Kitting a Chatelaine

This is a subject which has been occupying me faaaar too much over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd get it all down online.

Many Chatelaine designs use a variety of silk threads, both solid colours and varigated. As they're silk, this significantly adds to the cost of the project. Fortunately, Martina Weber also publishes a DMC conversion for these projects so that stitchers can choose how much they wish to spend or swap out those threads they dislike. The question of buying beads also needs to be considered as Martina normally uses Delica beads, but also produces a conversion to Mill Hill.

I've now got 2 Chatelaine projects started and will be adding a third fairly soon. Each of them has been kitted in a different way.

Project number 1 - Watergarden
Watergarden uses quite a lot of DMC threads, as well as silks, so is easier than for many other designs to get hold of all the materials. However, for this design, I chose the oprion of making a simple purchase from European Cross Stitch for all the silk threads and Delica beads. This really was the simple, easy option.

Project number 2 - Medieval Town Mandala
I started this project on my birthday but have made little progress to date as I discovered I have a couple of threads missing. Other than that, I have all the silk threads for this project, no DMCs at all. In this case, the silks were all collected as Christmas and birthday presents from my family. I emailed them a list of the threads needed and suggested a couple of online shops to buy from. From my point of view, this worked our fine, but I have now discovered a couple of threads missing and I haven't been able to find an online source in the UK. I've now emailed European Cross Stitch who have the necessary threads and will be able to send me them.

For the beads, I bought several of the colours required on ebay, but have one colour I don't have yet. I know of one or two online shops that stock this bead colour, but it seems a bit ridiculous to pay more in postage that the actual price of the beads!

I haven't made much progress stitching this one as I discovered early on that I needed to use the threads I'm missing. I could keep going, but would prefer not to as I don't want to risk mistakes.

Project number 3 - St Petersburg White Nights
This will be a 12 month project with the chart issued in monthly installments. The materials list and DMC conversion were issued in early February and the first chart will be issued on 1st March.

For this project, I've decided to go with the DMC conversion rather than use the majority of the silks. That part at least is straightforward! The problem really is to decide which of the varigated silks to keep and which to swap for DMCs. There are some online shops and thread producers who show sufficiently detailed photos of the thread to see just how much varigation there is. Even then, it's still not as good as having the actual threads in your hand. However, I have made my choice on this basis, and I'll see how it goes.

For the beads, I've given in and simply ordered the bead pack from European Cross Stitch.



Although I've mentioned European Cross Stitch several times already, I haven't mentioned the different options they offer for kitting a Chatelaine. For St Petersburg, they offer full kits with all fabric, threads and beads. You can get a kit without the fabric, without the solid colour silks, or just the bead pack. On other designs, you can order only the silk threads. I see that Needlecraft Corner too offers a similar service for some Chatelaine designs, althout I've never bought from them at all.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that, for me, European Cross Stitch is the answer. In future, I may just opt for a full kit minus solid coloured silks and fabric - the other ways are too much hassle!

It's a mystery!

This year, I've joined my first mystery group with Carol Tinson at Heirloom Embroideries. The mystery for the first half of this year, is a sampler which can either be stitched as a sampler with a drawn thread border, or finished as a huswif. I've chosen to work on the huswif as I've never made something like that before.

If you don't know what a huswif is, it's a kind of old fashioned, stitched, folding sewing case. There are some lovely photos of a sailor's huswif here (front) and here (back). Modern huswifs have also been designed by the Needle's Prayse and Sampler Cove (see the Quaker Huswif and Today's Heirloom Collection).

The reason it's a mystery is that when you start, you don't know what the design will look like. As you go along, parts of the design are revealed, but only those that you're currently working on, so that it's not until you complete the design that you know what it looks like! The risk is that you may not like the final design.

I stitched a number of Carol Tinson's designs last year, and I like most of her designs, I felt the risk of not liking the mystery design was fairly minimal.

My favourite - Carol's Peachy biscornu

In joining the mystery group, I paid for both the chart(s), instructions and all the materials required. Carol usually offers excellent value for money, so I was quite happy to do so.

The first installment arrived round about the 7th February and I was certainly not disappointed! My pack contained an introductory letter, full and detailed instructions for this part of the design, a chart for this installment as well as materials - Hand Dyed Fibres silk threads by Vikki Clayton, a one-off hand dyed linen from Polstitches and a little gold needle.

My first step was to oversew the linen using my sewing machine to stop it fraying while I'm stitching. By the middle of last week, after finishing 4 Wishes, I was ready to get started.

As usual, Carol's instructions are very comprehensive and beautifully presented and laid out. The variety of stitches used looks intriguing and will offer some challenge to achieve.

The colours are all beautiful in antique green, red/pink and gold. The fabric complements the threads very nicely, varying in colour from similar to the HDF Verdigris to more of a parchment colour. I'll be very interested to see the effect of the shading of the fabric as mine seems to be fairly dark at the top and the threads don't stand out particularly.

I've also found the Vikkii Clayton silks and the linen very luxurious to stitch with - they feel wonderful in my hands. I'm using silk on other projects (my Chatelaines) they don't feel nearly so good! The little gold needle too just seems to add to the luxury. So a good experience so far.

My only small small gripe is the alphabet band which may be continued through the design. I'm just not particularly keen on alphabet samplers. However, it's early days and far too soon to judge without seeing any more of the design.

Now I just need to remember to go and pay my February installment .......

Couldn't resist this one .....

You scored as Luna Lovegood. You're an extreme introvert and because of this, are also a deep thinker. You ponder things others would never dream of pondering and stand with your beliefs without backing down. You find it more valuable to daydream than to socialize, because there's so much more going on in your head than others'. Most people don't understand it, but you seem to prefer it that way. Luna Lovegood 78% Albus Dumbledore 72% Ron Weasley 69% Sirius Black 69% Remus Lupin 66% Hermione Granger 66% Neville Longbottom 59% Oliver Wood 53% Lord Voldemort 53% Severus Snape 53% Bellatrix Lestrange 47% Percy Weasley 25% Harry Potter 19% Draco Malfoy 19% Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test created with QuizFarm.com

Oooh - just noticed I'm more like Lord Voldemort that Harry Potter! At least I'm more like Remus Lupin that Voldemort - kind of makes up for it!

A finish!

I was really pleased over the weekend to finish my ‘4 Wishes’ from Just Nan.

I started this piece full of enthusiasm last August, but ran out of steam towards the end of September before I’d even finished the winter section. I picked it up again at the start of January and have been working on it regularly in my lunch hours at work. (Yes, I am sad enough to take stitching to work with me, breaks up a boring, unfulfilling day!)

I made one or two changes to the charted design, firstly by stitching the white border using 3 strands of B5200. Looking back, I think this was due to inexperience on my part as I had not done much stitching on linen prior to August. Looking at the design now, I know that 2 strands would have been enough.

My second change was to alter one of the two squirrels in the autumn section to a more red colour using DMC3826. Red squirrels are native to the UK and now under considerable threat from the American greys. The Forestry Commission has some interesting information on the red squirrel here and includes information on where it is possible to see reds. Most of the sites listed are in Scotland, but I know that the grey squirrels are encroaching further and the reds face serious threat. Hence my wish to include a red squirrel in my 4 Wishes.

In terms of my stitching experience, I found it at times frustrating to be constantly changing thread colours. Any one thread might only be used for a small number of stitches in one of the seasonal bands and each season used a different range of colours - not a cost-effective use of thread. I’m sure this design could be stitched just as constructively and produce an equally lovely result through using fewer colours.

Although I like the umbrella and bee hive charms, I was disappointed in the beads to be added to the design. The beads included in the embellishment pack are tiny and I’m not certain that they really add anything to the overall design. In my view, if embellishments are to be added to a design, they should add to the overall effect and be visible in the finished item. I'm not sure that this is the case with the beads used here - too many of them just disappear into the background and add little to the overall effect.


In the finished design, I'm also slightly disappointed in the effect of the fabric colour. A lot of the threads used are pastel colours and I'm not convinced that they stand out enough on the fabric.


Overall, I enjoyed stitching this design, particularly after I picked it up again in January. I enjoyed the variety of stitches used, although it did take a little while to get used to the linen. However, after finishing spring I did start to get a little bored – once you get that far, there is little new challenge to be faced in completing the design.

Winter/Spring


Summer/Autumn

40 years ago on Monday ........

Your Birthdate: February 12

You're a dynamic, charismatic person who's possibly headed for fame. You tend to charm strangers easily. And you usually can get what you want from them. Verbally talented, you tend to persuade people with your speaking and writing. You are affectionate and loving, but it's hard for you to commit to any one relationship. Your strength: Your charm Your weakness: Your extreme manipulation tactics Your power color: Indigo Your power symbol: Four leaf clover Your power month: December

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

I got these ........ and these ........

and lots of other lovely gifts! My husband also organised a surprise party for me which really was a complete surprise. So thanks to everyone who came to the party, particularly my mum, dad and sister - I really appreciate it!

Enlarging PDF charts

After downloading your Chatelaine chart, the first task that faces you is to print it out. If you simply print the relevant pdf document, you'll end up with a chart which is unreadable, except with a magnifying glass. The trick with the pdf file is to enlarge the design using Adobe Reader's snapshot tool and either print the snapshot immediately, or copy the enlarged section to another (word processed) document. Instructions and advice on enlarging charts can be found at the Chatelaine bulletin board on ezboard. The discussion is also added to as new versions of Reader become available.

Additionally, if you join one of the Chatelaine groups on Yahoo, such as Chatelaine Design Support, then instructions can also be downloaded from there. If you still have problems, then both at ezboard and on Yahoo, you'll find a bunch of friendly stitchers more than happy to help.

I believe that the way in which Martina supplies her designs as pdf documents that you can enlarge so readily is very good. Many of the paper based charts you can buy are so small that, although still readable, they can make it harder for you to follow the chart. The advantage of these pdf based charts is that it is entirely up to you how large you print the chart. Of course, the disadvantage is the number of pages you end up printing the chart out on.

However, the biggest disadvantage of these pdf based charts is that it can be incredibly fiddly and time consuming working out exactly how you do want to print the chart and how large you want the symbols to be. You're also printing each page of the pdf document on to multiple sheets of paper and need to make sure you keep track of how all these pages fit together - no small task! This makes printing charts very complicated and heavy going for those who aren't so familiar with the workings of a pc.

But - don't be discouraged - it really is worth it! If you do have problems printing out your chart - come on to ezboard or the Yahoo group and just ask!

I've printed out my chart slightly larger than I would normally use a chart and , for the first time, I'm using a marker pen to mark off stitches as I do them - the larger chart gives me more space to do this without making a mess of the rest of the chart. So far it's working well.

To be continued ...........

Edited at 5.20pm

It's just been posted on ezboard that one contributer has just written some new instructions for enlarging charts with Adobe Reader 8 - see here for the instructions - and thanks to the person who wrote them!

Chatelaine for beginners

Last week, I started Watergarden by Martina Weber of Chatelaine Designs.

It really is a lovely design, with beautiful shades of blue. It will be my first large Chatelaine design, although I have completed one of her freebies, Tiny Rose Garden. Watergarden is considerably larger than the freebie, at 237 x 237 stitches, working out at 14.8 x 14.8inches stitched over two on 32 count fabric.

I bought my chart directly from Martina Weber, the designer, via her website, Chatelaine Designs. This is an instant access chart where, after payment, you are sent a hyperlink to the area of the website to download the chart. A password is also provided. At the time when I purchased my chart, Martina was having problems with her ISP and was in the process of moving to a new server. She warned me initially of the problems she was having and when the link she sent me didn’t work, I contacted her. She couldn’t have been more helpful in ensuring I got my chart, even sending a copy by email and following up with a new download location.

The file I received was a zip file containing 5 pdf documents and a jpg image. To view the pdfs, Adobe Reader is normally required. The jpg image can be viewed a number of ways, through image viewers, web browsers or even by pasting into a word processed document. The files are:

• General instructions


• Materials list


• Black and white chart


• Colour chart


• Introductory note


• Image of the design

The general instructions include any detailed instructions for specialist stitches to use and for beading.

Unlike many Chatelaine designs, Watergarden uses many DMC threads as well as silk thread from Needlepoint Inc, Caron Collection, Thread Gatherer and Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid. The design also requires 11 colours of Delica beads, and two shades of Swarovski crystals.

Materials lists for all Chatelaine designs can be viewed at the Chatelaine Supply Lists website. The American distributor for Chatelaine Designs, European Crosstitch Company, also supplies kits for those designs available.

It is possible to use DMC threads for this design rather than the Needlepoint Inc silks as the conversion is given with the materials list. In my case, however, I've chosen to follow Martina's recommendation and use the NPIs as I've never used them before. My fabric is Zweigart 32 count Murano - Lurex fabric in pearl flecked white (bought from Sew and So). I bought the beads and silks threads from European Crosstitch Company.

Week 1 WIP.

To be continued ...........

Quick catch up

Just a quick catch up with some stitching from the end of last year.

First my dad's birthday/Christmas present -

And the framed version -

It's my customised version of 'For Father' by JBW Designs. I am really pleased with this one as I framed it myself. The frame too I really like, although it was all bought and done on the cheap!

I did another customised version of 'For Father' for my brother, but changed the colours (using blues) and the wording. I don't unfortunately, have a photo of that one.

I also stitched for my mother's Christmas present, again a customised JBW design. This time it's 'Grandfathers: Love and Cherish'. I left off the words and changed the colours to 3 shades of pink. I stitched it twice, added some beads, and then finished it as a biscornu.

Front -

Back -

More on this year's stitching later.

Photo Hunt blogroll

Bad Blogger

I've been feeling rather stressed out over the last few weeks and blogging and reading all those happy cheerful beautifully stitched blogs has just been too depressing, so I've been a bag blogger! I hate all those stitchers who turn out an exquisitely finished piece every week, when I'm struggling to find the odd half hour to put in a couple of stitches!

Saying that, though, I have finished a number of things over the last month, myself!

Here's my biscornu from the SAL at the Jayne's Attic Forum -

The buttons weren't in the original design, they were just my way of customising it!

I also finished Carol Tinson's Filigree -

I have framed this one, but don't have the photos to hand.

I also did this for my son's 6th birthday -

November is a popular time in my family for birthday with my Dad and son having theirs on the same day. It was also my gran's birthday in November, my future brother-in-law's and my ex-sister-in-law's!

We had a lovely party at home on Saturday for my Dad as it was his 70th. I also stitched something for him, but was a bit late in finishing, so didn't get round to taking a photo before I gave it to him!

Ta-da!

Here's my completed Peachy, and I'm really proud of him too!

.....

The slideshow comes courtesy of Photobucket.

Edited 30 mins later -

OK - I give up! I have a lovely little slideshow on Photobucket that just won't work when I paste the TAG code here!!!!!*$$$?**! Boo!! Here's a photo instead.

You should be able to see the slideshow here.

If anyone from Photobucket's looking, here's what happens with the slideshow. Straight copy & paste of the TAG info -

I had a bit of fun taking the photos, how do you like my 'studio'? Although I don't think tissues wrapped round spotlights is entirely safe, somehow!

I hate reading!

Oh, I really hate reading - it disrupts my life faaaaaar too much. Problem is, when I get started I just get obsessed and find it completely impossible to even think about anything else.

I started reading Jennifer Chiaverini's The Quilter's Apprentice yesterday and here I am now at work and I can't think about anything except quilting! And it's not even as if I've actually done any quilting, it's just something I'd love to try.

But it's like this with almost every book I read, with a new Harry Potter, you won't see me at all for as long as it takes to read the entire book, and when I finish, I'm devastated that it's over!

I wonder if it's rather childish of me to invest so much of myself in a piece of fiction, or perhaps it's a reflection of how unsatisfying and un-fulfilling a major part of my life is (ie. work). But dabbling in one craft/subject/interest for a few years before moving on to the next one isn't exactly a constructive way of building a career with a reasonable income. So I don't see how I can continue doing anything other than I've being doing since I entered paid employment......

Slow news week

Not much going on here so I had a play around and changed my template here - I do like this one now! It's a mixture of a Pannasmontata layout and a web template from Enchanting Designz, with artwork by Stephanie Law.

On the stitching front, I'm having a lot of ups and downs. I've more or less given up on stitching anything big as I've just not been enjoying my 4 wishes. I also started Red Velvet from Blue Ribbon Designs thinking that the change might be what I needed, but I haven't particularly enjoyed it either.

On the plus side, I'm thoroughly enjoying stitching my Peachy biscornu! I've finished all the beading and I think I'll start putting it together at the end of the week. I'm also starting another biscornu SAL with the Stitch and Stash board.

The only down side of the biscornus is that my son has taken a fancy to Peachy and wants to use it as a cushion for his lego men! So I may have to make one for him specially!

I've now also worked out a couple of my own small designs which I need to get stitching so as to refine the initial design and work on some embellishment.

The weather has been very dull this week, and given that it's now starting to get dark when I get home from work, I haven't been able to upload any new photos recently. I really want to build myself a light box as shown here, which will mean I won't have to wait for sunshine to get a decent photo!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Musical Intelligence

Every part of your life has a beat, and you're often tapping your fingers or toes. You enjoy sounds of all types, but you also find sound can distract you at the wrong time. You are probably a gifted musician of some sort - even if you haven't realized it. Also a music lover, you tend to appreciate artists of all kinds. You would make a great musician, disc jockey, singer, or composer.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Eulogy for my Grandmother

This Eulogy was written by my father and read by him at Gran's funeral in March 2003. I've added a few comments in brackets.

Margaret Kirkwood Lambert was born on 18th November 1903. The youngest of five children of Rev John Chisholm Lambert and his wife Kate. Due to illness her Father had been forced to give up the ministry and by the time she was born the family had moved to Fenwick to live near her Mother’s brother, Jack, who was minister there.

As the youngest, she may have been spoilt by the others. As a child when I was unwell, my Mother would tell me of the games her two elder brothers, George and Willie, would play with her to keep her entertained when she was ill. She was very fond of her brothers so that it was a very painful time for her when they were killed in the 1st World War. Her Father also died at that time reducing the family to her Mother and two sisters, Katie and Elsie. They were a strong Christian family, heavily involved in church affairs, getting and giving support through the war years. I think my grandfather must have been a very remarkable man and a considerable influence on my Mother and the rest of the family for the way they survived such a difficult period. Mother’s greatest tribute to him was to have me named after him. Initially this was a nuisance to me – as a child I had great difficulty in spelling Chisholm correctly. Now I consider it an honour.

Once Mother had finished schooling she went to the College of Domestic Science in Glasgow. In those days ladies were trained to be housewives and mothers. Mother was an excellent cook and baker, though whether she learned the skill in College or at home where there were other excellent cooks I do not know.

Between the wars, Mother also went off on holiday to the South of France acting as companion to her aunt (I think this would be Aunt Peggy - Margaret Fairlie). So when I eventually took my family abroad it was only to find out that she had been there and done that long before me!

In 1929, after the death of her uncle Jack (Rev. John Kirkwood Fairlie), a young brash Glaswegian, George Allan, came to Fenwick and, despite rejecting him three times, Mother and he were eventually married in 1932. They moved to Port Glasgow and started bringing up their family of four. It was now another difficult time with the start of the 2nd World War and raising a family before the days of antibiotics gave much concern. During air raids, I have been told I would sit on the cellar steps going “Boom, Boom”, every time a bomb fell. The children were soon evacuated back to Fenwick to stay with their cousins but Mother and Father stayed and were involved in various supportive ways in the community.

In 1946, the family moved to Lanark. Father always considered himself extremely fortunate to be called to Cairns Church. In those days there was considerable competition for a vacant charge – changed days indeed! There was a lovely manse with a large garden and surrounding countryside which they greatly enjoyed.

How did Mother cope?
A family of four – three of them boys!
A large house which was always kept tidy, apart from Father’s study and darkroom.
A garden which she enjoyed and would have liked to spend more time in.
Heavily involved in church affairs and charitable works.

One of {my sister's) memories is of Mother in Lanark preparing for Guild meetings and hearing her pacing up and down, reading out loud a prayer or text, which she would use at the evening meeting. This was a duty she did not enjoy, but did admirably. Through Mother, (my wife) remembers being involved in Meals on Wheels and charity collections.

When ever we smelt cooking in the kitchen, we would ask Mother what visitors were expected. Lots of Committee meetings took place in the manse as well as all the other callers we had. When a church coffee morning was held a special request came to Mother – “Would she bake scones?” – they were renowned. No coffee morning was without them. The manse was a very welcoming place to all visitors. This applied to the family’s friends too. At one time George’s and my friends gathered every Sunday afternoon for cards in the lounge!

Father’s hobby was photography. Rather a messy hobby. Photographic prints frequently lying in the bath! Mother took this in her stride and took great pride in his achievements, proud of the lectures and pleasure the photographs gave people.

Having been brought up in the countryside, Mother enjoyed the outdoor life – she and Father started caravanning before the war and continued after the war. This enjoyment she has passed on to her family.

When Father retired in 1966, they moved to North Berwick and enjoyed 20 years of retirement making many friends. Theirs was a long and very happy marriage. Now they were being visited by the grandchildren. All holidays for the grandchildren involved some time at North Berwick. I know they all have very fond memories of their grandparents there. My family always remember Grandpa appearing at the caravan at Yellowcraig with a poke of fish and chips for them!

After Father’s death, Mother moved to Ponteland, first to Dunsgreen and then to Abbeyfield House. Again her very strong faith helped to carry her through sad events and cope with another upheaval in her life. Here she was close to (her daughter) and her family. Watching them growing up and being involved in some of their activities gave her a lot of pleasure.

Mother had a gift for getting on with people. She had many friends where ever she had stayed. When she arrived in Ponteland in 1986, she was over 80 and she made the effort to get to know people around her. She made and enjoyed strong friendships. She became part of the Church here but also joined the Methodist Guild where again she had a circle of friends. Many members of the congregation here have written expressing admiration for Mother, and I know that at church in Lanark on Sunday there will be many similar comments.

Abbeyfied House became her home. She had good friends there and we cannot thank the staff enough for their help and assistance to her. She also enjoyed pottering in the garden there, whether the Committee approved or not! She and Rita could always hide in the bushes if the Committee arrived unexpectedly.

For many Mothers age, it is said that they have outlived their contemporaries and friends. Mother had outlived her contemoraries but she was still making friends and was still looking forward. The last time I visited her at Abbeyfield, she was saying that it was time to reduce the photographs of grandchildren from her room and replace them with photos of great grandchildren. Photographs were important to her in her last years. She enjoyed looking through her albums, reliving her memories of her life and her family and updating with photographs of the next generation.

Throughout her long life, she had a very strong Christian faith and was a devout member of the church. She was an example to us all and a very very hard act to follow.

Today is really a celebration of a long happy fruitful journey. She did not quite make the 100th birthday – that would have been a celebration! But that does not matter, as a family we are very proud of her – we loved her dearly - she was a gracious and remarkable lady.

Wish I had time to do quilting........

...... but I have little enough time to do and to organise my stitching as it it. For now, just take a look at Sharon b's Crazy Quilt project or 8 inch crazy quilt blocks, or I dropped the button box crazy quilt. Aren't they beautiful? I'm trying not to drool too much!

Maybe I'll start doing a bit of reading on quilting and try a few small items. It has always been the other needlework areas that has attracted me most, but looks more complicated to get started on than cross stitch. I don't know that I could go much further than something small, as it would probably mean getting out the sewing machine which I don't think my husband or son would appreciate while they're trying to watch TV or sleep!

Next time we move house (at some vague undetermined point in the future) I would really love to have my own study or craft room where I could just spread out all my books, CDs, family history stuff and my stitching stash!

In the mean time, I'm going to try a little bit of embroidery design myself, so we'll see what happens.

Peachy weekend

Back at work now after a fantastic weekend's stitching! I'd been so down on stitching last week, it was such a relief to get the bug back on Friday evening and I spent lots of time working on my Peachy biscornu. I could have done more, but as it's a SAL, I thought I'd wait for Friday's instructions and give myself something to look forward to next weekend. Here's a piccie of the front -

We also had a great family afternoon on Saturday at the golf range. My son had a sulk because he couldn't hit the ball as far as me or his dad! But we've all signed up now for some lessons at the end of the month which I'm really looking forward to. I played a lot of gold as a junior, but not a lot over the last 20 years, which is a shame because I really enjoy it.

My son and I also shared our first cycling expedition on Sunday morning. My husband doesn't have a bike so he wasn't allowed to come. We went to a local park which is just out of walking range and which we would normally visit by car. Once at the park we cycled around and played at the play area and visited a small nature reserve before cycling home again. Parks like this aren't generally my favourite place to visit but I really enjoyed being able to do this with my son and is exactly the reason why I own a bike!

Weekly round-up

Haven't been much in the mood for blogging this week as I've been feeling a bit down and as a result have had rather a frustrating time.

Stitching is going slowly as I haven't been enjoying it so much, but I've now finished the main part of the dinosaurs. Here was me feeling really pleased with myself over finishing, but my son was distinctly unimpressed and informed me that I haven't done the border yet, and that I've still to put his name on it! Hey-ho - that's 5 year olds for you!

Here's a piccie - I'm rather pleased with it, even if no one else is!

I also had a frustrating time starting my Peachy Biscornu - couldn't count my stitches and couldn't get all my crosses lying in the same direction. I also started railroading as I was getting rather fed up with the way my thread kept twisting.

And I've now succumbed to the temptation to start kitting something new and am finishing off kitting up Genny Morrow's Nova. When I get started, I just hope I enjoy it!

On Wednesday, I posted my contribution to the Stitch and Stash forum's Personality Thread exchange where you send your exchange partner a skein of thread along with a 'life history' for that skein. It was fun writing the life history - I hope my partner likes it!

I also signed up for the Stitch and Stash Christmas gift exchange which will be fun!

Now for some blogthings -

You Are a Seeker Soul

You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges. You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions. Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist. Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!). Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others. And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you. You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically. Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas. Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

You Are Rain

You can be warm and sexy. Or cold and unwelcoming. Either way, you slowly bring out the beauty around you. You are best known for: your touch Your dominant state: changing

What Type of Weather Are You?

Not fair - I wanted to be lightening

Yay! It's the Ryder Cup!

Come on Europe!

Captain - Ian Woosnam


Darren Clarke
Paul Casey
Luke Donald
Sergio Garcia
Padraig Harrington
David Howell
Robert Karlsson
Paul McGinley
Colin Montgomerie
José Maria Olazábal
Henrik Stenson
Lee Westwood

A little family history - Alexander Colin Stewart

My maternal grandfather was Alexander Colin Stewart, born in Lanark in the south of Scotland on 12 Apr 1908. He was the second son of John Stewart and Margaret Isabella Henry who were married in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, in August 1903.

Between 1913 and 1926, Colin attended Lanark Grammar School before studying at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow (now part of Strathclyde University). In 1931 he graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Civil Engineering. For the next 2 years he completed his apprenticeship under Mr J.T. Babtie. He then went to work for the Road Research Laboratory as an Assistant Engineer where his work mainly involved the use of concrete for roads. In 1934, he also became an Assocate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

In Lanark on 10 July 1935 Colin married Gladys Farquhar. At the time, he was living at 12 Marion Road, Southsea, Hampshire and was working for the Admitralty. Gladys lived with her mother in Lanark and commuted to work in Glasgow.

In 1938, Colin was sent to work overseas and he and his wife went to live in Singapore where their son was born, returning to England in 1939. While in Singapore, Colin's work involved building bridges. After their return to the UK, the family lived for a time in Petersfield, Hampshire, but by mid 1942, Colin had been sent to work in Scotland and the family moved to 104 East King Street, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire.

In August 1942 Colin and Gladys's daughter was born in Glasgow. However, not long after moving to Helensburgh, Colin was again posted overseas. On 28 November 1942, he boarded the MV Henry Stanley in Liverpool, en route for Freetown, South Africa, possibly on his way to the Singapore area.

By 1942, the Germans and Italians had virtually closed the Mediterranean to Allied shipping and all merchant ships went round the Cape of Good Hope. Any journey to Singapore would therefore have been via South Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope, then to Mombasa, Kenya, across the Indian Ocean to Colombo or Trincomalee in Sri Lanka and then through the Malacca Strait to the North of Sumatra. Refuelling and re-provisioning stops may have taken place in South Africa and Sri Lanka.

There is a slight paradox here as the Japanese captured Singapore in February 1942. It is unlikely that Colin would therefore have been heading Singapore itself after then, certainly not in December.

However, on 5th December, the Henry Stanley was torpedoed by a u-boat (U103) and sank fairly quickly. The crew and passengers took to the lifeboats, heading for the Azores. The u-boat later surfaced and took the Henry Stanley's captain prisoner. During the night, a gale blew up, accompanied by heavy snow squalls. The U-boat commander decided to pursue the lifeboats to see if they needed assistance. However, the submarine shipped a heavy sea which flooded her engine-room and the chase was abandoned. Nothing further was heard of the four lifeboats and their crews, and it was presumed that they lost their lives in the storm.

Blogthings

You Are Grape

You are bold and a true individual. You are very different and very okay with that. People know you as a straight shooter. You're very honest, even when the truth hurts. You are also very grounded and practical. No one is going to sneak anything by you. People enjoy your fresh approach to life. And it's this honesty that makes you a very innovative person.

What Color Purple Are You?

You Should Be A Pisces

What's good about you: carefree and compassionate, you are truly light hearted What's bad about you: when things get bad, you tend to retreat and not let others in In love: you're a true romantic - it's flowers, bubble baths, and candles all the way In friendship, you're: eager to lend a sympathetic ear and likely to develop a deep connection Your ideal job: bartender, magician, or secret agent Your sense of fashion: simple clothes that don't distract from your personality You like to pig out on: seafood - from fish sticks to salmon

What Sign Should You Be?

Well, I am only a week out of being a Pisces ......

Yet more lovely stash......

It seems like I'm not content with all my new stash from the end of last week - I had a good post day yesterday with two lovely parcels of goodies arriving with the postie!

Firstly, my ebay stash, including "Flowers on the Square" by Elizabeth's Designs which I've been after for a while. You can see it stitched up as a beautiful biscornu here.

Secondly, I got a parcel of goodies from Carol Tinson. Her Peachy biscornu is really beautiful and the SAL for it starts at the end of the week. I'm quite excited about this and looking forward to getting started. Also, her charts are beautifully presented and printed on really good quality paper with laminated covers - I'm very impressed by that alone - she really does offer value for money! Thanks Carol!

I really do need to take a break from all this stashing and do some serious stitching!

Updated WIPs

There are now a couple of updated WIP photos in my photo album -

4 Wishes (Just Nan) -

I had been struggling with this one a bit. Not sure why - perhaps it's the linen, perhaps the constantly changing colours. At the moment, I'm looking forward to getting back to it. You may notice that I have added some of the beads, but I was in too much of a hurry and they're not lying nicely at all. I'll be taking them off to redo. I suspect that I'm not going to make my deadline of completing it by the end of October!

Tiny Rose Mandala (Chatelaine) -

I also made reasonably good progress on Bright Skies last week and am enjoying stitching on it. However, the dinosaurs suffered last week from a complete lack of enthusiasm!

I'm now also having doubts about my stitched Christmas presents - do my friends and neighbours really want that sort of gift? Is it the sort of thing they'll like? Will they really appreciate them? The answers to these questions are probably all yes and no!

A Grand Day Out (a la Wallace and Gromit)

Had a great day at the Knitting and Stitching Show at the NEC last Friday. I’ve never been to anything like that before so I was really looking forward to it. I went prepared for the worst, ie. not being able to move for the crowds, but fortunately for me, it was not busy and I was able to wander round having a really good look at everything I wanted to see. I realise that this isn’t necessarily good for the people with stands as they may not be able to recoup their costs, but from my point of view, it was ideal!

One of the highlights of the show for me was the West End Embroidery stand. I’ve admired many of the canvaswork designs on their website for some time and to see many of them in real life was amazing! The lighting on this stand was just fantastic. You get absolutely no idea from the website of the texture, colour and three dimensional nature of the different pieces. For me, the pieces by Orna Willis and Kick Back and Stitch (Terry Gifford) particularly stood out. There were also several copies of Susan Portra’s Spirit of the Southwest showing several of the different colour combinations, a copy of which chart I had promised myself.

The stand next to West End had lots of Mirabillia and Lavender & Lace designs - many of them stitched and on display. I'm not sure what it was, bit I found this stand very disappointing - none of the stitched pieces made me want to stitch them. Perhaps this stand just suffered from being next to the West End stand. But the woman who was looking after it just didn't seem interested either, and wasn't interested in chatting to punters like me!

I also did a couple of practical projects with the Cross Stitch Guild and thoroughly enjoyed both. They aren’t exactly big, spectacular pieces, but I just enjoyed doing them and finished them at home over the weekend (photo below). It was lovely to wander around the show looking at everything and then to sit down and do some stitching at chat to people before going off for another wander.

I also made one or two discoveries of pieces and designers I liked such as Sue Hawkins and the Calico Cat (can’t get into that website right now).

I bought my son a small beginners cross stitch kit as he is always interested in my stitching and wants to help - when I gave it to him he insisted on starting immediately!

Of course, I also bought quite a few things which I’m really looking forward to getting started on, but I’d better finish off at least one of the pieces I’m currently working on before I do. I rather suspect that my mother is going to get an all stitched Christmas present.

Stash from West End Embroidery, Sue Hawkins, the Calico Cat.

When I got home, I couldn't believe just how good and relaxed I felt - it was so good just to have the day to myself. I'll have to do that sort of thing more often!

Progress review

Well, it's Monday lunchtime and here I am back at work recovering from the weekend. I've decided that come weekends I'm pressurising myself far too much to get stuff done. My plan yesterday morning was to do some washing, all the ironing, and finish painting the porch. Well, I got all that done as well as changing (and vacuuming) beds, shortening two pairs of trousers and cleaning the living room. Then I wonder why I'm so stressed out I can hardly speak to my husband or son! So I'm telling myself - slow down!!

To be honest, work doesn't help - I find it very depressing. I have so little to do, no problems to solve, no challenges to overcome and basically nothing to motivate me in any way. It really isn't any surprise I spend so much time on the 'net out of sheer boredom.

On the stitching front, I did quite well with my September goals last week. A couple of weeks ago, I started stitching 'in hand' with the dinosaurs and am finding it so much faster than using a hoop or frame. I made good progress on my last dinosaur (although I haven't done anything on it today). The stitching in hand also proved useful with Bright Skies so I did well with my day's stitching on that.

However, if you're going to try stitching in hand on a symmetrical piece, take care to mark the top first! I made rather a mess of my Tiny Rose Mandala with stitches going everyway imaginable before I realised!

4 wishes is also making good progress as I've finished band 2. I'll need to get a new photo of that.


On the family front I had a phone call from one of my sisters on Saturday (I think) to let me know that she and her boyfriend got engaged on their recent holiday to Switzerland - so congratulations to them and look forward to seeing them at the start of October.

And to make this post slightly less boring, here are a couple of photos my dad took recently of one of my favourite places.

And after a little rain -

This is Corra Linn, part of the Falls of Clyde, near New Lanark. I might just get the top one printed and framed as I'd love to hang a picture of Corra Linn at home.

September goals

Not very good at this blogging thing yet! I'm always intending to come here and post something, but I always get distracted and wander off somewhere else on the web......

Anyway here are some goals for September -

1. To post here at least once a week (you can only hope)
   
2. To finish those d@mned dinosaurs (so near, yet so far!)
   
3. To stitch on Bright Skies at least once a week (so far, so good)
   
4. To stitch 4 wishes during the week (OKish, not too sure about the linen)
   
5. To stitch Tiny Rose Mandala at weekends (fine)

We'll see where that gets me at the end of the month!

I've also uploaded a whole load of photos to Photobucket, see here.