Napkin Progress

Just wanted to add another post for today, I finished the last leg of filling so here is a couple pictures of the napkin before it is hemmed....

New Book

So, I ordered a book I have been slobbering over for at least four months now.  It is The New Carolingian Modelbook: Counted Embroidery Patterns from Before 1600.  I am way psyched and waiting eagerly to get it.  I was lucky though because I found it for about $75 instead of the normal going price of at least $150.  Hence why I bought it today instead of waiting another month or so for when I get my taxes done.  Yay!!!!  Just had to share that........

Kingdom A&S

Okay so today I checked out briefly the website for kingdom arts and sciences event in Febuary.  I have to have my documentation ready and submited late January.  I also have to see if my submission has a ride to the event.  One piece of documentation that I still would like to include in my paper is something that can prove that blackwork was worked on linen that was not evenweave.  This will stop judges from docking me points based on the fact that the linen for my napkins is not evenweave.  I will be checking with a few people that I know to see if anyone has any sources for that kind of information.....

Interesting facts

So, I did some small calculations today regarding hours spent on filling in my border pattern.  Each diamond takes about 10 minutes to complete, on one set of sides there are 25 diamonds (approximately 4 hours, minus tying in threads and finishing threads), on the other set of sides there are 31 (approximately 5 hours, minus tying in threads and finishing threads).  So, on a good interrupted day, it would take me about 18 hours solid work to finish all the filling in design.  To complete the pair, it would take me 36 hours.  Considering that I am doing this at work in between patients, it has taken me almost a month to get three sides finished, and I have not been pushing as hard as I could be.  Just thought that was kinda interesting.

On another side note, I brought the pie to that potluck and it was a smashing hit.  I saved one piece so my husband could try it, but other then that it was gone quickly.  Two thumbs up for Chocolate Nut Pie......

Pie Tests

So I got an itch to do a bit of baking today and so I pulled out my cookbook.  Figured I would make some cookies because they sounded good, but the cookbook I had pulled out didn't have sugar cookies or anything similar that sounded good.  Feeling adventurous I decided to make a pie.  A note of caution, I have never made a pie before, this could be scary.  The recipe that sounded the best was the Chocolate Nut Pie, looked incredibly easy, so I went to the store and got all the supplies necessary to make it.  This is the final product.......

This looked kinda like a pecan pie, which I assume is good because those are the nuts I decided on for it.  I deviated from the recipe a little because I thought a dark chocolate syrup glaze would taste good on it, because more chocolate is always a good thing.  I have done a bit of googling and found out that this type of pie is sometimes called Derby Pie or Kentucky Pie.
At this point I have two problems-
1.  I am not a pie person so I have no clue how this pie is supposed to taste.  Never had pecan pie in my life and from what I can tell, this is supposed to be kinda like that too.
2.  Due to recent dental work, I cannot eat crunchy foods.  This has lots and lots of nuts..........

So at this point I need a test subject to try this out on.  On Wednesday there is a potluck at my workplace which is a good/bad place to test food out on people.  If it goes well, everyone remembers me; if it goes badly, everyone remembers me.  Lol sounds like quite a conundrum......

As for other stitching matters.......  I have finished the filling on one whole side of a single napkin, lol, only seven more sides to go.  I have discovered that this specific pattern is starting to get tedious.  Here is a picture of the second napkin that I am working on (the one with the unfinished edges) that shows the filling pattern.

This past week

Okay, so I have been behind this week.  Due to being very sick early on in the week I did not get anything accomplished as even going to work on Wednesday was a bit of a stretch for what I have been able to handle.  Two days ago (Friday evening) I ordered 1.5 yards of this linen.  I was trying to decide between that one and the heavier one that is 7.1 oz and a lower thread count of 38/32.  I decided that I really like the higher thread count as I like the final outcome much more.  I still have a bunch to go on my napkins, I still haven't finished the filling on even one side yet *frown*.  I figure at least when I am finally ready for my next project to get going I will have the linen to do it with as well as the time to wash it two or three times before it is needed.  The washing will soften the threads as well as taking care of the shrinking so that the final outcome will be much nicer, it won't warp the Blackwork area that way. 
The next project will be more napkins(a set of four), I am still trying to figure out the general border but am going to use a charted deer from  Siebmacher, a source which I learned of from K. Salazar and her blog, String Or Nothing.  She is an amazing woman from everything I have read.  I have already charted the deer but may modify it a little bit more as the charts in the Siebmacher are not set up for blackwork and I am not completely satisfied with one of the feet yet.  I figure that I can't plan everything out quite yet until I am completely ready, and it seems that it is taking me much longer with the holidays then I had figured it would.  Everyone else is doing cookies and I am stitching, go figure, lol.

ordering linen

Well today I went searching for the basic white linen that was not evenweave.  I looked on fabric-store.com and ordered two swatches of linen, one at 5.3 oz and the other at 7.1, ironically I like the thread count of the lower oz weights but I need to make sure that the thickness of the fabric can meet my needs for making the next set of napkins.  I have started graphing the design but still have a ways to go but will post the pattern when I finish it.  I have a feeling that the set of napkins I am working on right now will be done in the next two weeks which is an odd feeling, being so close and yet so far away.  The concept of starting the next design is actually quite exciting though.  Lol, I still have yet to figure out what I am going to do with this set when I am done with them, as it is only a pair.