February 21, 2016

What to Leave In, What to Leave Out

Greetings, all! Things are busy here. Tom is getting himself a brand-new knee Tuesday, so we've been prepping for the operation, the hospital stay and recovery at home along with a big heaping helping of physical therapy. My official job is driver, calmer downer (he's very apprehensive), fetcher and waiter arounder. I will be attending an official orientation for "coaches." The hospital folks encouraged me to spend the night(s), so I'll be packing a few needlework projects and hoping for good light somewhere. At the end of that is knee number 2. It's a darned shame he doesn't stitch, isn't it? I've offered to teach him, but he claims he wouldn't be able to handle the detail. I told him that if the surgical team should need someone to stitch him up, I'd be happy to volunteer. He laughed and said that if I were doing the stitching, I'd get half of it done and put him aside... I've had a finish! Miriam Chilvers' Sampler by Samplers Remembered. Stitched on 40 count Lakeside using the called-for AVAS.
Here's a close-up. Everyone's favorite detail is her striped dress.
I poked around in my stash and pulled out Ann Smith, thanks to Margaret, whose finish is so beautiful. I'm a long way from a finish. I couldn't find any of the fibers, so I re-kitted that part of it at In Stitches last Stitch Night. There's a lot of time-consuming over-one in this project.  40 count Lakeside Linen in Magnolia using the called-for AVAS fibers.
I have a new start! The minute I saw Gigi R's "Biedermeier Sampler," I knew I had to stitch it. It's charted for DMC, which I purchased. I had a nice piece of Lakeside in Porcelain (40 count) in my stash, and I have converted all the DMC colors to silks from my stash.
Here's a photo of the chart.
Last but not least is "Seven Sheep Sampler" by The Scarlett House. I'm working on a dark fabric, which I love (likely Lakeside vintage autumn gold) using the charted Gloriana and Class Colorworks colors, but substituting for the Dinky Dyes. I remember starting it and then getting distracted, but it's such a beautiful sampler, that I worked most of today on it. The photo shows the true colors of the fibers, but the fabric appears a little light here.
Off I go to accomplish a few chores before bed and the single day of work this week (tomorrow). Happy week, all!

13 comments:

Robin in Virginia said...

Congratulations on your finish, Glenna! I enjoyed seeing your current works in progress. Hope you are able to in a good amount of stitching while you are tending the patient.

Jackie's Stitches said...

Congrats on your finish!

Loving Ann Smith on the fabric you selected - the red lettering is amazing!

Good luck with your husband's surgeries and recoveries. It sounds like you have a solid stitching plan!

Debbye said...

Hi, Glenna,

Beautiful stitching projects!

I want to offer your husband some encouragement and a fresh dose of reality. I am two months post-of my SECOND knee replacement. I'm 61 years old and I went into both surgeries absolutely determined to make it all worthwhile. First, the cold slap of reality: the pain he'll experience the first week or so post-op is bad. May as well just say it. Of course, he'll be on morphine for 24 hours following surgery, maybe longer, then he'll be transitioned to a pill every 6 hours. It's important he stay on top of that 6-hour time frame or the pain comes roaring back. Also, he WILL have to stand up on that new knee the same day of surgery. That's a tough challenge, but he'll have plenty of help from the hospital therapist. He can do it. My best advice? Do absolutely everything his PTs tell him to do and add one more. If they tell him to do 10 straight leg lifts, do all 10 and throw in an extra one. It's important that he be faithful to his physical therapy and NOT baby his knee. Physical therapy will hurt a lot, but as the weeks go by the pain and stiffness become less of an issue. I have about two weeks to go in PT and I'll be done. My right knee was replaced two years ago and is fabulous. My left knee is at about 80% recovered and feels so much better than it used to. Oh, if he has an exercise bike that will be great starting in a couple of weeks, but not right away! My very best wishes to him and prayers for a full recovery. HE CAN DO THIS! (By the way, due to a blood clot issue I had to be wide awake for my second knee replacement. Not for the fainthearted!)

Vickie said...

Oh boy. I just read the above comment. I said a prayer for your husband.
Your stitching is so lovely.

Melissa said...

Lovely finish on Miriam. I agree, I love a striped dress too. Planning to sew one this summer!

You've got lots of lovely projects to take with you to the hospital. Good luck to Tom on the surgery!

RG said...

Nice finish! Good luck on the knee caper. Take notes .. most of us are headed there and your advice and experience will be valuable.

Everyone I know who had that procedure also says to really do the work with the therapist and the result will be a huge gain over what he has right now!

Margaret said...

I hope all goes well with Tom's knee surgery. My father had knee replacement surgery and it was very successful. Hope it's the same for Tom -- Bummer that he will need his other one done too. Love all your projects. Glad to have gotten you back to Ann Smith. She is a gorgeous piece and so much fun, despite all the over one. I love that GigiR sampler, but despite loving that style of sampler, I find I'm not very good at stitching it. Such a bummer since this one is a beauty!

Jan said...

Hope Tome does okay with his surgery.
You need to bring your finish to stitch night so we can see it in person. It looks great.

Kiwiflowa said...

Beautiful WIP's. I hope the operation and recovery goes well for the both of you. Is he a reader? I can't imagine being bed bound and not being able to either knit, stitch or read.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

What a gorgeous selection of samplers you have. Gigi's is certainly intense! The colours are going to look wonderful.

Susan said...

You always have the best selection of pieces. Hope everything went well with the surgery. Hopefully Tom is a better patient than my SO (I almost begged the hospital to keep him for the recovery period and when they said they couldn't I asked if I could stay!) Love the comment on getting half done with stitching him back up.

Brigitte said...

I hope everything went well with the knee surgery.
Your samplers are all so beautiful. Congratulations on the finish. I liked to see Margaret stitching Ann Smith, what a beauty.

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