Another Sarah

Things are moving along on Frances B!  I'll have another update on her in a few days, maybe when her big blue house is in order.  But in the meantime, I came across some pics of another work in progress, Sarah Tuel, and thought I'd trot her out for show.

Here's where things stand with this Sarah....

This Sarah is another one of the Examplarery kits I scored during my e-Bay stitching kit period.  I was thoroughly charmed by her wide floral border and the mockingbird top center. 

But now that her charm has worn a bit thin, it's been nearly a year since I've given her any face time at all.  Still though, there's every hope she'll see a finish.......someday.  Why is it always a matter of soooo many projects, soooo little time and perheps even less long term endurance?   As is my typical MO, I've left her over half finished.  Too much done to abandon her. too much still undone to have much ambition!  So I'm hoping this post will help me feel the love for her again.

Part of the reason why this Sarah has fallen out of favor is because of all the over one stitching required if I want to stay true to the original.  Other than the bottom panel of the floral border, everything else that remains to be done inside is worked over one.  Talk about a major stitching buzz-kill.....

However, I did some improvising on the berry band, which was also supposed to be over one.  It occured to me that I ought to be able to do a decent job with it simply by following the general design, but working over two threads and compensating when necessary.  Here's a close up of the results.  Not an exact replica of the original, but not all that different, either.

So my plan is to do the same with what remains and hope for a final finsh that isn't too far off the mark.  Lesson learned:  read the instructions carefully - with an eye for the words "worked over one thread" - before diving in!

Here's hoping your Memorial Day is full of fun, family and food.

Frances B's Turning Point

I know it's been a while since I've done an official stitching update, but that doesn't mean I haven't been hard at it! It just means the stitching I have been so diligently working on has been, well....hard.  Yes, that means hard at work on Frances Burwell, she of the endless outlined satin stitch pansies and nerve-fraying double running stitch thingamajigs.  But at last, I've reached a turning point!  Here's the last stop on the crazy train final flowering vine band in her growing expanse:

I feel like I've slayed the beast!  So please pardon me while I gloat....here's another pic of that same row, with the middle insanity pansy band stacked over it. 

Now, time for some honest answers here.  I think I got overexcited while ironing her for these pictures and made the dark red on the top right yellow flower bleed.  Can you tell?  It's not bad, but to my eye, that linen looks a little pinker than it should around the dark red threads.

Just to make it an even threesome of photos, here's how she looks from the top to the point I'm at now:

So from here on out, I'm hoping Frances will be agreeable and let me have my long deserved finish with her sometime soon.  There's still a lot of stitching to do - a few more blackwork bands, a whole gaggle of funky birds in bright colors and a big old brick house - but nothing I can't power through.  I've reached the turning point and am moving into more a comfortable friendship with her!

Here's Looking at You

I've spent a lot of time this past year thinking about my grandmother.  At least from my vantage point of time, the events, circumstances and people in both our lives seen to overlap and reflect each other, at least a bit, right now.  If nothing more than as a way to gather some strength from her remembered and imagined fortitude, I want to share something of her this Mother's Day.

We were both born in the same small Illinois railroad town. I know she spent summer evenings hearing the rattling and whistles of the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe Zephyr roll though her open windows.  Her parents came from Sweden; my dad came from the east side of the train tracks. 

We both had little sisters....

...and exasperating brothers...

...who played football.

Grandma graduated 8th grade.  But on her own as a widow, she sent her 2 daughters on to graduate college with honors.  My dad did the same for me and I did it for my own daughter.  To this day, both happy and heartbreaking experiences at the same school are a part of my family legacy as much as they are of my own education. 

Did this gaze into the camera give her any idea of what the next years would bring?  The harsh years of the 1930's, the anguish of a son missing in action somewhere in Europe, widowhood with young children?  I wish I had a hat that would say as much about me as these do.  Look here, bring it on.  I can face it  - whatever it is - with style

So the details and the ups and downs of life for her and for me are a puzzle right now.  But I think of her on Mother's Day and hope I do have the good grace I know was hers.   Thank you Grandma, time will tell.

 

Book Review: The Paris Wife

When I first started this blog, I promised myself that in addition to posting about my stitching, I'd also comment on the books I've been listening to during my morning walks.  Seeing that I've actually already completed several of them since I last posted a book review, it's time to keep the promise and share some of my thoughts on another one.  Thanks to Michelle and Elizabeth for gently reminding me to keep up with it!

Picking up where I left off, here's how I feel about The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain:

Why did I choose this book?  I have a long and tangled history with Ernest Hemingway.  It began with idle curiosity in high school when I raced through a copy of "The Old Man and the Sea", more or less to find out what the mystique was all about.  One of my very first freshman seminars in college was Literature of the Jazz Age, in which Hemingway's works were a topic of dubious attraction.  My professor had a grizzled white beard, patches on his elbows and smelled faintly of whiskey most of the time.  I remember then thinking that the only people who were more romanced with Hemingway than he was with himself were those who tried a little too hard to be just like him.  This impression was further solidified when Jim and I visited Key West on our honeymoon in 1981.  Turned out that weekend was also the very first Ernest Hemingway Days celebration.  The island was full of guys with white beards who smelled as if they'd been soaked in whiskey.  "What's up with that?",  I remember thinking.

Since that time, we've visited his home, watched his cats, staggered down Whitehead Street and listened to his works - good and bad - with each return.  I've come to see him not so much as a "great America novelist" as a kindred spirit who also found beauty and inspiration in those turquoise waters.  So of course I had to listen to this book - good or bad.

What was this book about?  The Paris Wife is the tale of Hemingway's early life in Paris with first wife Hadley, as told from her perspective.  During this time, he wrote "The Sun Also Rises", one of the pieces I was so unimpressed with in college.  It does a very nice job of explaining the larger context of its inception  It also put the breakdown of Hadley and Ernest's relationship and his affair and eventual marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer into perspective for me.  Most importantly, it prompted me to listen to "The Sun Also Rises", as performed by William Hurt.  At long last, I understand.  What a spare, heartbroken masterpiece.

What was my favorite scene?  It was the scene in which the Hemingway entourage visits the bull fights in Pamplona.  I could see in my mind all the tensions beneath the surface of the interactions, set against the thrill of the festival.

Who was my favorite character?  I don't suppose this is a very fair question of this book since it is so clearly Hadley's tale.  It's easy to sympathize and even feel sorry for her once Pauline enters the story.  But I also felt frustrated with her at times, though it may have been from looking at a traditional woman of the 1920's  through the lens of time.   Flawed and selfish as he was portrayed in the story and no doubt was in real life, Ernest gets my vote. 

Would I listen to this again?  I don't know, I might.  As far as it being a good listen, I think not so much.  But if my mood shifts and I feel the need to consider again Ernest Hemingway and his place in my own  life, I just might..

Working Terms

Here we are in April!  In Florida, that means spring break craziness and the return of beach season.  Jim and I made the most of it Saturday with an early morning ride to North Clearwater Beach and a long slow walk all the way up to Caladesi Island and back.    In spite of it being Easter weekend, the beach headed in that direction was serene except for the occasional dolphin sighting and pelican fly-bys. I just love seeing the tan lines on my feet deepening each weekend...

But the big news is that Frances Burwell and I have negotiated some terms for a healthy working relationship.  At least as of now, all past grievances seem to be forgotten. Even though the pace has been more than a little tedious at times, we've managed to move a bit closer to the end product, as you'll see here in all her current glory:

We got off to another rocky start again.  I could feel myself reaching the point where abandonment was quite likely.  Those satin stitches in all directions, along with the precision of all those little twisty loopy things were beginning to seem like more commitment than I was capable of right now.  I feel compelled to mention that the middle loopy thing has been stitched and restitched no less that 3 times and most likely will have to come out once more.  Turns out that if you're off by even a single thread with all that double running going on, nothing else that comes afterward is in the right spot.  It was enough to make me want to stab that needle right in my eye  put her down and walk away on occasion.  Take a look at this close up.  You'll see there isn't enough room at the top of the center twist to make the corner turn the same as the others, all because I made two stitches over 3 instead of the requisite 2.

  

How did this happen?  I realized I simply wasn't seeing the holes between the thread well enough, and yet not recognizing the goof until a devastating amount of stitching would need to be pulled out and redone in order to correct it.  Which meant coming to terms with the fact that the scroll rods weren't stretching the linen tight enough.  The hard truth is that it was time to resort to a hoop.  Ick, ick, ick.  Neither of us liked it, but if we want to get 'er done, that's how it had to be. 

Another compromise was that the outlining around the satin stitches could no longer be done in double running stitch if I wanted to retain any shred of sanity.  Much as I fought the thought of backstitching those glossy petals, it has to happen or she'll never see the light of day again.  So in the end, like most long-term relationships, the one between Frances Burwell and me is going to be built on compromise, hopefully to both our mutual benefit.

And during one of those times when I just had to walk away, I had an inspiration for a fun little knitting project I can knock out during our upcoming roadtrip to Illinois! 

Rachel, the hard-working and ever-chipper administrative assistant in my office, has decided to go have a baby boy next month.   How cute is this?  She's chosen a Charlie Brown and Peanuts Gang theme for his nursery, so I wanted to knit something special along those lines for her.  In a fit of frustration over Frances I got our my yarn box, thinking what might be in order was a nice brainless pair of socks.  Inside, I found this Charlie Brown looking yarn I'd picked up 3-4 years ago and never managed to do anything with.  Perfect!!  So during the hours and hours of miles between here and Illinois, I'm planning to knit up a baby sized Wallaby in the hopes that it will all be done before the baby actually arrives.  Stay tuned...

Stitching, Not So Much

It seems that a number of us have started our latest blog entries with "...I haven't been getting a lot of stitching done lately because..." and I'm not going to buck the tide here. 

I haven't gotten a lot of stitching done lately because Jim and I were frolicking in and around Key West again last weekend!  As always, we had the very best time and returned home Sunday evening as we always do- tanned, tired and anxious to return.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera so I don't really have any pictures to share.  But let's just leave it to say that we had some new experiences (that means snorkeling off Ft. Zachary Taylor and walking the Bahia Honda bridge) and reconnected with some old favorites (the Key West lighthouse).   Some places just feed the soul.  The Keys provide that nourishment for me.

I have to give a hearty shout-out to Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe  - thanks Nancy!  She was kind enough to gift me with one of her cool coffee bag kits!  This was my first blogging giveaway, so I was quite tickled to be selected.  Here's what turned up in the mail:

She offered a choice of her 3 kits, but being a Florida girl, I had to go with "Queen of the South".  This will give me the perfect chance to check out her floss and report back on my findings!  Thanks again Nancy, it's going on my shortlist of projects!

Based on the comments I received last time as to which of my Frances projects I should go with, I've made some tentative overtures with Frances Burwell, though we're still in the stage of not quite trusting each other fully just yet.  She's still thinking I will abandon her again for something easier on the eyes.  Little does she know that if she gets too finicky with all her remaining satin stitch pansies, that could be exactly what does happen.  So for what it's worth, here's where we left off last night:

And I thought I'd share this pic of the wild and crazy amaryllis going nuts along our fence line right now.  My mom sent us this plant as a Christmas gift 8 years ago.  When it was done blooming, I didn't have the heart to just chuck it, so Jim planted it along our back fence, thinking we'd never see it again.  Well, not so!  The thing has taken off like wildfire, spreading runners and shooting up like rockets each spring.  Molly just had to get right in the middle of the picture taking...

...while Rubyjust wanted to forget about it.  This is her, wearing her most insistent "Just toss the darn Frisbee!!!" expression:

Whatever you're up to this fine weekend - stitching or not - I hope it's all good!

Frances the First or Frances the Second?

Hi Everyone!  Just as I suspected, my sudden impulse to start a new Quaker piece has subsided if not passed completely and common sense has returned.  Don't know how long that will last, but for now I'm trying to stitch the straight and narrow path to at least one finish.  And that leads me to progress on Frances Eden (which I've started referring to as Frances the Second), and the completion of that humongous block in the road, the brick house.

I had my doubts about this house as soon as I started it, but now that it's done I do kinda like the end result.  At first, it didn't seem like there was enough contrast in shade and tone between the two brick colors, resulting in a mottling I was afraid might look more like some odd skin condition than brickwork on a mansion. But in the end, the urge to move along no matter what was the driving force, so I just kept slogging away with the same.  The other little motifs around it were like dessert!   I got such a kick out of stitching the little blue and yellow snake that I decided to give him a forked tongue.

 With that hurdle out of the way last night, it leaves me with another quandary....

I mentioned in my last post that the threads and charts for my other Frances - Frances Burwell - had gone missing in action.  I started my first Frances many years ago and she was the light of my life right up until I had enough of those eye-crossing satin stitch pansies to put me off the whole thing completely. Off to the UFO box for her!  So poor Frances the First lingered there for many years, exiled and unloved.

Then over the past holidays, I got out my UFO box and unrolled her.  She dazzled me again with her intricate stitches.

I was delighted with her golden carnations...

and the soft sheen of her satin stitch pansies thrilled my heart again!

But while Frances' stitching was in hand, I couldn't find her chart or threads anywhere, no matter where I looked.  Now, am I the only one who does dumb stuff like this?!  No doubt at the time it happened, I was thinking that putting the actual stitching in one storage box and the threads and charts in another one would ensure that at least one would survive if the other was killed in some horrible accident.  God only knows what was going on in my head, but somehow that's what happened.  It seems like that's always the case...no matter what I'm searching for in my stash, I can't find it at the time I want it!

Now fast forward to last week, when I was in the midst of my Quaker mania.  I decided to excavate through the stash for my  Ackworth School charts and while I never actually got that far, I did manage to stumble across the missing supplies for Frances Burwell after all this long time.

So my quandary is "Which Frances shall I take up with now?  Should I keep on with Frances Eden now that funky brick house is over and done with?  Or should I pay Frances Burwell the attention and respect she's been denied for so long?"

And just this morning, I think there must have been an answer blooming out side my patio door.  I love these Spanish petunias.  They grow like grass in the flower beds and landscaping around Key West and I love them for their slightly unruly and tropical character.

Notice a similarity?