Curly Hair

Peggy (my sister) had curly hair and I was always jealous.  Cascades of beautiful curls.  Hair that always laid the right way.  I can remember wearing curlers every night of high school.  Boy am I glad those days are gone.  But when it came to to give my mermaid hair.  I gave her lots of curls.  I'm living vicariously through my mermaid.  It wasn't easy.  I learned a new technique, ruching thread.  Anyway, I am happy with my mermaid's hair.  Next is her mirror of mica.  Then I'm all done until we get the next lesson.  I did a mirror for the clam shell pocket mermaid so this won't be hard.

I finished the pastoral scene on Needleworker's Pocketbook.  Yeah!  I think that is the most tedious part of the whole project.  So onto the next band.

It is a beautiful day here.  I ordered two more nifty kits yesterday.  Not that I need more things to stitch.  It will be fun waiting for them to arrive.
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Getting to the End

I am almost done with the pastoral scene on Needleworker's Pocketbook.  This is the hardest band.  I'm sure I can finish it up today and get started on the next band.  The next bands are the same as the inside pocket so I know they will go fine.  Making good progress on this one.

I put in the backstitching on the mermaid face.  I winged it instead of depending on the stitches on the back to guide me.  I can now give her blue eyes and a pink mouth - crossing my fingers that they will look okay.  She looks a bit like the Mona Lisa.  Next, the hair.

We got photos of the finished trinket box in Cabinet of Curiosities.  Very interesting to see it all put together. I'm already thinking how I am going to change it.  I want to stitch the bunny top but I want to change the colors and the sides and the techniques and the threads.

I got the latest Just Cross Stitch magazine yesterday.  Sometimes I wonder why I have a subscription as I never stitch anything from it.  But it is fun to look through it.  Marie Barber doesn't look anything like I imagined her.  I thought she would have gray hair and be older.  Don't tell her that.

The peonies are blooming.  They always get washed away by rain.  It happens every year.  And yes, we are expecting storms later today.
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Pastoral Scenes

Yesterday it was raining.  That's my excuse for not posting.  I went walking and then it started to rain and DH came and picked me up and then I went to exercise class and then I cleaned the bathrooms and by that time it was lunch and The Young and the Restless was on and yadda yadda yadda.

I got half of the pastoral scene done.  I hope to make a big dent in the other half today.

I got all the way around with the buttonhole stitch on my mermaid.  Then I gave her a tummy and some boobs.  Next comes the hair.  No, actually I do the features of her face next.  Let's hope I can make her pretty and not grotesque.  Now that I see the photo, I think her belly button is a bit off center.  I'll have to fix that.

I had a wonderful mail day yesterday.  I got the Kit 2 of Cabinet of Curiosities with a lot of interesting goodies inside.

Lots of colors of Pearl Purl.  I wonder why it is called that.   The silver tape  looks so cool.  I love the piece of marbled paper.  It is so professionally done.

I think the plain paper is what is applied to the wood of the casket before the stitching.  I will have to get busy on the trinket box sides so I'll be ready to put it all together.

I got some magazines I ordered off of ebay that had some Barbara Jackson designs in them.  It took two weeks to get here from Colorado.  Good grief.

I got an extra chart that my BFF had.  Can't wait to try that out.

I got my monthly order of Hand-Dyed Fibers.

I got confirmation for the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat in October.  I got in the track I wanted with Shepherd's Bush and Pam Reed.
Then Son#2 and DIL sent me my very very favorite flavor of taffy - Cherry Cola!
What a lucky girl I am!
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Taking Shape

My little mermaid is taking shape.  I am half way around with the buttonhole stitch.  It is going pretty well (knock on wood).

The Needleworker's Pocketbook is going well too.  I got some of the over one stitches in.

  I am working on "Ann" .  I changed a bit of her color so she is pinkier.  Of course the bird is blue instead of blah.

Did I buy anything at the Art Fair?  No.  But I was tempted.  There was one booth with Amish wooden baskets.  The baskets looked like they were woven or carved out of wood.  Very cool.  But I have too many baskets already.  At one time, I even made baskets.  I wasn't very good at it.  I just love that basket that I made when we went to Longabergers. While I was downtown I got a new pair of aerobic/step/walking shoes.  I tried them out this morning and they are great.

I got some of the first strawberries of the season at the Farmer's Market.  It is nice outside now but it is supposed to rain this afternoon.  All the better for stitching.
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Art Fair

I went to the art fair this morning. That means I skipped exercise class altogether.  I still got a bunch of steps in walking around downtown.  This day is a little sad for me.  Many years ago, I would get together with friends Terri and Barb and we would hit the art fairs.  What fun we had!  So much laughing.  But time passes, kids grow up, friends move away and retire.  You lose touch.  Terri got her doctorate and moved out East.  Barb is somewhere with her retired DH in a camper.  Me, I'm just stitching away trying to mind my own business and stay out of trouble.

Talk about trouble.  I worked on Mermaid's Treasures by stitching around the mermaid body.  It is harder than it looks.  I am comforted that half of her will be hidden under gills.  The real trick will be to buttonhole stitch all around the body.  So I know it looks a little weird right now.  It will look better.  Everybody looks better with a face and lots of curly hair.  That's my problem, my hair is straight as a stick.

Anyway. I got the top two bands of the Needleworker's Pocketbook done.  Yeah!  I started the landscape. I changed the first basket of flowers to match my second one.  I'm happy with that band.
The peonies outside my front door are ready to pop open.  It is a glorious day.
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Does This Wool Roving Make Me Look Fat?

I got started on the new lessons for Mermaid Treasures.  The basting is in.  Then I got brave enough to try putting on the wool roving.  Luckily there are lots of photos to help along the way.  I wasn't sure if I was using too much or not.  So I email Amy Mitten to ask her if my mermaid was too fat.  She said she looked fine so I am good to go on to the next part.  I think the next thing I do is put the satin on.  Eek!  I'm a little afraid of that but I'm following Amy 's directions.

I worked the next cartouche (I love that word) on Needleworker's Pocketbook.  I changed some colors of floss based on how pale the other basket of flowers looked.  With just a few tiny stitches, you have to go darker than you think to have them show up.  Now, do I go back and change the first one?  Well, yes, probably parts of it.  I'd really like to finish up the top two bands today so I can go on the the landscape.

Mr. Mailman hasn't brought me anything all week.  Will he redeem himself today?
And how on earth can it be Friday again already??
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New Lessons

I am so excited.  There are three new lessons posted for the Mermaid Needlework Treasures.  I read through them and think that I actually can do it.  (Thank you Amy Mitten for great instructions.)  I'm just taking it a step at a time.  First I have to outline the mermaid's body.  That is my aim today.

 I may have to take out the basting lines down the middle.

I got the middle cartouche done on the Needleworker's Pocketbook.

I just copied Amy Mitten's since we have the same name.  In the next cartouche is another basket of flowers.  I want to change a few colors as the centers of the blue flowers don't show up as yellow, so I need a stronger yellow.  Hey, you can't even see the blue flowers.  Maybe I need a stronger blue too.

When I get these first two bands done I can move on to the large landscape that is the focal point of this sampler.  It will be interesting as it is a mix of over-two and over-one.

I ordered the M.Woods sampler (which is being released today) along with the linen (36 count) and silks from The Attic.  The sampler appealed to me as it is another Norfolk sampler with little octagons with over one designs inside.  I am not really a sampler lover but hey, it looks like fun.
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