On the Road to Recovery, Hopefully

I have been so busy for the past six weeks that I have not stitched, checked out the needlepoint blogs or my emails.

After the kitchen renovation, I was scheduled for minor surgery. I have had a cyst below my knee for awhile and the past year it kept getting infected. The doctor would drain it and a couple of months later I was back for the same thing. After the third time, it was recommended that I have the cyst removed. Off to the surgeon I went, like a good little girl. Surgery was scheduled or Monday, November 9. It was out patient surgery. I arrived at the hospital at 8:30AM for registration and surgery was scheduled for 9:30. The surgeon was running late so my surgery actually took place at 10:30.

I kept telling myself that it would not be too bad but I was really very nervous about it. I did not like the idea of being awake and knowing what was going on. To my amazement, I was allowed to keep on my street clothes and just had a surgical gown, booties and cap put on.
Everyone is talking and finally my doctor arrives in the operating room. First words out of his mouth are, "This has gotten a lot bigger since the last time I saw you". Now my first wave of panic sets in. Finally, they inject the area around my cyst. I think okay now we have to wait a couple of minutes for it to take effect. Wrong. Surgery begins immediately. I knew as soon as the first incision was not. Not that it was painful but you could feel everything that was being done. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would say the my pain was about a 4 or 5. I asked for more medication but either they did not hear me or ignored. So I just held my breathe. That really got their attention. Everyone is yelling at the same time breathe, breathe. Unknown to me, my holding my breathe caused my blood pressure to sky rocket. I said okay but give me more medication, which they immediately did. Surgery took only thirty minutes. I thought there would be some down time but no I was immediately released. I was home by 11:30.

The next day, I started running a fever. It started and 100 and rose through out the day. I called the surgeon's office (of course after hours) and he immediately called me back. Told me to come to the office on Thursday (no hours on Wednesday). My DH offered to go with me on Thursday but being the stoic person that I am I told him I was capable of driving my self the 10 blocks. Big mistake. As soon as the surgeon took a look at my leg he said, "This is not good". I said that it looked worse yesterday. He said again "This is not good". I told him that incision looked really good. Meantime the area around the incision is all red. He removed the dressing I had put on and immediately said, "I see what the problem is". Unknown to me the only thing I do fast is heal. The skin had already closed and did not allow any opening for the wound to drain. So now he takes out a stitch, makes an opening for the wound to drain, and beings to drain the wound. I now have a piece of gauze in the opening to hold the wound open so it can drain. Am on a mega dose of antibiotic that I have to take twice a day that is going to do a number on my stomach and have to try to keep my leg elevated as much as possible. I go back on Tuesday for him to check out everything.

I am feeling much better. Everyday I was light headed and dizzy and today is the first day I feel almost back to normal. Hopefully, I will be able to do some stitching. Now I am going to sit down with my leg up and read my Needlepoint Now Magazine that just arrived. Just at a quick glance I already saw things that I know are going to get me in trouble.

I promise that in the next few days, I will post pictures of finishing I have gotten back, progress on Ruth's Merry Christmas Mystery Class and Jen's baby bedding.

Oh, I almost forget my kitchen is just beautiful. I absolutely love it and will post pictures of it too.

Off to rest.
Linda

Where have the Stitching Sisters Gone??!

Where, oh where are the Stitching Sisters?

Here we are! Or, at least, here I am. I can provide a report to what I've been doing, as well as the status of my missing sister, Linda, as well.

First, Linda. She is just about out of kitchen renovation HELL (it looks GORGEOUS, I am SOOOO jealous). Just a few missing cabinet doors, lights to be swapped out, switch plates, painting touch ups, etc. Linda did not cope well with the chaos of the past month. I can't say that I would have coped well either, but she really had a hard time ignoring the mess every night, and has spent the past few weeks cleaning, wiping, vacuuming over & over & over. I can ignore dust far better than Linda. Of course her first visitor was yours truly, and as soon as I got there, I pulled on a handle to look at what I thought was a drawer & pulled it right off ---I wanted to DIE. The carpenter quickly scurried away as soon as he fixed it---I am sure he will never come back if I am there again.

I am sure as soon as she fully recouperates from this exhausting project, she will have lots more to tell you & show you. She has been stitching intermittently, & did show me her next 3--or was it 4 projects in her line up. The chaos, & her being tired from cleaning all the time, has made it hard for her to concentrate on stitching. She is, after all, working on the challenging Nativity pieces from Amy. They are stupendous in person, but as Linda will tell you, require your full attention.

In the interim, I did, as promised, a few more little projects. One went to my LNS without a photo--it was another of my teeny ornaments. The other two projects I finished are seen above. The first is an adorable canvas that was a gift to my daughter from Jody of Jody Designs. Jody graciously sent this canvas to me when I ordered those bookend canvases that I did this summer while recovering from the infamous gall bladder-hernia surgery. This was done completely from stash, with the lovely Vineyard Silks for the "ball" & some Silk & Ivory for the criss cross hungarian for the "a;" a little Kreinik for the top. And those beads were in the stash closet as well.

The other project is my hope that winter won't last too long. As I packed away (most--not all) of my flip flops, I decided to do this canvas for my Switch Flops. There are two cute little fish buttons that will be attached by the finisher. I am hopeful that their return from the finisher, perhaps in February, will signal that winter plans on ending soon.

I can dream, can't I? I know. I live in NY. Last year we had the heat on for Memorial Day weekend.

Tomorrow I am going to Edwardian Needle for my Tony Minieri class--probably without my Stitching Sister, as she was feeling a bit under the weather earlier.

Perhaps after I get my threads I will post some Ponza photos. I have a crazy weekend ahead though....oh oh!

Denise

What I did while I stalled

I am slightly stalled in my Ponza seacoast project as I need some threads from Edwardian Needle. I am going there on the 11th & really can't get there much before that. Sharon G made some excellent suggestions for threads, so before I move forward I have some shopping to do. I intend to do a little work on the border next week, & I've done as much of the sky as I think I can for now.

So, in the interim, I picked up another project from my stash. I love this! I think I got this at a trunk show at a cute little store in Southhampton, NY. I got most of the threads at Edwardian (Pam is a genius). Silk 'N Colors for the white petals (diamond pavilion) & the leaves (satin), some outrageous thread that I had never seen before for the orange border. Some Splendor (two shades) for the blue tent stitched background. Kreinik for outlining emphasis. And, of course---ribbons! I got the idea for the diamond pavilions from the canvas shown on the rear cover of the current Needlepoint Now. I like all my stitch selections.

I am going to try to do a few small pieces in the next week or so, as I wait to get to Edwardian. Have a great weekend!!

D

An Overused Word

As I was finishing this canvas, a survey was reported that Americans found this to be one of the most overused words in the language. Makes sense, then, that there's a canvas for it, right?

I originally saw this canvas, by Renaissance Designs, in black in Fireside Stitchery. My daughter loved it, but of course wanted it in pink. It was special ordered for her & came with threads & a stitch guide by Marina Ketterman (of Fireside). In theory it was hers to stitch, but since she wanted it for her newly painted room, you know who this got assigned to, right?

This was really fun to stitch. The background stitch really makes this canvas pop. It was done in a Sparkle Braid in a hearts darning pattern. The border is done with a Double Hungarian using Very Velvet & Waterlilies. There's a different stitch on each letter, and beads on some of them as well. I did change one or two things on the stitch guide. I find it hard to work Petite Velvet on 18 in any kind of smallish diagonal stitch, like Nobuko (which I find annoys me sometimes) or Diagonal Mosaic (which never does). The finishing touch, in my opinion, is the outline stitch around each letter in Kreinik braid.

I am continuing to work on my next Ponza canvas, which I am working up with Sharon G in the Shining Needle Society class. This class is such a terrific idea; the opportunity to work with the designer on a canvas--incredible.

I will need some more threads for the Ponza canvas, which necessitates a run to Edwardian Needle. I will probably just wait until my Tony M class on November 11 to get the balance of the threads; Sharon just gave me some excellent suggestions. So in the interim I have a little canvas I worked up (almost done, photo sometime this week). And I just got my package from the Shining Needle Society Baskets class--this looks like there are lots of stitches I will use here! This class starts on November 1. Also on November 1, the second to last stitch will be revealed for the ANG SOTM kimono. I will have plenty to do between now & my Edwardian visit.

For those of you concerned about my stitching sister, Linda is caught up in renovation hell. She is not happily handling the chaos & mess of this renovation.....it pains me to hear her misery! But I can't wait to see it done! I have restrained myself from visiting during construction. Every once in a while she gets in a little stitching. But she spends a lot of her day as the carpenter's assistant. I think they (and she) will be done with the bulk of the work in the next 2 weeks. I think even one thing out of place will drive her crazy though. My prescription: she needs at least two uninterrupted weeks in her sewing room after this is over.

Stitch away!

Denise

A Completed Ponza Canvas

I finished the first of the Ponza canvases last weekend. Here you can see a close up of the rocks & foliage from the upper left side of the canvas.

I am very pleased with the way the whole canvas came out. Tony Minieri did a terrific job on the stitch guide. I saw Tony this week at the Techniques class that Linda & I are taking with Tony at The Edwardian Needle, & I brought this canvas along for him to see the finished item. I think Tony was happy with my work & proudly showed our class the canvas. He made sure to emphasize that Sharon G did this, & the other Ponza canvases from the photos I sent her from my home in Ponza. I did blush. ;)

I did not get to Ponza this year; I wish I did. This ocean scene is very representative of the beauty of the island, as are the other Sharon G canvases. Tonight I will start on the next of the Ponza scenes, a sunset. The link to that canvas is http://sharong.com/catalog/new.html. It is canvas DPW-02. I started my online class with Sharon through the Shining Needle Society on Wednesday of this past week. I love Sharon's work, & so I signed up for the year long class. I am already enjoying the class immensely.

BTW, I did break down & add the Fireside Vintage Ornaments Club. These were just too beautiful to resist, DESPITE the fact that I SWORE I had done more than enough Christmas ornaments for a while.

I actually finished another canvas this afternoon & will post a photo of that...perhaps tomorrow.

Later.

Denise

A Reply & A New Club or Two

Hi! There's been quite a bit of blogger silence from me lately. I have been furiously busy at work, & I finished a needlepoint project that I can't show you, as it's a surprise gift for someone. On the other hand, Ponza is finished, so I plan to post a photo of that this weekend.

I do have some news for you. After I posted the Painter's Windowbox canvas, I got quite a few inquiries as to the designer. I didn't know, as it was a canvas I picked up in the sale bin at Ridgewood Needlepoint. Fortunately, Eileen Aird, Ridgewood's owner recognized the canvas & the designer. It appears that Painter's Windowbox was designed by Jean Smith Designs. I contacted Jean & she told me: "DENISE - YES, THAT WINDOW BOX DESIGN IS MINE. IF WE HAVE THE RIGHT ONE, IT IS 8 INCHES SQUARE AND IS PART OF A SERIES. THEY HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED FOR SOME TIME. I DO HAVE 4 WINDOW BOX DESIGNS NOW. THEY ARE 14 INCHES SQUARE ON 13 MESH."

Her web site is filled with lovely flower designs; go see for yourself: http://jeansmithdesigns.com/

And, last night, after a VERY long day, I got home to find a lovely newsletter from Fireside Stitchery. They have some new canvas clubs starting up. What's nice about Fireside is that you can just pick a few from a club if you'd like. You can find their new clubs here:

http://www.firesidestitchery.com/fs/clubs/index.cfm?fuseaction=getClubList&CategoryId=3&clubState=future

I am particularly eyeing a couple of those "Meowy Christmas" canvases & the Vintage Christmas Ornaments are just lovely.

It's not just Jane in Chilly Hollow who enables, you know ;)

xx Denise

What is better than needlepoint?

My daughter, Jen, is expecting her first child in February. Being a grandmother is better than needlepoint. We have known for a while about the baby but I did not want to announce our joyous news too soon. As you can imagine, we are all on cloud nine. I am looking for canvases to stitch. Jen is very particular about what she wants. She does not want any baby canvases. If a girl, she is looking for canvases with dresses, a monogram pillow, teddy bears. If a boy, she is looking for boy outfits, teddy bears and if I can persuade her maybe trucks and trains. The baby's room will not have a baby theme. She has made all her own bedding for the baby. The color scheme is green and cream. I will post pictures of her bedding as soon as I can get all my boxes of kitchen supplies out of the way.
I will be watching the baby once Jen goes back to work. Jen is a psychologist and works for a school district so she will be off from February 2010 until September 2010. So come next September I will have my precious grandchild. Jen has already registered the baby and me for Italian school. They accept children starting at 6 months. Our LNS want us to come and visit so they can all play with the baby. I will find out from the local library what if any story hours they have for a 6 - 7 month old, ans Jen also is also thinking about signing us up for baby yoga. I am going to be very busy. Looking forward to this new phase of my life.
Linda