I Love Lucy

 Hello everyone.  The elusive Lucy has been found.  I decided to stick with the samplers I had chosen and put her aside, but she disappeared again - in the same day!  That's it.  She's staying with me since the floozy can't be trusted. 





She's a big girl and I may have to learn to use a frame, but so far, this is my start....

And yes, I switched a few shades of floss because of not being able to see the first alphabet line.  I tried, but can't get a better scan of the chart.  The sawtooth side borders and first line aren't visible, which is the 420, now changed to 422.

I originally chose Catherine Metcalf, until finding this piece of linen threw me off course.   I planned on a lighter tea-dyed but to me, this scene may look spectacular with a light steel blue ground.  Of course, my mind will revert to the original choice as is its habit, but I didn't want to take the chance.  You just never know.  Some days I am actually focused.  What?  I just can't remember when the hell it was.  In an effort toward that goal, I bought a 1/2 gallon of soy milk and it seems to have made the flashes more intense, the opposite reaction I was expecting.  It's chocolate and very good so I'm drinking it anyway.

I kitted Sally Fiske's sampler - which is something I should have done long ago with all the larger ones - and included her in the running.  Sally or Elizabeth Clayton may make an appearance alongside Lucy.   I am anxious to have these beauties on my wall, but I have to admit, I'm still not feeling the ambition to get them there.  Maybe the variety of having two going at once, a first for me, would help.  WHAT?  Giving an indecisive procrastinator a choice? 
 Insane.
This demands more thought.

And guess who's still playing with linen?  Here's the latest attempts at the subtle shading I am trying to achieve, compared to the last sampler done on the linen color I like.  The very top is the dark saffron color, now a tan with a dark mustard tinge.  The others were amber, sand (very apricot to start), and unbleached.  I love them! 

How did I do this?  Here's a hint.  Check out the persimmon from my sampler bag, to the persimmon now.  All I did was add a little black Rit to my kitchen sink, wet the fabric, and dip until I liked the hue.  Some only needed one dip.  Rinse, dry, dip again if needed.  My cream colors are now varying shades of gorgeous grays, my bleached saffron was toned down from a yellow, the bright apricot colored sand is now gorgeous, and I have drawers more to go.  I also tried the tan and taupe Rit which are too red toned and I wasn't happy at all.  Surprisingly, if I dipped too long and was unhappy with the gray hue, it immediately came out when dipped once in a diluted bleach bath.  Quickly.  I've been spending way too much time on this, but being able to use linens that would otherwise be unused is worth it.  Why don't I sell them?  Because many of them were not marked and I can't guarantee their count, or their color name.  The yardage I have left won't be bleached and dyed until cut - too unwieldy to manage without folds.

Fancy the cat had her kittens somewhere and is still here to eat, along with her boyfriend who is still crying, and a new gorgeous long haired with huge eyes and a tight flea collar.   We're making houses for all of them from the large styrofoam boxes (coolers) that the hospital receives medications in.  Cutting an opening on one side of the front with a hot knife (cuts styrofoam like butter and seals it), adding something comfy inside on the other side, and securing the lid with a heavy stone, voila!  They love it, they're warm, and less foam in the landfill.  We'll probably get a piece of plywood to lay over them creating an overhang to keep rain/snow from the entrance.  

 Stuffed shells, meatballs, and sausage today with family.  Mom and Dad's anniversary is this weekend.  They were married 64 years when my dad was taken.  

Time is flying!   I almost bought a little fig tree for the garden the other day, until I realized that by the time it grows and produces, I'll probably be in a retirement village!   That thought stopped me in my tracks.  The next thing I remember is ripping open a bag of Dove chocolates at the checkout in Walgreens.

I haven't been able to find large good quality pears in months, and have wasted lots of cloves in the last week.   I was going to wait for 100 followers and offer one as a giveaway, but I may never get there.  And maybe you don't want an item completely unrelated to stitching.  I'm certainly not going to mention the fabric projects that I originally planned.  But it was a calm day, perfect for a fire.  Let me think (without soy milk) and I'll yak about it next post. Have a great weekend everyone, thanks for stopping by.  
.............
Holy rotini this is a long post!