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furtive stabbing

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I’m not sure whether I’m one day behind or two.

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Day 148, 149, 150 C-12

Tomorrow’s a big travel day so I did three wedges. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Catchy, no? It’s a loose, sloppy Cretan stitch because sometimes you just feel like a loose, sloppy Cretan. The lovely DMC 4135 being rather underused here. 

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Day 146 and 147 A-7

This started off a lot more complex, and may end up getting added to, but for tonight it’s a simple one-strand satin stitch over two wedges because I’m tired. 

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Day 145 A-9

A green fill-in next to the scrollolololol. This marks the first time cutting the grass this year! Tired after a long active day. 

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Day 144 A-9

More chain stitch, and, as always, I can’t leave well enough alone, so I wrapped it with this pink stuff that’s lying around. 

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Day 143 C-2

And this is the “Wisper” mohair/nylon thread. I kind of couched it down into messy ponytails. 

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Day 142 A-2

This is the “Very Velvet” thread from one of the cross-stitch kits. It’s kind of pleasant, really, feels like corduroy.

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Day 141 B-6

Chain stitches coming and going for take-a-stitch Tuesday. Made with three strands of shiny silvery DMC 927 from a Grandma Bag. 

And now I will go back to watching the kittens. 

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Day 140 A-4

A couple rows of split stitch in #760, a random pick from a Grandma Bag. Meh, and also meh. I’m not fond of the way the fabric is puckering and pulling in this area, either. 

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Things I Have Learned About the Bins:

1. When a voice behind you says, “Table!”, get out of the way. 2. When you see a bunch of people standing around and not touching a partial row of bins, join them. Look, but do not touch the bins until the last one comes out and the row is complete. If you see something you want, position yourself near it, but: 3. Serious pickers are serious. Let them plow through the bins first and then you can take your time combing through the stuff at the bottom. It’s safe to wait; they are not looking for Grandma Bags.  4. Pull up Ziploc bags when you see them. They may be GBs. 5. Be careful. I haven’t encountered dirty diapers, syringes, or Cuisinart blades, but there are enough stories about them to give one pause.  6. If you don’t have 25 pounds of stuff (you can put your cart on one of the scales near the registers to check), either find more weight or combine your purchases with someone else’s to get the total up to 25 pounds and get the substantial per-pound price break. Cashiers are happy to do this. 7. Grab a cart early and keep an eye on it. Be sure it’s out of the way of the incoming bins, and be aware that people may shop out of it so if you really want something, hide it on the bottom.  8. If you are getting books or glassware, keep them in the little top basket since those don’t get charged the same as the bulk items. 

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Day 139 D-6, E

A flower and a sparkly amethyst thing. Happy birthday, Mom. 

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Day 138

Did other stuff today. I’ll do some stitchin’ tomorrow. 

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Day 137, Part 2 A-8

I couldn’t leave it that way, especially since I was a wedge behind anyhow. Here’s another shot at it, with thinner thread and after watching a Mary Corbet video instead of just trying to learn it from a couple pictures in a book. 

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Day 137 A-9

Went to a different Bins, and this is the sum embroidery-related total of my haul. Womp womp. I used that thread to do today’s hooboybad stitch. Supposed to be Scroll Stitch. More like Troll Stitch, amirite? IOM 1 wedge, still. 

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Day 136

I had a bit of an epiphany. I’ve been buying black cotton coats at the bins, my plan being to rockstar them up with boro’d bits of other black cotton and cotton-like things I’d bought to part out. But, when I smoked on it, it felt completely phony. I wasn’t repairing anything or creating anything, and these weren’t even things I was going to wear myself, rockstar or no. So the coats go back in the bag to be re-donated and maybe find their forever homes this time. (They’re very nice! Black London Fog trenchcoat, long goth-y velvet coat, and a shorter frock coat...all of which actually fit me, which is really weird, since I never tried any of them on until after I washed them. Did you know that thrift shop clothing is the #1 source of scabies?)  The coats will get thrown back into the ocean, but the other items that I’d already deboned and filleted are going to be a blanket. Right now it’s about 4′ by 6′ and I think it’ll be perfect for sitting on at outdoor concerts this summer. I’ve got it mostly fit together, and a few seams stitched together with simple running stitches, using my fancy schmancy new black sashiko thread*. I will need to sacrifice another pair of pants to really make it substantial, but I can do that over time. My plan is to basically sew it together, just basting with those running stitches, and then spend as long as I can stand doing sashiko stitches all over it to make it strong and quilty.  IOM one wedge. *which I need more of right meow

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Day 135 A-5

Believe it or not, this started off as another herringbone stitch. I just overburdened it with the blue because I’m not feelin’ it today. 

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Day 134 B-8

My very first herringbone stitch, for Take a Stitch Tuesday. Added a line of orange because it looked empty to me.