PLUM STREET SAMPLERS

Happy 2 Years!

I began my blogging adventure back in 2004, and this many years later I'm still having an awful lot of fun with it. It's amazing to me that so many of you will take time out of your day to visit and see what's up in this crazy family of mine, or perhaps check to see if - by some remote chance - I've posted something stitching-related. (I actually do that sometimes!)

Two years ago I made the move from my Xanga blog to this one, and to celebrate the anniversary of my "new" blog, I will once again be giving away 5 Plum Street Samplers charts to a random commenter to this post. (Deep breaths, Mom. I realize commenter isn't a real word.)

Here's the don'tcha-know:

1. Simply leave a comment under this post.
2. One entry per person, please!
3. The winner may choose 5 currently-released Plum Street Samplers charts.

Here are some examples...

The winner will be announced on Wednesday!

And speaking of charts, I have to interject a quick correction to the information for Olga: The model info states that I stitched her over 1 linen thread. Not so! (I run for the hills when I see "over one thread," bc these eyes of mine can't manage it on their own any more.)  I stitched it over 2 threads, and I'd like to thank Bonnie for asking the question, "Did you really stitch that over one thread? I'm impressed!"  Sorry to disappoint you, Bonnie. I promise I'll design something for over one thread soon, but it will have to be on 8 count fabric.

Thank you again, with all my heart, for being such kindhearted readers. Your warm comments and sweet emails mean so much, and I'm very happy to have made so many new friendships through this blog of mine.

If you decide to enter, good luck!

Hares' Christmas

We're back from Colorado! My house is a mess! And I don't care!

I am sooooo happy to be home, despite the fact that we had a fantastic time skiing..  the only disappointment of the whole trip was that Bre couldn't be with us bc she had classes to attend. (Btw, I'm very proud of you, Breanna, for updating your blog more frequently. It keeps me from being tempted to wander over to your Facebook page to see your other college experiences, which in turn could possibly give me a heart attack.)(Just kidding.)

As promised, I'm going to show you the new Hares' Christmas, to be released during the Online Needlework Show on April 15th. It will be on the Kelmscott Designs page, so if you'd like to order one, let your local or online needlework shop know, and if they're registered with the show, they can order it for you.

***Before posting the photo though, I have an IMPORTANT CHART CORRECTION to let you know about! It has been brought to my attention that there is a centering error on the Garden of Eerie chart. The chart marks the center point (for those of you who start in the middle) at 98 wide and 126 high. The actual center marks are 98 wide and 77 high. (When designing this chart, I added the supplemental alphabet at the last minute, and overlooked the incorrect centering marks; the incorrect marks include the alphabet to be stitched in the design, and it's not supposed to be.) You have my sincerest apologies for the oversight.***

Okay, here is Hares' Christmas! It's a little larger than the other Hares designs (134w x 77h) and retails for $9.00. (The price increase is due to necessary packaging and printing changes.) It uses Gentle Arts Sampler Threads in the following colors:

Raven
Roasted Marshmallow
Cameo Pink
Brandy
Old Hickory
Weathered Barn
Endive
Baby Spinach
Portabella
Wood Trail
Cornhusk
Apple Cider

The fabric I chose is 36 ct. Vintage Buttercream by Lakeside Linens. If you like the mini pompom trim, I bought it at Wal-Mart, and it was originally pure white. I liked it better after a Lipton tea bath!

 

I hope you like it! For once, I've gotten something seasonal released in plenty of time to stitch it! ;)

Some of My Today

My little Sophie stayed home from school today (just like yesterday) with some sort of stomach bug and headache that doesn't seem to want to go away. So she stayed in her comfy jams and watched a movie (Spy Kids) and kept me company while I packed charts.

 

She couldn't get warm, so after giving me several cozy hugs, she decided to take matters into her own hands and fetch the toe-socks she got for Christmas from her Pops. Seeing her little feet in them made me giggle, so I had to take a picture.

 

I thought they matched her snowman pj's quite well.

After my charts were packed and ready to be mailed, I decided to make bread in the bread machine. Mmmmm... there's nothing like the aroma of yeast filling the house... it's not as good as the way Sophie's hair smells when she's giving me those cozy hugs, but it's close.

 

Sophie wasn't the only one keeping me company.

 

Okay, I gave in a shared some. I admit it. It would be cruel not to, since he was oh-so-close.

And that's mostly how I spent my today. :)

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Btw, it was brought to my attention today that on the model info for the Thirteen Owls chart, it says the design was stitched on 40 ct. over 1 linen thread. This is incorrect, as there's no way I would stitch anything on 40 ct. over 1 linen thread. I leave that kind of stuff to my Model Stitcher Extraordinaire. (It's a good thing I live far away from her, or she'd be pounding on my door, holding a torch, and shouting something about 'killing the beast' with all the townspeople chanting along with her.)

My apologies for the oversight! It won't affect how your chart turns out, but I'd sure hate for you to torture yourself. Thank you, Bonnie, for letting me know. (Bonnie is one, in fact, who would gladly stitch it over 1 thread. Please don't cry, Bonnie - you can still "stitch it tiny," as you like to say!)

Toil and Trouble Double Troubles!

No, this isn't the name of a new chart, don't worry. Instead, it's a blog entry dedicated to clearing up the confusion caused by erroneous symbols on the "Toil and Trouble" chart. AAAARGH! 

I'd like to offer my sincerest apology to those of you who ended up with an incorrect chart when you purchased them from your needlework shop. After many emails regarding the puzzling mystery symbols, I finally figured out what happened:

After I stitched the model, I opened up the program containing the chart and made certain changes that would make the chart symbols easier to read, as well as switching around a tree color or two and filling in an empty smoke swirl that was rising from the chimney on the left side of the house.

With the changes in place, I got up from the computer to do something else, like going to buy milk for the children or something. Yes, I'm sure that's what I did... However, while I was absent from the computer, one of those lovely children decided to close the program WITHOUT saving my changes, and a few hours later I was happily copying out bazillions of charts that I assumed were correct. The rest is history.

Here are the changes I made, which will coincide with the floss key the way they were meant to:

On the left side of the house:

Tree #1 - should be a filled-in circle symbol (Gingersnap/DMC 918).

Tree #4, behind house - should be a number "1" symbol (Weathered Barn/DMC 902). Optional fill in smoke swirl with same tree color.

On the right side of the house:

Third tree in from the far right - should be a slant symbol (Dried Thyme/DMC 3011).

All stars should be filled in (in the blank spaces) with Summer Meadow.

That about covers it. Again, I'm very sorry for the confusion... I certainly hope this doesn't discourage you in your stitching of the design. If you have any other questions, I'm just an email away.