Stashed

My husband went to Houston this week and while he was there stopped at Chaparral, a needlepoint store. He got me these four skeins of Needle Necessities floss in these beautiful colors. The women there, he tells me, didn't quite know what to do with him, especially since he just wanted to browse on his own. I love the colors - he knows my taste. Now to figure out what to use them in.


This fabric is for the Celtic Mystery - the eleventh in Chatelaine's big mystery series. The finished piece has already been claimed, and the claimant wants it worked on this fabric - Phantom from Picture This Plus. I got it in a 28 count so I will have an easier time with the beads. Of course it's more lovely in person. The first part of the mystery doesn't start until January first, though.

Last of the Blues

The last of the blues on the first quarter of part three was added this week. It's -so-close to being done. I'll be adding the specialty stitches once I'm done with all four sides and the beads at the end, as usual. I'm just really happy to be making it to a definitive progress point very soon.

Another Blue Done

The second blue color is done on the second quarter. It's soooo close! I'll definitely be finished with the second side before Christmas. With the thread left in my needle, I started the third corner. I really doubt I'll get that one done before the new year, though. It's coming along. There's only one more row of "stuff" beyond this. The goal for next year is to have the whole thing completed.

Going Up

I've decided to work on the upper half of the Lady first. There's less to do on the top because the cut off I used for edge to edge ended up being about 2/3 of the way up. Now to get cracking. It's all straightforward cross stitch, so it's pretty easy to do. And there are larger blocks of one color than I'd expect from this kind of piece, but I'm not complaining.

Ornamental Finish

I completed the ornament I talked about starting yesterday. It didn't take more than a couple of hours to do - a really quick stitch. My husband claims I like tone on tone stuff too much. I think he says that because it's hard to photograph. I think it came out really well and will finish it up into a small pillow ornament some time this weekend. Since the ornament pattern was a freebie and it was stitched from stash, this counts as my twentieth finish on my project challenge. Only five more to go!

Kosovar Textiles

When my daughter went to get the mail this evening, there was a package from my best friend in Kosovo. These were enclosed. I knew he'd gone to a local bazaar in Pristina, but he told me he'd bought jewelry - not textiles! He had an Albanian speaker with him, so I'll have to question him tomorrow about these things. The crochet is absolutely exquisite. It's very well done with a fine cotton thread - just over tatting weight. I love it. My husband got a closer view of an individual motif so you can see the workmanship.

This weaving was also in the package - actually two of them, identical. The red lozenge pattern is very typical of most of Eastern Europe and is supposed to be a fertility symbol. I don't think my friend knew that part. The piece is made of wool, woven on a tapestry loom, and measures about a foot square.

There was also a business card enclosed for a glass artist in Pristina. Since my friend didn't enclose a personal note, I don't know why it was in there - if he purchased the textiles from there, or if he thought I'd like the fused glass work (I'm a big fan of fused glass.). The website has a lot of neat stuff on it, especially the glass Kosovar flags. A fitting metaphor, I think.

Ornamental Start

This is a really small ornament pattern from Follow the Leader. I got it free in something I had sent away for. Just started and changed colors, of course. The floss is Needle Necessities and the fabric is one I dyed this summer. Shouldn't take me very long to make, and it will probably be my last ornament on the Christmas blitz. Time to get back to other commitments!