The Pinkeep

I really appreciate everyone's wonderful comments about my first pinkeep attempt! Hands down, it was suggested to leave the pink. That made me feel much better about the ribbon and I followed Laura's suggestion to tuck it away overnight and look at it with fresh eyes this morning. Ultimately, I've decided to leave it alone. :)

Also, Mercy asked about the floss I used. I used regular old DMC floss - colors 167, 470, and 3688.

And Michele asked about the bow. Andrea posted instructions just the other day for her fun little bow here. Isn't it precious? I love the little loop at the top! Andrea's blog is so lovely and I enjoy her little details. It was so nice of her to publish instructions so even I could look like I had some kind of trick up my sleeve :)

Progress

Thank you to everyone who has commented in response to my many questions in my previous entry. I still haven't exactly decided what to do about my floss storage but baggies are definitely something I am considering. And I did alright finishing my backstitching when I personalized the "gift tag" last night. I found a font that has some regular cross stitches, so that helped too. But when I finished the "R" I made good use of everyone's suggestion to weave the tail back in. It worked very well! Thank you all!

Yesterday I had a fun first - I made my very first tassel! I keep seeing little hand-made tassels in everyone's finishings and I found some instructions online here. When I first read through them I thought for sure I was doomed. But it was actually much easier than it seemed when I actually got to it. I used the same DMC floss I used to stitch the piece so it would all coordinate. For me, the hardest part was getting the bottom relatively straight when I trimmed it. But I think it turned out well. And I even followed the cording instructions to make a little cording for the hanger part. I have the bird all trimmed up now and ready to pair with a back. I will be personalizing that today and hopefully get it all put together by the time I go to bed tonight! Here's what I have done:


Yes, I know the "obbie" is one stitch too many away from the "R." Is it obvious? And if so, does it look terrible? I could frog the "R" and move it over one. I don't know if I should bother or not.

But I do have (another) question. Should I have done the backstitching around the outside over 1? I'm worried I won't be able to get my needle through it to attach it to the back if I do so I went ahead and did it over 2, but I'm having second thoughts about that decision. Any suggestions?

Questions from The Beginner

So I'm getting around to personalizing the little bird gift tag I'm stitching for a baby shower this weekend. I want to put baby's name on it and then put a "to/from" on the back. The problem is, I can't figure out how to start or finish lettering that is entirely backstitched and not near regular cross-stitches to tuck the ends under. When I did the lettering on the Peace of God project - I'll be honest - I knotted the thread. I could think of no better way to handle it. Is there an alternative?

And where does everyone get the pretty alphabets they use to sign their work? Is there a book or anything that anyone can recommend?

While I'm on the topic of asking questions, I have one more to throw out there for anyone/everyone who reads this modest blog. How do you store your threads? I have some "specialty threads" coming and that is new for me. I've only acquainted myself with DMC thread. I've been storing those on paper bobbins. Should I be using the plastic bobbins instead? Or should I not be using bobbins at all? And should I store specialty threads the same way I store DMC? It looks like many people store them hanging on "thread drops." Is that a better alternative? And if so, how do you keep them from collecting dust? Wow, that was quite a series of questions. Sorry to overwhelm!

Michele asked what goodies I ordered from eHandcrafts. I ordered the Love and Faithfulness Thread Pack from LHN, A Place We Call Home from CCN, and all the specialty threads I need to complete the CCN design and two other patterns I have (Gingerbread Cottage from CCN and Peach Tree Cottage from LHN). Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks are hands-down my favorite designers to look at. I haven't completed a single one of their designs but I love the way they look. They're so simple and lovely. I am really enjoying watching Michele work on Gingerbread Cottage! It sure is coming along!

And finally, I've been trying really hard to get over my insecurities about commenting on everyone's blogs. I have a long list of blogs I check daily for updates and I feel like the best way to acclimate myself with the stitching-blogger world is to go ahead and comment on the wonderful entries. But I have this fear of commenting - like who on earth am I to comment on anyone else's work (even if they're all positive comments)? I really need to get over that.

Snow Day

It has been snowing non-stop since Cuddle Bug and I got up this morning! It's amazing. As a native of the desert southwest, the snow fascinates and terrifies me at the same time. I opened all the blinds and we have been watching with delight all day as the snow collects. But the thought of going out in it is enough to make me want to want to go back to bed and hide under the covers! So we are definitely staying in today. Here is the view of the backyard:
I have been stitching away at the lovebird freebie on linen. It has gone pretty well. I got everything done but the border by the time I put it down last night. I'm pleased with how it has turned out.

Here's what I finished last night: And this is what I have done up until now:

I did run into a bit of a snag as I was working on the border, and now I'm dealing with a frogging dilemma. To frog or not to frog? When I got around by the "e" at the end of "love," I noticed a little error in the letter. Now I can't decide if it is going to annoy me enough to just rip out the letter and do it over. Here is the boo-boo:

See the stitch on the far right in the loop of the letter? I went one thread too far, and didn't realize when I was finishing the adjacent stitch. So the stitch on the far right goes up one too many threads, and the stitch next to the left and above it is too short. Any thoughts?

I only have about an inch on each side of the stitching since I didn't calculate the size of my fabric right. But Jennifer suggested this fabric calculator and it looks great! It takes all the guess work out of it for you by letting you put in the margins you want and the stitch count and voila it tells you how big to cut your fabric. I will definitely be using it from now on.

When I'm done with the border, this pattern I'm working on has little speckles of pink around the curvy border line - just one stitch all by itself. I figure I'll use the loop method to start off that Michele told me about, but I'm wondering how on earth I will secure the stitch at the end?? Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? How does one put a single stitch out by itself and secure the ends of the threads?

Adventures in Linen

First, I want to extend another thank you for all the wonderful comments I have been getting on this modest blog. It has increased my enthusiasm 10-fold if that was even possible! You are all so wonderful and warm. Michele told me I would feel welcome and she was absolutely right!

In other news, I ran into a wonderful new blog this morning called Snippets and Stash by someone who has reportedly been a lurking blog commenter for a while now with no blog of her own, Staci. That officially makes me not the newest stitching blogger - but still more than likely the newest stitcher. I can already tell I'm going to enjoy her blog quite a bit. She's considerably more crafty than I and now I get to oogle her work along with everyone else's!

And now on with the linen show -

Last night I stitched for the first time on linen. And even though I chickened out and didn't make it to my LNS for fancy linen (K in NY says LNS linen is nicer), I was satisfied for my first dabble in the linen world. Baby steps! I had planned to start with a Blue Ribbon Designs freebie Michele sent me, but quickly got ahead of myself and decided to try this lovebird freebie from Midsummer Night Musings since the colors are so yummy and I'm desperate for spring! It took me over 3 hours to finish the bird and that's all I have accomplished at this point. I get a little ambitious and a little over-confident. But I think I did well all things considered. Carol's advice about picturing a tic-tac-toe board proved very helpful, and it quickly became natural to stitch over-two, as everyone said it would. I didn't cut the linen as big as I feel like I should have. I used a fabric calculator from CyberStitchers.com to determine the size of the stitched piece, and I thought I had measured several extra inches on all sides. But it's looking like I'm not going to be left with a great deal of extra fabric around the outside. How do you all measure fabric for your pieces?


I'm going to keep practicing with smaller projects on the DMC linen before I make it out for a special trip to get the nice stuff. Any suggestions on good linen brands for when I do make that giant leap to that dreaded LNS?

It's Not Terrible

I've been admiring all these cute little scissor fobs I see all over the stitching blog world. Today I decided to undertake one of my own. I used a freebie design from The Floss Box and stitched up a front and back. Originally I wasn't going to do it as a little biscornu, but I decided to make things a little more interesting. I finished a biscornu a few weeks ago and it was much easier than I thought it would be. But doing one on such a small scale was a little more difficult since the extra fabric bunches a little more at the corners. And I under-stuffed it a bit. But I'm proud of the result since it was my first scissor fob and only my second biscornu.

Mini-biscornu scissor fob stitched on 18 count white aida with DMC floss.
Chart available here (the 7th pattern).

Doing such a small design really emphasizes all the little holes in aida. I'm even more anxious to give linen a try now. I'm hoping to get some this weekend and stitch a small freebie Michele sent me to try it out. I've never stitched over two, so it may take a bit of adjustment. But I know the finished product looks so much tighter and cleaner on linen than on aida.

I've also been doing this technique Michele told me about called "railroading." She warned me it might slow down my stitching, and it definitely has. But there's no denying my stitches are straighter and the threads are lying parallel to one another making for better fill. It's worth the extra time it takes to complete a project!