Linen Stitcher

Well, your largely absent blogger friend is back with a pitiful amount of stitching progress. As I indicated in the title, I have good intentions. But that’s about all I have.

So here goes (almost) nothing . . .

First, progress on this:

Designer: Hands to Work
Pattern: I Wait for the Lord
(Stitched on R&R 40-count Crème Brûlée linen using recommended NPI silk floss)

And I’d probably have had this finished by now (work with me here) if it hadn’t been for a little, itty bitty floss issue, which developed a bit like this:

• Pattern calls for two skeins of NPI 953; I buy three, just to be safe.
• A quarter of the way in, despite miserly stitching, NO frogging, and stitching on the recommended count using the recommended strands, I’m running out!
• Quick call to my LNS, and two more skeins arrive via USPS . . . during major home remodeling project (this fact may explain subsequent events in this story).
• Skeins of floss? What skeins of floss? Now, where did I put those? (More like, Where did SOMEONE ELSE put them?)
• Massive search. No luck. Still hopeful.
• Many massive searches later, still no luck. No longer hopeful.
• Call LNS (again). Order two more skeins (again).
• Two more skeins arrive via USPS. (Yay!)
• New skeins are definitely from a different dye lot. (Boo!)
• About now, shades of my “Johnny Appleseed” dye lot nightmares begin to haunt me, but I shake it off.
• I am now convinced that the missing skeins MUST be the right dye lot.
• Many additional massive searches, still no luck, perhaps because I’m searching the SAME PLACES I’VE ALREADY LOOKED.

(What’s that quote about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?)

• Resigned, I call LNS where original skeins were purchased (fingers crossed). Learn they now only have skeins from dye lot that I’m avoiding using (shoulders sag).

All of a sudden, it seems incredibly ironic that I ran out after stitching these two words:

[sigh]

So, Dear Readers, if anyone out there in Blogland has three skeins of NPI 953 that are NOT Lot 4, I’d love to hear from you. I have no idea which dye lot matches mine, but I can guarantee that it *isn’t* Lot 4.

So what’s a frustrated stitcher to do? Why, start a new project, of course!

Bought this book along with my WRONG DYE LOT floss:

So far, I’ve stitched this one:

And I’m working on my second one:

And yes, they’re tiny. Stitching on 32 count using one strand over one thread.

And yes, I have every intention of stitching the third one and finishing them all into adorably tiny and beautifully finish-finished ornaments that I can proudly display for all to see.

And we all know about my good intentions now, don’t we?

[sigh]

Addendum: On top of losing the floss, I’ve now lost my best Dovo scissors. Yep, they were there one night and gone the next, despite the lack of major construction in my household. Trouble is, I’m positively fastidious about where I put my scissors, so this one’s a total head-scratcher.

But don’t worry, I plan to do a massive search soon . . .