One Thousand Posts and All I Got Was this Lousy...

This is my 1000th post. Lots of stitching bloggers give things away for their blogiversary, unbirthdays, or their xxx post. That is apparently how they do it in some countries. I remember, for example, our friend Arnab (from India) used to pay for all of us when we went to a restaurant on his birthday. Sucks for him because then on our birthdays, he'd have to kick in which is our custom. In America, people give you things for the significant occasions... If you haven't figured it out, I won't be giving anything away but I expect something from each of you! Just kidding... I'll do that other American thing "no gifts please" so none of us has to be embarrassed when no one brings a present to the party.

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Having had a month of guilt-free starts, I'm ready to make some promises to myself for this year. In 2008, I would like to:

• finish-finish two projects a month--and we know I have plenty to choose from
• hang Toy Gatherer in my house this Christmas
• stitch a lot of things for myself.

That seems do-able. Now how to achieve this? Carol seems to have much success by (mostly) following a daily rotation. I'm going to try that this year to see how I do. Beginning today this is my new rotation:

• Monday: Scissors Sampler Box (not long now), followed by Folk Art Threadkeep
• Tuesday: Anna's Bird
• Wednesday: Emerald Mermaid
• Thursday: Apple Sampler
• Friday: Tall Flowers Sampler
• Saturday: marquoir
• Sunday: marquoir (the only way I'm getting anywhere on this!)
• Traveling piece: Monthly Mania

999

June, the Monthly Mania
by Heart in Hand*
28 ct antique ivory linen
with the recommended flosses

I think I chose to stitch this series because I liked June's dragonfly so much. But at the time I bought them, I was living in L.A., and I thought it was very un-June**.

People like to say that Los Angeles doesn't have seasons. This is bullshit. There is summer, but it is not endless. In the late fall there is Santa Ana season (often confused with fire season). The dry, often hot, winds have been written about most eloquently by Joan Didion in Slouching Toward Bethlehem. What I like most about them is that they scrub the air clean. When we'd get on the 10 to go to work, we'd come around the curve on the La Cienega on-ramp and a mountain would appear. The rest of the year it was shrouded by smog but during the windy season visibility was so high you could remember that Los Angeles was surrounded by hills and mountains. The worst part of the winds was they'd blow out the pilot in our in-floor heater, and we'd have to go through complicated machinations involving a wire hanger, scotch tape, and wooden matches to relight it. Other people think the winds are bad because they sound haunting (said to drive people insane), raise dirt, and fan fires. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the fires were worse than the dude and I getting a little cold, but you get the idea that this is not a pleasant season. Winter is brief and rainy. So brief, in fact, that many Angelenos forget every year that it rained the same two to three weeks last February. A lot of rain, with a lot of drivers who cannot drive in the rain. Because rainy season followed fire season, there were much worse ramifications than being behind some slow driver on the freeway or ahead of a speeding driver on the surface streets. Still. L.A. had weather, and it could be nasty. Then, there was June Gloom.

I often told our guests that June was not a good month to visit***. They insisted on coming to L.A. in June anyway and then spent their vacation complaining about the weather. Every day in June begins foggy and cloudy, sometimes drizzly. Depending how close to the ocean you are, the sun would eventually burn off the cloud layer and you have a halfway decent day. The closer to the ocean, the longer it takes, and some days are gloomy all day long. This made June the longest and most depressing month. (Kind of like November for New Englanders.) In fact, when Bent Creek released their monthly snappers+, "May Blooms" I thought surely would be followed by June Gloom. It turns out they went with "April Glooms" and "June Zooms." Angelenos would definitely have to reverse the two.

But now I am back on the east coast where we have seasons that are considered standard, and dragonflies may or may not zoom in June.

*Brave Astronaut, have the best pal check out these possibilities for the other Decembers: Snow and January. There's the whole set of Wee Santas too.
**it occurs to me that this is a problem faced by the entire southern hemisphere
***Visit in October or April.
+someone really has to tell them what a snapper is

Where's My Blue Bird of Happiness?

I didn't start Spring Flowers last night. When I went to pull the floss, I realized that I had hardly any of it. I spent most of the night addressing the belated New Year cards instead; just one batch left to do (international friends and family). I don't know what I am going to work on tonight. Everything I look for seems to be hidden away.

I finished the May Monthly Mania this morning on the El. On the way home, I started June to the sounds of this kid hockling away. It was sort of a snot snort mixed with kennel cough (if your dog's had that, you won't soon forget it). I think he must be really sick, like with some kind of lung disease rather than just bad manners and a cold. But even while I chant, "it's medical, it's medical" to myself, it's grossing me out so much that I actually dry heaved tonight. So that's what it's like on my commute (this is the second day with that kid; I'm going to have to leave earlier).

Dear readers, I wish I had the energy to make this post even remotely interesting, but it's all just weighing rather heavily on me right now.

Where I am

Integrity: One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything she does and believes is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person’s actions that determine her integrity.

Barbara bestowed this award on me. And I thank her. It's very flattering. Not sure I believe it though since the motto around our house is, "Living the contradictions!"

Here's an up-to-date scan of the Sampler Scissors Box.

I think my last start for January will be Spring Flowers. Whoa! When I went to look up the photo on the Birds of a Feather website, I got this message: "We are no longer offering Cross-Stitch or Linen products." That's a surprise, or did I read that somewhere else?

I made the mistake of showing Shores of Hawk Run Hollow to my mother, the beach queen. I want to stitch it for myself and she wants me to stitch it for her. There's no way I'm stitching it twice. We're in the process of negotiating a time sharing deal. Let's see how much she wants to underwrite...

Embarrassment of Riches

Am I allowed to tell you that I won again? This time I won hand-dyed threads from Sharon B of In A Minute Ago. She had a contest to guess the length of a set of samplers she had sewn together. I came within 2". Just in case you think I have some magical abilities to intuit length, I used the fact that the average chair is 18" wide. There were four chairs at the table. I multiplied 72 by 5.5. I came within two inches. If I were standing there looking at it, I would never have come close--I cannot judge distance at all. But seeing it in a picture made it a logic problem. That I can do.

I can't believe the winning streak continues! I can't wait to use the threads. This is going to be so cool!

Image Meme

Hey kids! The dude and I are planning a quick trip to KCMO to eat barbecue and do stuff. We have no idea what! So we're open to suggestions if you know the area. We'll be there at the end of Feb.

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I saw this on anniebeez's blog.

Answer the questions and type your answer into Google images search. Post a photo from the FIRST results page.

Age you will be on your next birthday



Place you would like to visit


One of your favorite places.
Photo by Craig Wolf

Your favorite object


Your favorite food

Your favorite animal

Your favorite color


Name of a past pet (My first pet was a parakeet named Hamburger and French Fry)

Where you live


First grade teacher's last name

Middle name

A bad habit of yours

Favorite flower


Favorite holiday

Recycle, Remake, Rewear

Sissy wore this fabulous dress as the maid of honor at my wedding. Last weekend she gave it back to me. "I'm never going to wear it again, maybe you can make something out of it, like a pillow." As much as I appreciate her faith in my skill in remaking, I'm a little sad. Of course I know she's never going to wear the dress again--it is almost seven years old--but it's just a little sad that that dress won't exist anymore except in the photographs. Which is why I have a giant box of wedding dress stuck behind a chair in the bedroom--it doesn't fit anywhere else--I just have a hard time letting go of the material object.

So I turned to some of the craft books I bought recently, and bring you two short reviews based on whether they will help me remake this dress.

First up is Hip Handbags. Hip Handbags offers seven generic purse pattern with 3-5 variations--both sewing variations and fabric variations, as well as good solid instruction for using the patterns, choosing fabric, sewing and embellishing. Each bag is rated for its hipness, which is, ultimately, only a gimmick. The last few pages show "hip" artist-made bags which range from the sublime to the ridiculous. No instructions are given for these. The bag I would most likely make from this fabric is the clutch-style purse. Not sure if that's Sissy's style, though.

I next turned to New from Old: How to Transform and Customize Your Clothes. They offer three main categories: dying, embellishing, and remaking (turning a pullover sweater into a bolero, making a tablecloth into a skirt). The book contains much useful information for doing all these fabric tricks, but pages and pages about dying, four pages on dying underwear? At page 66 (of 144), I finally got to the kind of thing I was looking for. I did find two things I would definitely make for myself, including the bolero jacket from a sweater, which kept me from returning it. I find that people who do cross stitch and make greeting cards don't need much help in the embellishing area. I didn't find a particular pattern for turning a strapless, backless evening gown into anything, but I'll keep thinking.

Warm Fuzzies

Is it totally pathetic that so far the high point of my day is that I had my favorite lean cuisine (sesame chicken) for lunch? My boss is driving me nuts with her "optimistic" attitude toward work. She thinks "go along to get along" is some kind of empowering philosophical choice. I hate being here with every fiber of my being.

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The good news is that I took a look at some of my new craft books and wrote up a couple of reviews. I am way behind on reviewing, and I think some will probably fall through the cracks, but I couldn't let it happen to this book:

Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects
by betz white

I love every project in this book. You should look over some of the projects in Betz's blog to see if this stuff is for you, but I'm sort of a Mary Engelbreit fan--love the bright and whimsical--so I dig the betz white.

The book is divided into five sections: an info section, projects for the home like pillows and throws, projects for kids and pets, accessories for the home like aprons and pincushions, and accessories for you like hats and purses. In addition to working with felted sweaters, the projects use wool felt, needle felting, and shibori.

The "how to" section is fabulous. It contains tips and tricks for felting and working with the resulting material (so could have used that before I made this). It's very visual. The projects are just yummy. (Did I say yummy?) The little girl's teacup jumper almost makes me want to have kids kidnap an adorable little girl make it and give it to the first little girl I find. (Unfortunately, sizes for that project range from 2T-4T and my favorite girls are a skinny 6X and a tall 7.) I even like the cat bed, and I'm extremely allergic to cats and can't tolerate the thought of them. Not only am I attracted to every project, I really feel like I could make them all; the instructions are so clear. FYI: the patterns are part of the book (not printed separately) and most need to be enlarged.

One complaint: I have been haunting thrift shops for a while now and I just can't find the adorable wool knits like she gets. Where are all the cute wool sweaters? If only I had known, I could have kept all those things I bought at Carol Reed--I had about 30 Fair Isle and other "preppy" wool sweaters when I was in high school. They'd be so cute as these projects!

Another New Start

Fancy Work's Sampler Scissors Box

If you've seen the Tom Cruise Scientology video, you have to see the Jerry O'Connell parody on Funny or Die. If you haven't seen the original video, it's worth the ten minutes of your life, unless you want to hold on to the distant memory of Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves which you loved in high school. But really, I think it's time to let that go.

Miss April

I completed the stitching on another of the monthly manias. I may get these all finished this year!

I've got nothing else. Work is sucking the life out of me. The only positive is that I have time to stitch while I am commuting.

Best Pal was Right

Impossible-Quiz.com - Hardest Quiz Ever

I Stop to See a Weeping Willow, Crying on his Pillow

A while back, Adrienne asked me for a list of pumpkin designs since I have this unstitched pumpkin patch growing in my craft room. My other passion is for willow trees, and I half promised to put together a list of those. I’ve been thinking about all this because the project I am currently stitching has willow trees on it.

No doubt, you already know that willow trees were often used symbolically on mourning samplers in the Victorian period. Before I go any further, let me tell you, I’m no historian. One of my English professors once called my grasp on history “impressionistic,” which I thought was a pretty way of looking at it. She probably meant to motivate me to be more historically accurate, but she couldn’t. I just want to you know, that when I say “they” in the “Victorian period” I’m talking about two continents of people* who lived over a period of 70 years as if they all acted the same way all the time during those years. They didn’t. Just so you know, I know.

Nevertheless, I will say those Victorians were crazy about death. I’m serious. Photography was coming to the masses, and they would often take photos of their dead relatives** laid out in the living room. Or, even freakier, photos were taken of dead relatives made to look alive. (Clearly, Weekend at Bernie’s is part of a long tradition.) Or, freakiest of all, posed with the living. These post mortem photos, which may be the only ones in existence of the person, might be sent to all the relatives, kind of like the prayer cards Catholics give out. (I'm not a collector.) They also would use the hair of the dead in lockets—woven into knots, not just tied with a ribbon like the hair your mom saved from your first haircut—or other jewelry, or, indeed, in art. Nothing like having aunt Hilda’s hair woven into flowers to remember her by. It should come as no surprise, then, that the dead relative’s hair would also be used to stitch mourning samplers.

More on mourning and mourning samplers:

• This article from the late 70s was one of the first to examine the dead people picture thing. See if you can get it through your library.
• Scarlett letter has a mourning sampler pattern with a history of the genre (this one has another interpretation of columbines, too.)
• This sampler, in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, includes watercolor painting on the sampler. And I thought that "embellished" cross-stitch was just a tacky modern invention.
• My impressionistic sense of history is a little outraged by the impressionistic sense of history in this one.

You can find patterns for mourning samplers here and here, the latter sans willow trees.

Interestingly enough, the several willow designs I possess aren’t mourning samplers at all.

• LHN, Willow Tree Inn
• Carriage House Samplings, Willow Tree Sampler
• City Stitcher, Willow Trees Sampler
• Hands to Work, Two Fine Houses
• Hillside Samplings, Folk Art Thread Keep (current project)
• Moira Blackburn, Keep Me Sampler
• Samplers and Such, Oriental Tin Topper Willow’s Garden
• Simply Old Fashioned, Twinkling of Willows

Found through Hoffman Distributors:

• Blackbird Designs, Willow House
• By the Bay, Willow Hill
• Carousel Charts, Willow Tree Sampler
• Carriage House Samplings, Black Willow Farm
• Carriage House Samplings, Willow
• Dames of the Needle, W is for Willow
• Hillside Samplings, Autumn Willow
• La D Da, My Ways
• La D Da, Willow Tree
• Sampler Girl, Mrs. Lincoln Sampler
• Threads Through Time, Willow

Even though willow trees are a little more difficult to find in a simple search (some patterns feature willows but don't have "willow" in the name), there still aren’t nearly as many willow patterns as there are pumpkins, which is a shame. I’ve always wanted to design a sampler with willow trees--it would be for mourning our pets. I know a good quote about dead animals (you’ll have received it from me if you blogged about a dead pet). And, well, I love the willow trees. Someday, but don’t hold your breath.

* technically, only the British are “Victorian” since she was their queen, but Americans did exist between 1837-1901(still do) and some of their customs were very similar to the English (still are)

**I don't have to tell you not to follow these links if pictures of dead people freak you out, right?

I know, three posts in one day, what am I high? Apparently, see below. Who agrees to shell out $12 to send a one pound package?

Caveat Emptor

When you think you're going to get a great deal because an ONS is having a sale, be sure to check the shipping policy. It's no good saving $18 on the materials for a Shepherd's Bush stocking if they're going to charge you $12 to ship UPS (for a one pound package? Is the insurance worth all that?). Might as well go to the LNS when they're having 10% off if you're only going to save $6. Just sayin'.

Do Over

Remember when I wrote about having fantasies about Matthew McConaughey? I take it all back. He cannot write English! I only wish I knew how stupid he was before I cast him, and not Matt Damon, in the fantasy. Sorry, Matt!

Adult School

Tonight when I was leaving work, big fat snowflakes were falling bringing a certain festivity to the city. I was really looking forward to coming home, opening the drapes on the picture window, turning off all the lights, and watching it snow. Alas, by the time I got off the bus, the big fat snowflakes had turned to sleet. Very unpretty. And I left my favorite hat on the bus this morning.

While I'm whinging, I'm still not well. Why just nausea? Why isn't this turning into a full-blown yuck? (The dude has it too, so no funny suggestions.)

In the good news front, I received the adult school catalog the other day and it looks like I will have new beading and sewing projects to show you starting in late February. Yay! I think I might work on Sissy's weekender bag on Mondays just to get into training for being back in sewing class. That, and classes start the week after Sissy's birthday, so I am going to have to go it alone. Well, not totally alone.

Here's a scan of the April Monthly Mania, which I did not forget on the bus.

Wonky

The dude and I stayed home today and rested. I was feeling well enough to eat lunch, but now not so much. Must need to get back on the couch. I've been working on this. Sorry for the wonky scan.

Purging Verge

I am glad to know I am not the only one who is not in love with work. Sissy thinks I am a freak because I don't love work. I seem to meet all the people who love it, or at least who are unwilling to talk about not loving it.

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I am on the verge of barfing. I have been slightly nauseated for almost 26 hours now. Last night when I got home, I couldn't eat. I was born at 6:13 pm and I haven't missed dinner in over 40 years. Really, I'm the kind of girl that eats solid food through strep throat and after oral surgery. The nausea is my only symptom. (Although this morning the dude said I felt hot, which is about as accurate as our thermometer.) I finally ate at 2:00 but I just had some crackers. I think this is the longest I've gone without eating. Even when I fast for my colonoscopies, I still eat jello and popsicles constantly (jelly and ice lollies for my British friends). I don't feel good but I really don't feel bad enough to stay home; I'd just end up cleaning the kitchen and doing some laundry.

Here's something I finished yesterday:

Part of the Production Line

I'm not a giant fan of working. I know a lot of people love their jobs. (Love in itals definitely!) I have never been in love with a job, and I can't imagine finding a job I bounce out of bed to go to every day. I've been working since I was 14; that's 27 years of work experience. And outside the first month or two of every job, I have really not enjoyed it (except teaching; in that case, there was no honeymoon period). There have been jobs I liked. There have been certain parts of jobs that I really relished, but there was always something that made the rest of the job drudgery, like a horrible manager, or the fact that most of the jobs have been in nonprofits where incompetents are rewarded, or tedious assignments, or a bipolar coworker who attempts suicide when you're the only one around. So, yeah, like, work not so much.

I've come to realize that I need a new job. Between my boss's new boss changing the environment and the big grand boss preventing us from moving forward on a couple of majorly important projects, I need to be someplace else. So I met with a woman who is a principle in a small business that provides writing and design services to organizations like the one where I currently work; she knows everyone around. She offered me a job, but it would be freelance. I couldn't be a freelancer. I'm the kind of person who needs to know exactly how much money is coming in every month. Besides, I cannot be relied upon to do work outside of an office. I saw how the dissertation writing went until I moved into the library to finish it. That goes for owning my own business too because she tried to tell me that I should make a business out of my hobbies, like owning a needlework shop (HA!) or selling my needlework (HAHAHA). Both my parents have owned small businesses and my mother's was a quilt shop, so I have a lot of firsthand experience with that. Not enough money, too many headaches.

Then she told me that I should find a similar job in a different organization (she's not that impressed with my organization either) and write a book. Because she's been writing a novel and it has Changed Her Life! (She did very nicely say that my writing deserves a larger audience.) I'm skeptical; I've written (though not published) a book, and god that's so much work. And for what? Inner fulfillment? Fame? Certainly not the money. If I didn't want to travel, I honestly would live on a commune of two, living off the land and baking my own bread, bartering to get the things we needed. Unfortunately, airlines really hate bartering, and I'm not so sure the dude shares my interest in bread baking. There are, I suppose, more than a few reasons not to go all Ted Kaczynski. I hate when I get this way, and I get this way every time I need to look for a new job. It’s like my inner critic takes over my whole brain. There are so many downsides to every suggestion that I just want to withdraw from the workforce. I don't think I'm asking for suggestions. In fact, best not offer any. Just offer me your love...



Sorry about that, but I've become obsessed. Stitching content: I started Hillside Samplings' Folk Art Threadkeep. Photo when it looks like something.

Quick Note

Hey! I've hit the 20% commenting rate on this post. But not all of you were truly delurkers. Nevertheless, I appreciate those of you who did step out. (See? It didn't hurt at all!)

A Girl Walks Out of a Bar

So Thursday, I went to a pub for lunch. It was a modest lunch: fish and chips and two diet cokes. On my way out, I fall down the three (3!) stairs to the sidewalk. (My heel caught. Rubber sole shoes and my heel catches. Excellent.) Fortunately, I've had a rather late lunch so there aren't that many people on the street. Just one guy walking toward me. I stand up and gingerly limp back toward the office. As I near the guy, I notice he's swerving to avoid me. He's practically walking on the curb like a gymnast on a balance beam. Suddenly, I'm pissed*. He doesn't ask if I'm okay; he thinks I'm drunk! At 2:30 in the afternoon. I so should have walked up to him, slapped him on the chest, and slurred, "Yerrrrrrrrrrrr pretty!" (That's my favorite. When guys so drunk they are practically blind tell you you're pretty. Oh, do you really think so? Thanks! Squeal!)

I've been working on Apple Sampler lately. I'm planning to start something new this week. Stay tuned.

Sissy, it turns out, is allergic to betadyne. So her leg will eventually become less bubbly over the next three weeks. She and my dad are really sensitive--allergic to medical tape and latex too. I, on the other hand, am completely insensitive. Can't you tell?

*American sense, not British

The Meme of me-me-me-me-me

Brave Astronaut tagged me, and because my best pal loves him, I'm going to do this research for him. Even though I should be revising my resume.

Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you've written. But there is a catch:
Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be about anything you choose.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better.

Link 1 must be about family. One of the reasons Brave Astronaut tagged me is the depth of my archive. But this is a pretty recent post. I'm including it because it brought at least one lurker out. My grandmother can be pretty compelling.
Link 2 must be about friends. I chose this item mostly because of the nude pillow fighting.
Link 3 must be something about me. This here is one of my favorite ever posts. And I still think stitchers should take the quiz if they haven't!
Link 4 is about something you love. I don't wax poetic about the dude the way that Brave Astronaut bares his soul when he talks about his wife. Almost every post about the dude is a complaint about how stubborn he is or a brag about how smart he is. He deserves better, but he's against the public display of affection. You'll just have to settle for more about my family. (And finally, I share the photo of the finished project, above.)
Link 5 can be about anything you choose. There's some good stuff in my archive, and I invite newer readers to dip in. Hell, I invite old friends to dip back in. I mean how often does your stitching blog use the word autopeotomy? But I think I'm going with this. It's got popular culture, it has critique, it has stitching content, everything I'm about! (Be sure to follow the amazon link!)

Will people be mad if I tag? Will lurkers recoil in terror? (There are so many others I wanted to tag, but I hope this will get around to you eventually!)

1. Lee
2. Melissa
3. Adrienne (whose extensive back catalog I should visit)
4. Edgar, he's a newbie so this might be unfair, but I don't know him very well
5. Miriam, I met her through nablopomo

Inspiration

THANK YOU! to all of you who delurked. Still, only 13% of you. I'm determined to break 20%, though I'm not quite sure how I'll lure you out. Yet.

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The best part about blogging is giving myself a wider audience. (You know, instead of bugging the dude all the time, "Look what I did!") I'm pleased to give a wider audience to two readers who took inspiration from my work. First, Cheryl saw this:

And made this, charting her own "curly W":

And then Susan saw these (how much did I want to write "saw my boobies?"):

And made these for her "tacky ornament" (tacky?!) exchange:

Love the pearl necklace. (And I did get to say, "show me your boobies!") She's also looking for help because her group loved this ornament sooooo much they want a felt penis ornament. (Now that is tacky.)

It appears I spoke too soon regarding Sissy. She has some sort of bubbling skin problem near her incision (they did remove it--didn't I say?), and it's unclear if it is infection or allergy, though they lean toward the latter. (My dad is allergic to latex and betadine, so pretty likely.) We'll be having lunch tomorrow after her appointment, and I'll let you know how it goes. They do have to go back in at a later date because there is some sort of King Spawn Cell that they didn't get. But she's on the road ...

Odds and Ends

I went to the fiber store this weekend and bought a bunch of flosses that I needed for my Monthly Mania charts. I got back to work on February today which means I have finished neither April nor February, as you can see. While I was at the needlepoint store, I found these Nano cover needlepoint kits that are still not shown on the AMH website. I got the pink and green one.

My at home project is Mirabilia's Emerald Mermaid. I am working on this as part of the SAL with Michelle. So far she's just an arm (the mermaid, not Michelle). She does violate the "Selfish Stitching in 2008" mandate, however. Maybe I'll start something new and selfish this week.

Thanks to all of you who kept a good thought for my sister. Last week, we finally found out that she does have a spindle cell tumor, but it is benign. The pathology took so long because spindle cell whatsit is so rarely benign that no one in the lab had seen it. They had to send it to a pathologist at Harvard. Of course, my mother thinks it was the nuns in Canada that Father Rick had organized. I think the diagnosis just confirms my feeling that my sister is a freak of nature.

It's supposed to be Delurking Week, but I can't find anything on that for this year. Last year I found out about it on, like, Friday so I didn't participate. Now I am ready but the nation, nay, the world is not. Why so cruel? I know only about 10% of the people who visit here comment. I know I don't always comment because sometimes I don't have anything new to add to the "conversation," but still 90% of you? Recently, I wrote in response to SharonB's post about commenting that commenting rarely feels like entering a conversation. I know how difficult it is sometimes to respond to the comments. There are lots of things that keep me from responding, the main one being which medium to use? It's a pita to e-mail partly because of the yahoo address Anna has and partly because you sometimes have to search out a commenter's e-dress; or if you respond in the comments, you worry that the original commenter won't reread the comments to see your response; addressing comments in posts just makes my posts too long...and on and on. But I will ask you one thing: lurkers, would it kill you to comment?

Matt Damon Musings

I was stitching the April Monthly Mania bunny while watching Bourne Ultimatum and with the other third of my brain I was thinking about Matt Damon. With his score "Sexiest Man Alive," I know you think I was thinking thoughts like this, but I was actually thinking that Matt Damon has hit a trifecta of sorts.

We hold these truths about movies to be self evident: the book is better than the movie, the original is better than the remake, and the original is better than the sequel. Matt Damon has managed to upend these truths in a pretty spectacular way, especially if you dig the action movie.

Sure, the Bourne Identity is a spy novel, but it is a best-selling classic spy novel. When I finished reading it in preparation for the movie release, I wanted that week of my life back. That book is remarkably bad. And I read fiction about needlework.

When Ocean's Eleven got remade, my crowd went to see it. By chance, the original was playing on teevee that day so we watched it. Let me tell you, there is no comparison. Sammy Davis singing that "Ocean's 11" ditty while he drives the garbage truck, how weird is that? (Though I did enjoy the way the remake played with the audience who knew the original.)

While we were watching Bourne Ultimatum, it was clear that the crew that put this movie together isn't resting on their laurels.

All this and a bunny too.

Burt's Bees

Geggie's got a Pay-It-Forward thing going on on her blog and you too can get some of the sweet sweet product that has been keeping my skin supple this winter.

Loyal readers, both of them, will remember a few years ago when I asked for your help to cure my dry skin. This was back in the day when comments only lasted 30 days. I think the winner was suggested by Lee--No Crack Cream. I had to order it from the Vermont Country Store, and I had to wear gloves to bed to get it to work. Since I won my prize package, I have been using the hand repair creme from Burt's Bees, and this is the hands down winner. I only use it in the morning and before bed and my hands neither feel nor look their age.

While I'm shilling, I'll tell you that the citrus and ginger root hand soap smells divine; I had it out in the guest bathroom and guests commented on it over Christmas. Also, it doesn't dry out my hands even though I wash them like I'm OCD. (I blame the sign in the bathroom at work, "Handwashing is the single most important means of stopping the spread of infection;" that does it to me.) I got itchy when I went for a week without using the milk and honey body lotion, but I only have to use it every other day to cure that itch. I haven't tried the shampoo and conditioner because I pay a lot of money to have hair this red and special shampoo keeps me out of the poorhouse. My boss, however, was thrilled that her favorite champagne lip shimmer was included and a certain employee passed it along. Oh, and the coconut foot creme (wear socks with this) feels and smells like (coconutty) honey going on. But my feet--oh!--divine.

So go to Geggie's blog and comment. Maybe you'll win some hand cremey goodness too.

Least Favorite

Quite some time ago, Jo "hinted" that I should do a poll about people's least favorite stitches. I didn't forget.




Mine's not on here. I hate satin stitch. I am completely convinced the stitch always looks better on the back than the front. No matter which way I hold the fabric when I make the stitch.

V&A

A belated trip report: One of our favorite stops in London is the V&A. It's sort of perfectly Victorian. They have everything, and there's lots of it. We looked at locks and keys and iron grillwork. Unfortunately, the textiles section was closed. We don't go in for paying for special exhibits. (If you need us to pay, make us pay for the whole museum, or don't lodge the show. And I hate crowds.) So we missed the special couture show, but the dude knows I like to see fabric so we saw the regular fashion collection (and Princess Di's dress of pearls she wore in Hong Kong, a recent acquisition).

Then we popped into the gift shop where you could buy nothing for 4lbs (why don't we have the curlicue L on our keyboards?) "for the person who has everything." Right, eight bucks for packaging.

Prominently displayed in a glass case in the shop was a cross-stitch featuring forest animals over the words "Get Your Freak On," framed, for--get this--1175GB. I'll do the rough translation for you: $2350. We're that clever--and we stitch on linen. Get to it people.

The dude, convinced that picking pockets with your craft is easy, told me I should get in on this. "It's not even really subversive," I complained. So what is? Really, it's all in the context. So it's only subversive if you believe that stitchers aren't. Or weren't (please read The Subversive Stitch so we can get over the new craft revolution being particularly new and particularly revolutionary. You're just showing your lack of education.) I think I'm going to do a cross-stitch that says "It's not as subversive as you like to think." I just need to come up with a picture to go with it...

Edit: D'oh! I've already written about Westerholtz. And I've also written about buying expensive needlework. Have I reached the end of the internet?

Finished

I've made some finishing progress! I can't believe that I stitched this two years ago, but never slapped on felt and cut it out. I was going to sew on a pin, but let's face it--it will get more use as an ornament.

Mill Hill Tipsy Tree Kit

Then I made some cording and finished this needlebook that I made at camp last year.

I sewed some things inside too.

I also started finishing the needlebook from camp two years ago. I just need to figure out what color the cording should be and make and attach that. Finally, I picked out fabric to finish five ornaments, but there are only so many hours in a day. And the dude kept wanting to do stuff, like go for a walk. Of course, he was on day 11 of vacation, and I had been to work on Monday. Oh, it's for sure, I need a new job. I'm thinking Stay at Home Wife. That works for me.

I took about a dozen stitches on Emerald Mermaid which is a SAL project for me and Michelle. And this morning I started the Monthly Mania series with February. I'll be moving on to April before you know it because I only have two floss colors for February, and I need to do something about March. That Leprechaun freaks me out.

Resolved? 2008

I've got my feet up while I watch HGTV's coverage of the Rose Parade. I've gathered some projects to finish-finish because that's part of what I hope to do this year: make progress on my many projects in various states of undone--finishing and attacking WIPs. But first, having declared this the year of selfish stitching (that's what I like about blogging, you can declare things, someone makes a button, and then it just is), I am going to allow myself a guilt-free January. I know a lot of people have done this for a while, and I am late to the party, but I think this will be a way of turning over a new leaf (ha ha). I will set my annual goals in February.

Some projects I have that I'd like to start:

1. Hillside Samplings, Folk Art Threadkeep
2. Heart in Hand, Monthly Mania (I've stitched January, August, and October)
3. 4 My Boys, Pumpkins Three for Thee
4. Sisters &BF, Button Borders: Pumpkins
5. Mirabilia, Emerald Mermaid (SAL)
6. BOAF, Spring Garden
7. Raise the Roof, Off the Deep End
8. Blackbird Designs, Flea Market Souvenir
9. Little House, Curly Q Ewe
10. Lilybet, Spots II
11. Cricket Collection, Skeleton Crew
12. Little by Little, Star Light, Star Bright
13. Fancy Work, Sampler Scissors Box
14. Liberty Street, Rose Bunnie [sic]

I've decided against joining the 365 bloggers. Part of being a writer is finding interesting things to say; for me that part is easy (at least I think they're interesting)--it's finding time that's so difficult. Unfortunately, I haven't learned how to manufacture that. My biggest concern is weekend posting because traffic is so low. You will miss reading bestpal's guest blogs. Or maybe not. We'll see what she says after a few weeks of maternity leave.