July 9, 2019 Tuesday

The First Day of My Remodeled Website

Permanent Resolutions for Stitchers

1.  Take all the pent-up anxiety about perfection and redirect that energy toward creativity. Open up your minds and think of creative  possibilities you can bring to your needlework, ways that will personalize it and make it distinctly yours.  Here are two ways to start:

Oops you made a mistake and you face a lot of ripping.

Ask yourself, is it really a mistake or a variation?

You do have to rip if you crossed most of your crosses in one direction and suddenly you started crossing them in the other direction, yep no way around that. Why? The real reason for good technique is that it allows all your attention to focus on your design (where it should be).

You don't have to rip if you made a leaf one row bigger than the design called for. This is obsessive behavior that needs redirecting.

You do need to rip if you make something so large it is out of scale with the rest of the design; you do not have to rip if it is barely noticeable.

You do not have to rip if you mixed up colors and the design is not exactly as the designer's model. For heaven's sake, if it looks OK, stop obsessing.

You do have to rip if a color or texture is not in harmony with the rest of the design.

You do not have to throw away a design if you run out of a dye lot.

If it looks like you are headed toward thread shortage, don't use the thread to the last strand, save at least 1/4 of it. Buy some more and decide where and how to introduce the new dyelot. I actually prefer to work with multiple dyelots. If you pay attention to lights and darks etc., they can bring an added depth to your design.

2. In memory of Audrey Francini, my generation's greatest needlewoman, slow down. Needlework is not a speed contest. Audrey was the slowest stitcher I have known. She was also the best. I have a couple of great stories about Audrey and her speed, I'll tell them in the next couple of mornings.

3. Forget about the Needlepoint Police. They don't exist except in their minds. You may meet people who think they know it all. Good for them, I applaude their confidence, but I don't buy into it.

I have probably told this story a dozen times but it is worth telling again and again. Years ago a friend wrote to me and asked, will this Kreinik braid look good with this silk?

I replied, beats me, try it and see.

Friend: whadaya mean you don't know, you're the teacher.

My reply: if the Immortal Artists Of The Western World don't know without trying, how would I, one mere mortal needlework teacher? (There's a bit more to thsi story too, I'll tell the rest another time).

All this goes to say once again, there is no real right and wrong, there are problems of course. The best way to find solutions is to think creatively.

Those are my New Year's Stitching Resolutions for 2021, still good for 2022, 2023 and for 2024.

Reminders for me as well as for all of you.

December 21, 2024 Winter Solstice

One of my favorite days of the year because the days will now start growing longer again.

I usually spend the Winter Solstice remembering Jackie, a favorite friend who was both born and died on the Winter Solstice. I miss her greatly.

So how is my Queen coming along? I made the decision to stitch rather than sort and organize and this time it paid off: this morning early I got past my biggest challlenge. I took a couple of unconventional turns and they worked! Mind you, I still have a list of potential potholes ahead, but I am encouraged and eager to return to my needle. I am rolling forward now!

December 20, 2024 Friday

I was mixed up: I had a week of Mondays, when today is Friday! I thought it was Thursday.

Why confusion? My mind on marching forward with my needle! Corrections made, I am now advancing. I made good  progress yesterday and more this morning, but the going is slow. Never mind, it is working and that's the important thing.

Five days till Christmas, it came on so fast. DH and I are heading into the holiday feeling well again, even my fatigue has fallen to infrequent now. Happy Holidays! Here they are, only days away now.

December 19, 2024 Thursday

I am trying to work on my Queen for half a day, then do other chores for the second half of the day. I am an early riser, so I try and work for 2 hours until it is time officially to start my day. Then late, way late in the afternoon I try to return to ripping/stitching/graphing for more time.

Today is my 119th day stitching and graphing. More of the same hopefully today.

So overall how am I doing? As I wrote on my home page, I had designed and stitched some small motifs and as my Queen progressed, I decided they were too bold.

As of right now, I have finished redoing half of them and the design is much improved. A good judgment call, successful ripping and I am pleased with the results.

December 18, 2024 Wednesday

Happy Birthday to one of Needlework's Enduring Treasures: have a super day, Pat Correz.

Doesn't seem possible that another year has gone by and soon we will approach the quarter mark of the 'new century.'

I realize, there is only so much time in a day and I can either work on my Queen or clean up the remnants of my sale. Guess which I've been choosing.

I have some personal chores today (a couple of nice ones) but as time permits, I will be revising tiny motifs and restitching them. Ripping is such an integral  part of the stitching experience that I just give into it and think, oh well, if I rip it, I can fix it and make it better. Taking the positive view.

December 17, 2024 Tuesday

Yesterday I spent the whole day drawing little lines in Illustrator and harmonizing the first three of my Oversize Graphs in what will likely be my must industrious set of instructions. The Queen is large and detailed.

No, I haven't yet finished the stitching, I'm guessing I have a month, maybe longer, to go.

I know, I know, this is not for today's market, where people want smaller, less expensive geometrics, patterns only, with all sorts of options and chances to use one's stash.

OK, my plan is to do some of those too, but for now I am totally focused on a project that is the direct opposite. Wish me luck, will you? I must say, I have enjoyed the challlenge of making her come to life.

On with my day. Enjoy yours!

December 16, 2024 Monday

Long hours already this morning with Illustrator open to my Oversize Graphs for my Queen.  I am far enough along now to start coordinating my sketchings and turning them into my instructions. I'm guessing I will spend all day long drawing little symbols and coordinating them across the first six Oversize Graphs.

It is a tedious job but I am glad I am far enough along to start. It means I am approaching the final stages of stitching. As such I have only three areas without at least one layer of stitches.

This is my 116th day, just 9 days  before Christmas. Hard to believe that 2024 has gone by so quickly and that next year marks the 1/4 mark of this century gone by. Do you remember Y2K and all the fuss about our computers making the transition to the new century? Hard to believe that was a quarter century ago.

Getting Old and Older.... So be it.

December 15, 2024 Sunday

I had a delightful birthday! It started off in the morning with an incredible find. I was straightening and discarding in preparation for my tyrant cleaning lady. I was ripping up papers and discarding them and I tore up one without looking carefully at it.

It caught my eye and suddenly I realized it was a list of threads and colors and amounts for my Queen's face!

I didn't remember making the list but was more than delighted to find it!  I pieced together the paper pieces and copied them TWICE!

And so began a lucky day of Friday the 13th!

Next up, I came across a headline (I like to read the headlines first thing in the morning) and I thought, I need to submit a comment. I sat and worked on it for a while and submitted it and to my delight it was accepted pronto and I had the pleasure of reading the article and the nearly 5000 comments.

Perhaps the best part of my day: so much attention to a political argument that touched my childhood and great pleasure in watching people rise up and say 'no way!'

As I said, a very nice and lucky day for me!

TO REVISIT MY SALE,

CLICK ON DRESSING HENRY

How I rip rip rip: here is a Bohin Seam Ripper. Dangerous as it can be, it makes ripping faster and less painful.

Cost: $7.00- $10.00.