Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sew Blue, (I'm) So Blue

Anyone remember the old song "Love is Blue" from the 60s? That's what came into my head when I ran out of the Peacock Blue GAST I was using to stitch Carol R.'s Sew Blue. I'd been going to stitch this on blue linen with some kind of overdyed white floss, but the peacock color just grabbed me. I seriously underestimated how much of it I had in my stash and by the time I realized it, I'd already stitched a fair amount. But I love the color and can't wait till I get more. Which brings me to an ethical dilemma - where to buy it? Part of me just wants to go online and click and buy - it's so easy to do it this way, as opposed to driving nearly an hour to my LNS. But if I don't patronize them, I'm contributing to their possible demise - it must be so hard to be a brick and mortar LNS with the competition of online stores. So I may just hold my horses and wait until I can take a trip.


So (I almost typed "sew") in the meantime I needed a little project to work on until I can get going again, and I picked this one by LHN from the 2004 Christmas Ornament issue. It's been great to work on while I sit by the steaming hot pool where my son is taking swimming lessons. And it had an unintended benefit. One of the lifeguards came over to see what I was doing, and it turns out she is an avid knitter who wants to set up a group that meets to sit and chat while crafting. No one in my 'regular" life here stitches and it would be so nice to find some company every now and then. I'm hoping she does more than talk about it, because if she sets it up, I'm in!

I have been stitching for awhile now, more than a few years looking back at my blog posts, and I'd like to be branching out a bit to something more complex than my usual choices. This is my ultimate goal - I bought this from eBay years ago, but it has always scared the heck out of me to try something large with real color changes. The chart came kitted with linen and all the DMC needed for it - when I first saw the linen I thought I would never ever be able to use it, but of course now I use nothing but, so I can't use that as an excuse anymore. Actually, looking at the pattern the color changes are not that hard - there are lots of blocks of color more than actual changes. I tend to be a one project at a time stitcher, so if I stitched it my blog would become awfully focused on one thing, but I do feel the pull to challenge myself a bit more. I'm not quite ready to try it yet, but it's in my sights. I'd love to give it to my mother - the verse reads:

You may have riches and wealth untold,
baskets of jewels and caskets of gold,
but richer than I you will never be,
for I had a mother who read to me.

That's the news from my little corner of the world. Hope all is going well in yours!

7 comments:

Kim B said...

Lee has a good idea there. I bet they would! My LNS has mailed me things in the past.

I love your projects! That LHN ornie is so darling!

Kathy A. said...

Love our little bit of blue. I hope your thread problem resolves itself quickly.
Lovely little ornament.
Your kit is lovely and I think you could handle it admirably. Give it a shot.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Lee. My solution is to browse online and then buy from my not-so-LNS. The shop I usually call is a two-hour drive, but they have great service and mail out my phone orders immediately. And bonus: They charge actual shipping, so it's cheaper than the gas it would take to drive it. Give it a try! I bet you'll be glad you did!

Sonda said...

You can do it! That will be a cute project when finished. You can always put it down when it gets to be too much and pick it up later on. That's my philosophy!

Kathy said...

I'm rather slow in my response to your delimma about LNS vs Online shopping. My advice is to call the LNS and have them mail the thread to you. You will probably pay less in mailing costs than you would doing online shopping. The other thing is that if you drive there and they happen to be out of the thread, then you will still need them to mail it to you when it comes in. Supporting your LNS is always the way to go, if at all possible. You are right, if you don't support them then you won't have them later down the road.

Great job of stitching. Good luck getting the thread you need.

Carol R said...

Nice start on Sew Blue. Shame you ran out of thread - it's sew (lol) annoying when that happens. I can't even help you out - I checked my stash but no GAST Peacock Blue!

Lovely start on the LHN ornament too.

Michele said...

Lovely start!! and I too hate when I run out :( I can check tonight and see if I have any I would send to you.

Love your start on the Christmas ornament. I've stitched it and loved it :)