Shopping!

I was looking around on-line last week, and ran across a sale of these gorgeous threads. They are Valdani pearl cotton, size 8, and they were on clearance at Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions. I have been admiring (drooling over) the 3 strand embroidery floss that has been available for a Quaker Sampler, but I did not want to get another Quaker sampler for my stash; but now a chance to get these, on sale, to be used for temari? DH will tell you I kind of went over board.



These are also Valdani threads, but they are silk, and are equivalent to a size 12.



Just lucious. My only regret was that C was not there when the package arrived. She would have been as excited about the package as I was about the threads.

Water Lily

This is the bottom of my most recent temari. I cannot show the top, because I am involved in a Stitch-along, and the whole has not been revealed yet.

This is a water lily, stitched with spindles on a c8. Don't look at it too closely. I just noticed last night that one of the spindles has 5 yellow threads in the middle, instead of 4, and the weaving can certainly use some help. Overall, apart from those mistakes, I like it a lot.



I hope to use this design on a Sampler ball we are working on in another of my groups. Working on a c10, we plan to stitch a different flower on each of the 12 faces. Because of the number 12, I am thinking of doing a "the year in flowers" type of project, using flowers that mean a lot to me. I hope to make a large temari. The water lilies would be for August, reminding me of summers at my folks' lake house.

I could use some summer, and/or some sun, right about now!

Step 3

I was not able to put this sampler down for 2 weeks, and in those two weeks I got most of steps one and two done. This is the picture from last Thursday. There are 4 (purple) crocuses on a side for a total of 16, and 5 pink tulips on a side, for a total of 20, then 6 blue/black windmills on a side for a total of 24. They don't look like windmills yet, because the blades are put in with beads, and those have to wait until most of the stitching is done. So that finishes step 2.



Step 3 is the corner ornaments, both inner (above) and outer (below) and the border. This border has 10 pyramids on a side, for a total of 40; you can tell we are getting bigger. Also, with the outer corner ornaments, I can no longer stitch everything without moving the scroll bars. You can't quite tell yet that the corner medallions have tulips in them.



I cannot believe how fast this is going! I think I mentioned that this pattern came out in 12 monthly installments... and in 2 weeks I have finished 2 months worth of patterns. If I keep going at this pace, I will finish in March!

However, most of the weekend was a reading weekend. If you look in my side-bar you will see a book case with the most recent books I have picked up and/or read. I really am enjoying my Nook! We went to the book store, and I purchased 3 things for $2.99 each: two anthologies with 50 books in each (!) and a couple of mysteries by Dorothy Sayers, one of my favorite writers. One hundred books for $6.00!

I also finished two books on Saturday night. We went out for supper, and either my decaf latte was not a decaf, or the dark chocolate cake had enough caffeine to keep me up, but in either case, I read until after 1:30 AM. That doesn't happen too often, usually I am asleep within minutes after my head hits the pillow. I was glad to get those two books done, though, neither was a real favorite. The one I started after that, though, is a favorite.

Yesterday I read most of the day (after my nap, to make up for the night before). This time it is a book with paper pages, and I have a ways to go yet, so the sampler will wait.

Tomorrow I can show you the south pole of a new temari... the north pole is waiting for a "stitch along" to catch up.