Temari progress

I finally made some progress on temari last night, by admitting I was getting nowhere on my current project. I was trying to stitch spindles with floss, which I had chosen because of the color selection, and I was spinning my wheels and getting frustrated. I finally ordered (most of) the colors I wanted last night in #5 pearl, and started a new temari while I wait for them to come in. It feels like a weight off my shoulders, something I should have done at the beginning instead of trying to "make do."

There was just one more thing in the sewing box, but it was not from my grandma, so I saved it until today to talk about. Cousin S's brother-in-law is a sculptor, and at some point in his career worked at a place that produced these cuties:



The are about as big as my thumb nail, a little donkey, ram, bunny, and cow. All four of them have really silly expressions, like I said, Cute! Thank you again S.

What's in her workbasket?

I mentioned last time that my cousin S gave me a gift at our get-together. I was thrilled and touched when she gave me our grandmother's sewing box! She has had it for several years and thought I would enjoy looking at it.



When I opened it, I could tell right away this was a working basket, and it tells me a lot about my grandma, so I thought I would repeat the meme that came out some time ago, "Show us your sewing basket."



It is lined with pale green satin, and the first thing you see are two hankies:

The first one out of very fine linen with her maiden name monogram.



She did white-work before she was married. I remember her showing off a piece of white-work stitching when I was in college, and she told me then it was done before she was married. It is possible this work was too "fancy" to be useful for a farmer's wife, but I know she treasured the pieces she had; and this is another proof of that.

The second one has her first name initial done in extremely fine cross stitch with a tatted edging. I was so thrilled when I saw this one I got tears in my eyes. This one wasn't made for anyone else, it was made for her, and was kept separate, in a safe place. It must have been special to her.



There are a couple of lengths of crocheted lace and a beaded necklace. I remember her making these necklaces when I was a kid too. I didn't think they were very beautiful back then, but I have made some like it since then.



There is also a very pretty crocheted doily. I am tempted to wash and block this one just to see its full beauty. I will test a couple of threads first though, to make sure it will not disintegrate.



This is fun, it is a little tiny leather purse, very worn (there are a couple of holes in it). I wonder if she used it for pin money. She never had too much "mad" money, she was a widow raising 4 children, and supporting her parents and sister as well. When S and I were talking on Saturday, we were both wondering how she did it.



Now we get to the real meat of the matter, the tools. I was amazed by everything that was included here.



There are two tatting shuttles, and three pouches with different sizes of crochet hooks, plus two additional hooks (one a size 12, so fine you can hardly see the hook). There's a ruler, two scissors, a hairpin lace loom, and a shoe button hook (I think that is what it is). Very organized, very neat, with nothing extra. Oh, I take that back, there is one double pointed knitting needle. I wonder where the rest of the set is?

There are a couple more things that I didn't get pictures of, a spool of white and a spool of black thread, a couple of needles, a ball of tatting thread, and a worn thimble. All necessary things that were used, and taken care of.

This was the basket of a real needle woman. It is a real lesson to me too, that I do not need rooms full of stash to be fulfilled in my "work" (as she called it).

Miss you grandma!

A.D.A.M.

This was the weekend of our "All 'D' Annual Meeting" our family get-together in Grand Rapids. All five siblings were there, 80% of the grand-kids, and all of the great-grand-kids. We usually drive up for the day, and it is usually a beautiful drive because of the changing colors.

It was our usual dreary day, but not too cold for the kids to run around outside on the veranda. Mom tried to vary our usual menu of Corn bread and chili con carne, but there was such a protest that they changed the menu back. Everyone brings food, and we had tons of left-overs. We spend a couple of hours eating and talking.

We decided to invite other 'D' cousins who live in the Michigan area, so that was even more fun. My cousin R came in with her international students, and they got to try golfing. My cousin S came as well, and brought me a gift I want to tell you about tomorrow. My SIL took the little kids minigolfing on the same property we were on, and they had loads of fun too.

Those of us who aren't terribly athletic participated in the annual craft project instead. My sister brought origami paper (some beautiful washabi paper) and we made ornaments. These are the ones I came up with.



And this is my favorite one. I love the color and the way the bead matches. Thank you V for sharing your origami paper.

Day at the Beach

We had guests come over, my cousin's wife from Minnesota with the international students that stay with them. (I was very sorry my cousin wasn't able to make the trip!) They spent the day yesterday up in Chicago, and had a good time, but today they wanted to see Lake Michigan. We drove to the Indiana Dunes State Park, and I must admit, it was the first time I have ever been there, having lived in the area for over 30 years. The drive was pleasant, and the weather was beautiful.

The Park has been there a long time, and you can tell by the architecture. This building right on the beach is very ornate and beautiful.

The first thing we noticed when we walked around the building was the Chicago skyline. You can hardly see it on this picture, but you could see all the tall buildings. They have to be 50 miles away!

We lived near Lake Michigan when I was a kid, and we used to go to the dunes in our neighborhood regularly... this hill just called to me. Ummm, I'm not as young as I used to be, but I made it.

This was the view from half-way up the hill was wonderful! I love the color of the lake, and of the sky.

Then, once I got to the top of the hill, there was this beautiful scene. They had the pathways fenced off very strictly, because all the foot traffic tends to damage the ecosystem, but it was a beautiful panorama.

I did see this lovely bush of bittersweet, growing right next to the path.

Here's the view from the top of "Devil's Slide" having walked around the hill-top next to the beach. From here I had the fun of bounding down the mountain, and I didn't even get any sand in my shoes.

I did have a chance to stitch on a temari ball this morning, for the first time in a week. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was preparing to teach a class for Beverly guild, my beginner class. There were 19 students! There was a lot of interest because someone in the guild had taken my intermediate class and had gotten hooked. The class went well.

Then on Tuesday and Wednesday I cleaned house to prepare for our guests, and then on Wednesday and Thursday we were entertaining. So it was kind of a relief to finally get to stitch, and my mood lightened about 100%. If I go too long without stitching, things are just Not Right. So I am happy to tell you, things are looking up.

Home again, home again...

I'm back home, and I must say, very happy to be back. I didn't get as much time to stitch as I had hoped, but the meetings went very well, except for an accident to one person, who broke his ankle (badly) playing soccer. He did not speak any English, so I became his translator with the medical community. He decided to go home for treatment and surgery, but it was rather intense until he got home. I was very glad I was able to be a help.

Once I got home, I finished this temari. This first side is the class I taught at guild the week before last. I was in the mood for fall colors. It needs a little grooming yet.



For the second side I added more guide-lines and stitched the same thing again. It also needs some grooming, but I am pleased with it.



We stayed at a retreat center last week, and the weather and the grounds were lovely.



It was a pleasure going out for walks, and we had a bon-fire and s'mores as well.



Today I am planning on teaching temari to another guild.

Fall has arrived, and we turned on the furnace this morning. All I can say is at least we had a couple of weeks without air conditioning or furnace. The days are already terribly short. I struggle during December and January with how short the days are and how little daylight there is. I have arranged my work days so that I do get to drive home before it gets dark; that helps fight the impression that it is always night during the winter.

short break

As you may have noticed, I have been a little busy, and I haven't had much time to post. I just wanted to let you know that I will not be able to post at all next week, I hope you don't miss me too much. I will be back, hopefully, the following week, and I may even have some stitching to share. My absence will be for work, but I do hope to have some stitching time.

See you soon!

Crewel Chatelaine

A couple of months ago our EGA guild class was taught by my friend Marj. I've been working on it for a couple of weeks, and it went very quickly, so much so that I was amazed.



Didn't it turn out beautifully? There are satin stitches, buttonhole stitches, french and colonial stitches, chain stitch, outline stitch, long and short stitch, lattice stitch and closed fly stitch. It is very useful as well. One of the stitched items is a pin cushion, and the other is a pocket. The band is 2 layers thick, finished very nicely so you cannot see the back. The yarn was wonderful to work with, and it brought back very fond memories.

When I was in high school, a crewel project was instrumental in helping me keep it together. The living situation I was in was not the best, and I was young, immature, and very homesick. One of the things that made it bearable was the crewel kit my mom had bought for me to work on. In the evenings I had time to stitch, the process of stitching relieved my loneliness and comforted me.



There are not too many stitches in it, mostly satin stitch, outline, chain, and cross stitches. It is the first kit I made and finished. Now that I look at it, I'm not even sure you can call it crewel, except that it was stitched with yarn. The pattern was printed on the fabric. My uncle framed it for me when it was done, he used to frame my aunt's water colors. It is discolored in places but it still looks very pretty. I have it next to my bed, and enjoy looking at it in the evenings.

This project started me down the road I have traveled for years. Thank you for this project Marj! It brought back many good memories.