Friday, September 02, 2011

Citrouille

I knew once I picked this project back up, I should finish in no time. Well, it took me twice as long as that because I had to restitch almost every motif. Ugh. This pattern is not that complicated but I have a secret. Come closer. Shhhh. Don't tell. I don't like to count! Some counted cross stitcher I am, right?

Funnily enough, when I was working on it at old lady stitching, I only made one tiny error and I caught it right away. Poor Marion sitting next to me can only do two rows in the two hours because she's so busy gossiping she loses count! But I managed to finish this cursed project.

I am happy to report that my liberal friend continues to recover from her cancer treatments. Today I asked if we could gauge how well she was feeling by the complexity of what she was knitting. She's moved from washcloths to a baby hat. She smiled and said that was the case. She said she's going to knit a sweater next; when we all cheered her progress she made sure we knew it was just a baby sweater. These women are so adorable you could eat them with a spoon.

Unless they are being fierce, then watch out. One woman has a loon for a son. He and his four year old son live with her; she refers to them as her "grandson and his father." She's always complaining because the grandkid eats like three things, none of them vegetables. She is always telling us how much he weighs and how tall he is. He's not growing very much, but OTOH his grandparents are munchkins and his mother (from what I gather) is Asian, maybe Thai. So he's not really getting a lot of height from that side of the family either. Someone asked what the doctor thought of his growth, and she admitted he hasn't been to the doctor. "The father" won't take him because they give vaccinations which cause diseases. (You knew that, right?) So the old ladies wonder why she won't take him herself. "What can I do? I'm the grandmother," she rightly says. "I have half a mind to call Child Services," my liberal friend says. Gotta love her! The father does so many dumb things (lets the kid stay up until 11 on a school night, doesn't make him brush his teeth, doesn't attend school functions sending his parents in his place, I could go on...) you wonder if they wouldn't declare him incompetent. Enough with the old lady gossip...

I'm trying to decide if I should finish this as a pillow or a flatfold. I'd like to have some seasonal pillows. The only drawback is that all the mammals in this house think that cushions are for putting their heads on. I know the human male would avoid putting his head on the stitching, but I'm not so sure about that female canine.

Oh, I can't believe I forgot to say, this project was stitched on some random fabric with Sweetpea Threads died by Jennifer in Autumn Leaves and Apple Cider. I knew this is exactly how I wanted to use them when she sent them to me shortly after we met in person. (Gosh that was a long time ago. We should do it again! Who's in?)

18 comments:

Michele said...

love your pumpkin! Can't wait to see how you decide to finish it :)

doris said...

Love your new finish! Unstitching and restitching are a part of all my projects, largely because counting isn't my favorite pastime.

The school where I work is filled with students who have parents like that creepy son. It's terribly frustrating to try to help a child whose parents can't be bothered to parent. What are people thinking? I'm going to go breathe deeply now to calm myself.

Siobhán said...

Congratulations on the finish! Great choice for the thread color!

Jennifer said...

Yay! It's so fun to see the threads I dyed in use, and I'm going to have to see these in person. I'm definitely in for a stitching afternoon - it HAS been too long. I wouldn't mind hosting it here, but I also wouldn't mind a few hours of grown up time.

And BTW, how is this child in school without vaccinations? Nevermind that I think this whole paranoia about vaccinations is utterly ridiculous, but they are putting other children at risk. I'm almost positive most schools require proof of vaccination, but I could be wrong.

Joy said...

It would be fun to be a fly on the wall at "old lady stitching". Love the pumpkin color.

Edgar said...

I love your recent finishes - have a great weekend!!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

Love the pumpkin finish and that color; yum! Phooey on the creepy dad. You have to wonder what God was thinking when he gave some folks the ability to procreate.

Sherry :o) said...

I have that stitched also...it's in the to be finish-finished pile and I was thinking of trying the flat-fold. I've had it done for about a year, probably, still thinking. I, too, had to restitch a couple of the motifs and I am sure there are still mistakes that didn't get corrected.

Your group of stitching ladies sound like a hoot!! Have a great holiday weekend!

Deborah said...

Great finish1 It would look nice as a pillow.

barbara said...

Your old ladies sound way more interesting than most of the people I spend my time with.

Great finish, but I know it's the sort of design that would also tie me up in knots. I guess I don't like to count, either.

Lelia said...

Job well done. I stitched that pattern and it was a pistol to do - i was relieved when stitching was completed. I made a small pillow and the edge had some seed beads. It is one of my fav Autumn things - once I forget the painful stitching!!

I picked up the ornament magazine today - planning to flip thru it ... did you receive your copy?

Mindi said...

Lovely finish, the floss color is gorgeous, and perfect for the project. Sometimes those small projects with tons of small motifs can be the worst. If you make one small mistake counting, you can't just fudge it like on a larger project, because everything else will get thrown off. I did a lot of frogging on my JBW stocking :p

Alice said...

I am glad you persevered with this project, it is a good looking one. I think a flat fold would be lovely ( and safe). I am so glad to hear your friend is feeling better.

Giovanna said...

Congrats on finishing the pumpkin - it's really cute!

Karen said...

Congrats on the finish...love the color! Those JBW designs can be a bear; I started a pear (probably about the same size as your pumpkin) and miscounted...still not finished.

Elliot MacLeod-Michael said...

I don't think gossiping is a trait particular to OLD ladies either. If there were Olympics for this kind of thing, my girlfriend would win a silver in gossiping and a gold in overanalyzing.

Susan said...

Great finish even though it was frustrating for you!

Robin said...

Quick note.....I received the two patterns I purchased. Thank you!