Post 380 Ups and Downs

The World Embroidery Study Group of the Embroiderers' Guild met last Wednesday. It was our second meeting on Mend and Make Do, led by Lori, who based her presentation around this book. She had quite a few examples of flour sack dresses and furnishings.

Her presentation provoked much discussion and many stories from the 9 members present. It has proved to be a topic very dear to our hearts.  Many of us grew up with post WWII shortages.

Several people brought along examples.The jacket on the left was made by Pat from a knitted top by the addition of some bright textured fabric. On the right is one of Barbara's fabulous nightshirts made by combining parts of Tshirts. 

Andie brought along a Noro coat she had bought (right) and a sleeveless top she made from a man's suit.

I took along some of my grandmother's hankies, made from my grandfather's shirts, one of her coathangers and some of my bags made from my old jeans and pants.

I was delighted to receive an email from Genevieve in Brussels. I'm really pleased to hear she is now fully vaccinated against Covid and that their swimming pools and indoor restaurants were about to open. She has been knitting a Kate Davies design - amazingly one I had been looking at myself the same week! She has also completed this component of painted thread  embroidery from an online class with Jen Goodwin. I think it's truly beautiful. Even more exciting, in a few days' time, Genevieve is heading for la Baie de Somme in Northern France for a holiday.  That is such a step forward. I do hope it goes smoothly.

At the end of last week's post I reported on the fall I had in the Central Market carpark. The immediate impact was to my knees, left hand and arm. By Wednesday it dawned on me that I had cracked a rib.  I cancelled my Pilates class on Thursday and took things very easy. It was difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position but I managed reasonably well. On Friday I rang my doctor's rooms, but there were no appointments for the next week. I was invited to ring at 8.00 am on Tuesday morning if I needed an emergency appointment.

On Friday I met Jennifer for lunch at Mr Nick's at Frewville. We had a most relaxed and pleasant lunch. I am pretty comfortable while sitting in a chair and leaning slightly back. I had grilled salmon - and an affogato.

On my way home I called at Create in Stitch for the needles I needed for a weekend class at the Guild. It was a long weekend here for the Queen's Birthday and I had booked into a two day class over Saturday and Sunday.

The class was in Fisherton-de-la-Mere taken by Christine Bishop. I had done the class before, in 2016, making the green pouch on the left. I really liked both the class and the result, which I use for a jade and pearl necklace. I had taken a lot of trouble to find the blue Permin linen to make another one. 

There were 8 of us in the class - and it was really enjoyable. I managed the outlines and bullions OK, but my eyelets were terrible. They weren't very good on my green one either!

Unwisely, I spent the day in a plastic chair looking down at my work. By the time I left in the afternoon, I was in pain. Not only did my rib hurt, but each breath was painful. I cancelled going to Katherine's for dinner, took some paracetamol and settled into a chair with plenty of cushions and my feet up. I was, I admit, a bit scared. By the morning my breathing was no longer painful although I was still very sore. 

I went to the second day of the class and sat in a padded chair with a slightly sloping back. Everyone was helpful and solicitous. Christine even found me a lectern on which I could rest my work to practice the needlelace edge at the level of my face. 

I had an early night and spent most of the Monday holiday reclined in a chair reading. I ventured to Frewville to get a few supplies in case the electricity was off for periods on Tuesday and the lift not working as more work is scheduled on our electricity meters. In the afternoon I unpicked the eyelets and reworked them (left). Much happier.

This morning I did not ring the doctor. My ribs and knees are still tender and my arm a bit stiff. I am, however, recovering steadily and not in need of emergency treatment. My electricity went off at 9am but back on at 10am. I've spent the day completing the buttonhole edge on the Fisherton-de-la-Mere piece and reading TheBaby Snatcher, the last of Ann Cleeves' Ramsay series. 

I've cut the edge, ironed it and pinned in the lining. I'm now in the process of stitching the lining in. I'm planning on adding a needlelace edge, perhaps not with picots. 

I haven't decided whether to use white thread or  blue to match the linen.

This evening I answered a call to take the girls to netball. I hope they got some practice in before it bucketed down! I managed to stitch in one side of the lining before I had dinner and switched to my knitting.

It's coming along although I had to undo a couple of rows - better to keep going on a roll with this one. It's not a difficult sequence to remember, but easy to switch to  automatic pilot and miss a change. I'm guessing I have wool for another 10--15 cm.

I might get it done this week. I think a quiet week at home is called for.