TAST: Braid Chain Stitch

Yay! I finally did it! And I’m doin’ the happy dance! May it never be said I was defeated by a needle and thread – Oooh, I wax poetic – hehe! I think the trick is to make sure to do the little backward loop at the top of each stitch. If you look at this illustration, you can clearly see that the part of the thread that carries the needle needs to go behind the part of the thread that advances the stitch… It’s an awkward and counterintuitive maneuver for me (maybe because of being left-handed?).

CUTENESS ALERT!!!

DH just photographed this little possum (Didelphis virginiana) in the back yard. Just look at those tender little pink toes… The possum is the only marsupial found in North America.

TAST: Thorn Stitch

This is just a fun stitch! Notice how I skipped right over the chain braid stitch challenge? Well, I did try it - and had disastrous results! I have tried to do it every which way and it just falls apart on me…argh!

TAST: Pekinese Stitch

What a lovely day – very mild – around 70 degrees! I am a little behind on my TAST stitches but was able to take a little time today to play with the pleasantly relaxing Pekinese stitch. In the example below, I used two rows, laced together, to couch down a ribbon.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Tomorrow, DH and I will be having our traditional veggie lasagna and sparkling cider (we are such party animals!) - and watching our favorite movie (Bernard and the Genie)! I usually put the big Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving Day but we’re not putting it in the living room this year – too much temptation for tiny kittens! It’s going to have to go in another room – with the door closed!

Here is a link to the Flickr group of vintage holiday postcards. There are some beautiful Thanksgiving greetings there… Wow! I just realized there are nearly 2.000 postcards from various holidays in the photo pool!

Birder Santa...

Here's my latest boy. His arms and legs are wired to give him a bit more pose ability. I was fortunate to find the cute camera and binoculars in a Christmas shop in Ocean City last summer. The miniature Audubon book is an EBAY find. Santa will eventually rest on a birch “stump” (as soon as DH cuts it down to size) and then he’ll be photographed for the web site.

Meet Colvert...

His name is English and it means “seaman.” His outfit is made from tea-dyed vintage chenille trimmed with vintage fringe. His hat is trimmed with a scrap of vintage upholstery trim. I found the coolest old coat button with an anchor design in a box of antique buttons from the Florida Keys. I sewed it to an old doily with tatting around the edges and affixed that to his jacket. He is holding a red, white and blue striped buoy and an antique Tuck patriotic naval themed postcard (postmarked 1908). The card is technically a “Decoration Day” card. “Decoration Day” originated shortly after the American Civil War as a day when flowers would be placed on the graves of soldiers to honor them.

Here’s My Story (and I’m sticking to it!)

I’m not sure if anyone remembers him, but this Santa was created a couple of years ago for my Just Clauses web site. Although he was on vacation, he was supposed to be studying the globe to plan his Christmas Eve route. I had to pull him from the site when the globe he was holding unexplainably exploded. To make a long story short, Mrs. Claus had a fit when she discovered Santa had purchased the defective globe from China on the cheap! And the elves were outraged to discover that Santa had been outsourcing some of their work and threatened to go on strike! Well, it was all too much for Santa and it literally drove him to drink! So here he sits, with an empty bottle of Smirnoff’s Citrus Flavored Vodka on his lap. I had to glue him in his deck chair as he is in no condition to walk, let alone drive a sleigh…

I will be uploading him to my Just Clauses site soon. He really needs a home and someone to look after him…

Meet Lobster Claus...

This Santa is a tribute to my wonderful late cousin, Johnny Botello, a fishing boat captain from Massachusetts. I visited his home as a child and can remember seeing just the claw from a giant lobster that he and his crew had caught that seemed to take up most of the dining table! Everyone raved and raved about how delicious it was but I refused to eat it (I have never eaten lobster in my life!) – and his wife, Connie, had to cook a hamburger for me… Yep, I was a little pain in the derrière…

Here are more detailed photos of Santa on my Just Clauses site.

Going Home...

Asaph will be off to his new home, tomorrow... He's a happy boy!


I finally finished the Maine Lobsterman Santa (or Lobster Claus - hehe!) and will try to post a quick picture tomorrow if the rain ends... Now, I'm working on a birder Santa, complete with camera and binoculars...