F Words: Fob and Floor

Every time I post here, I whine about not getting to the computer to post. Nothing's really changed! It's my own fault. I'm just not using my time in this direction. My sister and I are both having difficulty with stitching motivation. We want to stitch, but we're having a hard time deciding what to do. It'll pass, right?

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I finished my Shepherd's Bush 2009 scissor fob. I showed you the fob stitched on 30-count over two and finished as a pin cushion. Here's the same fob stitched over one and finished as a fob.

I used the ribbon from the kit to trim the pin cushion, and then I found some WDW perle cotton to trim the fob. The front was pretty much stitched as charted.

While stitching the back, I found that those backstitched letters just weren't gonna work. I worked it out with a pencil and a piece of graph paper and charted the letters and numbers to work over one. There was just a little rearranging involved. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Of course, all was NOT fine in 2009, but I'll go along with the sentiment. In Mom's words, if you don't have anything nice to say ... I've been working sporadically on another fob, Sarah Esh, Women of the Mayflower, and some knitting, so maybe there'll be something else to show in the near future. Uh huh, sure.

I can't blame all of the non-stitching time on my mood. Part of the problem involves a big ass project on the main floor of my little townhouse. I've been suffering from beige carpet syndrome (I'm pretty sure it's a real syndrome) since I moved here seven years ago. You know how beige carpet picks up every little bit of dirt and mud and cat puke and clings to it with Superman-type strength? After a few years, it really puts the "UG" in ugly. Well, I've been sick of it for a long, long time. So the carpet left my home about a week ago.

In its place now lies some pretty cool mill run maple. It's got beautiful grains and knots and a mixture of colors from very light to medium dark. I'm loving it! I come home every day and slide on it. My son came over and slid on it. My neighbor came over and slid on it. Simple minds, simply entertained, huh? Can you say "dance floor"?

As you can see, there are no baseboards on yet. Hopefully, all will be completed by Friday, and Dylan will come to help me move the furniture back in from the garage and up from the basement on Saturday (after a little sliding session). Being displaced (willingly, of course) has been disorienting. I like order. I'll take some more pics when work is done. Truth be told, I'm so damned excited about this that I can hardly stand myself. It's nice to have something positive going on. Ya'll are probably thinking, "What? That's it? That's the big deal going on at Doris's house? BFD!" What can I say? We've already established that I'm easily entertained!

I'm nursing another annoying cold, so I'm off to bed. Hope everyone in Snowland is staying warm and dry and enjoying those snow days. There's nothing like a snow day! Make some fun.

See Doris Knit, Etc.

In what seems like a past life, when I was married and had three young kids, I used to knit. I knitted tiny beaded bags out of perle cotton on size 0000 needles (no, that's not a typo). It was like knitting with large tapestry needles. Now that I'm thinking of that little bag, I'll add a pic if I ever dredge it up from the black hole that has consumed my long-ago-abandoned projects. My silly sister gave me (and went as far as signing me up, schedule unseen) a knitting class for Christmas, because I keep saying, "I wanna make one of those felted bags" and "I wanna knit socks." Get ready for my new knitty experience ...

I know! This is the bottom of a buttonhole bag, which you can see here. While you're over there, check out the Mason-Dixon Knitting blog. It's very fun. So, anyway, I intended to bail on my class and try to get into one next month, when life will hopefully look better. But the lady at the LKS told me it'd be good for me. She was right. I was so quickly hooked that, when I got as far as I could after Lesson #1, I went back and got more stuff to start a second bag (because Sharri's gonna cry 'til she gets one) so I wouldn't forget what I'd learned (great excuse, huh?). And looky here (note Merlin in the background checking out the psycho-woman's new habit) ...


Another bag bottom is ready to go. I'm beside myself in anticipation of the next class, so I'll be showing you more soon (she said confidently). How this new addiction will fit in with the old addiction, I'm not sure. We'll just go with it.


I took some days off last week to be away from people, and I figured I'd start something new to treat myself. I couldn't do it. So I cleaned and sat and watched a movie or two and read some blogs, and there it was. There, in Su's corner of blogland, was just the reminder I needed about a little project, hidden away in my I-wanna-do-this-soon drawer, that I could start and finish in a day. So I did.

It's My Pins, of course, from Shepherd's Bush, stitched as kitted, finished as directed, and stuffed with walnut shells. The ricrac was a little bright for me, so I treated it to a boiling coffee bath to tone it down a little. It didn't help much, but it's cute enough. I appreciate Su's inspiration at just the right moment to get me going.

Then I pulled out the Shepherd's Bush 2009 Fob that I stitched a while back. Anyway, I dragged it out of the WIP drawer and finished it up as a pin cushion. This one is stitched as kitted, finished sort-of as directed (I added knots in the silk ribbon at each corner), stuffed with walnut shells, and photographed (ugh, in artificial light this evening) on the backing fabric I chose (which matches so much better IRL).

I stitched another one over one, which will be making an appearance here as soon as another little button comes in. So another little project is finished and a third is waiting to be finish-finished. Finishing little projects is surprisingly therapeutic.

I'm gonna leave you with many thanks for the uplifting and extremely kind words you've all shared with me about Mom. I sat here last week and cried into my oatmeal more than once, and I probably needed to do that. I'm not gonna tell you how awful work is (except the kids who are lovely), but I'm gonna tell you something positive. I make fun of men a lot, largely because it's so easy (oops, that wasn't nice ... see what I mean?), but I have to tell you about the man I hang around with. He has been nothing but supportive and helpful and understanding during the last few months, and especially since our extremely emotional family Christmas. What a man ... truly. That's just one of the ways that I'm lucky. There are many others, and I'm working at remembering them. And now I'm gonna try to sleep. Make some fun.