Hanging Out at the BOA

I carpool to work with someone who starts work half an hour before I do; she was worried I'd mind and wouldn't want to carpool with her since I'd have to leave earlier and would have an extra half hour to kill once we got into Richmond. Put your hands up if you think I have a problem killing time! This is the cafe at the Bank of America building. You don't have to buy food to sit here, although generally I at least buy something to drink and a bagel in the morning. I love this room--it's like a glassed-in patio and the stitching light is the best. There's also an outdoor patio that has lots of trees and flowers and good views of the city. Generally I have the cafe to myself in the morning, and when I am not working out at the Y across the street, I have lunch here too. It's never crowded and no one even casts a glance my way when I pull out my needlework. I love this space so much and I'm so grateful to the Bank of America (my own office is too crowded to find a nook for stitching) that I'm thinking of switching my bank account over to them.

Here's a little more on Ann Smith. I have to admit my attention is wandering. That's just about right--it's been about 4 weeks. Time to move on to something else for a while.

So I picked up Catharine O'Neal and worked on the thistles on the top right.

I have signed up for a three-week knitting class at the Yarn Lounge in October. The project will be a Fair Isle hat by Mission Falls. Here's the project I've chosen. As a knitter I'm an advanced beginner or an intermediate. I'm good at some things--knitting, purling, cabling, increasing, decreasing--but not others, including changing colors. This class will teach me to do that. The following month is a three week class in mitten-knitting which I will sign up for if I like the hat class.

I do adore my handicrafts. For years I have wanted to learn woodworking, and Richmond has a place where I can indulge my curiosity and take classes. I am going to be investigating that also. One beginner class teaches the students to make a small shaker table. Other classes teach wooden bowl making or pictures frames.
Peaches: "I like crafts too; I deconstructed this timothy tunnel in no time at all!"

I'm off to steam some crabs for dinner. Happy week ahead!

Wyfdom

Final weekend of the summer. The temperatures have finally moderated, and I'm out of here in a few minutes to head outdoors. I've been busily working on Ann Smith this week.


And I got outdoors at lunch in Richmond on Friday, and took a photo of this old building. There are lots of such buildings in Richmond--it's a city with a huge stock of unrestored structures with good bones or at least interesting details. See the "Horses Horses" faded paint on the bricks? Wonder if it was a feed store, and if so, how recently. Sixties? Earlier? Wonder how long it takes for paint to fade to this extent.


Off I go. In the meantime, Elvis counsels a good luxurious scratching session.


Happy week ahead!

Scarlet Fever II

I've put quite a few stitches in Ann Smith this week including lots of over-one in the words and area beneath the words. I love this Scarlet Letter sampler, and in fact I'm a huge fan of Scarlet Letter's approach to selling her wares in general. What I especially like about the Scarlet Letter is that most of her designs are sold not only as kits but as separate charts too. I look at her very good website and pore over her printed catalogs as well: they are absolutely gorgeous, and pure needlework porn.

Here's my latest Scarlet Letter obsession, which I ordered today in chart form-- Catharine Metcalf--and in spite of the strict stash diet I've tried really hard to follow. Just look at these photos, borrowed from the Scarlet Letter's website:

How can anyone resist this spotty cow with the bullion knot tail?

Or this cheerful-looking serpent with his pink forked tongue or the Adam and Eve as played by Brad and Angelina?


I've gotten a couple of questions lately about my stash. My header photo is La Famille Lapin, but I'm forgetting who the designer is. I believe I bought it at In Stitches in Alexandria, VA, and you can try calling them--it seems as if I've seen the chart there fairly recently. Their phone # is on the link.

Someone else asked how many WIPs I have. Well, I counted my project bags--almost all of my projects are stored in those nice mesh bags--and it seems as if I have 48 project bags. As I look through them, there are a few I will not continue because I've fallen out of love or my interests have evolved more into the historic sampler reproductions, but I probably have a good 40 WIPS that I would be happy to pick up and work on and someday even finish. My "rotation" is loose: at any given time I work on about my six favorites in a rotation of about three weeks on each project until I get tired of it and put it away until later. I'll pick up and restart an older one to put it back in the more immediate rotation, and I'll start a new one from time to time and add that to the rotation also. It's very fluid and frankly, I don't worry much about whether I finish something or not; for me, it's about the process. It has occurred to me that I need to make some provision in my will for passing them on to someone(s). No one in my family would be even slightly interested or would even know what I had. Maybe I should have a contest for being in my needlework will? LOL!

Pink and Elvis: "We're irresitable too!" Right, guys, but none of the critters on that Scarlet Letter sampler are likely to doot on the floor!


Happy week ahead, all!

Down by the River

I felt inspired by my trip to the Rappahannock for pictures with Audrey (below) to take this out and work on it-Sarah McPhail from The Essamplaire. Still enjoying it, but I have such a huge rotation that it doesn't get out much.

Yesterday was a bit cooler, so I stopped by the Rappahannock River bank after doing my errands yesterday. Audrey posed on the camera bag since it was muddy--we'd had thunderstorms the night before.

And if you click on this picture you can see the friend that Audrey made. He had hauled himself out of the water and was sunning himself probably--a really good-size turtle.

Pink went for a little skittering run down the hall last night.

Happy week ahead!

Teach Me

It's hard to believe that although I stitched a lot this week, I made so little progress. Except it isn't just a little progress when it's over-one, is it? Ann Smith:



The letters are full cross, and the clouds/border area are tent stitch. Speaking of "teach me," I'm happily anticipating taking a knitting/stitching/sewing/crochet class or two this fall. My job is consuming enough mentally that I've decided not to take college classes this semester--it's just too much. Since I find taking hobby classes so rewarding, relaxing and fun, I'm weighing what to take. My funds are limited for this, and I know I also need to allot the time to follow through on the projects, so I'm trying to decide: G Street Fabrics, which has so many sewing classes, from tailoring, quilting, pattern making, fabric dyeing, beading and couture sewing (including french hand sewing of lingerie), crochet and home dec? How about the Yarn Lounge in Richmond, for knitting classes of all kinds (be sure to check out their blog where they show customers' projects on FO Friday? Perhaps needlepoint lessons at In Stitches in the fall? They have a huge needlepoint canvas of Washington, DC that I've been eyeing on the last few visits. The only problem is that I don't needlepoint. Well, maybe I should learn! I'm so looking forward to taking a class that doesn't require 20 hours of dreary book work each week--but instead, maybe requires a few hours of stitching, knitting or sewing.


What to do on a hot, boring Sunday:


Peaches: "Or go visit Augustus!"


I'm off to barbecue some chicken and make a big salad out of some of our tomato crop! (Audrey, helping with the tomato crop.)


Happy week ahead!

Doldrums

I'm worn to a nub, and I'm having trouble getting Blogger to upload photos, so I'm going with these two and calling it a day. (I wonder if it's too early to go to bed. Can't do it though, as I have a nice rack of ribs cooking slowly on the barbecue which need occasional tending) My stitching project this week is the Scarlet Letter's "Ann Smith," which is a re-start--I didn't like the coverage or the color of the last fabric I used. This is now being stitched on 40 ct. Magnolia using AVAS.


I woke the bunnies from their nap on the bath rug--they love to snuggle here even though there are larger and more comfy places they could lie down. Sometimes I find the three of them stuffed into one hay box. In any case, we all want to wish you a happy week ahead!

Cobblestones, Brick and Lionheads

No sign of cooling temps, so I'm happy to be a slug indoors this weekend with my needlework. I didn't get much done during the week, but I've made some progress this weekend on Miriam Chilvers:


Audrey and I haven't ventured out to explore Richmond either. But I did scurry out to the local independent bookstore and to pick up some pizza for lunch. On the way, I took this shot of a cobblestoned alley. The street in this part of town--Shockoe Slip--is cobblestone too, but newer, and installed in a kind of clamshell-quilt pattern. These are the real deal, rounded and worn down with use.


I am not sure what has happened to Richmond's downtown area; it is pretty sparsely populated. I imagine the recession is responsible for some of it, but the downtown area becomes virtually deserted after 5:30. The good pizza place I visited closes at 5:00 p.m. Clearly workers don't hang around downtown after hours. Wouldn't this make a great knitting/needlework/quilt store? Those white shutters can be removed and the windows are floor to ceiling. (Probably not from an economic standpoint--but at least from an aesthetic one.) I love the old warehouse-y brick buildings with the old stenciled writing on them.


Malcolm Russell and his wife have gotten themselves a couple of baby lionhead rabbits. Go here to see them--they are just the cutest thing on the rabbit blogosphere. For a change, Elvis approves!

Happy week ahead!

Hot

It has been very hot here--in the upper 90s every day, as it is again today--so I haven't had a chance to explore Richmond with Audrey. I did walk down to the farmer's market at the train station on Thursday. None of my new co-workers had ever been, but they declined to trot 7 blocks in the heat; no doubt they have formed an interesting opinion of me ("you certainly do like to explore!" I do! I do!) So I set out on a 97-degree day to see what was on offer. I passed some interesting stuff: an old-time variety store, paint peeling and windows full of bright orange placards, selling "fried bologna steak sandwiches" and other curiosities. It has been a long time since I have had a good bologna sandwich--put a slice or two in a hot pan and cook until blistered and puffy, then slap on the yellow mustard and eat it between two slices of squishy white Hol-sum bread with a thick slice of tomato that soaks the bread. We get a lot of interesting food in Richmond, a city far more southern-feeling than the part of Virginia where I live, 65 miles north. We routinely have lunch at the Suntrust Bank cafeteria, which serves all manner of sandwiches and grilled items and good crunchy southern fried chicken wings. The sandwiches are served with piles of marinated red onions on them. The Arby's, which anywhere else is forgettable fast food, cooks breakfast sandwiches to order on big, fluffy homemade biscuits. Even the Wawa, the huge gas station where I stop on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to fill up (these days I'm spending on gas what I used to spend for a bus ticket), serves "shorti" sandwiches--fabulous breakfast sandwiches on ciabbata bread (or pick up a lunch sandwich to go) to be eaten in the parking lot next door. I don't mind dashboard dining, but I can't drive and eat with eggy bits falling into my lap. Also, I've been trying to cach up with the Boka Truk ("Takos for your Mouf") which advertises its food as being Mexican/Asian/American fusion.

For whatever reason, Richmond is a town at lunch of card-table vendors, where you can buy anything from bulgogi to a chicken salad sandwich to Thai noodles from a hand-made wooden plywood cart, or straight off a card table. I'll be sampling and reporting on what I eat. And taking pictures if it ever cools down to the 80s!

Anyway, here's the train station (photo borrowed from Wiki) as it was in 1971. It doesn't look very different now. There weren't many farmers--I was told there are many more on Friday night and Saturday--but I did get a nice bag of Hanover tomatoes, which are famously huge and juicy.



The heat has mostly convinced me to stay inside, stitching. This is Sous le Soleil:



With a close-up of the moon and stars done with Gloriana silk:


And here's a before picture of Catharine McNeal.


After.


Here's Pink, looking cool and snowy. Pink says, "it's best to stay inside when it's sunny and hot to keep from getting sun-burned ears."


Happy week ahead!

Where are We Going?

We were very fortunate this week to have won this tiger print, done by the wonderful Diana Moll, artist and bun-mom extraordinaire.

The packaging was too cute to throw away:


Thank you, Diana, for both the print and for the packaging!

Although I started my new job this week, and wasn't relaxed or cool enough (it was 103 degrees in Richmond) to take photos of my new, funky city, I am hoping to show Audrey around this week or next, depending on my workload and the temps. Stay tuned for that whereby we will visit Padow's for everything "pigging" out, where we will take a gander at the skyline, and where we will examine old cobblestones and iron front buildings and tobacco warehouses and contemplate how to turn a 19th century ship around after it has picked up a load of tobacco, and the farmers market. I am a bit directionally challenged, and I got lost in Richmond each and every day leaving the city, in spite of the navigation system in my car. I figured it out finally by Friday.

I was able to stitch a bit on Miriam Chilvers, seen here (AVAS on 40 ct Lakeside pearled barley), as well as more on Sous le Soleil (not enough to show).


Peaches wants to assure RG, who has a new kitty, that it's just a small matter to manage a cat. "It'll be ok, RG!"


Happy week ahead!

Stitching with Miriam and Audrey on the Fourth of July in a Peaceful Garden Under the Sun While the Band Played On

I thought that those of you who are interested in sampler-y houses might like to see this antique, true Cape Cod home. It was built in 1900 and it's for sale for $489,000 and is located in East Falmouth, on the Cape. You can see more pictures of it here (click on the 2nd page--the link doesn't take you there automatically). Its barn is even cuter than the main house.

We had a little fourth of July party today. It was extremely hot, so I had a nice opportunity to play with ice. This is from my new ice cube tray: the Titanic, complete with icebergs. Hilarious.

Audrey was our honored guest. She says those are not her beers. *hic*

We had these.

Here's my sister, demonstrating Watermelon Carving 101.

This is Gilbert, demonstrating Pyrotechnics 101 while Audrey watches.

Audrey: "ooooooh! aaaaaaaah!"

Yesterday I was sitting in the stitching chair when the phone rang. It was one of the nice women from In Stitches to tell me that Miriam Chilvers had arrived. I rushed off to pick up Miriam and then kitted her up. I'm stitching her on 40 count Lakeside (I'm forgetting what color) using AVAS. My favorite combination.

I felt the urge to stitch on Peaceful Garden (Stitching Parlor), so I took it out.

And I made some progress on Sous le Soleil:

Peaches, grooming Pink.

Tomorrow's agenda: stitch all day.

Happy Fourth of July, all!