Lady Grey

Lady Gray, Lilybet
See how she looked last time

I've been thinking a lot about conversation for obvious reasons. I was thinking about other places I have been with stitchers and what we talked about then. I thought about my trips to Oklahoma

I feel only slightly ashamed to admit that I was afraid of the kinds of conversation I imagined people in Oklahoma had. I thought there'd be patriotism—I mean, on our first trip in 2003, the U.S. had just invaded Iraq the month before—I thought there'd be anti-foreigner yammer. I thought we might have to talk about God and Jesus (people did pray openly over their food). (I do want to apologize to anyone who lives in Oklahoma and any other place--ahem, pretty much the whole middle--where I thought this would be the conversation.) In fact, I was so worried I told my friend about my anxiety. "We have a car," she said. "We don’t have to stay if we don't like it." (She's a sensible girl; that's why we're friends.)

I needn't have worried. Not one single person asked me what church I went to or my feelings on the war. We talked about our jobs, and the comedic aspects of some of our coworkers. We talked about our joys and our frustrations. About food we liked and we didn't and how long you should cook green beans. We talked about places we had traveled to and where we wanted to go. We even concocted a hilarious response to the question posed by a husband about the retreat, "What do you do all day?" Seriously, dude? (Our story started with naked pillow fighting; it pretty much ended with naked pillow fighting too.) We talked about farting. We talked about what it must be like to be Amish, and have produced children over a 20 year period, like our dinner host, and how amazing the biscuits and the salad dressing made from bacon fat were. 

There are literally hundreds of things you can talk about that don't have anything to do with your kids (and their gestation. How many times do I have to hear delivery stories?). 

Here's a list: (let's start with our shared passion) stitching, finishing, framing, stash organization, shopping, blogs, vlogs, movies, books, music, apps, restaurants, food, travel, goals, seasons, holidays, education, current events...this is fun! Why don't you join in in the comments?

Are All the Balls Still in the Air?

Whew! It feels like the weekend just blew right by. Must have been that looooong two day workweek I had last week! Unfortunately, this post has been further delayed by my inability to get a decent picture. The sun is just rising when I leave for work, and it's set when I return. So we're just going to have to make do.

When we last communicated, I had tried to start Blackbird Designs' "Friendship Gathering" in the office and was foiled at every turn. We had friends round on Friday night--such fun! (And I will strongly urge you to serve Brillat-Savarin cheese with homemade strawberry jam for dessert.) When they left, I still hadn't taken a stitch and I needed to put in two threads, so I just grabbed Hang a Shining Star (SamSara) and put a few stitches in.


On Saturday, I still needed to collect some threads and fabrics for my starts, so we drove over to the Strawberry Sampler. They had many of the regular threads, but their fabric stock was kind of low. They usually have a fabulous collection to choose from. It was still early, so I conned the dude into driving me to the fiber store--it's a needlepoint shop--and they always have every thread I need (except NPI; they don't carry that). We pulled up at 3:30 to find...they had been closed for half an hour. And they wouldn't reopen until Tuesday! (Doesn't matter, I can't get back there until next Saturday.) Ugh.

Still, I started Friendship Gathering (Blackbird Designs). I have no idea what the fabric is but I don't think it is the count I thought it was. I started stitching with two threads and quickly realized that would end unhappily so I switched to one thread and was incredibly pleased with the coverage.The fabric has a small vein of green running through it, and I am wondering now if I even bought this piece of fabric for this project. Too late now!

I went home and ordered online. Which I don't love to do, but I want my stuff, dammit. It took orders with FOUR online shops. Fabrics here, NPIs there, more thread here and there. What the hell has happened to this industry? The good news is that I did find a store that stocks *some* DMC Flower Thread, which has been discontinued for years. (I'm stitching a design from 1997.) I stumbled upon them when I was looking for a substitute. (The ultra bad news is, upon further review, I forgot to get more Thread Gatherer threads.)

On Sunday we took down the tree. And...I guess I did stuff all day because it wasn't until that night that I chose a project to stitch on, Tis the Season (Blackbird Designs). (Just two threads)

Monday saw two threads go into Love Me Love My Dog.

Tuesday saw two more threads in Lady Gray.

This morning, I hurriedly threw threads into a bag, grabbed my needlebook, cheaters, and a piece of fabric (that I hope I hadn't "reserved" for anything else) so that I would have something to work on at lunchtime stitching. You'll just have to wait to see that though because I started my smalls for the SAL.

I am glad I made my goal "stitch two threads each night" rather than fifteen starts at the beginning of the month. I thought I was going to get much farther on making sure all the kits were prepped than I did this past weekend, yet I was able to keep up with my goals. I think that's the secret to success--having the right goals to start with! 

Industry

Oh. I had hoped to return before that autopost. I shall defend myself regarding the auto. I am in it up to my eyeballs right now.

First, I wanted to thank you all for offering me your solidarity with "Independent and Free." I appreciate your ideas about how I can fudge it, but I really need to know what is wrong with it so I can keep on fudging it.

This past weekend, I was home alone. I imagined a life of watching girlie movies and stitching my life away. Instead I played Words with Friends and Idontevenknowwhat. I had scheduled Lady Gray for this slot hoping I would have tons done by the end of the weekend. Instead, I hardly touched it until Monday when the dude and I were driving out to Longwood. And that's when I found out I was missing two colors. {Eye roll}

Longwood was, as always, peaceful and inspiring. (We do look at the experimental gardens almost every time. And I get inspired!) The conservatory is displaying mums in preparation for the 1000 bloomer they'll be debuting later this fall.

For the past three days, I was supposed to be working on Elizabethan Rose. I can't even remember the last time I looked at that one. I should probably have finished it when I was still a pro at detached buttonhole stitch. At any rate, I really had to put my efforts into getting all the request letters out for the Silent Auction--yes, I'm doing that again. Yes, I know I'm nuts.

I was running around like crazy doing errands. When picking up the farm share, I noticed hundreds of honeybees dancing around this white flower, that frankly looked rather weed-like. (Parts of the farm seem so unkempt. But if I had to farm in our heat and humidity, it would be incredibly unkempt.) I have been taking pictures of bees, in some misguided attempt to promote them, or something. This one is called "Industry 4."

Lady Gray Growing

Lady Gray
Lilybet 

I've finished the three days on Lady Gray. The home fires are burning although I probably should have put on the roof before we fired up the wood stove. But it's satin stitch, so I'll probably leave it to last.