2000 visits and pictures of stitching . . .

Some time this week the stat counter registered visit number 2000 to my blog. It is fun to know that I have readers and that some of you come back more than once. I also think it is interesting to see where my visitors are from, the map shows visitor locations from the end of June on.

A stitching blog should sometimes have pictures of stitching. Here is the front and back of a pincushion that I made for an exchange. It is a Whimsey & Wit design from their Charming Elegance Series. I planned to make a biscornu but quickly realized that it would be enormous so I made a stuffed square instead. It is stitched on tobacco linen with chestnut weeks dye works.

I am reading People of the Abyss by Jack London. I am familiar with his animal and adventure stories but I did not realize that he was a socialist or that he wrote social history. His descriptions of life on the East End of London at the beginning of the 20th Century are chilling. I enjoyed his description of the Coronation Parade -- all of the military and ethnic groups that were part of the British Empire at that time are represented.

News . . .

I have been in Florida for two weeks at a training class for work. I visited St. Augustine while I was there and visited the Fort Matanzas National Monument and the Garden of the Oldest House. The Chapel door at the Fort is shown in the picture, it has an interesting pattern on it.

While there I did some reading and some stitching and a little bit of knitting. I have been back since Thursday night and have gone through all of the mail, celebrated my daughter's birthday, attempted to get caught up at work, and in the yard work. I plan on doing some stitching tonight and may have some results to share tomorrow or the day after.

My first sock and my second Sumptuous Surfaces piece

I caught up with reading all of the Sumptuous Surfaces lessons this weekend and stitched my second piece. This one is more colorful and is an abstract design. It represents a lightening bolt in a rain storm. I have had lots of opportunities to watch both lightening and rain recently and I thought that it would be good way to experiment with layered stitching and beading. I used some shiny pearlized stone beads, silver bugle beads, and two sizes of seed beads. Some of the pearlized beads reflected the flash when I took the picture.

I finished my first knitted sock. I used the Rainbow Ripple pattern that is available free from Opal Yarns. The sock fits my size 8.5 (US) foot perfectly. Now I just need to knit the other sock so that I can wear them.

I also finished my first knitted dish cloth. It is really a lace sample knitted in Bernat's organic cotton but you can't tell. If I look very closely, I can see the strawberry pattern but it does not photograph well. I think I will try one more with a different lace pattern and if that one is still too hard to see, I will try larger needles.

Playing with threads

I am not the only one at my house who is working with threads. We have a very industrious spider who has taken up residence outside the sliding glass door. I took this photograph of the spider and her web this morning -- she is getting fat eating all of the bugs that are attracted to the lights in our house. Every evening she makes a new web making the spider the most ambitious stitcher in the house.

I have been doing some needlework. I have made progress on my rainbow ripple sock and finished part 4 of Chatelaine's Elizabethan Sweetbag but I have made the most progress on my monochrome piece for the sumptuous surfaces class. I used some agate chip beads to cover the book with and combined them with bullion stitches in one of the variegated colors of DMC pearl cotton. I also used the same pearl cotton in seed stitch on the inside of the coffee cup. I like the texture from the stones. It contrasts well with the pulled stitches. Right now the border is empty, I have not decided whether I should leave it that way or not. Now that it is covered with the stones, the book is a much less defined object. It could be a treasure chest or just a pile of things sitting near the coffee cup.