Friday, March 20, 2009

The Stockings are here...The Stockings are here


As you can see Carolyn showed up on Saturday with my stockings completed, one week was all it took for her to "whip" them up and I couldn't be more thrilled. She did an excellent job on them and I love them. I've shown you both front and back (I pray you recognize the difference), so you could see the Blackbird design fabric she used which she got from the website, "fat quarter.com" . The bunch she picked out will do all 36 stockings and gave us a wonderful selection of patterns all for $30.00. Perfect, they are perfect. While the design used beaded hangers, I chose to have Carolyn do cording and make the cording into the hanger. I didn't realize that on the pattern they close the stocking which is why they weren't too concerned with the inside of stocking, however, I wanted to be able to put something in them...for instance, a gift certificate and use them as gifts (if I want to..not counting on it though since I just love them too much). I've seen the needlepoint stockings they sell and show with a place setting of silver in them...and I thought wouldn't these be cute with silverware in them as a remembrance of a special occasion and placed on each place setting (again, don't count on me doing that either but I might use them that way and show them what I should be giving them but will not be giving them...isn't it the thought that counts?)...anyway, I've heard from a couple of people who are well along and Phyllis has already finishing her 9th stocking. So, if you aren't on board yet, there is still time since we haven't seen April's stockings yet. To add to the delight of Saturday and the arrival of my stockings, Carolyn's husband Lou, God love him, brought me a tub of Fisher's Pop Corn...yes, life was certainly good in Salty Yarns on Saturday. Between Mary P.'s snacks from last week (yes I'm still eating them) and Lou's caramel corn...well I could just live in the shop and be perfectly happy. Saturday was a busy day beside the stockings arrival. We started out our morning with Greg M., stopping by. He is our resident male stitcher and he is so funny we love to chat with Greg. He does beautiful work and some complicated pieces. He stitches over one as well as over two. The Helen C. stopped by to see us and buy some new stash. Jennifer H, also stopped by to check on things and pick something up. Connie H. and Ellen S. were in on Friday, Ellen brought in chocolate covered Matzo for me...also a special treat she introduced me to several years ago and I love it!!! Getting on to other things, I realize things are getting really expensive...I do not live in a hole where I don't have to buy things....(having just been to Michael's and spent $100 on wicker containers for my new office/needlework room..too embarrassed to say I didn't want the set which I thought was on sale for $9.99 and it was only 1 basket...but at least all of them were on sale)...anyway, I was just on a blog and while I think what she was doing might be considered a nice gesture (to be sure), the problem with the gesture is...if everyone did it the artist would stop producing charts. O.K., now to tell you what she is doing....She posts her stitching on her blog, and of course she gets comments. Apparently many people ask her for designer, etc., and she thought it would be extremely nice if , she drew up a list of all the people who want to stitch the particular piece and then send it to the first person on the list, who will in turn send it to the next person on the list, until everyone has stitched it. While she isn't breaking any law, since she is not copying the chart, this is all well and good, however, you have to know that each person will be copying the chart for their own use before sending the chart along to the next person. Let me ask this...I don't know how many people are on her list, but I'm sure there will be plenty, that's how many charts the designer did not sell, so that's money out of the designer's pocket...which means the designer has to either keep raising the prices of her charts to make a living (since if we all did this she would sell a minimum of each chart) or stop designing and get another job. I don't want to be a bitch, but people, we have to support the designers in our business if we expect them to keep designing. If we all start giving away the charts to multiple people what is the point. I know the designer in question here and I don't want her to raise her prices anymore than they are now since we have to import them and therefore they are higher than average. So please, I realize we all let people periodically borrow a chart (well, I actually do not, because then I'd have to go on a rant about myself and I'm just not up to it), but please don't pass them around to your entire stitching group...many of the designers are trying to make a living doing this. Maureen Appleton, Heart's Content, had to return to nursing because she couldn't make a living out of designing (and her things are gorgeous so it's unexplainable to me)...so I'm sorry I went on a rant, and if you know the blog I'm talking about please explain that I know she didn't mean any harm and was trying to be nice, which she was ... to other stitchers, which is why I didn't mention any names here. I'm just saying...it's not a good thing. Okay having said that, I have to tell you I'm juiced and ready to stitch. I've been stitching like a maniac to begin with to get some new models in the shop. Finishing is always my biggest problem but since I stitched a Pine Mountain pillow for spring...well finishing wasn't a problem, and then the beaded Jim Shore Lamb is done, framed , since it's done on perforated paper you just put it in the frame, no lacing on perforated paper, and on the front counter....yippee. While the Pine Mountain "Spring" pillow might have be only one night...the Jim Shore Lamb was a few nights (spread over weeks...beads and I don't see eye to eye...they kept jumping out of the container and I'd lose them until I unearthed my "Tacky Bob"...oh, my God...what a life saver that was. I Love this when doing beading...what took me so long to use it. We've had it in the shop for a few years and yet, while I take everything else home, I never bothered to use one of these...oh, yea I took it but buried it in one of my stitching totes. Of course as I am now unpacking each and every tote and organizing the stash in other containers (one must constantly redo to make it even more interesting...and it's like Christmas all over again), I'm finding stuff I haven't seen since I purchased it or brought it home from the shop. I'm having a ball and between that and reading the stitching blogs...well, let's just say I don't have the time to blog because I must stitch...yes, I must stitch I tell you...it's my addiction and I can't get enough. And because I finished 2 projects this week I've pulled a small Shepherd's Bush to do for our Spring/Easter display...and since we changed that today I have to get this done by tomorrow which won't be hard since it's one of their 10 ct. kits. And then I've got to get back to something started and not finished. I still haven't found the Bent Creek Zipper kit...the Merry Cox on-line piece that was almost completed and has to be done for finishing starting April 1st...where the hell did it go. I've lost my Emmanual which is by Shepherd's Bush and I had it completed by 2008 Christmas. I meant to go to the framers but kept forgetting and now it's gone missing and I've never found the camera...I bet they are all hiding out together....well each day I try to take something else out of the closet and put it away (yea, everyday or should I say in all honesty once every two weeks)...this job is never going to get done..and just as I think I might get it done Mary and Brian are going to bring my 31 year stash from my old apartment where they have stashed it in the old laundry room and shut the door (it's floor to ceiling in cartons and they just left it in there but keep threatening to bring it down ..which is fine with me since I haven't seen that stash for at least 8 years...just like Christmas when it finally arrives). I've got a rant people on Blackberries and texting while talking but I'll save it for another day because I'm having issues here, brother am I having issues.
Have a great night...and keep on stitching.

1 comment:

Nancy said...

Great stockings! I love the finishing too. Good job keeping up with them...Nancy