The Dragon Takes Flight

The dragon's wings were stitched over the long holiday weekend ... and, oh, what a joy it was to stitch with Kreinik Very Fine Braid and Caron silk.  But that wasn't all: the head and neck and most of the foreleg are stitched as well.  When I pick this up again on Wednesday, I'll finish the last little bit of background and tackle the rest of the back-stitching.  Forgive the poor photo.  Indoor lighting has given the piece a very yellowish cast bit at least you can see how mucch progress was made.

I am closing in on another finish this month as a result of the extra stitching time during Martin Luther King Day.  What a difference from 2014, when I had my first finish in April.  It looks like I'll have four, and possibly more, in January alone in 2015.

Rotation Stitching To Date

Over the pre-Christmas weekend, it was stitcher's choice and I chose to jump around quite a bit:  I made a little bit of progress on several pieces but nothing worthy of a photograph.  All, in all, it was a very simple and relaxing weekend: just some very easy stitching while watching a marathon of an old PBS series, The Duchess of Duke Street.  In short, it was a hermitting weekend.

Then came Christmas week:

Monday, it was back to The English Band Sampler, picking up from where I frogged out the errors.   When last seen this flower was a mere outline, now it is quite filled in.  I stitched a few more curlicues around the acorns and stems.  Now, that I have relaxed and stopped stressing over when I will finish this piece, I have begun to make discernible progress again.I also spent a little time cutting all the boards for the stitched ornaments.

On Tuesday, I finished the Sage tea towel.and kitted up the Mint towel.  The pair of tea towels was meant to be a Christmas gift for my secretary, but clearly I didn't get it done in time.  She'll have to wait till little Christmas, The Feast of The Epiphany, on January 6.

Then on Wednesday it was back to stitching on the dragon with the result that page 1 of the chart is completely done but for a few beads that will just have to wait till all the stitching on page 2 is done.  I have gotten a good start on page 2: the breast plates; the scales along shoulders, neck and head; some of the fill stitching and a bit of the face are done.  Of course, that still leaves the wings, shoulder, front claws, neck and face to be completed as well as a bit more scenery.  I doubt this will be finished in 2014 but it may very well be the first 2015 finish.  I do have yet another reason to despise rayon fiber: it is the very devil to frog.  No matter how carefully one picks the stitches, the wretched stuff shreds, leaving one with a fuzzy tail useless for weaving under existing stitches.  The only option is to lay it carefully on the underside of the linen and ever so delicately stitch over it, avoiding bringing any of the fuzzy mess to the front of the linen as one pulls one's stitches.

Then on Thursday, I worked on the Mystic Smalls and finished up the cross stitching and over one stitching on the needle book.Now, all that's left is the ribbon embroidery.  I'll tackle that tomorrow, since the Sage tea towel has dropped out of the rotation.  [I have deferred the Mint Tea Towel to January's rotation.]  With luck the needle book will be my final finish in 2014.

I didn't do any rotation stitching on Friday and so have no assembly finishes to show.  I did page through some of my baby and toy charts to pick out a design for a bib and a burp towel for my great-nephew Liam who is now weighing in at 3 pounds, having gained a full pound since his birth in November.  He is off the ventilator and is strong enough to have yanked out his feeding tube.  The NICU nurses, of course, replaced it immediately.  But it's good to know that Liam is a tough little guy and a fighter.  I have decided on a train motif for the burp towel: a locomotive pulling four flat cars carrying the letters L - I - A - M and a caboose bringing up the rear.  I will probably just use the same alphabet to stitch Liam's name on the bib.

As to the weekend goal of doing some non-stitching activities, I tried a new recipe: Egg Nog Pancakes from cooking.com.  I can't call it an unqualified success.  Though my husband enjoyed them, I found them both too sweet and too heavy.  I also detected a slight metallic aftertaste but I am guessing that was due to baking powder past its prime.  I'll be putting that on the shopping list before I bake again.  While still in a cooking frame of mind, I made a tray of stuffed pasta shells.  Then I puttered about the house, decluttering a closet, reorganizing my kitchen counter space and cleaning out the refrigerator and oven.

Rotation Report

Monday:  The English Band Sampler.  I had to frog all the work I had done in the center of the flower because it was all one stitch too high.    There's no photo since there was no forward progress.

Tuesday: Sage Tea Towel.  Another leaf stitched.  There is a reason this piece is being stitched just one leaf at a time.  Each leaf in this chart has eight or nine different colors.  The whole thing is an exercise in confetti stitching.  And while I love the outcome, I am not all that crazy about the process.  So one leaf at a time is all I can manage before I want to throw my floss box across the room.

I did take a little time to start crocheting a blanket for Liam since I had some more stitching time but no wish to keep going on Sage.  I had originally started a blanket in pale silver grey and winter white but realized I didn't have enough yarn for a crib-sized blanket.  And, I wasn't sure my great-nephew would be home from the NICU before he had outgrown a bassinet sized blanket.  He was born 8 weeks early and weighed in at only 2 lbs.  He has a long road ahead of him and will be spending most of his first year in a hospital.

Wednesday: The Dragon of the Summer Sky.  I am back to this piece again and will probably make it my stitcher's choice piece for the weekend as well.  I find that Dragon Dreams charts stitch up rather quickly, rayon floss not withstanding.  I'd like to have this chart done before the end of December so that I needn't add another item to my WIPs list in the sidebar.  Here's today's progress photo.  Some more back stitching, some more fill stitching and a bit more done on the bottom right.

Today, it is back to the Mystic Smalls and I hope to finish all the cross stitching and the over one stitching on the needle book.  That will leave just the specialty stitches for next week.

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Catching Up

Since I was unable to stitch Tuesday and Wednesday, I did just a little catching up Thursday and Friday mornings: 3 hours working on The Dragon of the Summer Sky and 2 hours on the Sage tea towel.   This way most everything in the week's rotation saw a little time on the hoop, scroll bar or Q-snaps.  

Most of the remainder of Friday, was spent power napping vegetating.   But power napping sounds so much more dignified.

I made Dragon Dreams' The Dragon of The Summer Sky my weekend choice piece again and made some pretty substantial progress on it.  If you count four linen threads from the right edge of the comet, you will have located the division between page one and two of the chart.  As you can see, I am nearly done with the fill stitching of page one and have made a good start on the defining stitching of page two.  I can not even begin to express how much I detest the DMC satin floss [aka rabid rayon].  If I hadn't already used rayon floss in the companion piece, The Dragon of the Winter Moon, I would have switched it out for a silk in the same color.  The wretched stuff has a recoil, requiring a very tight tension when stitching, which slows the process down.  It's like using pulled stitches.  It also has such a high loft that each stitch obscures the linen threads immediately beside the stitch taken, making it necessary to use a thumbnail to locate the exact hole for the next stitch.  This also slows down the process considerably.  It took me a full hour to stitch just two rows of the fill stitch in the dragons' haunch.  This is the last of my Dragon Dreams charts.  And while I love Jennifer Aiken Smith's designs, I very much doubt I will miss her penchant for using rayon fibers.  I will not be using the nasty stuff again with the possible exception of using my remaining and very small stash of the stuff on Christmas ornaments.  I can manage small stints of stitching with rayon and even I will admit that it gives a nice sheen to an ornament.  But large areas like my dragon's body ... never again!!!

Wednesday Report

Tuesday's rotation piece: the Sage tea towel.  Unfortunately, I was unable to stitch at all yesterday.  There was simply too much going on at work.

Today's piece is Dragon Dreams' The Dragon of The Summer Sky.  I made tremendous progress over the weekend but it is unlikely I will manage a single stitch today.  I started my day at 8:00 a.m. prepping for a breakfast meeting that I hosted for the Regional Catechetical group.  Following that meeting, we moved on to the Regional Christmas luncheon at a local restaurant.  That took us up to 2:00 p.m.    On the way back to the office, I picked up the 3 foot hero for the parish Catechist Christmas meeting/party.  Once back at the office I cleaned up the meeting room and set it up again for the second event and then ran out for the trimmings: more paper goods, beverages and Christmas baked goods.  Then, labelled all the catechist Christmas presents [thank the Lord, they were already wrapped] and got the meeting materials ready: the agenda and the handouts.  The party ended around 9:30 p.m.  I am way too old for 13+ hour workdays  Normally, the regional Christmas meeting/luncheon is on the 1st Wed. in December and the catechetical program is the second.  It's just my luck that the year I host the regional event, they fell on the same day.

I am really looking forward to this weekend but I fear I will be in a state of total collapse for most of it.  I still have my Christmas cleaning and decorating to do.  That was the plan anyway.  We shall see if it comes to pass.

It's that time of year: a lot going on in the parish for Advent and Christmas.  And it will only get more hectic.  Next week is the last week of classes before the break.  We start off with a Pancake Breakfast with Santa after all the Sunday Masses, the Advent Reconciliation services on Monday, classes on Tuesday and Thursday with all the usual Christmas hoopla for the younger children.   Wednesday evening is the parish dinner at the rectory.  I am exhausted just thinking about it, especially since the plan for the following weekend is to do my Christmas food shopping and cooking and baking.  Gift shopping is a breeze, at least: my adult children just want American Express gift cards and I shop for my grandchildren on the Internet and have their gifts mailed directly to them.  I expect to be worn quite thin by Christmas but hope to avoid the Bah, Humbug spirit.  Come to think of it, I have a cross stitch chart of those famous Dickensian words.  Maybe this will be the year to stitch it.

Rotation Progress

Wednesday's rotation piece was the last of my Dragon Dreams charts: The Dragon of the Summer Sky.

Wednesday morning, I kitted it up with the suggested fibers.  The fabric I am using is one of the bargain purchases made at Chris' Collections retirement sale, a 28ct Jobelan Blue Wing instead of the 28ct Zweidart Luguna in slate that was suggested.  The colors are quite close.  Happily, I had all of the Kreinik already in stash. One of the advantages of having a fairly extensive fiber and fabric stash is that kitting up is accomplished without the long wait for mail-order bits and pieces.  I do like being able to start a piece while the mood is upon me.

Of course most of my pre-work stitching hour was taken up by measuring, cutting and binding the edge of the fabric and gathering all the necessary fibers and beads from stash.  The result: was that very little actual stitching was done.  But, I was able to stitch for a portion of my lunch break and for a few hours after dinner, with this result.  Since I made this the stitcher's choice piece for the weekend, I was able to get a really flying start with nearly 1/3rd of the design complete.

Thursday's rotation piece was the Victoria Smalls Class Project from my first Stitcher's Hideaway, the Mystic Smalls.  I didn't have much more than an hour to stitch on Thursday, so the progress is minimal.  Still, it felt good to pick up this 8 year old class project.  For some reason, this photo isn't uploading and I haven't the time to figure out why or to take another shot.  I'll try again this evening after work.

It's been a very long while since I last worked on this project.  I haven't taken a stitch in it since February of 2013.  So, it feels fresh and new again.  I intend to spend the next months reacquainting myself with old class projects and hope, by the end of 2015, to have whittled my sidebar list down to just three or four.

I'll be taking another class with Thea Dueck in October of 2015 and I want to finish up all my previous class pieces from Victoria Sampler so that I have something appropriate to share at show and tell.  That means I'll want to finish this set of smalls, the Sturbridge Box and accompanying smalls and a Christmas  sampler.  I also have an Autumn sampler from her farm series in stash that I'd like to stitch, time permitting.  I realize this is a rather ambitious plan but I will just do as much as I can and be content with whatever progress I make.

Friday's rotation was sewing finishing.  Again, not much time was spent on stitching, so all I managed was to work a bit more on a tote using Mehitabel's Redwork Sampler as it's focal piece.  I'll post a photo of the final finish next week.

And the weekend goal of finding a life beyond the stitching chair was met by
1] visiting my mother and bringing her my annual pre-Christmas gift of a potted mini-Christmas tree.
2] sorting out some books to donate to the local public library's swap room. I'll probably ask my husband to bring them on down on his way to the Historical Society on Wednesday

As noted above, Saturday and Sunday was stitcher's choice and I worked on The Dragon of the Summer Sky.

Monday's rotation piece was The English Band Sampler: I think I am going to have to frog some of the interior of this flower.  Things aren't quite lining up.  So it's two steps forward and one step backward.

This has been a very long post, so I think I'll save Tuesday's progress photo till I've made a bit more progress.  Look for it tomorrow.  Meanwhile, don't forget to check out the sampler charts giveaway in the previous post if you haven't already done so..

Another Dragon Dreams Finish

The last stitch was put in The Dragon of the Winter Moon late this evening.   I enjoyed stitching this piece but I think I am done with dragons for the next little while.  I had intended to start The Dragon of the Summer Sky this month as it is the companion piece to The Dragon of the Winter Moon.  But I think I will hold off on that for the time being.  For one thing, I don't have a suitable 28 ct linen in my stash.  For another, I really want to concentrate on The English Band Sampler for the rest of the month or until it is done, whichever comes first.

I am hoping to persuade my husband to take a day trip to Hyde Park while I am on summer break.  I'd like to visit The Deer Hill Farm Cross Stitch shop.  I have ordered from them before but have never been to the shop.  It's the closest thing to an LNS in the area.  But it's not the only reason to visit Hyde Park.  There is the FDR house and Culinary Institute of America.  If they serve lunch at CIA, adding that to the day's activities would be a real treat.  But if not, maybe we could find a B and B in the area and do a one night - two day get away and have dinner at CIA.  Granted, my main reason for the trip would still be the LNS visit.  I need the right fabric for the Dragon and for the remaining Quaker animals for my quilt, I need to get a few items framed.  And I have been wanting a good sturdy magnifying lamp for sometime.  But visiting the local sights would be fun and go a ways toward justifying the hour and a half trip in each direction..

Progress Photos

I have had a few more than two dozen sewing and assembly finishes sitting on the ironing board for quite sometime.  Most are ornaments but there are a fair number of pieces that need to be finished as totes and pillows.  I finally got a start on them, but only a start.  Here's the photo: one more of the La-D-Da cardinal Christmas ornaments and a half-finished project bag.  I still need to make the pockets in the lining and then sew it and handles to the bag.  For some reason I don't seem to have much enthusiasm for sewing and finishing just now.  I need to psyche myself up so that I can get into one of my finishing frenzies and get this all done.

I also finished the Indy 2006 Town Square series' The Silversmith Shop.  It calls for a Charland charm to be sewn on the door: a sterling silver sign with a Revere bowl.  But I think it looks complete without it.  Besides, since I used a higher count fabric than originally charted in order to make it fit in with my Ornament project, I suspect the charm would be disproportionately large for the door.  Now, it gets added to the ever growing finish & assembly pile.

I also got a lot done on Dragon Dreams' Dragon of the Winter Moon, as can be seen in this photo.  I do still have the moon to stitch and the beading in the mountain range to do but I am nearly there.  It has been my primary focus for the past few days and will be until I finish it.

Progress on July Goals

As the month winds down to a close, I am moving along on all of my July goals.  Here are a few progress photos to document that claim:

Dragon Dreams' The Dragon of the Winter Moon.  She now has firm ground on which to stand.  I have finished the mountain ranges, all but the beading.  And I have finished work on the castle in the background.   Though the chart does not call for back-stitching the castle, I am considering doing so.  Switching the fabric from the charted Zweigart Colonial Blue to Silkweaver's Sudden Storm has lessened the contrast values somewhat.  I think some back-stitching is needed to restore the balance.  Opinions, anyone?  Otherwise, since I make it a practice to back-stitch as I go along, I am caught up with the back-stitching of the dragon's body.  Just the wings with backstitching, the moon and the beading to go.  I am debating whether I want to stitch the moon in the Kreinik Vatican Gold Very Fine Braid [106] as charted.  It just doesn't seem right.  I am considering doing the moon in Kreinik Opalescent White Very Fine Braid [032] or in the Marlitt white [800].  The moon I see in the night sky is white not gold!

SANQ's The English Band Sampler  The first two motifs of Band 7 are complete, as well as the garland that ties together several more motifs.  For now, this sampler will be part of a three project rotation.  But as of August 1, I intend to make it my main focus until it is finally done.  I began working on this sampler in August of 2012 and intend to have it finished in August 2014.  I can't remember when it has taken me so long to complete a single piece, not counting class projects.  For some reason, I seem to lose interest in class projects almost as soon as I get home and unpack from a retreat.  I don't know whether it is because I am incredibly fickle or because I just have so many other projects going at home that require my attention.  Go figure!

Indy 2006 Town Square Series' The Silversmith Shop.  I made a start on this on 7/26 and it is moving much more quickly than Cafe du Monde.  Happily, there is not a confetti stitch in sight.  For the most part, this piece is stitched in blocks of color, with all the shading accomplished by using over dyed floss.

Sewing and Assembly Finishes.  I plan on spending a few hours at the sewing machine after breakfast.  I have a dozen or so ornaments, a throw pillow and two small pin pillows in my finishing pile.  It remains to be seen how many of these projects I manage to get to today.  I will post photos at the end of the day.

IN THE GARDEN:
I had a tidy little harvest this morning: three cucumbers, 5 baby eggplant and a good sized sprig of miniature basil.  I'll be using the eggplant and basil at lunch, sauteed with onions, peppers and pignoli nuts, moistened with a bit of chicken stock and half & half and served over farfale [bow tie pasta].  The cucumbers will be thinly sliced with onion and dressed with a light vinaigrette as a salad to accompany lunch.

Tuesday's Tasks and Wednesday's Work

Since I am wrapping things up at work before summer break, I ended up working through my lunch hour and may end up doing so again today.  That means a little less stitching time.  So I don't have much progress to show.

The only piece I actually did get time to work on yesterday was The Dragon of the Winter Moon.  I did finish up the blade at the end of the tail and filled in a bit more of the icy mountain range below the dragon.  I know it is hard to see but there has been progress.  That's one of the reasons I backstitch as I go along.  It helps me to "find my place" as we used to say in grade school. I've decided this dragon's name is Luna.  I had first thought it might be Selena but I realized soon enough that Selena wasn't a strong enough name for this matriarch who curls so protectively and alertly in her mountain stronghold.

We are expecting some rain later in the day.  I am hoping it holds off till evening since I'd like to finish the first motif on The English Band Sampler after work.  The soft light of 5:30 to 7:00 pm is perfect for stitching on the patio.

But if that doesn't work out, there is always The Silversmith's Shop or some sewing and assembly projects to work on indoors.

Monday Miscellany

No photos today: the camera is recharging.

Stitching:

I have made some progress on The Dragon of the Winter Moon: the shading on the tail and back haunches is done and a start on the blade of the tail.  I hope to finish the tail and finish work on the mountain range done in Kreinik very fine braid today.

Because the end of the month is approaching and I want to make a serious attempt at meeting all the stated July goals, I finally kitted up The Silversmith Shop from the Town Square series.  I plan to get to stitching on it sometime toward the end of this week.

Gardening:

I have harvested two more cucumbers and am very impatiently tracking the growth of 7 eggplants, the largest of which is only 4" long and the smallest, less than 1".  Still nothing but blossoms on the tomato plants.  I begin to wonder if the neighbors trees are blocking the sun to the extent I will no longer be able to raise vegetables even in my raised [3 1/2'] planter boxes.  The soil gets warm enough but I am probably not getting enough full sun.  I may have to start planting the vegetables in the front yard planter box but then I will have to worry about pilferage.

Work

Just three more days till summer break!  The count down begins.  End of the school year tasks are very nearly done.  Life is good.

RAKs. The English Band Sampler and The Dragon of the Winter Moon

First I want to thank Linda from Albany, NY and Dani from Canada for sending me Marlitt floss.  I am able to complete The Dragon of the Winter Moon thanks to you ladies.

I especially want to acknowledge Dani's totally unexpected gift of a small cut of fabric which will make the perfect backing for my Here Be Dragons pin pillow and a fabulous scissor fob complete with small dragon, all enclosed in a beautiful mermaid card that accompanied the Marlitt floss.

The series of thunderstorms that plagued us for a week has finally passed on.  The patio was dry and comfortable Thursday morning and I should have gotten a bit of stitching done before I had to leave for work at 8:45am.  It's great living less than a ten minute drive from the office.  But, I had a wakeful night and ended up sleeping in till it was time to dress for work.  But the weather continued to be fine on Friday and Saturday.  So, I did get plenty of stitching time in optimum light on my patio.  What could be better than stitching in a comfortable chair, with a flask of iced peach infused ice tea, and entertained by birdsong.

The eyelets are done, done, done!!! I am so happy, I could sing and dance and sing some more.   I even managed to stitch the chain border between Bands 6 and 7 on Friday.  Band 7 is another densely stitched and intricately designed band.  It looks like loads of fun.  I expect the enjoyment quotient of this piece is about to sky rocket.  I did manage to get a start on the first motif on Saturday evening though I spent most of Saturday on my latest dragon.    The first motif was offset by one thread.  I know this was done to balance the design but it just seems so wrong, violating all the rules.  I will divide my Sunday stitching between sampler and dragon.

And, now for the dragon: Thanks to the lovely ladies mentioned at the top of this post, I had the Marlitt to stitch a good bit of the dragon's body.  There is still the shading of the tail to fill in and both wings to stitch as well as the blade at the end of the tail.  And, of course I need to finish up the mountain range beneath the dragon and the castle in the background as well as the moon.  Then there is the back stitching and the beading.  I guess I am just a little bit more than halfway done with this piece.   I plan to stitch the shading of the tail as well as the blade at its tip on Sunday and then spend the remainder of the time on the sampler.

The Dragon Of The Winter Moon

Thanks to Linda from Albany area, I have some Marlitt and have started to fill in the main body of the dragon.  Luckily, two other cyber stitching friends have offered me skeins of Marlitt.  I believe I am going to need it all.  The skeins aren't very long and Marlitt only has four strands.  I anticipate needing at least a skein and a half more then the full skein Linda sent and the nearly full skein I had had on hand.

Since last seen, I have, as noted above, started filling in the body and I have stitched a bit more of the Kreinik icy mountain range.

A Very Mixed Bag

Thursday, I took a sick day because I either had the flu or heatstroke.  The symptoms were stomach and intestinal distress, light headedness, headache and nausea.  So I pampered myself indoors with a/c, lots of decaffeinated beverages and ibuprofen.   Didn't feel up to driving to work or concentrating on things like registrations and writing family catechesis programs once I got there.  So I stayed home and I  did only the simplest of activities, which included reading Catherine Coulter's new FBI thriller, Power Play, and making some light meals.  I wasn't feeling much better on Friday and repeated the pampering routine.

A highlight of Friday afternoon was the arrival of my package from 123 stitch.  It contained an additional portable stitching lamp, some clip on magnifiers [1.5x and 3.0x] and the threads I need to kit up The Dragon of the Summer Sky and The Silversmith's Shop as well as one Caron Waterlily, Blue Lavendar, that I need for The Dragon of the Winter Moon.  I still need to order the charm for The Silversmith's Shop but I'll be ordering that from a not so local needlework shop here in NY state.

I was feeling a bit better by Saturday and did get some stitching done..

I got quite a bit done on The Dragon of the Winter Moon on Sunday.  I learned something new from a blogging friend, D.B., who stitched some models for Jennifer Aiken-Smith of Dragon Dreams.  All of the Dragon Dreams dragons are female.  Just an interesting factoid I am passing on to you readers.  I have to apologize to all the dragons I have stitched in the past and to whom I have referred as male.  Yesterday, I received a skein of Marlitt white from Linda, so I will begin filling in the body of the dragon.  Linda was one of three lovely stitching cyber friends who offered to give me a skein.  Two other lovely ladies did a search for sources in Britain and Australia.  The stitching community is a very generous one.  There is always help to be found when needed.

And Monday morning, it was dry enough for me to get in an hour of stitching on the patio before heading to work.  I used the time to work on The English Band Sampler.  I worked on Band 6 and finished up the sixth block of eyelets and satin stitches and then continued on to stitch the satin stitches on the remaining two blocks.  Now all I have to do is stitch the eyelets on those last two blocks.  We are expecting thunderstorms through Wednesday but I am hoping for another dry morning or two.  Even with clip-on magnifiers, I need good strong daylight to work on this phase of Band 6.

 As to gardening: my patio pots of chives, thyme, rosemary and basil are doing pretty well.  I have already harvested my first cucumber and there are three more ready to harvest within the day or so.  Some of the eggplant blossoms have set fruit, and the tomato plants have a fair amount of blossoms but haven't set fruit just yet.  The pepper plants are not doing much of anything, which is a disappointment.  One of my flower boxes is coming along nicely but for some reason all but one of my marigolds up and died on me.  I will probably plant some peas for an early fall harvest on Thursday once the thunderstorms pass through and maybe a row or two of radishes, lettuce and carrots.  I'd like to keep the salad stuff coming.

Here is a shot of some tomato plants guarded my my garden dragon you can also see the lone surviving marigold and a pot of small lavender flowers, whose name I forget at the moment.  I picked them up at the nursery just because I thought they were pretty.  I am afraid I am not one of those expert gardeners who remembers all the botanical nomenclature and can reel off name after name with the greatest of ease.

 I am going to have to call in the landscapers again very soon.  The trees above the retaining wall are blocking the sun.  It's been three years now since I had them come in and cut away some of the lower branches.  It would seem it is time to do so again.

In this shot you can just make out a very tiny eggplant to the left and to the right, my miniature basil is thriving.

In this shot, you can see that my patio pots of chives, thyme, and parsley are doing pretty well.    To the right of the herbs are my mini-Christmas tree which has grown from one of those 12" potted trees tp it's present 2 1/2 feet and one of my tomato plants, a new variety to me, with a very un-tomato like leaf.

A Progress Photo

Dragon Dreams' Dragon of The Winter Moon.  I substituted an over dyed Silkweaver 28 ct linen in the colorway Storm for the suggested 28ct Zweigart Colonial Blue.  This over dyed linen has a medium to light grey base with mottling in darker grey and grey blue.  To my way of thinking this is perfect for an early evening winter sky.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post I had very nearly every fiber and bead needed to kit this up already in stash.  I am just waiting on one Caron Waterlilies and one package of Mill Hill beads to complete the kit.   I might also need some additional white Anchor Marlitt rayon floss which, of course, is a discontinued line.  I am never very good at guesstimating when partial skeins are involved.  So, yesterday morning, I sent out the word via blog and message board that I'd appreciate another skein, if anyone can spare one.  So far three generous stitcher's have replied.  But if I can't get a good match, I already have an alternate solution in mind.  I'll use the Marlitt for the body of the dragon but I will use DMC Satin white for the wings.  That way any differences will look intentional and not the result of my being scatterbrained.  In any case, I have started the piece with the supplies on hand and this is my current progress.

When this dragon is done, he will be quite the glittering fellow.  There are five shades of Kreinik in this piece and two shades of glass seed beads.  Happily, I have no problem working with metallics and I love beading.  I am delighted with the way things look even at this early stage.

Random Mutterings

Very little doing on the stitching front today:

Before work, I started Dragon Dreams' Dragon of the Winter Moon.  Once at work, I used the copier to enlarge the chart.  It is difficult to read since it is printed on the grey-green card stock Jennifer Aiken-Smith had used for a while as a deterrent to copyright violation.  I also plan to spend a little time working on the piece at lunchtime.

I will place an order with 123stitch, my go-to online needlework shop, for the remaining supplies for The Silversmith Shop and The Dragon of the Winter Moon.  To get a bit of a head start, I also ordered the supplies for the companion piece to The Dragon of the Winter Moon,  The Dragon of the Summer Sky, which will be my next new start.

I double checked my Belle Soie and Glorianna stash to see if I could find a suitable substitute for the Thread Gatherer Papyrus Leaf needed for The Silversnith Shop.  No such luck.  It's a shame that I couldn't find something in quite that shade of peacock blue, especially when you consider how very extensive my fiber stash really is!

I hope to get a little more outdoor stitching done this evening after work in the soft light of evening.  The English Band Sampler is calling for attention rather insistently.  I hope it is not unbearably humid in the early evening hours.

With luck, I'll have made enough progress on both The English Band Sampler and The Dragon of the Winter Moon to warrant some photos in the next day or so.

Gallery Post - Dragons

I have always been fascinated by dragons and they have remained in my top ten stitching themes throughout my 40+ years of stitching.  I regret that I do not have photographs of all my dragon pieces.  I wasn't always diligent about keeping a record.  But here are a few photos.

This Cross Eyed Kat's Red Snow Fight Dragon.  There are several more dragon snow fights in this series: a green a blue, a yellow and, I think, a purple dragon.  I may someday go searching for the others and stitch the series.  This chart was a door prize I was lucky enough to win in the online show.

This Dragon Dream's Storm Bringer: a medium to largish piece that I have yet to frame.  This was another of those pieces that used the dratted DMC rayon floss.  Jennifer Aiken-Smith seems to have a fondness for the stuff.

This Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons: one of the most delightful pieces I have ever stitched.  It used DMC and Kreinik blending filament and very fine braid.  Plenty of intricate detail to keep one on one's toes and enough specialty fiber to add a bit of interesting texture.

This another Dragon Dream's chart: from the complimentary Elemental Dragons series.  This is Earth

And these are Fire and Water.

And these are Air and Spirit.

And here you can see them all on a long narrow bell pull ... admittedly not one of my better photos but it does give you an idea of how I finished the piece.

 

 This is another Dragon Dreams complimentary chart. This is called Dragon of Hope.  I changed the colorway on this from reds to pinks. I made it up as a tote for my grand-daughter who is into all things pink.  I am told that the first thing she did on receiveing it was to remove the satin rose pin and transfer that to her dress.  In any case, I hope she enjoys carrying her necessities for pre-school in this little tote.

This another Dragon Dreams complimentary chart.  I forget the name of it but as you can see it is a drgon guarding its hoard from all comers.

This Teresa Wentzler's Tempest in a Teacup.  This was another great stitching experience and I tink the frame really sets it off.

This is Teresa Wentzler's "You Were Hatched..." depicting a mama dragon explaining the facts of life to her little one.

This is one of Vickey Mackey's Dragon Bookmarks.  There were three bookmarks in this chart and I stitched them all.  Unfortunately the first one, which I did finish as a bookmark, was lost in a round robin exchange long before I started photographing my finishes.  This Golden Dragon looks particularly fierce.

This the Blue Dragon from the same series as the Golden Dragon pictured above.  He is also a rather fierce looking character.  He looks as if he is considering his viewers as so many menu choices.

And another Teresa Wentzler Dragon, Futurecaster, which I embellished with some hematite beads.   I always think Teresa Wentzler's dragons are so elegant and aristocratic.   I love the complexity of her designs.

Dragon Dreams' Here Be Dragons.  This is one of Jennifer Aiken Smith's more whimsical, as opposed to fantastical dragons.  I also love the old map motif.  This was a great deal of fun to stitch.

Dragon Dreams' Compass Rose Dragon.  This is the second chart in the leaflet Here Be Dragons.  I love the colors of the compass in this piece.

Dragon Dreams' A Dragon's Tea Party.  Another whimsical piece complete with cookie stealing baby dragons and a friendly wizard.







And, just to add a bit more evidence of my love of dragons, here are a few photos of other dragons in my life:

My dragon teapot:  I use him for green tea mostly.

My dragon tea strainer: I founf this while antiquing last summer.  I polished it up as best I could, but there is some corrosion.  To be usable it will have to be professionally cleaned and resilvered.   I am planning on asking my husband to have this done as a birthday gift.

My blown glass dragon salt and pepper shakers.  I can't remember the name of the artsy shop in Saratoga Springs where I found these little darlings.  All I remember is that the same shop carried the same glass mugs from which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard sipped his "Earl Grey, Hot."

My dragon garden ornament: He has been guarding my garden for the past seven years or so.  His name is Herbie, named after a dragon in a continuing bedtime saga my husband made up to settle the children down for the night so many years ago.  Herbie also seems appropriate as the garden guardian of a patio filled with pots of herbs.





I also have a selection of books featuring dragons: every thing from The Hobbit to books of dragon lore.

The only thing I seem to be missing is dragon jewelery.