Back from Vacation

Well! That was some kind of trip! San Francisco, Bass Lake, Yosemite, Oakland, then back to San Francisco. Visiting with John was the highlight of the trip. I'm a worrier...I can't help it. So it was good to see him happy and working hard and to meet his coworkers. Nice kids, all of them. (When do you stop calling them "kids"?)

Of course, I have lots of photos to sort through and post. I promise I won't go overboard, though.

But today I'll show you a couple that don't have much to do with where we went, but that fit a stitchy blog very well.

First of all, you might remember that a while back I won a wonderful gift from Anna. It was a wristlet pincushion, and I thought it would be perfect for airplane stitching. And because of the way that she made it, not only was it a perfect compact way to anchor your needles, it also had a sleeve in the back that exactly suited my scissors! Look:

This was absolutely the ideal thing for stitching on a plane. Or in any situation where you have positively no room to put anything down. So, I'm saying Thank You to dear Anna all over again!

Now a scene that completely and totally amazed me. On our last day in SF, Colleen and I were at Alamo Square and amid all of the signs screaming for attention we saw a sign for Needlepoint, Inc. It was shortly after 5PM, but we thought, what the heck - as long as we're here. They were open, but closing in minutes, and I don't think they particularly appreciated our browsing, but they didn't rush us off too quickly. At least they let me buy a couple of skeins and take a photo or two. So here's the amazing sight of that day - The Wall of Silk:

I'll have some family/scenery type photos later this week!

Mostly done

I've been working on this small project for a Quaker exchange. I still need to complete the other half and then finish-finish it by June 30. It's a motif from a Long Dog sampler. Luuuurve the thread - Indian Jewelry (#389) by Soy Luster. It's brighter in real life, but it's a cloudy day and my photo editing software disappeared with my recent computer meltdown.
I hope to get this finished during our vacation. It's coming up really fast, but let me tell you...I need this vacation. We're headed to San Francisco for a day or two, then to Bass Lake to see John (!), then back to SF for a couple more days. He sounds very excited about our visit, and we're excited to get there. It's going to be an adventure!

It's all over

I must say thanks to all of you for congratulating Colleen and for sending such nice thoughts her way. She's been a wonderful daughter and to say that we're proud of her is an understatement. Here's the best thing - She's done the work, and we've just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

The only thing missing was John, who couldn't make it back from California. Our celebrating just didn't feel complete, and Colleen missed him and we were so sad that he wasn't here. What can you do, though? Working and moving is a part of life.

Well, when it came time for her party this Sunday, I really wanted Colleen to kick back and enjoy her friends and let us do all the work. As luck would have it, the weather was gorgeous. Sunny, breezy, and not too hot, so we had people all over the place. Inside, outside, front yard, side yard, deck, living room, kitchen...We had well over 75 people here, and if it had been all inside, it would have been nuts.

Do you know how lucky I've been for the past three big parties we've had? Three years, three parties, three beautiful days? Unheard of. But we think we know why our luck has held. Because besides being awesome, our special party-guest-of-honor controls the weather, also. Don't you dare rain on his party.Bet you never knew he was so smart, too.

Graduation!

Here are some pictures from last night.
The weather was stormy, so commencement was inside, and was it hot?? I can't even begin to tell you.Mercifully, all of the speeches were brief and we were able to get some outside photos before the storms started.
The BoyfriendDave and Me
Colleen and me
Party Sunday!

Much better

My eye is much better, thank you very much! Last night I was able to watch some TV and stitch on a Quaker project for a swap.

PLEASE STOP reading here if you are offended by graphic language.

I was watching an HBO DVD, Rome. Phew. Lotsa blood, guts, and bare butts (among other bare things...)

Needless to say, I miscounted several times.

One, two, three, four, five....penis??.....four, five, six, seven.....

Ugh. No stitching this weekend

I had only a little time to stitch on Saturday night, but we went to a friend's house to watch the Penguins game and although I took stitching with me, the lighting wasn't good and the eye strain was too much.

Then on Sunday - healthy me, I go out to run in the morning and get stuck running through swarms and swarms of gnats. Later that afternoon, my eye was really bothering me, so I tried eye wash and artificial tears. I couldn't see anything in my eye, but it just got worse and worse. I was in bed really early last night. You know how when your eyes hurt, everything hurts? Ugh.

So I went to the eye docs this morning and sure enough, I had a gnat stuck on my cornea. She numbed it, used her little tool to remove it, and all I can say is Thank God. My eye is still a little swollen, but it's worlds better than last night.

It's always something, isn't it?

Mary Thomas

So yesterday I was reading Anna's blog where she was reviewing a craft encyclopedia by Martha Stewart. And I was thinking about how most encyclopedias are usually so limited and unable to really delve deeply into any of the subjects inside, because they have so many subjects to cover. And they're usually so dry.

Well, then I remembered one of my favorite books, Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. I had borrowed the 1935 edition from our local library and it was absolutely charming. So I bought one online (from Powells Books, I think) NOT the newer one. Sure, the newest one has good color photography and color drawings of stitching methods, but dry? Yeah. If you want one of these, it's worth the hunt to find the 1935 edition. The stitch illustrations are different, but the little drawings in the margins and near the text? Adorableness!

Here's one of my favorites. Can a Lazy Daisy be any cuter?
Unless of course, you're wondering how to chain stitch with a daisy stitch.

Or is this a cute caterpillar stitch illustration or what?

I've taken a few more photos to show you, too, so this probably isn't the last time you'll see these little drawings! Also, click on the pictures to enlarge them and open them in a different window. Blogger reduces them so much...it's hard to see some of the detail of these simple little things.

Lucky me!

Here's what I received as part of the BBD Exchange. It's from the lovely Anna S., who lives in Poland. A sweet needlecase!

Front:

Inside:

More inside!
You can see that she's used some of the BBD quilting fabric. Love it!

Well, I put John on the plane to California yesterday and he's arrived safely, although his luggage was destroyed. (Again. It happened on his way home from San Diego in the spring, too) What should I use for luggage for this kid? I know...I'm going to use the bags that come inside the cereal boxes. Those are impossible to open.

And I ask you - is there any drive more stressful than the drive to the airport? I don't care how early I leave, I'm always a nervous wreck on the way there. In normal traffic, we're about 2 hours from the Pittsburgh airport and those are always two of the longest hours of my life. Luckily, yesterday wasn't too bad - but then again, we left at 4:30AM and the light traffic was moving really fast, so I made it there in 90 minutes. Phew.

Time to work. Blech.
Have a great day, everybody!