An Actual Finish

My host is leaving Kosovo in July, and he needs to give gifts to his local employees. I offered to make temaris. This past week, I finished two! Here's the first. I made large interlaced kikus at the poles.

The ball is shiny because I used polyester thread to wind it. I -don't- recommend this unless you have a lot of patience for slippage. The stitching is with a Valdani perle 8 and Petite Treasure Braid. Considering, I think it came out pretty well. The locals don't have any kind of tradition like this, so we're hoping they'll like it more due to the novelty factor.

Yarn from Sofia

My first yarn shop in Bulgaria introduced me to a brand I've never heard of before - Alize. I bought its mohair blend, which I'm turning into an afghan. It's got great loft and a very luxurious feel. What's better is the price was about $4 a skein ... for mohair ...

The smaller balls are all perle cotton. They were about a euro each. I really like the colors, but haven't used them yet.

Working on the Second Half

The second half is begun. Now I get to do strips the other way, in green and ivories. At least it'll be done soon.

So Close!

I made progress on the measles/wild cherries project this week. The top is done but for the outer line of simple stitches. Still, though, I've been so busy with other things I haven't been able to stitch much. I'd hoped to finish this before I left, but it looks like I'll finish it back in the States, since I leave on Wednesday.

Trims from Plovdiv

I found a needlework shop in Plovdiv! It had cross stitch supplies and a whole bunch of trims, walls of them. The prices were mismarked, so I didn't buy as much as I should have. This is what I did buy, though. A meter of each - and the total cost under ten euros!

Part Six Finally

Yay, I finally finished part six this week. I've already got part seven, but won't be starting it until I finish the heart. This only has three more pieces to go and it's done. The next part isn't nearly as dense with blackwork, so it should go more quickly.

Stash from Plovdiv, Part 2

I bought a -lot- of fabric in Plovdiv. This set of pictures is the result of my second shop's raiding. Most of the laces are beaded.

This shop had a lot of really nice lace at a very reasonable price, so I stocked up.

I thought the white was interesting with the lace inserts.

The gold is heavily beaded and the flowers are beautiful.

This black didn't turn out well in the photo, but it's taffeta with gold-edged taffeta ribbon roses on it. Looks really nice.

Had to put this lace on black so you can see it. It's gorgeous.