WIPW

I have come to a halt on my book cover stitching because I have run out of gold thread and am waiting for some to be delivered.

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I think I will do some more of the beading on the turtle while I am waiting for that delivery.

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But wait, there is the post man.  (What?  I couldn't just order one reel of thread!)

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I find that I am no longer able to cut lino blocks, the arthritis in my wrist is just a bit too much.  I did try but the results ended up in the bin and I still have to clean up the mess. (I think I will need to dump some of the dyes etc I have in my stash.  Too old!).  So I used a block that I carved a number of years ago and some dyed fabric I had left over from something else.  Now I have to stitch it.

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There have been three classes on Stitch Club since I joined a month ago.  I am just going to have to be behind.  The two classes I haven't started are Jelly Print printing on fabric and Applique and Machine Embroidery.  I have watched  both of them and have all the requirements for the Jelly Printing one.  I could use a stash of printed pieces of fabric so I will get to that one first.  The second one, Applique and Machine Embroidery will have to be for the future as I just don't have the requirements to hand and I know, from bitter experience, all the pitfalls of free-motion machine embroidery.  I need to get mastery of this skill. This is the year!!


Bees Wax

I have been stitching a lot using a metallic thread lately and I find that running it through some bees wax stops the fraying from pulling it through the fabric.   My beeswax is from my neighbours hives, all natural, with no added anything so I don't need to clarify it before I use it.  It comes is quite large blocks.  Far too large to carry around to the Guild or any other place I stitch socially.  (There is a block in the jug.)

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So my solution?  Chocolate moulds.  I heated the wax in a glass jug in the microwave using 30 second bursts of microwaves.  The jug gets very hot so something to protect the hands and your work surface is needed.

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I then poured the melted wax into the moulds and left the wax to set.

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Now these are bite size pieces ready for use for my thread but not to be eaten.


Fashion

When European designers start thinking about Spring I think Autumn.  This is a left over from my fashion buying days, old habits die hard!   But I notice that wide legs in slacks are on the horizon again.

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I still have some of those in the cupboard since they were last around!!


Food for Thought

I haven't been able to knit for over a year now and oh I miss being able to do this.  I keep stitching despite the pain it causes and sometimes I can manage to crochet but how I miss  being able to knit.  I have stopped following all my knitting sites, except one, and that is Kates Davies.  She not only knits, I just love her patterns, but she writes, eloquently.  I have joined her latest 'knit club' mainly to receive her book and in this round of patterns there are a number  I would love to have kniited.

Recently there was an alignment of the planets and residents of the island took up positions on the beach to observe this.  We don't have the same light pollution as the mainland and the night skies spread from horizon to horizon, 360 degree, but it was a bit cloudy that night so the photos weren't very good.

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However, Kate has written a thought provoking blog post titled "Resonance" which has some wonderful images of the night skies in northern Scotland.  (She also references some books that I need to add to my reading list.).

Why all this about the night sky?  Well that will be the theme of my next Shakespeare sonnet textile piece.