Tough Choices

It was terribly difficult to choose a winner of my little giveaway.  I enjoyed reading all the comments left on that post and was particularly touched by four of them.  So, my decision is based partly on my reactions to the comments [as noted in the giveaway "rules"] and partly on my more usual method using an on-line randomizer [to break the four way tie].

The winner is Calamity Jr who liked reading about my design process because she expects to see photos of stitching on a stitching blog but she found that delving into another aspect of our shared passion was an unexpected treat.  I will be arranging for a gift certificate to be sent her way ASAP.

I found it very interesting the way the choices broke down.  There were 17 comments, one of which was simply a congratulatory note rather than an entry.  

Of the remaining 16

3 voted for Santas on Parade

2 voted for The Designing Process

3 voted for All Hallow's Eve Stitchery

2 voted for Thanksgiving Stitchery

4 voted for Some Thoughts on Pricing Trends

1 voted for Totems and Talismans

1 couldn't choose between Totems and Talismans and All Hallow's Eve Stitchery

Now, while 16 people is hardly a representative sample of stitchers world wide or even of stitchers who read my blog, I am going to be reckless and draw a few conclusions from my little survey.  

1] with 8 1/2 votes for the various stitching collections, most people want to see photos of finished stitching

2] with 4 votes for pricing trends, many stitchers are concerned about increasing cost.  This post is several years old but it seems to resonate with stitchers as much today as it did when originally posted.

3] although the design post only got 2 votes, many of you mentioned it as a second runner up.  So I guess quite a few of us either design from scratch or re-design existing charts.  This doesn't surprise me: the textile arts draw a lot of creative people.

4] Finally, although I call my blog a stitching and general musings blog, the low interest in the Totems and Talismans entry [1 1/2 votes] indicates a general disinterest in any of my musings off the topic of stitching.  I don't stray from the topic of stitching too often but I will probably continue to do so every so often simply because it pleases me to write such posts.  The Totems and Talismans post was my favorite of the group listed above, followed closely by the The Designing Process, both of which got the lowest votes from you folks.

Poll Results

It seems most of the folks who voted were thinking along the same lines that I was:

  2 votes for stitching the mouse as charted in DMC 169
  4 votes for stitching him in a slightly darker shade of grey
14 votes for a wildly colorful mouse.

Thus encouraged I shall stitch the little fellow today.  I have settled on a dark periwinkle row of tall Xs going across a bright yellow body.

Blogiversary Giveaway Winner

It's been a week since my blogiversary post and its promise of a giveaway.  It is time to select a winner.  But before I do so, I thought I'd answer the poll questions myself.

1.  Who are your five favorite designers?

My five favorite designers in no particular order are Teresa Wentzler, Victoria Sampler, Blackbird Designs, Homespun Elegance and Prairie Schooler.  There are, of course, others that I enjoy very nearly as much but those are the top five.

2.  Name your five favorite LNS/ONS.

I order most frequently from 123stitch [ONS] and from the following brick and mortar shops: The Stitchery Row [Endicott,  NY], The Needle in a Haystack [Alameda, Ca], The Silver Needle [Tulsa, Ok] and The Corner Shop [whenever I make it up to Wiscasset, Maine ... it's been a while so I don't know if this shop still exists]

3.  Name your five favorite stitching themes.

Again these are listed in no particular order: Quakers, dragons, samplers [vintage and contemporary], Autumn, Christmas.

4.  Other then mine, of course [she said with tongue firmly in cheek], name your five favorite stitching blogs.

Blacksheep's Bit of the Web, Dani: Black Belt Stitching Wizard, Stitch Bitch, Mainely Stitching, and Karen's Handiwork.  Of course, I enjoy reading all the blogs on the reading list sidebar but if I had to pare it down to just five, these would be it ... though I might cheat a bit and add Stitching the Night Away in Illinois to make it six.

5. Name your five favorite stitching websites: these could be shops, designers, fiber/fabric/tools manufacturers, etc.
I enjoy visiting these sites: Caron, which has wonderful free charts and lots of interesting information on the fibers it manufactures; The Rainbow Gallery, also a good source of free charts and information about fibers; Kreinik, again another good source for free charts and interesting fibers; Monica Ferris, an author who writes about the owner of a stitchery shop; and finally, EGA.  I have an individual membership in the EGA and I enjoy browsing their site for useful information [tutorials and such] and their course listings ... one of these days I am going to sign up for one of the online classes.

And now, for the winner, selected using the online randomizer: #7 Calamity Jr.  I want to thank everyone for participating in my little survey,  I will be spending some pleasant hours exploring the sites that have been shared in the comments.  I hope all the participants in this very unscientific survey will also be visiting some "new-to-them"  sites.