my first completed needlework project

This is a bag that I stitched for my sister's birthday. The letters are iron-on transfers. It was a small, super-quickie project, but I only had about a day to do it (oops). I was really pleased with how it turned out.

And did I mention that I made soap? Here it is curing on a shelf:



The lighter bars in the front are spearmint soap made from tallow, and the darker ones in back are goat's milk and oatmeal soap with lavender. It won't be ready to use for about five more weeks. I need to get all my supplies together first, but I can't wait to make more - it was really fun.

It's been a really busy week around here, with a lot going on and a lot to tell about. Stay tuned!

practice piece

I used to do all sorts of needlework in my youth - cross stitch, needlepoint, latch hooking, embroidery - I was quite fond of all of that. When I came into my teens, it dawned on me that needlework was Not Cool, so it was swiftly and decisively jettisoned from my accumulated skill set. Recently, after twenty-five years of pretty much not thinking about it at all, I remembered how much I used to like it, and decided to try and make amends. I started on this piece today - nothing fancy, just a simple practice piece on white muslin, all in blue. It's not likely to ever become anything. This is simply a way to get my fingers used to the feel of it again, and assess my ability. Obviously, I need some practice. This piece is fairly rough so far, but not too shabby for my first attempt.



I also rather hastily traced the pattern directly onto the fabric with pencil, so it's not quite straight everywhere, and the pencil marks are hard for me to see in places. When I start on a real project, I'll do that part better. It feels good to come back to this long forgotten thing, to work at making something pretty. And frankly it feels good to have something to do with my hands where they stay clean.