Inside, Outside.

First, the "outside" I noticed while taking out the trash.



I bet some of you will love that tractor, so I picked this shot.



Yet I prefer this one. :)



The temperature's too nice for even the sunset to make one feel melancholy.



My poor neighbors (yes, this tree resides in their lawn)--whoever loved and cared for their large, yet oddly shaped (It's very long) back garden is has been long-gone these 15 or 20 years at least. It's an absolute ruin--and I can honestly say it only shows beauty at this part of spring. Their postage-stamp sized front is clinically tidy with 2.5 shrubs under the picture window--all the "i's dotted and t's crossed". I'm no green thumb, but I do long to go and spruce up that yard of theirs. The lay of the land is such that They are 20 or 30 feet below our little apartment house; anyone walking by peers right down into their back yard as into a goldfish bowl. I used to talk myself out of going and offering to do various yard work tasks for them--"Certainly they'll have a restraining order brought against you for even suggesting it!", I lectured.

Then the end of last summer they started in with my landlord because I hang my linens (sheets, towels, pillowcases, etc.) to dry at my balcony. "It doesn't look nice." "This is a nice neighborhood, not a slum." "What if someone were to see your clean laundry drying!?" If you were raised thinking this way, think again--the average American family spends over $300 a year just to dry their wash! The dryer is one of the most wasteful of home appliances, and it literally pummels your clothing while blasting it with scorching air to get it dry for you. Your things will last longer and look nicer if you hang them out, not to mention how healthful and anti-mold it is; particularly for bedding which takes up a certain amount of moisture from you body and doesn't always get the airing it needs. There is no local ordinance against line, drying, but I gave it up because I couldn't decide whether or not it was a battle I wanted to "choose". Now that the weather is so balmy, It's definitely resurfacing in my mind--hence the ramble. I hadn't even realized how much I was thinking on it until I looked up at all I'd typed! Well, at any rate, here's a website with more details on line-drying, particularly from a standpoint of protecting and promoting the right to do so: Project Laundry List.

Now, for the "Inside" (I had intended to make this a Pict-o-Blog; "Hah" to that!)



It's my progress on Quaker Diamonds! I left the blossom of the center flower 'till last 'cause I was thinking of making it purple rather than red. Now, seeing it "all" I'm leaning red. I'm so loving this piece, but it is enormous and the 14" Q-snaps make it HEAVY! Also, the 3-strand perle is FUN to stitch with, but after a bit the effort begins to tell--you feel like you're yanking the thread through! So, my advice is that it's great fun, but pace yourself unless you're made of sterner stuff! :P

•••



Finally, I'd like to ask those of you who keep a prayer/quiet/reflection time to remember me for an "unspoken" request this week.

I want to also thank all my kind readers; I so enjoy your visits here, and being able to stop in at your blogs as well!

Yours from a Spring Eve,
Berit

Quaker Diamonds, Go!

This weekend, I made my start on Quaker Diamonds, which you may recall was a RAK from BeckySC.



Today, like all of the last 7 (or so it seems) is a very grey and rainy one, so please excuse the quality.



The Valdani perle is such a joy to stitch with. I decided to stick with the recommended PTP Mello in 28 ct. Cashel, and I'm glad I did. The wonderful colour aside, their Cashel seems to have a really dense, stand-up-to-it quality that takes the perle well. I think I looser linen would be pushed around too much. So, for me Valdani perle + PTP is a must. I wonder what linen Becky used for her Quakers and Quilts WiP. She would be better qualified to make recommendations regarding suitable linens for the perle than I am.

Here's a bonus shot from our trip to Mitsuwa marketplace, a wonderful Japanese shopping center which just might be the happiest of all my happy places. :D



Look at those darling bunny containers! :D The sweets contained within are in front to the far left. The Japanese see a rabbit (or 2) in the moon making traditional mochi, a sweet rice cake made by pounding and turning cooked rice outdoors with a mallet (mochi-tsuki), flouring and sweetening as you go. So I'm pretty certain that this is packed in a rabbit more because of the fact that the sweets inside are rice cakes than the fact that spring is approaching.

It's from the gift counter, which has imported sweets with regional, seasonal themes. Very expensive, they are souvenirs brought back from traveling (omiyage), gifts for taking along on a visit to someone's home, gifts for your boss or those who have helped you in the past season. (It's traditional to give such things at 2 points in the year: New Year's and I forget the other; possibly golden week. Birthdays are much less important than they are here.) These are all facts from memory, so my apologies if you happen to know better than I and I've made a mistake there.

Well, spring's coming on slowly but surely, yet I do wish it'd hurry up! Or, just go back to winter. No more gloomy rain, Please! Hope all is well with you and yours--I'm back to my cake in the oven and Quaker Diamonds! Thanks again, Becky! I can't tell you how enjoyable this one is to work on! :D

Yours Spring Feverishly,
Berit

Exchange Arrival Rings in Spring!

Just look at this amazing pillow Lindsay sent me for the Easter Holiday Exchange!




Cherckerboard Bunny Freebie from Waxing Moon Designs
on unknown pale blue linen
using GAST with some substitutions.
Stitched by Lindsay




The bunny is such an nice colour--I LOVE him!! :D





Her stitching is so neat--I wish I could make such nice french knots!! I only recently learned, and, well...



Other fun goodies were also included: A sunny notepad, some of that scented floss (I've been curious about wanting to try it), and some chocolates which missed the picture because I've put them in the fridge to re-solidify so that we can eat them! The LLV (That's what the boxy mail trucks in US are called; short for "Long-Life Vehicle") must have been pretty warm today 'cause they got a little melty--fortunately Lindsay had the clever thought to seal them in a bag just in case! :D

Thank You so much Lindsay; I'm so excited to have some spring stitching! I've been doing lots of fall/winter stuff lately (which I love), but I also love pastels! :D I'll be enjoying each warm spring day (as we get them) together with this darling pin pillow! :D

Longer Days

...are here again in the US. The time switch (whether it be "springing forward" or "falling back") always throws me: I realized that I'd been suffering horribly the previous week from seasonal depression. Insufferable winter blues--what nerve they have to elbow their way in as the gloomy weather ends!

Fox Forest

Please pardon the "away waste knots" I always use them. Do you? I hate stopping stitching to tidy them up, but when I begin a session I really enjoy weaving them in--makes me feel as though I must have accomplished a lot last time. Fills one with a sense of industrious pride. lol

Redbird Sampler

As she has stood for what seems like weeks! To the left, 2 strands of green needles. To the Right, only one. 2 are called-for on the chart, but the chart also specifies a much lower (28?) count linen. I used 36/2. Everyone I've asked seems to like the double strand, but I can't quite give up the idea of a single. Opinions, please? The sooner I finish this baby the sooner I can pass the chart on to a lucky reader. ;)

Easter Holiday Exchange

Modified motif from "Strawberry Summer Sampler" by C Street Samplerworks, as published in the Summer 2003 edition of Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly. Stitched 2/2 on 28 ct. Cashel "Fog" by PTP.



This image shows the colours a little bit more clearly; it was a hideously overcast day when I took these photos.



This is my first pynkeepe, and I was very nervous that Bonnie should like it! I am pleased with the first attempt, and hope that she is too. :) I sent another exchange (Arbor Day) at the same time, but as we're still waiting on that one's arrival I can't show the pictures yet.

What's next:

• Finishing that Darned Fox Forest. I seriously love this piece. So much that I could stitch on it forever and never finish it! As it's a chart loan, however, I'm cracking the whip. All the foxes are now in and all that remains is the alphabet and me deciding how to sign it. And If I'm gonna add some other stuff (Like a phrase beneath it).

• Secret Project! Can tell this much, however: All it lacks is a bit of ironing, some perimeter stitching and a few perfect buttons/beads/baubles.

• Finally was able to order linen for Quaker Diamonds, and it is in the mail!! Oh, the joy! I think I'm going to start a monthly thing with myself on this one; otherwise HOW can I finish it. It's my "first" BAP. (Not the first to plan, but the first to start, I think. I planned another quaker, but when the fabric came in it was a total bust.) I need to block the design off into monthly sections, methinks.

• I *wish* I could start JB's Christmas Sampler, which I've had for a while now, but idk if I can handle more winter right now! Can I wait 'till next year!? :D

• Did you see Staci's gift for Paula?? I swear; I'm stricken with the compulsion to copy half the stuff she rolls off her presses! :D

Thanks to everyone for all your kind comments on my last post! Sorry I've been somewhat absent lately. I've got about a dozen of your blogs open in tabs in my browser awaiting comment. But, my computer time for this afternoon is now up! ;)

Have a great weekend, all!

Eat Your Carrot(s)!

On Monday morning, while sleepily checking my email/reader, I saw that Tanya of The Sampler Girl had released a new freebie: "eat your carrots".

Because it was such a glorious, spring-y,sunny morning, and because I've been doing fall stitching most of the winter (which I love, but don't want to do winter all spring...), and because Marc's nickname for me is some form of the word "Bunny", and because I LOVE pastel colours (I'm happy as a pig in, umn, mud when the spring comes because I can just roll in pastels, eyelet lace, and seersucker regardless of whether or not anyone I know's got a baby.), I decided this would be an easy, fast spring make which I could then finish and enjoy as spring comes on. I think we all need a little cheering up from the winter blues. So, at some length, I finished, and "finish-finished" it.

"eat your carrots"
The Sampler Girl
Start: 01 March 2010
End: 03 March 2010
Fabric: 1/2 on Mystery White Linen
Fibers: GAST Straw Basket, Grape Leaf, Avocado, Bayberry; DMC 3854, Anchor 305

I used some of that ubiquitous pink-bud seersucker (gosh, how I love that type of fabric!!), and some taupe stripe ticking (another favorite) as the complimentary fabrics. I wanted a half pastel-half prim look, and I'm reasonably satisfied with the result. Too bad almost I stuffed and/or ironed almost all the "seer" out of the "sucker", but I still find this rather saccharin print a guilty pleasure. :D



I noticed this morning that this finish has yarn hair. Not unlike a Cabbage Patch. I think it's the "pig tails". I'll do something about those guys later on; maybe tie more knots in them...or castrate them. It might be all in my own head, as I was too rough turning the pillow to begin with and thus endowed it with "ears", and so planting the seed of the idea that it's a plush with a "head" which is now sporting yarn hair, lol. What think you, Gentle Reader?

Well, It's time for me to slink back to the warm nest I've made of the couch. That fleeting Sunny Morning is long gone, but I still have my Sunbeam Blanket, so all will be well even if I am a bit under the weather this week. Happy stitches to you all, and Thanks for stopping by. If you see a creepy little doll peering at you from the upstairs window as you leave my house, don't worry, it's just my pillow-finish. :D

Your Couch-Dweller,
Berit

A Wonderful RAK Arrives from the "Queen Bee" of Our Little Hive. :)

What a miserable day it's been outside! It's just a snowin' and a snowin' out there, but as the weather's been above freezing for several days prior it's doing nothing more than making the most un-picturesque slush imaginable! The report said 18-odd inches, however, so Dear Marc's company shuttered their doors as a preventative measure against stranded office-ites. So, he's been here all day, yet I can't quite "settle in". I wish I were a cat today; they always know how to curl-up and cozy-in, and should the weather spite them they know just the degree of disdain to exhibit so it knows they are unmoved. :D

I've been stalking the post with eager eyes these past couple of days as I was awaiting the delivery of this:

Lizzie Kate Quick It: Sampling Halloween, 30 ct. WDW Havana Linen (as called for), CC Stepping Stone (The one colour neither I nor the LNS had for NIKM ABC's from BBD), PS Santa 2006 (My favorite of their Santas!), and the Kelmscott Tudor Rose Scissors!

The fruits of a RAK gift certificate from Becky! I was on the fence for a long, long time about what to get, but finally had my mind made up for me when Myra, who received a similar gift, posted about getting The Same Item I'd been contemplating getting, which is the LK Halloween Quick-It with a cut of WDW Havana Linen. :D Myra is a great blogger, and I've so enjoyed knowing her since I first found her blog through the original Tiny Treasures Exchange we were both a part of. We were never partners, but I was new to xstitch blogging, and I checked out most all of the other members' blogs trying to get a feel for things. Myra is so talented and funny, and her works are so enjoyable to watch; I feel like she is just really enjoying herself with the things she makes! I'm really hoping that when spring comes, she'll be reinvigorated to tackle Dog's Day Out ;).

So, overall I was able to knock 2 charts off my wish list, try out a new brand (WDW) and count (30) of linen, "fill out my troop roster" for a WiP, and feed my scissors need! :D I feel like all my deliberating paid off in bigtime mileage! :D




More scissors porn! *squee* I've been wanting these puppies since they came out. Next up on my hit list is the Steweb style (also from Kelmscott). I've decided to stop (for today, at least, lol) pining for the Mia from Ginger (which seem to be about as common as a Gryphon) and those $500 Fox 'n Grapes scissors!



And here's another, 'cause it shows the linen color more accurately. (But, I can't say I'd spare you it even if it didn't!)

...


I'd like to take a moment to thank you all so much for your kind visits and comments! Thanks for your kind words regarding Eileen's Mixer--I'll be doing my best to live up to it! If I could, I'd send every one of you a cookie! If you're *very* (and I do mean exceptionally) lucky you'll get one of the ones that are a full moon rather than a "crescent". ;)

Your Crumby Friend,
Berit

"Too small to count as another WiP."

...Or at least that's how I rationalized it to myself. ;)




NIKM ABC's Freebie by Blackbird Designs
2/2 on 28 ct. Antique Ivory Linen
Recommended Fibers (GAST and WDW)



Strangely focused, but it shows how pretty the colours are.

My big blog seems to have fallen through, but in case anyone was wondering about my Manjula's Kitchen Experiment, here's the Baingan Bharta I made on that snowy Wednesday.



The end result was really good, and a big hit: Marc liked it, which is more than I can say for the restaurant version that inspired me to learn the dish. He's a "Good Eater", and has enthusiastically eaten everything I've ever made save 2 instances, though I'll spare you those anecdotes for today (at least. ;). It came out really "yellow" which I attribute to either a mistake in the quantity of Turmeric I added, or the fact that I had to make do with corriander powder, rather than the called-for seed format. I've already got 2 fat eggplants awaiting a similar fate in my kitchen. :D



The second "make" of my too-busy snow day was Snickerdoodle cookies! They are quite possibly my favorite cookie ever, and that's saying something. I'll say something else: Creaming Butter, Shortening, and sugar together until they are "fluffy" by hand is not for the faint of heart. "Where are the cookies? This is a lump of dough.", you say? Somehow, they were all eaten before I could get a pic. I won't link you the recipe, though, because I wasted at least half of the batter trying to find the baking Time and Temp. In NJ (or 2 of her ovens, at least) the magic number was 6 minutes at 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

They were such a hit (the pickiest amongst our set pronounced them to be "perfect".), that I can say my efforts on the behalf of others' taste buds brought me back a *very* nice return in the form of...



An Artisan Stand Mixer from Kitchen Aid! I was admonishing the boys (Marc's college set; though they graduated one and all nearly 10 years ago, they are still friends who have a monthly "party". One year ago 4 of them established a bachelor pad together, and we often pass the evening there. They have three Playstation 3's, and a pool table in the basement--the draw reveals iself! Fortunately for my stitching eyes, a sister also recently gave them a lamp!) that they should be grateful for these hand-mixed home-made cookies--I suppose I was in a particularly shrewish frame of mind--when one of them pipes up that his family's got a stand mixer moldering unused and would I like it. I made all the proper protests due to the value of the object, and the fact that they not only have disused stand mixer, but within the last year or so also acquired a Dead Mother...Yep, this would be her stand mixer. Without going into the personal details of other people's lives, it is such a sad thing: Her son is only one year my senior, and she was a lovely woman. Though I never met her in person, I know her son well, and he is full of praise for her: A whip-smart (Yet retiring and sometimes uncertain of herself) gynecological nurse, she was the first in the state to earn special qualifications which allowed her unrestricted prescriptive permission. Dad was quite powerless against her knack for adding cats to the household. :)
The trompe-l'œil she muraled in her kitchen (with more enthusiasm than skill, admittedly) featured a stone hutch filled with cheese, grapes, and a garnet-filled glass. Hanging alongside, her favorite cheeky quote:

"I enjoy cooking with wine; sometimes I even put it in the food."

I've been charged with the proper use and good care of Eileen's Mixer. So, I tried making more Snickerdoodles (as you see above) they came out perfectly; now if only I'd remembered that I cut the sugar to 2/3 on my first run-through!)

Those of you who do own stand mixers: Any ideas for what I could/should make? Hints, secrets, dish on dishes?

Yours Somewhat Reflectively,
Berit