Too early to be excited?

(source)

I believe that I have mentioned before...I llllllooooooooove me some hand stitching. Isn't it exciting that Alicia Paulson (Posie Gets Cozy herself) is releasing an embroidery book this summer?

Do NOT mock the flu

Remember when I said "I am a germ fighting power house"? I was wrong. I take it back. I'm sorry that I "smack" talked the flu. My bad. Call off your germ friends. I give....I give...

I have been laid out with the flu for 3 days now...3 DAYS!! Sadly too sick to even feel up to a little crafting (I know!! Too sick to craft??!).

I have missed brunch and book club (which I love so!). I did however, manage to finish the book club book, which I may not have managed without the extra sick time. It's a good book:

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Check it out...even if you are not flu-infested.

The GREATEST stitch book ever??!

Dunno...I haven't seen every stitching book ever made, but I have seen a good number of them and this is my favourite so far!



A Rainbow of STITCHES, Embroidery and Cross-stitch basics

ISBN: 978-0-8230-1478-1 (0-8230-1478-9)

I should point out that I might be biased. I LOVE hand stitching. I learned how to cross stitch when I was 7 and only stopped recently because I couldn't find any patterns that I wasn't embarrassed to make. This book takes embroidery and cross-stitch and turns them into beautiful patterns that I would love to have around my house (in fact I have already done a pattern from the book - and I just got it on Friday night!).

Here is a close up:

I'm not totally sure if I will just pop this into a little frame to have as a little surprise somewhere on the wall, or if I will build it into a cushion for the couch. I'm open to suggestions! It was so much fun to make!

I love the idea on this page of just taking the linen and wrapping it unframed around an artist canvas. I already had a similar project in mind for my living room.

The contents of the book are separated by colour (thus the RAINBOW part of the title). I adore the vibrant and fresh colours found in the book:

GREEN

PINK

Be sure to take a look at the book and spend some time admiring the RED section!

My only complaint is with the book binding. The book doesn't really lay flat - a spiral binding would have been so much better, especially for cross-stitch patterns (you need to refer the pattern chart frequently!). I will likely just have to scan and print some of the patterns on loose leaf paper...but it is a bit of a hassle for an impatient crafter like me. A hassle, but not an insurmountable one for such a beautiful book!

Happy stitching!

A new obsession...

Pretty little crochet waves...mmmmmmmMMMMmmmmm...

Much of this was completed during our summer road trip. There is something very restful about a road trip. Really there is nothing that you can do but spend the passing hours looking at the beautiful scenery, listening to music, chatting, napping...and if you're me -crocheting! You are absolved of all "responsible" tasks that you could be undertaking.

The road and scenery were absolutely hypnotic! Add repetitive crochet stitches into the mix and I was all RELAX-ED. Ahhh.

True confession - I don't really know how to crochet. I wasn't able to understand all of the instructions in the pattern. After 3 false starts I decided that this looked close enough to the pattern in the book, and most importantly - I like the way that it looks!

Still millions of little crochet stitches to complete and no more road trips planned for the summer. Sounds like the perfect excuse to watch rainy day movies and crochet or to haul the blanket into the backyard with a cool drink on sunny days!

Gotta love summer!

Crafty-cation?

Does that sound really wrong??? (sounds a bit shocking to me!!). I am trying to convey that I will be on vacation for the next three weeks (so excited) and that I plan to do some crafting (sooo excited!).

The first week will be family togetherness week. My daycare is closed and we (my son, husband and I) will be at a family wedding in "cottage country" at the end of the week. Should be fun, but as with all family intensive events, it could also go terribly wrong! A very kind friend has agreed to watch my son on the evening of the wedding so that my husband and I can dance it up with the rest of the wedding people. A dressy night out? It's been a while! Should be good fun.

In preparation for the free time, I have ordered some exciting craft books to inspire me:

1. Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross
2. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia Of Crafts: An A-to-z Guide With Detailed Instructions And Endless Inspiration
3. Vintage Crochet: 30 Gorgeous Designs for Home, Garden, Fashion, Gifts

I don't really know how to crochet...but I fancy myself able to learn. We shall see. We shalllll see...