. 

Although it took a bit longer than the hour and a half Vonna claimed, it was a pretty quick and easy project.

The quilting was what took the longest. To save time, I quilted the lines 4 1/4" apart.

The small piece of fabric and batting are for the circles that cover the ends of the mailing tube.

It rolls up nicely.

And ties with the grosgrain ribbon.

Project rolls are great for rolling and carrying an ongoing project or in my case, a place to keep stitching that has been completed and is awaiting to be fully finished.

Good grief! I just found a bunch of FOs that I had forgotten about and a couple that I had been looking for.

This is one of my favourite Peanuts fabrics.

It's just the cutest. 

Let's see what all was in there. 

Many of these were stitched YEARS ago - definitely pre-COVID.

I wondered what happened to the Starburst Canadian flag and the Teresa Kogut "Bee Kind" sampler. That was the first model I ever stitched for her. She has the model and this one is my re-stitch for myself. The chart of that little pumpkin was a project I was looking at today - totally forgetting I had already stitched it years ago. 

I wondered what had happened to some of these...

Must. (Fully) Finish, More. Projects.

Fighting Procrastination

I had a couple of tasks I needed to complete today and just couldn’t get started. I did several crosswords, read lots of news on the Internet, wrote a couple of emails, and did a bit of housework. Finally I went outside and got the geraniums out of the garden and into pots to put under the grow lights in the kitchen until next spring.

It was hard to pare them down while they were so beautifully in bloom.

They’ll be in bloom again by Christmas and will go back out in the garden next spring. We’ve over-wintered these plants for at least a decade.

This took all of 30 minutes. Good thing, too, as it started drizzling as I was taking the plants inside.

I started the second project - a stealth one - after selecting the fabric, batting, and lining. It’s going to be a gift so the photos will have to wait until the gifting has happened.

It felt good to get those two time-sensitive projects done. Anything left in the garden can get killed by any frost we get in the next few nights and can go out in next week’s yard waste pickup.

I finished the Autumn Cat project. I didn’t have appropriate buttons for the eyes then remembered I had lots of HotFix ‘jewels’ - some of which might work. I settled on the green ones.

Now to select fabric for finishing the back. It will be a standup. 

Last night, I embroidered another Christmas wreath and added the ‘bling’. 

I used the Sticky Fabri-Solvy. First, I stitched the brown stems. I didn’t like the called-for thread and substituted DMC 300. Then started the dark boughs.

Using one strand of the medium and one of the light green together I stitched the rest of the pine needles. 

Out of the hoop, I trimmed the water soluble stabilizer close to the outer stitching.  I then rinsed the stabilizer away with warm water. I also used a soft toothbrush in the same direction of the stitching to make sure all the stabilizer was washed away.

I pressed the stitching dry on the wrong side, face down on a terry cloth towel so the embroidery wouldn’t get squashed flat. Then added the 2mm red  ‘jewels’.

Now I have two to finish into ornaments. (Sorry, bad lighting)

In keeping with my pledge to not start any projects before finishing or fully finishing a WIP, I can now start some new ones.

So after a very slow start to my day, I actually got a few things accomplished.

Another New Start

At the retreat on the weekend, Kris (of Kraftnkris on YouTube) showed us her Autumn Cat from the October 2019 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. Joanne is holding it in this photo.

She also suggested one could use the basic chart and use different motifs for different seasons or holidays.

I had 28ct black linen in my stash and a couple of the called-for threads. Too lazy to go out and buy the threads I was missing, I substituted DMC 420 for 167, 3362 for 3051, and 356 for 3830. 

I got this much done yesterday.

And a bit more one today - so far.

Marlene has a poll on the Facebook group for us to vote for dates for next year’s retreats. Two choices are on weekends and two are weekdays. So far, all of the dates she selected work for me. I’m really looking forward to next time.

I have a sewing project I need to do but have been procrastinating. Step one will be to select the fabric. It’s not a hard project, I just need to get started.

I’m actually looking forward to cooking supper tonight (<—- a rare thing). I bought the zucchini for the fritters the other day and need to use them so am making one of my favourite dishes - Ricotta and Zucchini Fritters - a recipe I gleaned from one of my HelloFresh kits back in the spring.

Christmas Wreath Ornament

I started this ornament at the retreat on the weekend. I couldn’t work on it very long because it was a real strain on my eyes, even with magnifiers and my lamp.

At the retreat I got all the brown stems and dark green parts done.

This afternoon, while catching up on the new season of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ I finished the rest of the stitching and blinged it up with 2mm ‘jewels’ with my bedazzler.

I just need to add the red ribbon bow. Then will add Palestrina stitch all around the edge. The project was stitched on 46ct Oat Bristol linen which can be purchased in packages at Hobby Lobby. The packages hang on racks and are usually two of each colour are displayed.

This stuff is a bugger to cross stitch on but is excellent for embroidery because of its tight weave. It’s also available in white and a pale blue. The price is right for a fat eighth, too.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that each of us received a beautiful project bag and thread bed.

Because of the embroidery on the back, I believe they were a custom order from Gamma’s Treasures (GammasTreasuresShop on Etsy).

I must make a zipper pull for it.

At stitching this morning I showed off all the swag we were given and the loot I purchased from the Pastime Pieces pop-up shop. Barb is definitely interested in attending the next one if it works with her schedule.  We also talked about a potential road trip to Blenheim with stops en route at various stitcherly and quilterly shops.

An Excellent Stitching Retreat

This weekend I attended Pastime Pieces’ first stitching retreat, held at the Michaelite Retreat Centre a few kilometres NW of London ON. It was a peaceful, secluded setting. The weather was fabulous and conducive to walks around the property.

Our lodgings were immaculately clean and comfortable. From my experience the beds at these places tend to be very hard so I brought my foam twin bed pad and my own duvet. With those in place, my bed felt very similar to the one at home. 

Some of the contents of the goodie bag, compliments of Pastime Pieces:

Snack tongs:

My tablemates, Lynda, Chris, and, Blaire had treats to share. Some thread beds and 

Lynda also gave us each a little snap bag.

My tablemates:

Another Kris (of Kraftnkris on YouTube) handed out little ort buckets. 

The room we stitched in wasn’t huge but we were all able to work fairly comfortably. It had excellent lighting.

For the draw on Saturday night, everyone at my table won something. I won a little kit complete with pattern, threads, fabric, and mounting mats.

Of course, Marlene had a little pop-up shop with lots of samples on display. I could not resist purchasing a couple more Animal Crackers charts, Miss Hazel the squirrel and Clovis the badger:

Keeping in mind I’m attempting to finish or fully finish a piece before I start another, I was very pleased at all the stitching I got done over the weekend. 

I finished all the stitching on the Birds of a Feather piece:

So I started the Teresa Kogut ‘Jingle Bells Star Ornament’ on this little scrap of 30ct black linen I found in my stash. It just fit.

Using a bright light, its magnifier, and my magnifying glasses I was able to complete it, too! I had to substitute three of the four DMC colours. Cody Hoover’s ‘Floss Color Tool’ was my substitution source.

On the way to the retreat I stopped in New Hamburg at Heart ‘N Home quilt shop and was able to get two DMC colours I needed. One of them was for the Mary Corbet ‘Christmas Wreath Ornament’ from last year’s stitchalong, which I also started. It’s on 46ct Oatmeal linen which is great for embroidery.

I also started the Kathy Barrick ‘Merry Christmas Wishes’ project I had purchased in Colorado last month. I bought some fabric for it at Stitch-It Central when I got to London, but Marlene had a better colour. It’s 40ct linen from Atomic Ranch Fabric ‘Weathered Stone’. 

I’m using the called-for WDW colours. The finished piece will be about 6 1/2” x 8 1/2”.  This will be a long-term project as it took me what seemed to be a long time to do these two little bits.

And I finally selected a colour for the ‘mortar’ on my Live on Little house: DMC 3072. 

It’s going to take a while to get it all filled in but I can plug away at it during social stitching.

Marlene made up some Advent Calendar boxes that I did not know about until I got there. Fortunately she had extras and I was able to purchase one.

I will be away a few days of December so I’ll get to open a whole bunch at once. We swore to not reveal any contents before the appropriate date. So I don’t stumble upon any spoilers online while I’m away, I think I might open the ones ahead of time for those days.

All in all, the retreat was a resounding success. Marlene really ‘hit it out of the park’ on this, the first stitching retreat she has organized. She’s already looking at dates for next spring. Hopefully it will fit with my schedule as I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Also, the drive home was surprisingly enjoyable. I had been dreading it off and on all weekend thinking that the traffic would be horrendous. But, taking a cross-country route to the 401, entering at the Drumbo exchange, being Sunday, and no major truck traffic or ongoing construction and the completed collector lanes before the 407, things went swimmingly. Also, having taken a ‘comfort stop’  at the Shell station by the Drumbo exchange on the way to London, I ‘rested’ there again on the way home.

The fall colours were the figurative icing on the cake.

It was a very enjoyable weekend partaking in an activity with a bunch of like-minded people. More than once it was remarked that we really ‘get’ each other. I am so grateful for things like this in my life. 

I just may have to take a ‘fall colour tour’ sometime this week through the rolling hills of Durham Region.

I remember studying this Bliss Carmen (Canadian poet) poem in school. It is one of my favourites: