October Update 10-7-20

Hello all my lovelies out there in stitching land! Here in Oklahoma we are enjoying the most awesome fall weather. The trees are just beginning to turn colors and the temps are in the high 70's and low 80's. Such a great time of year.

14 COUNT AIDA 

Last time I talked about ordering white 14 ct. Aida cloth from Michael's and I got the order within a week. Let's talk about this cloth.

First of all, I look for a tight weave. A loose weave will have larger holes in it that are easily pulled and distorted. Not a big deal so much if you are only using, say, two or three strands of cotton floss or a thick strand of wool. The thickness of the fiber will fill the holes enough where they will not have to be pulled tightly. However, if you are using other fibers, such as metallics or silks, where they do have to be pulled tighter to lay flat, larger woven holes are going to get even larger. Note too that if you are adding a large amount of glass beads or crystals, they are quite heavy if grouped together and also will distort your holes. Actually, any heavy embellishment can do it. Rule of thumb is to get the best quality heavy fabric you can find and afford because no matter what you are stitching on it, it will help you produce the best quality work possible. It's like the difference between using Crayola color pencils and Faber-Castell color pencils, they will both do the job but they will not have the same results.

My recent purchase of larger sized Charles Craft
14 ct. white Aida cloth from Michael's. Great price
and quick delivery made a great experience.

SIZE MATTERS 

I learned the hard way that it is a disaster when you have worked a design and then not have enough material for a border sufficient to get it framed or mounted in some way. The rule of thumb is a three inch border around the design size and mine will have four inches sometimes just to be on the safe side.

STAR MAIDEN UPDATE 

Work on Star Maiden is coming along. I am stitching around the corona a second time with a heavier Kreinik metallic so there is nothing to really show right now. Once I start the embellishments on the corona I will show more pictures. Because the Kreinik I am using is wrapped around a small spool, it is curly as heck and really knots up easily which causes delays. The fiber itself is just gorgeous though. 

APPLE CRISTP 

I made the apple crisp recipe I talked about last time and it turned out great! It was easy and delicious. Here is the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/229088/apple-crisp-with-oat-topping/ 

Six cut-up Jonathan apples.

Easy Apple Crisp is perfect with a dollop of 
vanilla ice cream and the aroma throughout the
house of cinnamon and brown sugar was heavenly.

THOUGHTS ON OCTOBER AND HALLOWEEN-MOVIES AND BOOKS AND TRICK OR TREATING

October, for me, is the month for horror and mystery reads. I recently re-read the "Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft which is a great read for two reasons: the story itself is a great example of the genre and secondly the writer is just a great writer. The short read I just finished up yesterday was "The Haunting of Owensboro Mansion" by Carrie Bates via Amazon Kindle. It was a good short story and even though the elements are a rehash of often used devices, it kept my attention and did not contain anything of a gory or sordid nature. I will probably try another of her books in the future to truly get an idea of her style. I have also been working on another book that I really am enjoying but it is lengthy and not something you can breeze through called "The Essex Serpent" by Sarah Perry. This is an intriguing book and Sarah is a very good writer. The characters are very well developed and the mystery of whether there is a serpent in the water or not is only part of the mystery that carries you along its pages. I am about half through it and hope I can get it finished. or close to it, in the next week or so.

I really, really love Halloween because of trick or treating. I look forward every year to seeing all the kiddos in their wonderful costumes, homemade and bought. However, for the very first time in over 40 years we will not be handing out treats and it breaks my heart. Right now it is just too risky with COVID and so after discussing the pros and cons with my husband we thought it was the best decision for us and our costumed visitors. 

And what's Halloween without a scary movie? Well, I am the only one brave enough in our family to watch them. I'm not a fan of slasher films with gratuitous gore but I can put up with it as long as it's not the primary story line. For instance, the Halloween series, I mean really, c'mon folks, the laws of physics and reason can only be stretched so far and then it just becomes a failed joke. I am hoping on Halloween there will be something worth watching on TV after my hubby goes to bed. That is if I am not too tired too! LOL!

More to come next time and as always, Keep Creating! And Stay Safe!

Debbie