Cross Stitch Pincushion

A while back, my husband and I went to visit his grandmother. She makes the most beautiful quilt tops, and I love seeing her work. She also has an AWESOME sewing room, of which I am seriously envious.

But then I noticed her pincushion.

And I became sad.

It looks like a lump of upholstery velvet, taupe-grey in color, that has been wadded up and tied at the bottom with some scrap thread. It is shapeless, nearly colorless, and... sad.

She deserves better.

And so I have started on a cross-stitch project to make her one.

Several months ago I began looking into the little cross-stitch things called biscornu. They are adorable and I was fascinated. Essentially, they are two squares stitched together diagonally... That's the best way I can think to describe their construction.

Here. Look. Instructions and examples from The Floss Box.

So then, because my husband has far too much influence on me, I decided not to do a regular 2-square biscornu... No... I'm doing a 15-face biscornu!

Specifically this one.

It is from a Japanese craft book about French-inspired cross stitch. I got my copy from this Etsy shop as an Instant Download.

I'm doing my version in dark blue rather than red, and the official color is DMC 823. I've finished 7 of 15 tiles and have gone through an entire skein so far. Wanna see?

It's been a blast, but I can't wait to be done so that I can stuff it with crushed walnut shells and give it to her.

The best part about this project, though? It travels so well!

Poor Unfortunate Souls!

From Halloween! The Ursula costume turned out wonderfully.

Remember all my blathering about it from the Scheme post?

I ended up getting an Einstein wig from one of the Spirit Halloween pop-up stores and leaving off the sleeves, but those were the only major changes I made to the plan.

Garden Notes

In 2019 I attempted to start a garden. It was a massive undertaking and I quickly found that I just didn't have the time for it. Especially this year. Here's what I learned:

1. Start small.
- I definitely didn't. I was going to, but then my husband said "what if we did the short fence AND the long fence since we'll have the tiller for a day anyway? And so I did. We ended up with a 316 square foot mass of weeds.

2. Research what you are growing.
- I did that... To the detriment of all other projects in my life. But I knew what I was growing and I knew what to put it next to and what to keep it away from. I knew the watering requirements and how much sun everything wanted... but...

3. Research the weather.
- I skipped this part because "Oklahoma weather is always the same, right?" WRONG! We got so much rain in NE Oklahoma that everything flooded. My yard was a marsh for quite some time. Half my plants drowned. Or bolted. Or the seeds washed away.

4. Learn how to store your produce.
- Despite all the weeds and the rain, I did end up getting a decent amount of herbs out of the mess. Herbs can be dried, so that's easy, but I don't know what to do with all my peppers. We have a vacuum sealer now. Maybe that will work?

I definitely want to grow my own herbs again. We used a ton of them fresh and it really kicked up our cooking, but I think I'd like them better in a raised bed and in different quantities. More thyme, less mint, more sage, less lemongrass. Much, much less lemongrass.

Quick hint: A 2-person family with no idea how to cook it has no business with 8 lemongrass plants unless they are there as ornamentals or for mosquito repellent.