Wake Me Up When September Ends

Indeed, I think I've been asleep for most of September. These were my monthly goals.

• 10 hours on Folk Art Threadkeep I don't know if it was exactly ten, but I did work on it. Photo below.
• 10 hours on Curly Q Ewe About ten, photo below.
• Emerald Mermaid (Sunday SAL with Michelle). Michelle, I suck.
• travel project: Monthly Mania I started November.
• Work on DD's RR I suck. But you'll have it at camp! I promise.
• And I guess it would be good if I finished those bags I cut out Yeah, about that...I guess my SILs aren't getting bags for Christmas. The shipping deadline has just snuck up on me. My MIL, however, will be getting the Amy Butler stash and dash bags, even if they're a little late.
• stitch anniversary prize Indeed! And the big winner is...

The random integer, and you're going to have to take my word because I didn't get a screen shot, is #17. That's Annemarie! Yay, you. Yayyou! E-mail me.

And my plan for October:

• Emerald Mermaid SAL with Michele
• By the Sea
• SB Stocking for BIL
• SB Stocking for cousin
• Work on DD's RR
• Stitch Anniversary Prize
• Travel Project: Monthly Mania
  
  

Drawing

People, you almost let me forget to have my September drawing! Goodness. The good news is that the piece is stitched. The bad news is I'm going to have to have a short open period. Tomorrow (Tuesday 9/30) at 9:00pm eastern, I will pick a winner using the random number generator. You'll win a pumpkin fob based on the design Fall by Amy Brueken and Koneta Ann Hurlstone which was published in JCS magazine. It's bright and fun and funky! And just because it's been five years, I'll include the scissors.

You know you want it. Comment here.

Q&A

How does one go about getting a Stitch Bitch T-shirt?

Check out Crafty Gear on Cafe Press. I have a great skull and cross bones cross-stitch t-shirt.

Can I have your job?

Nope.

The fact that the "Shores of Hawk Run Hollow" pattern (not a kit) costs $25 took my breath. What's so special about it?

Actually I think it's closer to $30. All the Hawk Run Hollow patterns run this much. It's a lot of pattern. Really, it only costs about three times what most patterns cost these days. Talk to me after you've priced the fabric and silk. ;)

How can you not love honey roasted parsnips with your Christmas dinner?

Because we have lobster stew for Christmas dinner. Parsnips and lobster stew? I'm pretty sure not one vegetable makes it onto the table. Oh, there are onions in the stew.

As for Santa and beer, why the heck didn't I think of it?

You know scientific research demonstrates pregnancy makes you stupid, right? Otherwise, I have no answer for that. But you're in good company; my parents never thought of it, and my dad was a beer distributor.

They don't seem to be putting the photo references on the chart pages (they used to say photo is on page xx) which I always found useful.

Not a question, but Just Cross Stitch, are you listening? Because I'm with Karen here.

Yuko in Japan remarked, "I have never seen this kind of doll, maybe because I was born on 70'?"

It's quite possible that I got this doll closer to 1970 than the mid-1960s. I'm thinking it was for export since the cover is written in English, and the back is marked "Made in Japan."

It is artificial hair, isn't it?

The quality of the doll and the period it was made in would suggest that it is artificial hair. But if you ever need a wig, you should spring for human hair. Trust me, my grandmother has had some pretty bad wigs.

I hope these responses convince you that I read every message. I do appreciate my readership, even if I can't always answer all the questions. Every time you tell me how great a project looks there is an implicit thank you (I was raised on the implicit thank you, which has made marriage to an explicit thanker occasionally difficult).

Marketing and Self-Promotion

It doesn’t have to be hard to market yourself. You just get out there and be. Look, Heather from Monsterbubbles does it. Sometimes though, it pays to tell people what you are up to rather than waiting for them to come looking for you.

I don’t understand why designers and others in the cross-stitch industry aren’t sending press releases to bloggers. There are lots of us with rather large readerships and, get this, it’s free. Or at least it doesn’t cost any more than writing a paragraph about what you are doing and shooting someone an e-mail. I work in communications, and we send press releases to blogs. Even a small skewering gets you publicity. And even though you might have a thin skin, it's all good.

Unfortunately, I think too many designers think of what they are doing as a hobby. Or at least they don’t seem to be taking advantage of all that is available to them to help make them more professional. (CF complaints about blurry photographs and lack of color correction on chart photos.) Sure doing these things takes away from time to create, but many of them could be quickly handled. Let's start with answering your e-mail and updating your website. Really, these are very basic business practices, and it is a business even if you do it at home in your pajamas.

Fiber Artist a Genius and Other News

Mary Jackson--a fiber artist, a Gullah-descended basket weaver to be precise--has been awarded a MacArthur fellowship aka "the genius grant."

Whatever you do, don’t miss the HungaMunga festival. Just so you can say HungaMunga. And stitch up that bollocks sign for me, will ya?

Did you lose something? Someone found your cross stitch. (Pudding Bag Lane? And people made fun of me when I lived on Honey Brook Lane? At least Winnie the Pooh was my neighbor!)

Is cross-stitch a dying art? Or popular trend?

How come when men do it it’s news?

Pictures are "just pretty" but a dishcloth is something you’d choose to knit? (People are going to inundate me with knit dishcloths, aren’t they?)

Her friends stitched for her, but the real headscratcher here is “duodecimal system”? I guess the—very young--writer missed the day when they covered fact checking in j-school.

Every once in a while, you get the craziest articles from Google. A lot of obits where the old lady loved her some cross-stitch. The occasional article about high school cross-country where someone gets a stitch. And then this (warning: contains nipples).

Sidewalk Chalk and Other Rarely Indulged Crafts

Good news! When I asked the dude on Monday night where the ornament issue could be he asked, "Did you check the recycling?" That man is a frickin' genius. It had been out with the paper all night. Poor thing; I let it sleep in the bedroom.

I was so het up to give you the ornament issue review on Monday that I didn't tell you about the chaotic weekend. My nieces came over with their father and his sister to watch the football. I made dinner this week since my cousin was in Maine.

We had stir fries from Woman's Day. This past issue had a mix and match: choose 1lb of protein, 4 cups of mixed veg, add a sauce (Thai, soy, sweet and sour or peanut), and a topping, and, voila, dinner in no time! This has been great since I never know what vegetables we'll have on hand with the farm shipments. Sunday I made soy chicken with loads of sesame seeds and onions and broccoli and served it to the girls as "sesame chicken" (neither Lala nor my sister ate the broccoli); pork and peanut sauce with onions, carrots, and delicata squash; and sweet and sour shrimp with loads of peppers and onions. Our farm grows edamame too and I almost always forget it, but it's Yayo's favorite. She could eat her weight in edamame. So we had that too. After we had had two kinds of chips and dip (one from my sister and one from Lala's real aunt).

It was way too much food, but I'm pretty clever because I haven't cooked since Sunday. I love those recipes. And I would be remiss not to mention the dude's peach ice cream. Fabulous!

Lala was bored with the football so I set her up on the dining room table with a few halloween stamps, all my orange papers, some markers, and decorative scissors. After she made a dozen or so cards, she went to work with the chalk. I don't know if you can tell from the photo above, but she thought it was a good idea to color the stairs. I have a black and white tile kitchen floor which is a huge pita to keep clean. And even moreso when everyone is tracking in chalk. But, she was busy for quite some time.

I haven't forgotten about the anniversary giveaway. If I haven't finished the thing by tomorrow, I'll just open up the drawing, and you'll have to enter sight unseen.

Close up; Lala's sidewalk chalk

Doll Parts

When my godfather came back from Vietnam, he brought me two dolls, one from China and one from Japan. I guess there wasn't really a lot of shopping in Vietnam in the late 60s.

This is the Japanese doll. I was endlessly fascinated with her because of the wigs. She's not much of a doll--her dress was just glued together (that I hope to restore) and her body is merely paper. But the wigs! The only person I knew who wore wigs back then was my grandmother. But I knew that these were nothing like hers. I liked how it was clear that there was a wig for each special occasion. Even though I couldn't always tell which was which--even with the guide on the inside of the box--I loved taking her out and changing her wigs.

2008 Ornament Issue

It's become a bit of a tradition, reviewing the ornament issue. The dude was making fun of me, "It's a red letter day in the blogosphere." I haven't seen loads of people talking about theirs yet. Are you all done with it? So caught up in the Halloween issue you have no thoughts for Christmas ornies? Well, too bad, I'm talking about it anyway.

I wrote this last night, and I wanted to check a few things before I posted this. But I can't find the frickin' magazine. I bought it on Saturday. I had people over yesterday, and now it is missing. I probably put it away while I was straightening up. Let this be a lesson to you: never do housework! We're just going to have to go with what I've written.

The first set of ornaments features the sort-of primitives, most in a sort of pinkie red and dusty green. There's a Quaker darning sock which is cute, a star filled with La D Da flowers--adorable--a Blackbird Designs stocking. This year Fancy Work went with Adeste Fideles, which I love singing in Latin but won't stitch. There's a mini biscornu. Moss Creek offers a needlebook which has a rather sophisticated design, the first in a series of stitching accessories. Sweetheart Tree is being Sweetheart Tree, but I think that my favorite is Hands to Work's Joy needleroll ornie.

Oh there are snowman ornaments galore to follow: cute ones from SamSarah, Casey Buonaugurio, Mosey and Me and CCN. This year's Mosey doesn't look like Frank! In fact, he's not even pictured with Judy--too much Trading Spaces? There's a cute bluebird with a Santa cap from M Designs and a figure skater from Primrose Needleworks. Not crazy about the pun, at least it makes sense.

Next comes the houses including a 3-D house from Victoria Sampler, which is cute. I'm not that thrilled with the others. They seem like deja vu all over again.

The next group goes together in a way I can't quite name. Hardanger motifs? Quakerish? Sampleresque? Anyway, DebBee's Designs band sampler just needs a touch of black to make it totally Jamaican. The colors are just off. Love My Big Toe's "Peace" design and Glory Bee's "Merry." Full Circle's cardinals are worth a mention as well. But the rest? Not so much.

Turn the page for redwork: a turtle dove, a reindeer, a snowman, a Quaker stocking. There's a white floss on red fabric sampler tree from Sue Hillis. Ink Circles interprets poinsettias and Homespun Elegance has a Quaker piece with an interesting finish. Finally, there's a piece of candy wrapped in plastic. I'm not sure I'm going through the trouble of stitching something then wrapping it in plastic. Who's with me?

The following group is the angels, with about a 50-50 cute and creepy factor. Two are really cute: Wildflower (the Ex-Sister and BF) and Midsummer Night. I think I'm drawn to the colors (teal, lime, and purple; sometimes you are just done with red and green). Prairie Moon's Angel I feel like I've seen and LHN's is a bit religious for me but is nice. JBW Designs and Charlette's Collectables are the creepy. And do designers not know that this hobby of ours in international? Keep stitching patriotic things people, and watch your market shrink.

Trees! And some of my faves! Monsterbubbles encourages us to stitch on copper mesh and punch it full of holes. Sign me up! I like Little by Little's primitive trees. Lizzie*Kate's tree is tiny, um, she really knocked herself out--I guess she owns stock in Stitch a gift. (And it the finishing that makes it.) Another tiny little stocking from Brightneedle, but at least they stitch theirs over one. And a special shout out to Monique who gives us a cute little four patch.

The next page offers um, silvery-white ornaments. I like Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches "Honoring Christmas" (the Dickens' quote) ornament. For her that can be about Jesus and it can be about something completely different for me. There's a silver band ornament from Charlotte's Web that I would stitch. Some others are pretty but not to my taste. But a special mention for Cross-eyed Cricket, one of my favorite designers: that Hershey's kiss with wings is just weird.

Where would we be without Santa? Dragon Dreams gives us Santa snuggling with a dragon. I like Charland's little Santa, especially the finishing. I often stitch Heartstring's Santas, but this one honors her dead husband and that's just a little creepy for me. Maybe I can stitch him without the angel wings? There's also a gingerbread ornie from Stitchworks and a nutcracker from Thistle Threads. I like the otter from Jemini, but I miss the crazy-ass birds she usually does. Finally Raise the Roof contributes a chocolate snowman in a cup "Walt the malt." I'm just confused. But it's playful.

The final page offers up the pink and green ornaments. There's another biscornu and a pinkeep. Gentle Pursuits offers a Quaker motif, but it's too godsquad for me. There's a pretty noel ornie from Erica Michaels, nice colors. I like Amy Bruecken's "I Believe" for the colors. Knotted Tree contributes a dove--there is definitely the peacenik/love our troops divide in the magazine about 50-50 if you bother to read the stories and you know I have to.

Bloggers and people in the shops kept saying this was a great issue. I'm wondering if I think so. I think I would stitch about 20 of the designs, which is a respectable number. But there are things I think need to be improved. Number one is the layout, which BITES. Let's advocate for one designer per page. I'm tired of having the pattern on one page and the color key on another. Also, two designers promise us recipes and the editor cut them out (Needleplay is one, I needed to check for the other). If you're going to delete the recipes, you have to make the necessary changes in the introductory paragraph; this is editing 101. And speaking of, if you're going to give a recipe, do that. Don't give us a short dissertation on it. There's just too much copy, especially when it screws up the layout. One designer per page! I'm not a huge fan of Sweetheart Tree, but she went with the short and sweet message, "Merry Christmas." Well, thank you! Thank you very much.

But you came here for the snark.

• Love the cookies and beer story from Raise the Roof. I think Santa should get more beer.
• Belinda of Blue Ribbons made me want to send her mother some flannel jammies for Christmas Eve. (We used to get them too.)
• Two pumpkin cakes--Cherished Stitches and My Mark--who's going to bake and compare? Or am I the only one who thinks it's like wearing the same dress as someone else at the party?
  
• And sugar cookies anyone? Let's just decide that everyone already has a sugar cookie recipe and stop submitting these.
• Tracy Riffle missed out. Just because the first present you open early and wrap back up isn't so great (in her case a robe) doesn't mean you shouldn't keep working at it! (I've been unwrapping and rewrapping my Christmas gifts for over thirty years.)
• I know Christmas is a time of family and if you're Dickens, ghosts. Still I'm not sure it's appropriate to tell me about your dead relatives in your Christmas story. Let's all go to our happy place.
  
• Vegetables, still not Christmas food, okay?

Question of the Day

Hi! Still alive. Still loving my job. How great is it when people are happy just to get your notes from an interview? I don't even need to write a whole story for people to get excited! And, there's a birthday club where we're paired up and bring the treats for the whole office on your partner's birthday and they do the same for you. It's just such a nice place. Sigh. Happiness.

So these questions are making the rounds and I know you need to have my answers.
"Choosing right this very minute -- If you could go home tonight and put the very last stitch in one piece that you have NOT yet started, what would it be?"

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow
with the recommended silks

"And if the same magic applied to going home tonight and putting the last stitch on some WIP or UFO of yours....?"

Easy!

The Marquoir
from Corinne and Gigi

Anniversary Prize

Lunchqueen let me know that the anniversary prize arrived. Below are the photos of the stitching smalls I sent. They are based on the Quaker Virtues pattern. The back sides are reminiscent of souvenir pillows of old. I'm a little silly. The fob has a 5 on it for the five years I've been blogging, while the biscornu has the "Stitch Bitch" initials. The needlebook explains the others. I also sent a Stitch Bitch t-shirt but didn't photograph it.

In a week I'll show you what you can win this month!

Ginnie

Doll day #3: Ginny 152, Africa from the Far Away Lands series. I've been looking all over the web for her and I can't find a thing about her.

She's made in Malden, MA, like two of my cousins, so I figure she was a gift that is not a souvenir. I think she may have been a birthday gift for my first birthday from one of my aunts. (There's a list in my baby book. My memory isn't that good.)

Working It

I haven't been here so often because I'm actually working at work. There are things to do, and I feel motivated to do them. This is a huge relief. The job is going really well. Everyone is so nice. Every time I e-mail someone, they return my message saying, "First, let me welcome you to [this place I work]." I've been assigned a buddy to take me to coffee and lunch (on the company). I had a one-on-one with my boss and he asked how I was doing. When I ran down my projects, he said, "That's great, but I was really wondering how you were settling in. Do you need anything?" So, wow, there's been some culture shock.

When I come home, I read your blogs (okay, so I sneak a few in during the day) and then stitch! I'm stitching again. How happy. I've been working on Curly Q Ewe. (Click for the before.)

This weekend, I hope to clean the house--no more cleaning crew, at least temporarily--finish sewing the bags for my in-laws, and bake some things with the bushel of apples that have piled up from our CSA fruit box (no half shares there).

This week's fruit minus two plums and two nectarines that I ate before I thought to take a photo. Um, I might have eaten a couple of apples too. Those apple-looking things in the front are Asian pears, and I don't like them any better than regular pears, which is to say, not at all. Still, I am eating a lot of fruit and veg in an effort to keep up!

Oh, and don't forget to tell me if you're in the area.

Philadelphia-adjacent

If you are in the greater Philadelphia area, could you let me know? I tried searching profiles but there are 7,700 "Philadelphia" bloggers (of which I am not one) and 4,200 who list cross stitch as an interest. In the old job, I would have happily read every profile. Not so much now.

Anyway, everyone will hear more from me tonight. I know I've been scarce around these parts.

Is it Just Me?

Is it just me or does this pumpkin look post-orgasmic? And not in a good way. It's kind of creepy.

Speaking of post orgasmic, I had a pretty fabulous weekend because the dude finally relented and we have NFL Sunday Ticket and now I can watch the game I want to watch! Baby! Of course, now the game I want to watch is prolly not going to be the Patriots, with Brady's unfortunate injury.

And continuing on the orgasm theme, we had a wedding to go to this weekend. The rain, combined with the Manayunk Soap Box Race, made us so late we missed the ceremony. The reception didn't start until 5:00 (ceremony at 2:00) so we sat in the car at the reception site (a boathouse, no bar until they set one up) reading the atlas. Yeah, we're dorks. There were only a handful of parking spaces, and I didn't want to lose our primo space. The reception was okay. A woman at our table insisted on talking politics, kept saying, "We shouldn't be talking politics, but explain to me..." It cast a pall on the table. It was awful. I wanted to bitchslap her, and nearly told her to look for her answers at the bottom of another Cosmo. We ended up leaving pretty early. But I looked really cute and had the sexiest shoes! (Isn't that what's important?)

I have a question. I am trying to find patterns that were published in JCS. They are "Winter" and "Spring" )a nine patch of sorts in bright colors) done by the sisters formerly known as Sisters and Best Friends. Summer was in Aug 2008 and Fall was in October 2007. I just want to confirm what issues the other two are in before I buy them. Thanks!

Edited to add: The pattern is from Val's Stuff--and she usually has cute stuff.

What is Up??

It's not just me, people. Dictionaries declare it to be so. Even Christians say it is two words: Wise Men. Wiseman is a name; maybe a place.

Though it turns out, maybe not three. Maybe not even men. But that's up to you and your interpretation.

The rules of grammar and spelling do not allow for this interpretation. Thank you for your consideration.

Updates

I really didn't mean to imply my readers were lemmings or stalkers with that last post. But it's like I open my mouth and insert my foot. It comes across as charming in real life. I just think Blogger should have thought out the name a bit better.

Just to update you on a few stories we've been following:
The crazy cab ride from hell to the airport, ended in the dismissal of the driver--the straw that broke the camel's back I was told--and we got $50 in funny money from the cab company. Good thing because we are going away in October. Not to Thailand. Have you seen this? (Be sure to look at the photos on the right, and don't stop clicking until you see the giant machete.) We were going to go to Montana instead, but they close the state from September until ski season. Hawaii is too far and Europe too expensive. Anyway, at some point in the near future, Bermuda. And we'll be able to use the funny money to ride to the airport.

There is no word on the robbery.

You read here and here about the second surprise, the one I forgot to photograph. DD sent me these a while back. This is the second bag, the one you would have thought would have been easier to put together, but c'mon this is me. DD loves her some rich reds. I love that black lining too.

I guess I'm going to have to make myself one before the spring. But what colors?

Followers!

You guys are hilarious. I love your responses to the red nylon thread and video. The mind boggles, doesn't it? Anyway, I appreciate your comments on that one, because I felt a little cruel making fun of an old(er) lady's invention. But if I'm going to hell, I'm burning with my homies.

I logged into blogger today to find I am being followed. That new jobber on the dashboard tells me who is following my blog, but it just seems sort of I don't know, stalker-ish? lemming like? Not that I want to put off my "followers," I appreciate you! But please, if I'm drinking the kool-aid, DON'T. (Oh my god how sick am I?)

Work hasn't been extraordinarily busy but I'm trying to be "good" and not blog from work. But I have been so exhausted lately, it's all I can do to stay upright until a decent hour to go to bed. I haven't stitched, I haven't blogged. I keep waking up at 3am for, you know, a few hours of being nocturnal. I haven't even been here long and people keep telling me I look tired. Fab. But the people are really nice. My office, however, old store room. No windows, wrap around counter, old water jugs. I can get a peek out the window occupied by the asst dean of business affairs whose office is directly across from mine. He has a huge dracanae in the window that has a stuffed monkey and a snake in it. I like his sense of humor--and Boston sports fan. My people!

I just wanted to let you know that I still exist, even if I am dragging my ass around. I need to get some energy! I have things to do.

EDITED: "Followers" are a blogger thing. Certain readers who use blogger can let me know they are reading me by clicking a button. And apparently this last post was so insensitive that I lost a follower. In fact, I think it's an interesting idea; it just needs a better name.

I'm Not There

I won't be at the KOP mall stitching in public. I haven't been sleeping well. Jenna can't make it. Next time. Maybe I'll host a GTG in October. That would be nice. Let's do it. Details forthcoming.

The Road to Morocco

Finally with the dolls.

I loved this doll from Morocco when I was little. I thought the veil she wore was so adult. Which I think now must have really meant sexy. Of course, that wasn't really the point of the veil at all as we know now. When I made and remade my list of favorite dolls (um, the list making thing had to start somewhere) she often wound up on top for being so exotic. I don't know who went to Morocco; my best guess would be my paternal grandparents. They probably hated it. At least I got the doll.

Meetings Real and Virtual

Crafty Daisies have created a virtual book club. For each meeting a craft book is chosen for participants to review and make a project from. Wednesday's book is The Big-Ass Book of Crafts, which my library doesn't have. When I finally remembered to order it, amazon told me it wouldn't arrive in my house until September 4th. Boo. When I first found out about the club, it seemed so far away. Now September 3rd is upon us, and I have too many things planned for that day!

September 3rd is also the EGA Stitch in public day. Jenna and Ruth said they'd meet me at KOP to stitch. I'll be lucky to be there by 7:00, and we could meet at the benches in the middle of the court outside Bloomingdales. Then if people were interested in a late dinner, we could see if we could get into Cheesecake Factory. What do you say? Anyone else interested? Or have I left this too late also? How do so many days pass without me taking them in?