Nice Weekend

I had a nice weekend. We were expecting kids over on Saturday, and a restful day on Sunday, but the kids didn't arrive until Sunday, so Saturday was the restful day. I got this ball stitched. It has a base of cone thread. The marking stitches are DMC multi-colored metallic thread (3 strands together on a spool), and the stitching is done with floche, a cotton fiber that is very smooth. I really like how it turned out.



I think I'm enjoying these so much because I like the way the threads interact to make different shapes. I loved geometry in high school, because it was fun to figure out theorems, etc. This is the same process. You have to figure out how to stitch the pattern even though the end process doesn't look exactly the way you might think.



I'm counselor for a girl's club, and I'm trying to teach 6 girls how to crochet this year. I'm finding it quite frustrating because we don't have enough time in the classroom to really work with each girl until she catches on. These are the projects I've made this year to get them enthused.



The hot pad is made with 3 strands of cotton thread, I made this one last night in about 1 hour. The elephant is cute! One of my girls is dying to learn to make amiguri animals like this. I don't know if I can keep their interest long enough for them to learn. We'll have another go at it this week.



My mom and dad spend their summers in Michigan and their winters in Arizona. There seem to be some amazing estate sales in Arizona, and one of my mom's hobbies is shopping them, for me. (The only thing that would be more fun is if I were there shopping with her!) This is the latest piece she picked up, isn't it gorgeous? She said it is a long piece of linen, something like you would use for the top of a piano. I can't wait to see it in person. Thank you mom, it is beautiful!