Post 394 Sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the days

This is the first post since Feedburner's deadline for turning off its email service. I have attempted to test whether the service is in fact turned off with a post from my embroidery blog. and will be sending email notices manually to those subscribed. I forgot, in the experiment, that I am not subscribed to the email service for that blog, so I won't know the result! I'll repeat it for this post.

I'm not sure if this photo of sunrise last Thursday is more appropriate than the sunset at the end, but I'm going with a beginning rather than an end!

I spent much of the early part of the week working on constructing a couple of samples of motifs from Vala Georgieva's work in preparation for the Certificate Course workshop in September next year.  I know this is obsessive, but the bookmarks I was working gave me an idea, and I wanted to follow through. I have written in more detail in my embroidery blog. notes and PP - need to test. 

It was the charting of the designs that gave me most concern. I am not practiced in this. I have charted a few knitting patterns, but only for my own use. I'm hoping an experienced Guild friend will cast an eye over it for me. All the more reason to give myself plenty of time to make adjustments.                                                                                                                                                                                                          The motif I used on the back of the pouch is an Elbetica - symbol of the four directions of the compass and the whole world, held together in the centre. It also captures the four seasons.  I chose a simple version. 

Nelly tells me that Vala Georgieva is currently working on this version in Bulgaria. Rather more challenging than mine! I look forward to seeing it.

I have composed the PowerPoint for the workshop and also a set of student notes. I can adjust these if there are changes to the projects, but it is good to know that I have it in hand. 

I am still waiting on wool fabric from Sweden for the Viking embroidery workshop, which is in February. It has reached Sydney - but postal services are drastically impacted by the current Covid outbreak, so it may take quite a while to make the rest of the journey.

It was good to Sit'nStitch again on Friday afternoon after a break of a couple of weeks. We are all still working on the projects from last time. Susan's baby floor mat is going to look fabulous.  

On Friday evening I went to dinner at Estia's at Henley Beach to celebrate the birthdays of  two friends. The 4 of us enjoyed a lovely meal and catchup. I had a big plate of whitebait on salad and the others shared a range of Greek dishes. It was a treat, and I came home feeling relaxed and content.

Saturday was a JEMS day. I did a bit of shopping for Monday's dinner, and Niamh and I had milkshakes at our usual place, my second since 27 June - about my only dietary indulgence.

I opened my eyes on Sunday morning to this vivid pattern on my wardrobe door. The photo (taken when I has barely awake!) does not do justice. It was the light coming through the thread holes in the blind and only lasted a couple of minutes.

No, I do not intend turning it into an embroidery pattern!

On Monday the Aida bands I had ordered from the Crafty Frog in Canberra arrived. They had taken 11 days. Until this recent outbreak mail from Canberra was arriving within 4-5 days, and Express mail overnight. I'm grateful, however, to have them at all.

I immediately dug out some scraps of silk that might make good lining. I've been sorting some designs from the Celtic Backstitch book and am looking forward to using some of these terrific designs on these inspiring bands.

In the meantime, I had a play with a strip of Aida left over from the pouch above. This is a Celtic continuous chain design from the Celtic Backstitch book. 

The only downside was that I had to stitch the edges, because they were raw and would unravel. I tried a couple of stitches, but in the end buttonhole was the only one likely to work. It did the job, but is a bit rough. I used 6 strands of cotton, and 4 may have been better. 

I lined it with a piece of vibrant blue silk.

On the whole I like it. I may try it again on the white Aida band that has a pale blue edge. 

Dinner was a very flexible affair, interspersed with parent-teacher interviews by phone for Niamh and Veronica. No hassle, we are all pretty adaptable. On an impulse I made a batch of Anzac biscuits to help between calls. I haven't made them since April 2020. I scraped together the ingredients (only just enough Golden Syrup). Pleased to say they worked! So pleased I forgot to take photo.

I had cadged more chicken seed from my Adelaide daughter. The doves were hanging out for it. We had a storm on Thursday night and the lid blew off the seed container. I found one of the doves perched on the edge about to have a feast. I rescued the lid and saved the seed, but rewarded the doves, who certainly made the most of it.

Today I took in my entries for the upcoming Guild Exhibition at the Hamra Gallery. The exhibition is being hung tomorrow afternoon, after our World Embroidery Study Group meets.  That's a good thing, because I realised at the Guild that I had left one entry behind. Hopefully I can add it tomorrow.

This morning I had been preparing this with headphones on, listening to ABC Classic FM to drown out the noise coming from the apartment 2 floors below. New owners are moving in and making changes to the kitchen and floors beforehand. The work is happening this week. Because kitchens and bathrooms are in the centre of these apartments, so the living and sleeping areas  on either side have the windows and light, noise carries up the services shaft in the centre. I am not complaining. The new owners have been good about letting us know, and it will be over in a few days. I might want to do something similar myself one day. The earphones, which I haven't used since my days of frequent air travel did quite a good job.

From the Guild I went on to the Yarn Trader at Port Adelaide to pick up a gift kit.  The new shop is fabulously roomy with lots and lots of tempting yarn. It was a sunny day, with quite a cool breeze, so I decided to stay away from the noise a bit longer and go to Grange Jetty Cafe for lunch.

I sat outside. The breeze was a bit chilly, but lovely to be near the beach, getting a dose of ozone and feeling the sun. I had my usual calamari salad, but with soda water rather than a glass of wine. A happy place.

I am, after all, back on netball drop-off duty this evening - the last for the season, I'm told. I am planning to post this early so I can test the automated email at a reasonable hour before sending manual emails.  Here's to managing change! 

Post 393 A promise of Spring

My friend Robin in lockdown in the Blue Mountains sent me this photo of the remaking project she has finished embroidering on the back of a woollen cardigan. Inspiring, isn't it? So clever to have chosen the gold colours and circular variations. 

I spent last Wednesday at home, pretty much absorbed in the third bookmark I bought from the Fox Collection. It took up much of Thursday too, in between Pilates. 

There were a couple of hours of sunshine on both Thursday and Friday afternoons, and I spent at least one of them each day stitching on my front balcony. The plants are doing pretty well right now. The mint I bought from the supermarket is thriving. The frangipani are bare but will soon be bursting to life. Must nearly be time to fertilise. I haven't used the electric barbecue since it blew my fuses nearly two years ago.  I'm thinking of turning it into planter bowls. I might pluck up courage to try it again before I do.

The light was great, both for stitching and for a few photos.I came inside as the sun got low in the West. 

At the other end of the apartment, as I was closing the doors to the balcony, I caught the flash of green and squarking that signals the arrival of the lorikeets to the first buds on the trees.  These first photos are not very good, but hopefully I'll be better prepared next time.

Our Sit'nStitch was cancelled on Friday as Susan was poorly. I went to Unley and shopped for Monday dinner, a task I had planned for Saturday. Back at home I finished the third bookmark. I'm not sure why I have enjoyed these so much. 

The designs are great, as are the colours. The backstitch outlines took me about 4 hours, but there is great satisfaction in completion. I am looking forward to receiving the various Aida Bands I have ordered from the Crafty Frog. 

I'm planning to back the next batch with silk, rather than felt, to make them thinner. Felt works, but I think silk will be an improvement.

At our September Book Club meeting I have to nominate the books for us to discuss in September, so I've been trying out some options. I spent Sunday reading Diana J Febry's  The Skeletons of Birkbury, which I think is a bit of a find. I'm currently reading Robert Gott's The Orchard Murders, also a possibility.

In between reads, I have been charting a couple of motifs from Vala Georgieva's Bulgarian embroidery for my Bulgarian Embroidery workshop for the Certificate Course in September next year. It occurred to me that I might be able to put one of them on a bookmark as an option for one of the projects. I liked the idea so much I set about trying it on the slightly wider 16 count Aida I already have. 

I couldn't do it without magnification, but this is the result over a couple of days. 

To complete the experiment, I backed it with silk. I like the result. It's thinner, so kinder to a book, and looks quite elegant.

I think some students might quite like to work the project this way and I have plenty of this band.

The weather has warmed a little this week in Adelaide, with a couple of days of 20C. It is forecast to be 29C on Thursday and then back to 15C next weekend. I have spent a bit of time in my bedroom chair stitching or reading in the morning light. I'm pleased to have found this resting place for the Sheepjes rug.

I discovered this week that sweet potato goes really well through the spiraliser.

Tonight I had some Osso Bucco left over from last night with sweet potato.  I resisted frying up the leftover mashed potato (the only way I like mashed potato!) in favour of this lower carb option. My weight loss has slowed but still heading in the right direction. 6.8 kilos down this morning.

I spent most of today trying out my chart of Vala Georgieva's Tree of Life embroidery. I am no expert in charting counted thread work. I have charted knitting patterns for myself, but charting a multicoloured embroidery design for others to use is another matter altogether.  

I played around with fabric,  settling on 14 count Aida, close in structure to the original, which I think is handwoven hemp.  I've discovered a couple of errors in the chart as I've worked it. It's fairly easy to fix as I go.

I'm  taking photos as I go, so I can document the stages to suggest to students. I think there are conventions I am unfamiliar with for charting stitches (even though I've used enough of them).  I know there is software but I'm not sure it would help in this circumstance.

The Viking Embroidery workshop is well before this one, but I am still waiting for the wool fabric to arrive from Sweden. It has arrived in Brisbane, but hasn't yet cleared customs.

Jennifer called this evening. She told me I missed a brilliant sunset. I was focused on the Aida tree of life.  My attention has been on the small things. 

Tomorrow I will try to look up and out!

This should definitely be the last post with automated email notification. Next week I expect to email manually.

Post 392 Bird, books, blooms and bookmarks

Last Wednesday I did a quick trip to Unley to get a few supplies. Niamh and Brigid were staying overnight at my place because they needed to be at school early the next morning to travel with the football team to Tintinara, a two and a half hour drive to the southeast. Niamh was playing in two matches and Brigid organising equipment etc. The stay went smoothly. They won one match and lost the other.

While this was all going on, my friendly dove had found a comfortable perch out of the wind in my empty balcony window box (or is it a balcony box?) I grabbed my DSLR and took some shots. When I came to download them there was no connection to my laptop. Changing the cable didn't help. 

Eventually (2 days later!) I remembered that I could take out the memory card and somewhere I had a card reader. It took a while to find and remember how to use it, but I was eventually rewarded with some terrific photos. 

Still haven't worked out why the direct download doesn't work. Out of practice and out of touch - but still able to drag stuff out of my memory and figure a workaround!  

Back to Pilates on Thursday, where I got a lot of attention because two of our group were absent, leaving only two of us. 

Over Wednesday and Thursday I got quite a bit done on a bookmark I had ordered from the Fox Collection. I thought these would make good Christmas presents for a couple of friends. I ordered three designs I liked and began almost as soon as they arrived. I hadn't expected to enjoy doing it quite as much as I did. I finished the first one off at Sit'nStitch on Friday. Jennifer has made good progress on the crocheted shawl she started last week, and Susan is progressing an appliqued floor rug for a friend's baby. 

Before Sit'nStitch on Friday, I had coffee with a couple of  friends I worked with ten or more years ago. We had a good Covid catch up.  I also bought all the ingredients for a moussaka, which I spent much of Saturday making. I wanted to go to Basics2Beyond on Monday, so cooking needed to happen in advance.  It takes me a good four hours to prepare moussaka, and I usually do it in relays.  

On Saturday I did it in one go, which takes a bit of a toll on my sciatica - and makes a mess in the kitchen. The result, however, is well worth it. My new nutmeg grater got a good tryout. The Monday meal worked well.

In between cooking bursts, while waiting for things to cook or cool, I found some Solvi and copied my Design Online final design so I can attach it to my purple coat. This became my project for B2B on Monday. It's too hard to transfer the design directly on to the wool.

On Sunday our Crime Book Club met at a new venue, the Dulwich Bakery next to Heyne's Nursery on The Parade at Norwood. We had another good discussion. I hadn't read the recommended books - it's been a lean reading month for me. This group is very accepting and the discussion proceeds easily regardless of who has read what.

Again, there were lots of good ideas and recommendations shared. Next month I get to choose the books to discuss in October. I have a couple of ideas.

I was pleased to meet next to the nursery, which is a good one. I was looking for a wide, shallow bowl in which to place or replant the flat basket of plants on my back balcony. The basket has rotted. I realised, in looking at the nursery offerings, that most of the available bowls (designed, on the whole, as birdbaths) would be too heavy for my balcony. So I ended up getting a huge, 5" deep saucer. I'll let it sit for a bit before deciding whether to put holes in it and add more soil - or just add more soil.

I also bought another small pot of primula to add to the back balcony. It's smothered in buds, so should look good very soon.

The dry stalks of the Mandevilla I bought last December have burst into buds. It too should look lovely fairly soon. 

I also bought a punnet of blue cineraria, which I planted in a large empty pot on the front balcony. 

Sunday was 22C in Adelaide, sunny and breezy. I made the most of it - opened up the front and back doors to get a pleasant breeze through. Monday was back to 13C and rain. I watered the plants in, but they might get a little water in the next few days, although rain doesn't often penetrate the front balcony.

Not long after the sun set we had a few showers, then a bit of a storm. 

Monday brought showers between bursts of sun. I left early for Basics 2 Beyond, so I could pick up some carrot, cucumber, apple and a couple of Lebanese loaves for snacks for the kids on the way. Unfortunately the bakery had only just put the bread in the oven, so I had a coffee, picked up the bread and arrived late as usual at B2B. No matter, it is come and go as you need. I worked on the edges of my coat - applying the design I did for Design on Line.  I got the stem and a couple of leaves outlined, which is a good start.

I'm planning, at the moment, to keep this as my B2B project.

In the meantime, I progressed the Delft Blue bookmark - and loved it. It does, however, require concentration, magnification and holding in hand - not great for RSI. It looks quite good without some of the stitches. I finished the embroidery on Monday night and the construction this morning. 

I have also progressed my shawl knitting - but not enough to make a good photo!

I've enjoyed the bookmarks so much I dug out some Aida band I'd bought a couple of years ago to embroider for towels. It turns out to be about 17 count Aida. I prefer 14 count (which I can see!), so went searching online and found a really good collection of 14 count Aida at the Crafty Frog in Canberra. I've ordered a variety of pieces and dug out  my copy of Celtic Backstitch, which has a range of suitable patterns.

Wouldn't want to run out of things to do in a pandemic.

Today I had lunch with Jennifer and a past work friend who has just moved to the Adelaide Hills from Victoria. So much to talk about. Both she and Jennifer are thinking of joining the Guild. 

I took Veronica and Niamh to their final netball practice of the season. Brigid is in the Flinders Ranges helping on a school camp. We remain a bit of an island here in SA while the Covid Delta variant rages in NSW, spreads more slowly in Victoria and makes an appearance in Queensland. Here we have mask mandates, vaccination drives and 75% capacity in hospitality venues.

Feedburner appears to be still working. Their message says the email subscription service will be discontinued 'in August' .  I am ready to send manual emails if and when the automation fails. It's a bit 'test and see' at the moment. I hope no one is inconvenienced.

My final offering this week is the basil I bought yesterday at the greengrocer. As well as helping the Greek salad along, it is pretty attractive on the bench - and cheering.

Post 391 Parcels and Projects.

Last Wednesday the World Embroidery Study Group met and I gave a presentation on the embroideries of Holocaust survivor Trudy Strobel, based on the book, Stitched and Sewn by Jody Savin. It's a story worth reading and contemplating in relation to healing - as well as horror.

At the meeting Junette returned some of our Inuit embroideries which she had borrowed for a workshop. Lee didn't want to keep hers, and gave it to me to 'do what you will with it'.

It's a lovely piece of embroidery. The walrus tusks are especially good. I took up the challenge and sorted some fabric to match it, and a zip.

It is now a pouch, with a pink felt back and cotton lining.

I hope Lee likes it and has a use for it, either personally, or in one of her numerous charitable endeavours.

Sometime in the last month I lost one of these tops - made in New Zealand from Possum Merino and silk. Possum merino is merino wool spun with possum fur. Possums are Australian natives and protected here, but were unfortunately introduced to New Zealand where they have become pests. Possum merino is unbelievably warm, and I loved this  top. I rang the places where I had worn it with no success. On Tuesday night, after much soul searching, I ordered another one. When I arrived at the Guild on Wednesday morning, there was my missing top, hanging on a coat hook near the shop! 

When I got home I rang New Zealand, but the new top was already with a courier on its way. I had hesitated, when I ordered, almost ordering a purple one, but decided I loved the red. It arrived today. I could return it, but I'm happy to say one of my daughters has claimed it. 

On Thursday at Pilates my coordination had improved - a result partly due to my using the vibrating machine in between classes. On Friday, while food shopping, I bought a couple of small pots of impatiens . They look lovely on my back balcony. The flowering succulent I bought a couple of months ago is now blooming beautifully on my front balcony.

For two days in a row I was lucky with deliveries - one arriving a few minutes before I left for Pilates and the other arriving just before I left for Sit'n Stitch.

There was, however, quite a contrast in the packaging of the two. On the left is half a metre of linen that came from North Adelaide - about 3km away. On the right is the handwoven wool- just over a metre- that came from the Ukraine. It took 40 days and was absolutely beautifully packed, wrapped tightly in brown paper, in a soft cardboard box that fitted perfectly. The stranded cotton label is there to show the size of the weave. 

The wool is for a project for my Viking embroidery workshop for the Certificate Course next February. I have also ordered some finer wool twill, to reflect clothing for both workers and elites.  The linen is for Catherine de Medici embroidery, and the company does not have a retail outlet. I get so frustrated by the packaging that I've decided not to buy from them again. I have already asked them to pack in an envelope that fits through a letterbox slot.

 

At Sit'nStitch Susan finished her Margaret Light piece, Jennifer starting a new crochet project and I worked on my latest shawl.

My dove friends have become sufficiently used to me to come down each time I hang out washing or otherwise set foot on the balcony, and stay and feed if I put out seed. The seed is very close to where I stand to hang out washing. I'm careful not to step too close, but they are fairly tolerant.

On Saturday I got a bit carried away with an example in a book I was reading, in a chapter called 'Elements of the Code'.  The book was given to me by a member of the Guild Library Team.

It fits with what I found out about Bulgarian embroidery, and is potentially another topic for the World Embroidery Study Group.

Of course, I had a go at embroidering it. I had some red evenweave fabric already prepared for a potential drawstring bag. and thought it would be appropriate given the association of red with the mother goddess.  I charted it, and used a Valdani Perle 8 thread variegated in purples through to pinks.

The first attempt was over one fabric thread per square.

The second attempt, over two fabric threads, was better.

I'm now thinking of exploring embroideries of the Mother Goddess in different cultures over time.

We had 8 at Katherine's on Sunday, with a couple of friends of Katherine's coming for dinner, making us two under our current home entertainment limit. It was a lovely evening, good company and good food. 

Sunday saw me back at the Guild for the completion of Melissa Walker's Madagascan Moon Moth.

My construction went pretty well, but I hit a few problems when I went to mount it in the box I had bought. 

The moth was slightly more 3D than the display space of the box allowed.  In the end I cut a space in the mounting board around the body of the moth.

Even then, the back board supplied with the box still squashed the moth body. I slept on it, then re-lashed the piece and covered the back with black silk. This enabled me to fit it in without a back board.

It fits fairly tightly, but I have devised a system of bracing with pieces of satay sticks, coloured black, across the corners. It is perhaps not the best solution for such a 3D piece, but it is fairly secure and avoids the worst of squashing to retain it as a potentially useful object. 

I found it very difficult to photograph the top of the finished box. In the end, even using a dark photographic box, I still got some reflection on the glass. This is the best of a bad lot. 

It is a really lovely design, and Melissa has more in the pipeline. Some members of the class are planning display boards of moths. I have enjoyed making it, and I love Melissa's classes. I don't think, however, I've solved the problem of a practical display use for such a fragile object.

Today I had a hairdressing appointment. My hairdresser of more than 5 years has resigned and today her replacement cut my hair. Not surprisingly, she is another remarkable young woman with a passion for improving women's lives. I feel very fortunate to be served by such young women.

I've managed to lose a further kilo this week. I've lost 6.4 kilos since I began, 52 days ago. I'm happy with that.

Since taking the girls to netball this evening I have finished the Berehinia bag and made cords and tassels.  It's about 25cmx15cm. 

This is the front and back views.

Time to get back to my knitting.