meet Jasper

I returned home on Wednesday evening after spending two weeks with Big Sis and this little guy.  Sadly, Dave the dalmation left us for the great hereafter just before I arrived but we’re sure that he must have left secret notes for Jasper as he seems to have already learned some of Dave’s old tricks! As I write this, Jasper is just over ten weeks old. He’s a scruffy labradoodle who’s very bouncy, has a fondness for furry slippers (mine), squeaks a lot, is not quite sure yet what cats and birds are for, loves to tug at labels, and is soooooo adorable that I was almost tempted to sneak him into my case and bring him home with me. He wasn’t quite ready to venture out into the big wide world so days out with Big Sis were limited but Jasper was an excellent distraction and a constant source of entertainment so I didn’t mind and I did succeed in doing lots of embroidery during our time indoors but I’ll save those photos for a future post.

 

cross stitch

I don’t get on well with cross stitch. I’ve tried it in the past and given up before finishing. I frequently lost my place in the pattern and/or my top stitches went in two different directions. Big sis doesn’t have any problems with cross stitch and when she bought Michael Powell’s cross stitch book and started on one of the designs while I was still visiting, I was tempted to have another go at a (small) cross stitch piece so I took a copy of the White Village pattern and got myself organised early yesterday with threads and 14 count aida.

Before putting needle and thread to aida, I looked through some of my needlework books and the internet for tips suitable for a leftie like me who normally prefers winging it with needle and thread, as opposed to following a set pattern but apart from nearly all of the articles advising me to ‘start in the middle’ without telling me why I should, none of them actually gave me much information that was specific to cross stitch beyond the essentials on suitable fabric, needles, and starting and finishing the stitches themselves. Maybe there isn’t any.

Big sis uses a magnetic board to which the pattern is clamped with a ‘ruler’ which you reposition on the pattern so you know where you’re at (except when Dave’s wagging tail occasionally swipes her ruler out of position) but not wishing to lay out loadsa money on accessories for something I might never do again, I used an old placemat and a length of stiff card attached by a spring clip at either side. Works so far.

Although I have completed not quite half of the design, I have kept my stitches all going in the same direction (but I really have to concentrate) and have already miscounted a couple of times and had to unstitch. I had marked the centre with tacking stitches both ways but at only 32 x 47 stitches I didn’t think it would matter too much that I didn’t actually ‘start in the middle’ and you can see that I’ve already unpicked all but a short length of tacking. I made the ‘steering wheel cover’ to keep the excess Mad Hatter fabric clean and out of the way of the needle and this time it also stops my threads catching on the rough edges of the aida fabric.

I hope that I do Mr Powell’s design justice. I didn’t have all the colours in his list so tried to match his suggested Anchor equivalents with the DMCs that I have. I love Mr P’s art work but have always baulked at the thought of turning them into cross stitch.

 

home again

I had a lovely time with big sis last week but it seemed that I had no sooner arrived than it was time to pack and leave. Every time we went out I had my camera with me and took loads of photos, some of which I will no doubt bore you with in future posts. Here’s one of Dave the Opportunist Thief, pretending that he’s still hungry after stealing and eating a whole packet of pigs ears while big sis and I were out.

Dave in stitches

This is for big sis:

not so much a post…

…as a photo update on Dave. This is him waiting for a snowball to be thrown so that he can run and catch it – a game he’s fond of. After nearly two hours of this and home once more, he slept and snored for the rest of the day. Only a dog could get away with that!

 

for a dog near you

My big sis makes dog biscuits and said I could share the recipe with you. Dave dog and his pal Sid just love them.

1 egg
2 scoops of cooked sweet potato & cinnamon mash. (cinnamon optional)
1/4 cup milk
2 cups wholewheat flour
Work to a dough, roll to 1/2 inch thick. Cut to any shape. Bake: Gas 4, 350F, 180C for 30 mins. Store in an airtight container when cool.

cold and me

This morning I am travelling by train ‘beyond up north’ to visit big sis for two weeks. Although the weather in my neck of the woods has been glorious for the past few days, I am packing fleeces, scarves and gloves for the chilly north. I have drawn the line at including my furry winter slippers but it was a close call.

English people frequently tell me that since I hail from Scotland I should be used to the cold but for me that has never been true and I do not take kindly to even a slight drop in ambient temperature. Perhaps I have a faulty internal thermostat but I detest being cold and when I am, I become grumpy and as miserable as the weather itself.

Whatever the weather during this trip, it will as usual, be secondary to the visit itself but if it becomes too cold for comfort, I can simply stay indoors and use Dave Dog as a body warmer.