UFO Sunday: Hardanger Napkin Rings

Napkin Rings

Stella Bjerg

Started: Spirit of Cross Stitch Fesitval in 1996.

Reason abandoned: Just a little tedious. And there's red stuff all over it.

#4 Take Hardanger Napkin Rings as Travel Project

Today I brought my Hardanger Napkin Rings on the commute. I will try to get a picture of them, but there are these nasty little rust colored splotches everywhere on these. Not caused by a needle--I would have had to have left about 20 needles in this thing. And it's also on the unworked piece of evenweave. It's a mystery. I thought briefly about throwing the project out. I mean, I took this class in Valley Forge in 1997--how frickin' long have I lived without them? But that was the year I went and stitched with my broken finger. And I paid good money for the class.

But, as my cousin the-only-woman-in-the-world-who-thinks-dressing-kids-in-white-is-a-good-idea always says, "It's white; you can bleach it." I have the fear of bleaching needlework. The project is white on white, and I'm sure nothing untoward will happen if I bleach it just-this-once. But who am I kidding? They're napkin rings, they'll need to be bleached again. I've got to suck it up. If they're worth stitching, it's worth using them. And if I use them, I will inevitably bleach them. And if this means my great nieces can't use them, screw 'em. What have they ever done for me?