What Do You Do When It Is Beyond Hot Outside!!

Why.... you knit a shawl! I'm doing this in a design called "palm fronds", but in many ways, it is closer to what I call "feather and fan". The pattern is simple - only a repeat of four rows - over and over and OVER.... until you get it to the length you desire it to be. I'm knitting it on either 10 and half or eleven needles and using Noro Silk Garden in Shade No. 84....

Now THAT'S A Cucumber!

My husband is growing lots of vegetables this year - tomatoes (which the deer are slowly demolishing) which is upsetting us! We've gotten to eat two red ones so far. The others are being eaten by the deer while they are green. So we've been picking them off and trying to ripen them in the windows.. And he is growing broccoli, and green peppers and these huge cucumbers! He picked off a couple of them and they were big, but this is a monster - LOL!

Topsy/Turvey....

This sampler comes from a book I own called "Historic Samplers". This one is by a young girl called Mary Hill. Quoted from the book... "Mary chose fairly bright colors, especially the reds in the top alphabet. There seems to be neither rhyme, nor reason to most of the second and third lines except for the date at the end of the third. It appears almost as if she practiced only the letters she liked. Some of the words run together almost like one unbroken word - so carefully did she employ her allotted space. The spelling of "needle" as nedle may have been an accepted variant in the 18th century, but the letters in the entire line had to be stitched so closely together to get all the words in, one is tempted to imagine that she dropped the second "e" to save space. It is possible too that she may have stitched some sort of code into her sampler. This notion is derived from the three sets of numbers stitched upside down and the three letters executed in unbelievably meticulous eyelet stitches, two of which are upside down as well. It is also possible that a sibling turned it upside down to work on the same piece."

I'm having such a good time stitching this sampler!

Cooler Weather and New Stash!

What could be better! After two weeks of extreme heat and humidity, it finally cooled down yesterday - over 20 degrees cooler! So my walk last night and tonight was quite pleasant. I also received some new stash in the mail today. With the designer CHS closing down, I thought I'd better nab some of the charts I wanted quickly before they were gone forever! So I ordered 3 charts from my online shop, including one I've never seen before. It is called Visiting Bird. You can see it above, along with the linen I will be stitching it on - Lakeside's "Meadow Rue". In all the years I've been looking at CHS designs and I've never, somehow seen this one.... But I'm so happy I did and I cannot wait to start stitching on it later tonight!

Seeing Blue....

Carriage House Samplings "Matter's Choice".... Lakeside Linens in "Autumn Gold".... DMC thread in 3750..... equals happiness. I've had this chart for a long long time. Finally decided to pull it out a month or so ago and start stitching on it. What a delight!

Snippets About "Me"....

When I was growing up, there was quite awhile where all I wanted to wear was brown clothing... When I got older, there was quite awhile when all I wanted to wear was purple clothing....

When I was in grade school, I walked to school each day. In the winter time, my Mom made me wear this really ugly (truly) hat! I would wear it until I was around the corner and she could no longer see me and then that sucker came off my head! It didn't get put back on until I got to the top of my street. Then when I got home, she saw it was on me. I'm not sure she ever figured out that I didn't wear it the whole time. But Moms are smart, so she probably did....

I hated peas... I used to try to hide them in my mashed potatoes. But my Mom (see above) figured it out and made me eat the pea-laden potatoes. I still to this day hate peas. I also hated beets... She would make us eat one big one whenever she had them. I would put the whole thing in my mouth, take a big gulp of milk, and swallow the whole thing. It is a wonder I made it through my childhood without choking on a beet. I still, to this day, hate beets...

I didn't like to mix my food. So I ate each thing separately until it was gone - first the potatoes, then the vegetable, then the meat. I cried every time my Mom said - you know, they get mixed up in your stomach.... I do mix my food now....

We used to ride bikes all over the place - things were safer back then - we could go into the woods and wander around - leaving our bikes while we walked along the creek. And then finding them there when we came back. I once was riding down a hill and hit a hole and went flying over the handle bars and landed on my chin....

I used to play Nancy Drew with my girlhood friend. We took turns playing Nancy. Her sister wanted to play with us, but we didn't want her to (we were mean). So we told her she could be the monster that would knock at the window while we were in the garage plotting out our next mystery....

This same girlhood friend and I would go to the library every week all through the summer and get stacks of books. And then come back and sit out in the yard and read them.... I miss those days....

Helping My Friend.....

My friend in Texas has a website where she is starting to sell her own cross-stitch designs. For the past month, I've been helping her stitch up some of the models... As soon as the site is updated, which should be in about two weeks, I will give you the link! The models that I've been helping her stitch will go into a booklet of cute sea/beach related designs. She will be donating a portion of each booklet sold to the Audubon Society....