Stitching again
So, I had a couple of weeks off! I just lost interest in my needlework, but I think that, like Carol-Anne with her recently illness related stitch lethargy, mine was caused my viruses and the general tiredness inside and out that accompanies them. Added to that that I'm sick of Chinese classes and really keenly looking forward to going home to a sane country where I don't have to fear there are roaches in my kitchen cupboards, I can get food I can relate to as food and things in general are just a tad more 'with it'. I've been reading an ex-pat forum thread about some of the dumb traditional health beliefs that people around here have, and they really do believe them quite passionately! There are married couples disputing regularly over whether or not one should drink cold water.....
OK, moan over and I'll show you the first half of the back-stitching that I've been doing over the past few days on the field mice. I've done all the dark red (on the flower and rose hips) and the brown on the mice and stems, and just have the white outlining on the berries and the greens around the leaves and leaf veins to do. I did pick up my goldwork the other day only to find that the copper Jap thread went bad again. The metallic wrapping stuff keeps coming off on the very short length I need for that back part. Well, I'll just have to keep trying until I succeed, but, as failing with that makes me put the project straight back down in annoyance, I think I'd better stitch a new bit first and then have a go at re-doing that copper Jap!=)
I finally joined the local library and read a new US teen book called 'Viola in Reel Life' by Adriana Trigiani, who some of you may know from her novels (which I haven't read). It was an interesting excursion into the world of US teen-dom, but I rather doubt that a 14 year old really knows as much as Viola sometimes seems to and I wonder if the author really remembered the time zone differences when she has Viola video-conferencing with her parents in Afghanistan and old chums in NYC at times that seem to be me to be very antisocial for the other party. She also seems to me to be marvellously logical and to reason things through in a way many adults couldn't manage. Anyway, it made an entertaining read and, as it'd free, who can complain!? I also got Oscar Wilde's Complete Short Fiction, but the other classics they had at the local branch were all things I knew well already. Might do for light reading sometime, but I feel ready for something fresh and I'm not really into contemporary things, by and large.
And I really want to get a viola.....
Labels:
Cross Stitch,
WIP
9 comments:
Hi Elizabeth, I know that I read your earlier posts but I gues that was while I was feeling unwell and didn't take things in. About the copper Jap. Do you have to cut the piece before you couch it? Couch it first then cut and sink the ends. I like to use a lasoo to sink the ends. I thread the loop over the reel and long the thread then plung the needle and pull through until the lasoo traps the Jap against the fabric, cut Jap and pull through. I guess you could do a similar thing with a plunging needle. Leave a long tail at each end, couch in place, thread Jap through needle, pull needle through enough to trap Jap, trim and plung!
Good luck.
Hi Elizabeth, thanks so much for the visit! I create my fair share of rubbish too, far too much for my liking. You sound a little homesick? and I hope you are feeling better now, Karen
Would you know how to play a viola if you had one...?
Hi Elizabeth,
Glad to know you are better now! I've been catching up on your adventures since you visited my blog (Thanks!).
I used to play the violin, so I can quite understand that you want the viola kit to look like your viola!
Hope you're continuing to feel better. : )
Glad you are well enough to be stitching again, and you'll soon get to grips with your goldwork. I feel for you, it must be really hard going, and you've had an awful lot to deal with, the sheer issue of moving to another country for a year must be so stressful just in itself.
Get the viola.
You know you want to.
If it makes you happy, do it.
(and the Derwent pencils!!!) x
Glad to hear your are doing better! Roaches?!?! Ew! And cold water? What does it matter. Your stitching looks great! Have a good week!: )
Glad you are feeling better. I'm sorry that you are experiencing a "trapped" feeling. Not that you actually used that word but I felt sort of trapped reading your post...trapped in an experience that was really neat but perhaps time to be over! My sister lived in Korea for a year and didn't extend because she was feeling quite like you. She came home and decided that all she really needed was a month away and she could have then continued for another year. I've never experienced living in such a different culture. After over 20 years being away from my own country, it's sad to say that I feel more at home here than in the States. But, both are western. Your little mice are very sweet. I'm glad you joined the local library which has new things for you to read, in your own language! The Viola book sounds interesting...maybe not the type of thing you want to continue to read but interesting just the same. It's quite brave of the author to attempt to explain a teenager! ha ha Head up and look for that old silver lining, Elizabeth!
Yep, boy do I know that homesickness comes and goes! I'm glad your last phase has passed and hope that the next one takes its time getting there. And yes, I can imagine that it is frustrating and depressing being sick all the time when you are just not used to that! I had a friend once that was the picture of health but in Germany she was always sick with some kind of infection. As it turned out, there was some mold or material or something in the building where she lived that caused her to be sick!! She moved into a newer building and was healthy again for the last few months she was in Germany. And now, back in the States for the past few years, she's once again the picture of health. Strange how things go sometimes.
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