Series I'm thinking hard about signing up to do

I don't do much needlepoint; mostly because I'm not as skilled as I'd like to be in selecting stitches to fit into the design or in choosing the fibers. (Now if this were cross stitch I wouldn't forsee a problem.)

I recently "discovered" the needlepoint designer Melissa Shirley. She designed a Halloween town I really like. I don't believe she made a stitch guide for the designs (nuts!). That's why I'm thinking long and hard about signing up for this monthly subscription with Chandail http://www.chandailneedlework.com/series/halloween_village_needlepoint_series.php

It's pricey, but not really. What I like is that the kits include the canvas for a shop and a costumed person, the fibers and a stitch guide!!! Maybe I just need to not buy any new cross stitch (except for the series I've already started collecting) and use that money for the Chandail kits. Can I do that for a year?? Do I really want to?? Would I really stitch them?? Is that really a factor?? LOL

Back to thinking on it.......

Needlepoint bracelet

This is the finished bracelet. I stitched it while at the beach the first weekend in May. It's a Dimensions kit (Flair).



I've worn it a couple of times, but now I'm saving it to enter in the county fair in August.

RR progress

I'm stitching like crazy to get my part of my RR done in time for the June 1 mailing. It's 32 ct fabric and hard to use the sewing method (rather than the stab and pull method) of stitching with the Caron Wildflowers so it's slowing me down. It was important to get the edges of my piece done; I can always finish when it returns to me.

Here's where I'm at:



I'm currently working on the bat. I'd like to get the third pumpkin outlined and stitch the frog just to add more colors.

Running out of GAST

Don't you just hate to be in the middle of something and run out of thread?? I do! Especially if it's an overdyed thread like Gentle Arts Sampler Threads or Weeks Dye Works. Arrrggghhh! This happened to me Saturday night. I was doing a punch needle design and ran out of GAST Shaker White. Seems to me I buy a lot of Shaker White for my projects so all I had to do was find it. My first look was in my thread stash. I keep it in Floss-Away (R) bags on binder rings. None there. It took over half an hour to find a project kitted with Shaker White. Very frustrating! However, it was plenty to do my punch needle and I don't have to take off work to go buy some or incur large shipping fees to have it mailed from an INS.

Jane

Trying to post a progress picture

by likeherdingcats
Let's see if this works. This is my progress pic for the RR (round robin) I'm in. We mail in June. Hmmmmm. Seems like a lot of gobbledygook! I'm crossing my fingers and toes as I click on "publish".

Back from vacation

I spent a long weekend at Ocean City, MD, last weekend. Very nice weather! I like going to Springfest and I had tickets to the concert for The Grassroots and Davy Jones at the Inlet parking lot. Even though it rained during the concert, we were inside and the weather did not adversely affect the shows. Amazing how I still knew most of the words to songs I haven't heard in ages!

Coming into town by way of the Delaware beaches I stopped off at Sea Needles. Bought the Crabby New Year Apr-Jun by Raise the Roof Designs. That was the only item on my list for the trip. HA! ;) I also picked up a Dimensions needlepoint bracelet kit in the color Flair. This was a quick stitch and fun to do. I've worn it twice already.

Friday I couldn't resist stopping at Salty Yarns. There were lots of stitchers in the shop who came for the retreat held by Salty Yarns. Nice to see stitchers at work on their projects on the porch rocking chairs. I picked up the frames for Shepherd's Bush Autumn, Spring and Summer kits. I would've picked up Winter and its frame if they'd been in stock. The shop has a TON of Hinzeit chart/charm packs and Kay's Frames to match. I picked up one to stitch for my brother for Christmas or his birthday that I think he'll like. From Hinzeit I also bought Heart/Flower Sampler Necklace and Alphabet/Crow Necklace. I bought them mostly for the finishing instructions and the necklace forms although I like the heart/flower design a lot.

Sunday was gorgeous! Sunny and "breezy". I say breezy because the winds were at a steady 45 mph and gusted to 65 mph!! They cancelled Springfest for Sunday. That put a crimp in my plans as I was hoping to take the boardwalk tram to Springfest and spend several hours listening to the free music and checking out the craft vendors. Plus get one last serving of Thrasher's French fries for lunch! Instead, I just "had" to go to The Spinning Wheel in Fenwick Island, DE. (I'm still bruised where my arm was twisted. Honestly!! LOL) This was the best I've ever done here. Lots of new stash for me. I picked up the new Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers "Their Song", the fabric and WDW, Leisure Arts "Joy in the Journey" featuring all designs by Diane Williams (LHN)(half price and I've been looking for this for years on eBay), "Tree USA" by Angel Stitchin, and "Haunted Wool" by Kit & Bixby. Haunted Wool will look great on my round robin so I'll include the chart as it makes its rounds. I picked up a book on seashells that they had done models from. Looked like you could reach out and pick the shells up off the fabric! They also had driftwood-looking frames that I bought for both pieces. Back at the hotel I started Their Song. Couldn't resist! :)