Sunday, July 14, 2013

{ confessions }

Ok...
I'm coming clean here ~
*sigh*
 
I have been working, as you know, on the
 OWL O 'ween
design on my 32ct Old Farmhouse Linen....
I don't usually stitch on anything smaller than a 30ct ~ not because I don't like the look ~
but
because my eyeballs don't cooperate anymore...
I wear trifocals and use my ott lamp and a magnifyer, but that doesn't help really that much,
and besides, weraing the trifocals and looking through the magnifyer is like looking into a carnival mirror sometimes...things can get very distorted and confusing...
 
so, what's my point?
well
yesterday,
Joan & Nancy were in the shop with me...
{{{ Hi Joan! Hi Nancy! }}}
 
and I was stitching.
well, TRYING to stitch.
actually I was mis-stitching, frogging, and stabbing myself with the needle.
I ripped out the row I that I messed up on, and ended up shredding the thread.
and I
*HATE THAT*
 


SOOOOoooo I grumbled a bit.
ok, maybe alot.
{poor Nancy & Joan, I do apologize for my behavior}
 
I tried and tried to restitch
 but
got more and more frustrated working on the 32ct.
 
 

 
after stabbing myself again one last time with my sweet little gold needle,
 ( and this time drawing blood )
I decided that the Universe in all It's wisdom was trying to tell me something:
"STOP STITCHING ON 32ct LINEN!"
or so I thought it yelled in my left ear.....
 
 
 
... after taking a reallllly close look at the progress of my stitching on the 32ct linen,
I had to admit that I just was not happy.
there were more mis-stitches, mis-takes and mis-counts than I noticed.
somehow,
it was just not working for me....
 
I told the girls that I was 'done' with it.
grabbed my white sage and smudged (cleansed) the whole shop to rid it of the negativity
that I was dealing with trying to stitch this one.
( I always cleanse/smudge my farmhouse and shop with white sage...
read more about that HERE )
 
...with that, I walked around the shop,
 letting the smoke rise to the rafters in each corner of the room.
Then I walked out the front door with the sage onto the front porch to 'clean' the entrance of the shop.
 
Nancy & Joan were inside the shop, just inside the front door, on either side of it ~
all of a sudden we heard and felt a loud bang, or boom...
like something had fallen or like the screen door had slammed shut.
(it was already closed)
 I said 'what was that?'  and both answered they didn't know.
Nancy said 'The poltergeist has left the building!' and we all chuckled.
 
the three of us walked around looking for something that might have fallen off a shelf
or could have made such a noise/vibration.
 
I don't know what it was,
but
I grabbed some 30ct Old Farmhouse Linen and got back to stitching.
 
I haven't made a mistake yet.....LOL!!!
 
 
 
So I had to confess to you all that I had to start this one over.
I told Joan & Nancy that I wouldn't say a word, but I had to! haha!!!
 
So you know what I'll be doing all day today :)
 
Moral of this story:
 
Make friends with folks
 who don't mind when you act a bit daft...
and keep them close.
Oh...
...and
stock up on the white sage!!
 
 
Lori from
Notforgotten Farm

20 comments:

denise said...

LOL!! denise

Nan ~ Threadwork Primitives said...

Ok...that gave me goose bumbs. I hope whatever it was stays gone :)))
Maybe you should start selling white sage for us to try out when we find ourselves frogging a lot :D.
~Nan

Jane said...

Oh, I believe, I believe!! I use oak leaves from our beautiful red oak tree to smudge the house. I pick 4 new branches every Summer Solstice and burn them on the first day of each new season. I burn the leftovers at the gate of my veggie garden. The energy of the earth is very protective.

gracie said...

I just loved your post today. I am one of those with asthma, but I do burn incense at times. I am a very superstitious gal, and do believe that you drove out that menacing spirit so there is no excuse noe...csnmot wait to see this come to life! Thanks for making my day.

Anonymous said...

You can also say a prayer. It really works:)

Rugs and Pugs said...

I've never heard of smudging. Thanks for sharing the link.
These old eyes don't like anything smaller than 30 count, either. This growing old stuff is not for sissies...lol!
Hugs :)
Lauren

P.J. said...

Good riddance bad mojo! Keep on stitching.

Nancy Bauer said...

What ever it was skee-daddled out of the shop with a thud! But we needed to do something to the mad violinist on the radio...LOL It was yet another great day at Notforgotten Farm! I enjoy it everytime I come to "sit a spell" :)

Unknown said...

Oh dear Lori, I have to stitch for Isobel always on a 30ct but for my personal stitches I always stitch on a 40 ct I love so much to see all patterns in that linen and I can stitch over it thanks to my glasses and an halogen lamp pointing straight on the embroidery!!! ;)

NMK said...

I Loved your post today !!!! I have been working on your beautiful 32 count dyed linen & I have had the same issues ! Even with your neat trick of using the highlighter to keep track....Now I know I Need to do your Smudging Trick & get some White Sage !!!
PS....my Mother used to tell me it was good to stitch some mistakes here & there, she said the Amish would make one mistake in their hand work. (I stich a few more than one !)

Paula said...

Lori, I can SOOOO relate on the seeing thing. I look at beautiful designs done on 40 ct, over one, etc. and I don't give them another look. There is no way I could do it

Barb said...

I definitely need white sage!!!!

The Humble Stitcher said...

Thanks for this great post and for your "confession", Lori! I think I'd better get some white sage to have one hand...sounds like it really works :)
Sandy

The Eveningstitcher said...

Love your 28ct linen, Lori...that's is good as it gets for me. I understand your pain!!! I almost resorted back to Aida. I think I need white sage in my house...I have a visitor who just about knocked me down not once, but twice in my back hallway & once in the laundry room....scared the daylights out of me!

linda said...

Lori, You certainly are not alone in your frustration. I had done all my stitching for the last 10 years on 36 ct. I recently found myself not enjoying stitching any more with trying to use the smaller ct. One day I tossed the fabric aside half done, looked through a box of saved patterns and found a piece of 32ct. I started one of your freebies-My Gift-on it and am happy! When stitching is frustrating something is not right i the world! Use what makes you Happy!! I too where trifocals and I'm Not giving up my stitching!!

Debrs said...

Oh, Lori, I can relate! I love the look of 32ct, but my 60-year old eyes won't cooperate! Now I content myself with 28ct, or even Aida! It is the stitching that is important, after all, and I get just as much pleasure from the finish!

Heritage Homestead Decor said...

Oh Lori I just love your stories and I just love you! I think you are one of the most terrific people I have ever met
You have just inspired me to never give up!!

Chris said...

Wishing you good stitching mojo from now on :)

Kellie from Indiana said...

OMG, the same thing happened to me when smudging my home last year. A loud banging, and a dragon statue my son bought on a very recent trip to KY fell and broke into a zillion pieces. It was spooky. Had to explain to my son it had negative mojo.

Anonymous said...

That fabric is nice, I need some of that! I have tried and tried and tried to start a pattern that I really want to do and it says the model was stitched on 40 count, I just can't do 40 count. It tried starting it again last night for the umpteenth time and finally give up. I can still do 32 so I am ordering some 32 to stitch this project I want to do so bad. I feel your pain.