A New Start...

Santa Stops Here - With Thy Needle and Thread.  This is a new start.  It is on Fiber on a Whim - Parchment, using the suggested fancy and dmc flosses.  It's about the size of an index card, or maybe a post card.  So it's not a big thing, but this is a couple of days of stitching so far.  One over one, 28 count lugana.  I usually start bottom right corner, so that gives you an idea of how I work my way up to the upper left area.  It's pretty random, without a plan.  But it lets me see if the chimney will be spaced from the border properly, or if I am off somewhere. 

Life Silliness...

 Just for my records, I also started this one recently.  Spring In Baltimore - With Thy Needle and Thread.  Using suggested fancy flosses on the 28 count Mushroom lugana, one over one. 

It got tossed back into the started pile.  There were several starts, and I just couldn't settle into a project.  

I have been ordering stitching things.  I was good and just wanted the Violets & Verses pattern from market.  That was all I ordered.  Then I ordered the classic pattern with the Peacock, the Unicorn and the Badger...  and I ordered the plain fabric, and a couple new patterns. Then I ordered from the shop going out of business.  Then I made a floss list - of the colors I didn't have and needed since there was a sale at Joanns on floss.  That was $41 in just dmc floss, and two more other shops and $10 more for the colors they were out of.  But I came home with my whole list.  Then I made the second order, and another list of floss.  So I have that coming.  And I ordered the market cookbook because I had a FOMO moment.  FOMO is FEAR OF MISSING OUT.... Yesterday, I ordered the fancy flosses I needed. 

I think some of this has to do with timing in my life.  I am just ending the second part of my chemo treatment plan this week.  Next will be the third part, radiation.  I had known what the plan was - just not the details.  And I am happy just to follow their plan.  I found out that radiation is daily on weekdays, for six weeks.  Thirty times.  I live close, it is as close as a grocery store.  Parking is easy.  Doing chemo, honestly, that parking being easy has been important.  You lose your stamina.  So about 8 weeks in, you can't walk from the car into Target to get a cart... you HAVE to grab carts in the lot.  My iron levels were at 8, normal blood donation levels are 12.5.  I missed a week due to weather, and that bumped my level up to a 10.  At 10, I can function.  I can park and walk without leaning on a cart.  I can get groceries.  I am not the fastest shopper, but at 8, it gives you a whole new idea of - I'm not sure I can - suddenly.  I'm not whining.  But for me, it is just me.  I have NEVER felt weak like that, and I'm over 60 years old.  I hear people needing blood and other things to up their levels because they are too low to get the treatments.  I took my mom to her version of this after a hysterectomy.  So I got to see this once before it was my turn to do it.  I'm not doing this at a level that it is my last chance.  As far as I understand, I am expected to survive this.  I was told I was stage 2 or 3.  What I had was breast duct cancer.  It is aggressive.  But I also had the lumps we are all told to check for.  My lumps were still at stage 0.  But they showed up on the mammograms.  Depending on the type of cancer, determines if you do surgery before or after chemo.  My surgery was first, then chemo.  I sat near a woman just finishing her chemo the other day.  Her surgery was next, then we all do radiation as the finish.  I asked, what are we radiating if you have taken the breast already?  But they do the area where the lymph nodes showed cancer.  For me, I think if I had to do chemo before surgery, it would have worked against me mentally.  I wanted the bad stuff out of me asap.  I want the port out after this is complete.  They give you drugs to not be depressed.  I have not had to take that.  I'm fine, my attitude is just do what I need to do.  There have been adjustments, my hair fell out in clumps.  The nurses told me when to expect that.  My haircut person said she had cut off hair for cancer people.... that they cry together...  and cut the hair.  I'm not doing that - so I called a friend, and used old clippers, and had her do it, just like I had done for my mom.  I said, we need to laugh about this - not cry.  Ever seen the character of Uncle Fester?  I look a lot like that at the moment.  But it is not forever.  In the world of cancer and medical crap that can go wrong...  losing a breast is the easy thing.  It does not shove women into menapause like a hysterectomy.  Pick a part of your body you can do without... something to put cancer in.  

On a scale of silliness, I knew my sink disposal was getting old, it gave me warning to plan to replace it.  I got a couple more months out of it, and then there was a leak under the sink on a Monday.  On Wednesday, I went to talk to the plumber.  Their next appt was the following Thursday.  So 10 days with no kitchen sink, no dishwasher.  Okay...  not a big deal.  But on that day, the plumber didn't come, didn't call.  So I wait till Monday, and go to the plumber to ask when they might show up.  Now I was at 14 days without a kitchen sink working.  The plumber had ended up in the hospital, same hospital I go, because he has that - he is allergic to glutan - problem.  The hospital left a hole in him in the ER as big as a small orange, drains and all, in his butt.   Oh, that is a pretty good excuse.  So they said they would show up the next day.  And they did.  That plumber was gonna be off for three weeks, they just didn't bother to call to reschedule people he was supposed to help.  I still used my dishes, rinsed things, used paper plates, and stacked them in the dishwasher till I could wash them after he fixed it.  The internet had worked that morning before the plumber came.  But stopped working while he was here.  He didn't do that.  But the internet talked about outages, so I thought it was that.  Next day, still no internet, but I was at chemo.  At end of day, no internet, I called.  That guy said, my house was causing all sorts of noise on the line, so they decided to just cut off my internet.  I said - pardon me?   I am the last house on my line.  That would indeed be possible.  I however had not changed anything except the disposal.  And had him replace the guts in a toilet.  And he found broken tank bolts...  so he replaced those.  But as far as I knew, the toilet has nothing to do with my internet.  The phone guy offered to send a tech guy to look, but said the notes on my account talked about the noise on the lines.  Send me a guy in the morning.  Guy shows up at 8:20, and he goes and looks at the lines on the pole and house after talking to me first.  Comes back to me and says - you have squirrels that have eaten the line on the pole.  We need to run you a new line from the pole to your house.  We will come back later - and bury it.  This will be months later, as I have already had this happen once before.  So my house and my stuff was not feeding back at all.  The squirrels that are at least trying to steal cable might have needed a better plan how to hook into the feed line for internet.  But my stuff worked fine once they hooked a new section of cable between me and the pole.  Matter of fact, the signal was too good.  They had to knock it back to fit between numbers they are trying to be at.  And the cable guy came into my house, and put on booties, and I followed him up my stairs, and realized he was leaving - let's hope mud,  not dog shit from my neighbors.... on my steps and carpet.  He said - but I am wearing booties.  I said, they are not clean.  And he looks and says, oh, I will have to toss these and get new ones.  So I get to clean carpet spots.  But I can sit on the steps while I clean carpet.  But my kitchen sink works, my toilet works, I have internet... and I can clean spots on my carpet.  Ever have weeks like that???  And since things comes in threes, when we had tornados and high winds last night, I was not expecting that to go well at all.  I was scared and worried when they said there was 70 mph wind gusts in my area.  So at this point - chemo days are the normal nothing happens days.  Although last week, they had a potluck for their department - and a couple of the nurses thought they had maybe just gotten food poisoning.  They were not feeling well right after lunch when I got there.  You just have to laugh at the silliness sometimes - and maybe buy more stash and floss.

Stitching on lots of things...

 Finish #5 for 2023.  Heart In Hand - Bluebird Sampler.  Used the suggested Chesapeake Bay floss on Colour and Cotton Spiced Honey, 28 count lugana, one over one..  

Finish #6 for 2023.  The freebie pattern from Hello from Liz Mathews website.  Stitched on just a scrap of white 28 count lugana, one over one, using Classic Colorworks Bandana floss.  

I tried adding more to this... Brick House Sampler - With Thy Needle and Thread. 

Not much got added, this is where it was when I picked it up again.

This is Violets & Verses - Mary Woodrow.   A new start.  Done on Dove Gray jobelan 28 count, one over one, using dmc 3799.

Another new start - Teresa Kogut - Nature, on 25 count white lugana, one over one, using the suggested floss colors.  So far, this one is a fun stitch.  

Another new start - Marjorie Massey - Quaker Street.  On PTP Gingerbread 28 count, one over one, using Anchor black.  I am one stitch wide on the right side....  I think.  I don't want to start over.  I'm not sure how much being off is gonna confuse me.  I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the results of this start, so there might be a restart on this.  But I just love the pattern.  Might just need a different color combination. 

What just happened?

With Thy Needle and Thread - Project Quarantine: Stay Home & Stitch.  A new start and a finish.  I can not even explain how this got started.  But suddenly the pattern from a purchase a year ago was in my hand again, and I thought, let's just take a quick look at the fabric stash... and there was a scrap of - not a clue what jobelan, 28 count.  And I thought, well..., certainly if it was the right size, you'd HAVE to stitch it, right?  Stupid right size of fabric for this pattern, and it just took 3 days.  Used called for flosses mostly. The white I used Grits since I didn't have the Arrowhead called for.  I altered a few things here and there... but it's DONE.  Finish #4 for 2021.  Finished size is 9.25 wide by 3.25 high in inches.  2 over 2, except for area in the hoop part, which is 1 over 1 on the pattern.  So this one was also not on my list of already started things, it was also a new start...  as was that mid-sized ship finish last time.  I'm starting to see why that started pile is growing, not shrinking.   But I fully admit, I'm thinking you HAVE to stitch QUARANTINE patterns mostly DURING a quarantine.  You know..., if you can....

Let's Try The Reverse Image...

Okay, maybe I have settled and will stitch this one for a while. 
Courtney Collection - Pelican (Reversed)
Let me explain.  The bottom one is complete and is the pattern off the shelf.  The top one that I have started is the mirror image of the pattern.  So you can see the big open area on the left is now on the right side...  The birds beak tip is now on the right side...
It's still one big piece of fabric at the moment.  I had planned to do this from the start, then I took a small cut out to do something small - and thought - I am an idiot when I remembered the cut was supposed to do both.  I lucked out, and both would still fit, I just had to shift this reverse one slightly right to fit into the  fabric space I have.  There is a 6 inch gap between designs, for finishing later, so this is just folded for the photo.  I have the side stitched from top to bottom, and I normally start bottom right corner.  The little tie thread is just to mark where the actual page corner was to count from. 
On PTP Doubloon 28 lugana, 938 dmc floss.  One over one.  Still on my first skein of floss at this point. 
You can do this with any pattern.  Words would be an issue, but I seem to really like this idea with the Courtney Collection patterns.  I have already done this once...  That time I literally did draw the pattern reversed using software.  This time I took the pattern to a copy place and said - Mirror Image?  Reverse image?  and it was a minute and a couple of dollars.  I understand a scan copy image and saying reverse or flip or mirror would have done it...  my stuff is not linked that well to do that at home. 
The page count just starts now from the upper right as page 1. 

 But if you are curious as to what the result can look like - this is what hangs on my wall.
Courtney Collection - Bernadette.  Pattern and mirror image - both framed... 
It was worth drawing it out for me to get this, at least that first time.  Can you tell which is the original pattern direction?  Does your eye prefer that she faces left or right? 
Kinda neat right???  I think the original is the right hand side - but I am not sure anymore. 
But for people that want to stitch something and be slightly different, once you remember, Oh, I can flip that...  your stash patterns that can be flipped... all those Mira patterns....  lots of ideas... 
But I'm having fun with just the Courtney Collection stuff... and am doing Pelican reveresed, plan to do Knightmare reversed.  I have started the Mermaid's Folly the pattern way, but it would also be wonderful in a mirror image.  I didn't buy enough fabric to do that - but after I realized it would flip, I wished I had.  But it is something to keep in mind, and use to be creative. 

I was able to find the stupid boxes that With Thy Needle and Thread used for their patterns. 
I wanted the one on the left for the Baltimore Saltbox pattern that is below.  I ordered two.  And since they had it, I ordered the little chest box and the pattern for it.  And started that pattern.. 
Prices for these are all over the map. 
BUT - if you want the stupid box for the Baltimore Saltbox pattern below... 1,2,3 Stitch has the box.
$5.39 each.  Here is the Link...

I'm sure it has to be stitched the one over one on 28 count to fit...  And you have to paint the box or whatever...

And I did start the chest pattern... one over one, using suggested.
I will point out - if you look at mine, and the pattern cover photo... the blues are reversed.  The pattern says to do what I have done - the bird is darker... but the pattern cover photo is actually the reverse.  The bird is lighter, everything lighter blue is darker blue and darker blue are the lighter blue.  I had about this much done before I noticed.  So if you have this pattern, or plan to do it...  head's up. 
But I never would have bought this is I had not been able to get the silly chest for it.  But the place I got my boxes and chest, they are now out of the chest.  And the box is cheaper at the link I provided above if you are looking for the box.
But now I am really trying to fall back into stitching things I have already started.  Or at least stitch things I already have planned out. 

Fixed...

 Needle Pillow by Little by Little Design Co.
 I pulled out - 'thread to making' - and put back - 'thread to make'.
So it's finished, again. Still finish # 21 for 2020.
If you wanna buy the pattern, it's on the Brenda Gervais website for $8.
Here is the link - Needle Pillow pattern.

With Thy Needle and Thread - Baltimore Saltbox.
Mine is on a scrap of 28 count Cameo Jobelan.  It's done except the eggshell, which is about 700 flag stripe stitches.  Used the fancy flosses except for GAST Tomato, which I changed to Weeks Merlot.  Stitched one over one. That white is gonna go slow, but the rest is done. 

Let's rewind...

Crappy photos today.  Sorry.
Gonna change the GAST Tomato, to Weeks Merlot.  All the reds are the same.  It's maybe not a baltimore color, but it is a red.  As I said before, my GAST Tomato is really orange, which might be lovely, but not for the flag. 

Started Teresa Kogut - Newcastle Bouquet.
On a 28 count Colour and Cotton - Stratus.   Stratus is a light to medium gray.  I wanted something that those ecru flowers, actually dmc 739, would not get lost on.  I am doing the outside border in dmc, and will do the inside birds with the fancy floss. 

Let's go back to this one -
I actually read things before I stitch them, but reading this again, I am gonna call it - the elephant in the room.  That IS the pattern.  Sure a stitch here or there different, but that is the words.
But it makes no sense.
Needle  n.  Device for carrying thread to making stitches.
What? 
Maybe... Device for carrying thread to MAKE stitches...
OR - Device TO CARRY thread for making stitches. ? 
I tried looking it up in a dictionary.  They used a lot more words. 
So I am gonna pull out part of this and change it.  I think to try to keep is fairly centered, I am gonna pull out the first part of the second line - 14 letters, rather than rather than the end 11 letters, which probably would be quicker.  Then I will add back - 'thread to make' .  It never started out centered, it's not gonna be centered when I am done either.  I know at some point, I thought, I can't keep being fussy.  Some things I need to just let it go, and stitch the pattern.  Then I get this in my path, and I kinda hate the crap grammer lesson.  So I will fix it.  Only took me three days to stitch the whole thing, can't be that long to fix it.

Definition of Needle

Little By Little Design Co - Needle Pillow
Finish #21 for 2020.
PTP Alchemy lugana 28 count, one over one, dmc 413.

Started the next one - Little by Little Design Co - Sampler Pillow.
It will say - Sampler - Example of skill in decorative needlework.
There is a third pattern called Linen - Cloth made of flax.

I am doing these all with the same fabric and floss.  It's a good combination of fabric and floss.
They actually suggest the dmc 938 - which is the floss I used to do that big quaker, Forget Me Not sampler from Modern Folk Embroidery just a couple blog posts back.  Which would be nice - but I just stitched with that, this is more gray on gray.  The second one is taking me longer - I am being fussy and the letters were not the same as the "Needle" one, I am trying to make them match better. 
Also have the Cherrywood Design patterns for - Stitch, Needle, Scissors, Chart, Linen, Aida, Floss, Pincushion.  The spacing is so I can have a 2 inch border between and cut them apart. 

My stay at home order showed up.  I like the Seeking Refuge text, and thinking I just wanna do the text and bottom border maybe repeated above?  Skipping the house and trees.  It is just too on point for my headspace at the moment.  The missing bird I needed.  The Kogut is my try a pattern from a designer. I like a few of that Baltimore series.  Then I tried to get floss for lots of things, but I have a list what they were ordered for.

Since at the time I was clueless about size, I ordered more Manor Red floss.  But once I had it started, 2 should be enough, so the alphabet got started.  But I put the older darker version next to what arrived today, and took a photo just for fun. 

Last night I wanted to start Baltimore Saltbox.  It uses a few strands of Endive, and I had it out doing those BBD birds, and just needed the vines and three of the darker trees.  Stitching it on a scrap of Cameo jobelan 28 count, one over one, fancy floss.  Should be 3.25 x 5.5 inches.  Looked for the mushroom fabric in my stash.  After getting to this point, found the mushroom fabric in my stash.  But I liked it on this with the floss toss.  The reds are all GAST Tomato - mine is really orange, and the flag orange is not gonna happen. 
I am not doing Maynia, but I am all over the map.

Progress then ....

 Plum Street - Friends of the Hart.
Above is where I picked it back up.  Below is what I got done before it went back in the pile again.

Then I just  grabbed other stuff to start...

Heartstring Samplery - Simple Living Sampler.
Fancy flosses.  But the colors are not my taste.  I like the sampler, I'm trying it in the suggested flosses, you never know.  Antique White jobelan 28 count.

Stacy Nash Primitives - Hallowe'en Jack Sewing Roll.
Colour and Cotton Jazlyn 28 count in Steel.  Dmc 310.

With Thy Needle and Thread - Fruit For a Song CS49.
Uses all dmc and nothing fancy.  Photo sucks.  On Colour and Cotton - Alabaster 32 ct jobelan.
Trying it 1 over 2 - which I rarely try.  But with the large grass area, and using dmc, I can try a hunk at a time.
** And I did see I also started another Lizzie Kate - Wouldn't It Be Nice....  forgot that one...
Today I switched and grabbed something from the stuff I have started.  I have started way too many new things lately.  I need a finish.  I was really happy with the top one and the progress, and then just went off the rails. 

All over the Map...

With Thy Needle and Thread - Spring Fling.
This is that Rabbit head with flowers on a suggested pink fabric.
The first thing the instructions say is to dye the pink called for fabric darker with a red wine.
The short version is - I changed fabrics.  Color and Cotton, 28 count in Storm or Steel evenweave.
It's a blue/gray.  As usual, the camera flash makes it nothing like the photo.  White rabbits and pink flowers will pop off the darker gray nicely.  I bought wine and will try dyeing the suggested fabric in future.  But it was such a long story of re-starting this, that I am done for a while.  

Courtney Collection - Mermaid's Folly.
I tried to continue, even up to last night.  But my progress has slowed to almost nothing. 
Went along the bottom 4 pages to get me to the corner.  I finished the corner page. 
So 13 of 24 pages completed.  Planning on a different stash project start next. 

Time to change again...

Worked on Brick House Sampler for a little bit.
Below is where it was when I put it away last time.
There is a cream floss that runs up the building sides, the window frames, sheep.  But it's gonna just disappear into the fabric.  I did a bit of that on the building right side - in the zig-zag section.  Rather than be frustrated with that, time to change projects.

I grabbed the Pelican again.  Still have 7 pages to do on Pelican. 
This week was a test for my wanting to buy new charts.  So far I have resisted. 
I have been donating platelets, and I went 12 times in 15 weeks.  The guy that stabs me prefers my left arm, so it's all been in my left arm.  And I am left handed.  I should have maxed out my yearly amount of 24 times in a calendar year - somehow I didn't, but I can still give whole blood a few more times, so I am gonna do that - cause those women will stab my other arm.  My sleeping hours and my energy is crap, trying to change that.  I can't seem to lose weight and give platelets, although that was the plan.  Sometimes we all need to just try a different plan.

Seeing Double

With Thy Needle and Thread - House of Blues & Browns Sampler.
Finished them both.  Finish #11 and #12 for 2019.
Not real accurate with the camera flash, but it really shows that on the right side example, the lightest color is very hard to see in the berries and border. 
It's not ever gonna be my favorite, but I did finish the original start, and even try it again on a white fabric, and managed to finish that one too.

Round One, and Let's Try That Again.

With Thy Needle and Thread - CS82 House of Blues & Browns Sampler.
I started this on a fabric from my stash, but it calls for 'cream'.  No clue why I picked the fabric from my stash that I did.  Maybe I felt the cream houses would disappear into a cream fabric.
And by the way, my Apple Cider and Heirloom Gold - might as well be the same dyelot.  The birds and the house roofs are supposed to be different.  They are, but only barely.
So picking this back up - I hated the fact that the border and the berries basically disappear.  It's only about 4 inches square - 101 x 101 stitched, and I had enough floss - so let me just grab a scrap of 28 count evenweave in white - let's see how different the same pattern with the same recommended flosses, feels on a much lighter or different fabric.  I am trying to finish the original start - I just have the right side row of border stitches to go, then it will be complete. 
Seemed like it might be an easy finish of something that I had started - and now I have two not quite finished instead of just one.  But I do like it on the white fabric - it all pops nicely.  
Below is the photo from where I picked it back up again.