10. Ann Rayner

Happy Sunday! It's cold and blustery here, and I can't think of a better thing to do than sit in the sunlight streaming into my family room and stitch. Later on we have some errands to run and we may have dinner out somewhere featuring a salad while actually sitting down in a restaurant, and not in a car--although--am I the only one who enjoys eating in my car? (Not while I'm blasting through traffic, but parked in the sun, watching the various other patrons coming and going while listening to the radio.) Anyway, in order to rev up our nutrition, I'm thinking of instituting an occasional salad photo featuring interesting salads with homemade dressings. Maybe that will spur me on to make the effort in the same way that posting pictures of my needlework progress actually drives that progress. I've had random cravings lately for grapefruit and for avocados (and not just the kind that come threaded on Gentle Art cards). Maybe we should each have a 15-salad challenge (not one a day, but occasionally)?

Meet Ann Rayner, by Threads Through Time. I purchased this chart some time ago, when the TTT charts were re-released. There are others that I mean to get to someday, should I live long enough. Other stitchers have recently stitched Ann (including Tanya and Kim), and I love the variations in the colors, which depend on the threads and fabric the stitcher chooses. Ann is charted for DMC, but I did a conversion mostly out of my stash, to AVAS. I'm using 40 count LL vintage buttercream. It's hard to tell from my sunny-day photo, but the fabric is pinker and yellower than this shows, and is nicely mottled.


The photo of this sampler from the 'net shows lots of red and a warmer palette. The photo on the chart (however blurry) shows lighter/brighter shades, so I'm headed toward bluer blues, pinker pinks, while keeping the intense reds. Slightly springier, especially considering the lambs at the bottom of the design.


Elvis says he's dressed for spring.


See you tomorrow!