13. Sous le Soleil de la Lune

Today's restarted WIP is Sous le Soleil de la Lune by Reflets de Soie. I'm stitching it on 40 count LL in maritime white, and it's working up so beautifully I can hardly believe I stopped stitching on it. I know what happened though: it is charted for Gloriana silks with AVAS and DMC as substitutions. I bought the AVAS, but I got a few of the Gloriana, which made the project come to a screeching halt, because the Gloriana colors were so much better, and really better suited to the project. (See the Glorianas on the bottom of the photo?) The problem was that I had already bought the AVAS and Gloriana fibers are about twice as expensive. What to do? While I mulled it over, I set the project aside, not wanting to stitch too much into the territory that I could cover with Gloriana silks. In the meantime, I started stitching on first one thing, then another, and before I knew it, SlSdlL was at the bottom of the project pile. Sad.


This photo doesn't do it justice. So I made a stitchy decision as I worked on the border this morning. I love the purples and the lavenders and I've already started the border and the cartouche in the middle. Those I'll leave alone, but where there are flowers with specialty stitches or large expanses of stitching (the roof of the house, the walls and the lawn), I'll add two or three of the Glorianas to my project bag. Solution!

Speaking of which, is anyone going to the l'aiguille en fete in Paris next month? During my last hiatus from work about five years ago, I went to Paris in February, not knowing that I could have gone to the show! I explored and toured and had an overall blast. I really should not be thinking about doing this, but I so badly want to go, and I've got my eye on the fares--this is a great, cheap time of year to go usually. I stay in a little inexpensive, very French hotel in the 6th, and I eat food from the grocery store (so much better than U.S. stores--my God, the yogurt, the cheese, the cold cuts) or inexpensive cafes and bakeries, and I get around on the Metro, so my expenses are minimal. So tempting to go to the show.... One should not use one's limited funds for frivolous travel, should one? On the other hand, life is short, and memory is long... [Edited to add, after researching ticket prices--nah. Not unless there are any last-minute deals. Ditto on the hotel. At the moment things are a bit pricey. So I'll wait and watch, and look at the weather and BF's own travel schedule, and we'll see. There are worse things than staying home to stitch, after all! But my two fondest memories, aside from visiting some wonderful needlework shops, eating fabulous meals and buying groceries at Bon Marche, were visiting the pet shops along the Seine, with the most amazing array of animals, including enormous pet rabbits and the open air fruit/vegetable/meat/seafood market I visited just as it began to snow huge lazy flakes.]


Elvis needs a haircut today!


See you tomorrow!