A change in location

I had grand hopes of finishing my Santa canvas before Christmas, but it was not to be. Instead, I've been working on a sampler pocket from Periwinkle Promises for the last several days.

Why, you ask?

Because this project has been my "doctors' waiting room" project, and it was what I grabbed when DH and I left home at 4AM Monday morning.

Yup. I've been in the hospital all week, and (I never thought I'd be saying this) hopefully I'll be here for several more weeks.

It seems that the complications I've been having have led to yet another: my water broke!

So now, they've been pumping me full of antibiotics to prevent infection, since that barrier is no longer there. At this stage, that's its main purpose, so BJ is continuing to develop, but has little protection against any nasty bugs.

So I'll be in the hospital for up to 5 more weeks. We're at 30 weeks today, and if all continues to go well, they may have to induce at 35 weeks, at which point the doctors say we're actually better off with BJ in the NICU for a bit. I don't really understand why, but we'll deal with that if and when we come to it.

Right now, I feel fine. I'm in no pain, and BJ is healthy and continuing to grow. I'm still stitching, watching TV, reading, and working through puzzle magazines. DH (thankfully) brought me the old laptop so I could let all of you know what's going on.

The camera is at home, so I won't be able to share progress pictures unless I figure out how to take them with my cell and email them to myself. Of course, I don't have anything else I have to be doing, so that might be a project over the next few days. I don't know if those pictures will be good enough to continue with the stitch studies, even if I have DH bring the stitch study sampler to the hospital. We'll see.

Thank you all again for your best wishes. I feel blessed that people I've never met are keeping tabs on us.

I'll keep you posted as best I can.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas (or holiday of your choice!), filled with the love and laughter of family and friends. Take a bit of time to stitch!

To celebrate, please enjoy this poem, of unknown origin, that's been making the rounds of other blogs and email lists (not very original of me, but it's fun anyway!):

'Twas the night before Christmas, and, oh, I was weary.
My stitching unfinished, my eyes getting bleary.
The stockings weren't finished, the chimney was bare.
And I knew that morning soon would be there.

My children and husband were tucked in their beds,
But visions of backstitches ran through my head.
I'd stitched ornaments and presents and gifts by the ton,
And now, I was finally, almost, almost done.

As I poised my needle for one more backstitch,
I heard something outside that made my hand twitch.
I jumped up from my stitching, and flew to the door,
Pressed my eye to the peephole, tip-toed off the floor.

My stitching forgotten, I peered into the night.
When suddenly, I got a terrible fright.
On my porch appeared Santa, holding his sack.
He knocked softly, and I took a giant step back.

I unlocked the deadbolt, and let Santa in,
He entered and gave a mischievous grin.
"Hope you don't mind if I come in the door?"
"Coming down the chimney can be quite a chore."

He said, "You're up late. Still working I see."
"Do you know how tired you're going to be?"
"I know, Santa," I said, with a sigh,
"But I'm still backstitching the stars in the sky,"

"And the fields on that stocking look blobby you know,
I need to backstitch the drifts in the snow.
I've been stitching and stitching and stitching, no rest.
I just tried to finish stitching too much, I guess."

"I know what you mean," he said with a smile.
"This is my busiest time of the year, by a mile."
He stooped down by the tree, and he opened his sack,
And began to pull presents out of his pack.

"I've got some things here I think you might like,
An oak stitching frame, and a brand new Ott-Light.
A bundle of floss, and a great big mat cutter,"
I smiled and felt my heart go a-flutter.

He put down gifts for us all, then he waved his right hand.
"Go to bed," he said, glancing at my floor stand.
He gave me a wink, and stepped out the door.
I just stood there a moment, glued to the floor.

After he'd left, I turned back to my chair,
Picked up the stockings, and started to stare.
The backstitching was done! The stars lit the sky!
And on my son's stocking angels sung on high.

I ran to thank Santa for this final gift,
And watched as his sleigh started to lift.
I heard him exclaim as he pulled out of sight,
"Merry stitching to all, and to all a good night!"

In case you were wondering, the picture at the top of this post is Rebecca Wood's "Country Winter" painted canvas, now on sale at NeedleNook of La Jolla.

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Pregnancy ticker: 29 weeks, 6 days.
I'm sure some of you have been wondering about why I haven't posted in a few days. There's a story behind that, but it will wait until tomorrow!

Stitch Study 3: Detached Buttonhole with Return

Disclaimer: This stitch study builds on the previous lessons of detached buttonhole (DBH) and filling shapes with DBH. To minimize any confusion over steps skipped in this tutorial, please review the previous stitch studies.

In basic DBH, if you'll recall, we always brought the thread to the back at the right side of each row and started the next row again on the left. Detached buttonhole with return makes use of that return thread and provides slightly more coverage. Otherwise, the method of stitching is very similar.

We'll start again with a block of stitching, then move on to filling shapes. In the example, I'm using size 12 pearl cotton on 30ct linen.

To begin the block, again start by backstitching a foundation row. With this stitch, this row will be worked left to right, so you end up on the right side of the block.

I made a total of 12 stitches in my foundation row. After the last stitch, bring the needle to the front of the fabric just a tiny bit below the end of the row. The thread should emerge about halfway down the total distance to be covered by your first row of DBH. In my original DBH sample, I covered 2 linen threads with each row, so this time I'm bringing the thread up just one thread down from the foundation.

Sink the needle and thread on the left side of the block, keeping the distance from the foundation row constant. This is the first return thread.

To start the first row of DBH, come up again just a bit below the
return thread on the left side.



You'll now start working detached buttonhole as usual, but instead of just stitching under the foundation row, you'll run the needle under both the foundation row and the return thread.

Proceed in this way across the block. Remember the number of DBH should equal the number of stitches in the foundation row. At the end of the first row, sink the needle, and come up again just a bit below that.

Again, bring the return thread across the front, sink it on the left, and begin the next row of DBH. That's really all there is to this stitch. Remember, as in basic DBH, to keep the number of stitches constant across the block by stitching into the first leg on one row and the next leg on alternate rows. (See the basic DBH stitch study if this is unclear.)

Here's what the stitch looks like on the reverse side. There is very little thread on the back with this variation.

Filling shapes with DBH with return should also look very familiar. Here, I've switched to size 8 pearl cotton. Again, backstitch the shape, then bring your return thread across the shape slightly below the side you're calling your foundation row.

Work the DBH through the foundation row and under the return thread.

Keep going. Notice that sometimes, especially when you're not working squarely with the grain of the fabric, that the return thread can look a bit skewed. That's OK. The DBH stitches will force it back into position. If they don't, try purposely stitching your next return thread at a slight angle to bring the rows of DBH back to the desired angle. Little tweaks here and there will not be noticeable.

If your shape has areas that separate from the main shape, like the points on the flower here, again, just work each of these as a separate shape. Notice that in my far right point (at the arrow), my DBH doesn't actually go all the way to the point. There isn't room for another row. The initial backstitching fills in the gap.

I was able to completely cover most of the other points with DBH. In this picture, you can compare the original basic DBH on the left with the DBH with return on the right. Notice the slight difference in texture. The stitches on the right are a tiny bit bigger, since we don't need as many to get coverage. There are 16 rows of DBH in total on the left, but only 13 on the right, though the petals are almost exactly the same length.

I'm slowly building toward the stitch that Megan originally requested, which is the detached buttonhole with only some edges attached to the fabric. Only a few more stitch studies to go, Megan! The next study will be on back-and-forth detached buttonhole.

Lots of Santa Progress

Given that I can't do much besides sit or sleep, Celebration Santa has seen a lot of progress. Since the last post about this piece, I've stitched several large areas, including all of his clothing (save the hat and footwear) and his pack. I love the fact that the strap for the pack is an actual strap made of ultrasuede (I think).

As you can see, I've also begun the background. I wasn't sure about using the Oriental stitch for the background, because it seems so heavy. I will be having this finished as a stand-up, though, and think that once the sides are curved around the stuffing, Santa won't be overwhelmed with the background. If I were to finish this as a framed piece, I'd have to reconsider. I did reduce the number of floss strands from 5 to 4, though. I find that 4 strands covers very well with diagonal stitches, where 5 just seems bulky.

Before I do too much more on the background, I need to make some decisions on the tree and his feet. The stitch guide calls for long and short stitch on the tree, but I don't know if that will work. Unfortunately, the picture of the original shows so many ornaments on the tree that I can't tell how it was stitched. I'm going through some stitch books to see if I can find some alternatives to long and short, but I definitely think my Santa will be carrying an undecorated tree. I'm not sure why Santa would carry a tree at all, but if he were to do so, why would it be decorated?

As for the feet, my critics here (DH, Mom, and MIL) and I all agree that his feet look, well, feminine. Like ballet slippers. I'm going to play a bit with some photo editing software (or just a paper copy and markers!) to overlay boots on top to see how that would look. I'll just square off the toe, add a bit of a heel, and make the whole thing black or brown. Any other ideas?

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Pregnancy ticker: 29 weeks, 1 day
Yesterday afternoon, I had an appointment for fetal monitoring (a non-stress test, which measures heartrate and movement). Normally, this appointment, including the car trip, should take less than an hour and a half. Instead, due to a snowstorm that started in the late morning and dumped almost a foot of snow by 5PM, the trip, in total, took three and a half hours. Non-stress, you say? Well, apparently it was all me, because the monitoring looked great.

Oh, by the way, DH suggested an alternative name to "TK" ("The Kid"), which he never really liked anyway. So now, we're referring to the baby as "BJ", short for "Bundle of Joy". :-)

Gratitude

Sometimes it takes trying times to make a person appreciate how lucky she really is. I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to several people.

After I started stitching Joan Thomasson's Celebration Santa, I realized my stitch guide was missing a page. I posted a note to a couple of the needlepoint email lists, asking if anybody had the information from that page.

• Thank you to all the ladies from the ANG list and from the needlepoint etc. list who directed me to Joan Thomasson's website or sent me her email. The online stitching community comes through again.
• Thank you to Jane of Chilly Hollow who brought my problem to Joan's attention via an email of her own.
• And a very big thank you to Joan Thomasson who very graciously and generously offered to send me not only the missing page, but to replace the entire stitch guide so I'd have a complete version!

The response to my stitch study posts has been wonderful. Thank you to all who have written in suggestions and comments, or have mentioned the studies on your blogs. I really appreciate it. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, I hope to have another stitch study up by the end of this upcoming weekend.)

On to life. Up until recently, I've been pretty mum on my personal life. I still intend for this to remain primarily my stitching blog, but of course, from time to time, life takes over. I'm very glad I explained my week-long absence due to my hospitalization.

• Thanks to all of you who wrote expressing concern for me and for the baby. It's meant so very much to me to know that so many are keeping tabs on the "pregnancy ticker" at the bottom of each post.
• Thank you to the stitchers in my local stitching groups who have been so supportive, sending cards and emails to let me know you care.
• Thank you to the folks at work, including my managers, who have been fully behind me. A couple of them took the time to visit today, and it was a welcome diversion. DH and I work at the same company, and he has received many words of encouragement and support. One of his co-workers even purchased dinner (frozen lasagna, salad, and cookies) for us yesterday!
• Thank you to the many nurses, doctors, and support staff (though it's doubtful any of them will ever read this!) who watched me around the clock and continue to monitor our progress.
  
• Most importantly, thank you to my family. DH has been amazing, picking up all the little things I can't do anymore, from grocery shopping, to keeping up with the dog and the household cleanup, to pulling out the Christmas decorations, and a million other little things. Mom, MIL, and my sister have been there during the days to help keep me company (both in the hospital and at home), driving me to appointments, taking the dog out, getting me lunch, and putting up the decorations. Many other family members have taken the time to call, send a note, or visit me in the hospital. Thank you all. It means so much!

It's humbling to have so much to be grateful for.

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Pregnancy ticker: 28 weeks, 5 days.
According to the doctors, I'm still in the "high risk group" due to some of the complications, but the good news is that TK is in the 42nd percentile for weight and still appears to be developing normally.

Santa's Toys

When I started stitching the toys on Joan Thomasson's Celebration Santa, I just jumped right in. I very quickly realized that I'd be stitching over some of the details and going back to fill them in - with no knowledge of what I was going to be detailing.

It was then that I remembered one of the golden rules of stitching painted canvases: Make a copy first! I don't know why I didn't think of it initially. I regularly read the blog of Jane of Chilly Hollow (painted canvas stitcher extraordinare), and she always makes a copy of her canvases before stitching. Well, better late than never, and I figure a photo is just as good as a copy. So, with just the blue of the doll's dress stitched, this is the "before" picture.

The toys were mostly stitched in basketweave, with a few french knots for eyes, straight stitches for the horse's mane and tail, and backstitches for details as needed. I didn't do the doll's mouth yet. I'll catch that when I'm stitching Santa's coat.

I made one change from the stitch guide: rather than stitching the doll's hair in orderly rows of french knots, I gave her "sausage curls" in bullion knots. These were fun (yes, I actually enjoy the challenge of bullions), worked up quickly, and give a bit of dimension.

I also stitched the drum, which worked up quickly compared to all of the basketweave. It just uses satin stitches for the triangles and some couched metallic for the rim.

I love the way the toys came out, and I'm very glad I stitched them before stitching the brown of Santa's bag or the red of his coat. Now I can do those large areas without worrying that I'm stitching over a detail needed to bring the toys to life!

Thank you Jane, for your advice! I have other things to thank you and others for, but that's another post!

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Pregnancy ticker: 28 weeks, 3 days.
Santa's keeping me occupied, so I'm not going crazy (or overdoing it) yet!