some things are meant to last.

I can't remember exactly when I started this piece of needlework, but I know I was at least a few years into a long distance cyber friendship that was sparked based on both of us planning to homeschool our then-toddlers. Needlework packs up small -- nothing more than a piece of linen and a ball or two of thread -- so it's a good choice when traveling. It starts with a single stitch on a blank canvas and grows from there, kind of like a friendship starts with a single connection that, if we're lucky, blooms into something more as time goes on.

I remember working on the top portion while camping with friends in CT, sitting around a campfire, having a beer, and laughing...when? Oh, maybe four or five years ago. I can't remember exactly what year that was, but I do remember Sue Adams asking who it was for and I said it was destined for my friend in North Carolina...eventually. No rush. We were in touch every day by email and I knew where to find her whenever I got around to finishing this project. I remember saying that she too gave gifts that were handcrafted with love, so she'd understand and appreciate what's behind it -- a rare trait in this instant gratification, walmartized, blech consumer blech society.

Then I put it away for a while and meandered in and out of other projects and lifestuff along the way. I remember stitching some parts quietly in the early morning hours of each day on our trip to Italy in 2004, specifically one early morning on the balcony of our bed and breakfast in Sorrento, looking out over the Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius in the distance. And when I had a chance, I'd scoot into an internet cafe to send an email update back to Connecticut and Pittsburgh and, of course, North Carolina.

I remember working on the alphabet and other portions while were in Alaska in 2005, stitching in beautiful surroundings while Scott fished and the kids played, looking up at the glorious mountains and the bald eagles soaring above us. I can clearly remember packing my stitching up after just such a day and heading down to the ice cream shop in beautiful Valdez, where the kids had a waffle cone and I sent a message to friends and family.

And in between, during all this time, there were daily emails back and forth, a friendship growing as the finished needlework portions grew. Somewhere along the way, we even met in real life for two fun weekends, one with the two of us at her parents' place in South Carolina and another when our families met in Washington D.C. -- the only in-real-life meetings of a friendship that was probably over five years old at those points!



In a mind-boggling and fantastic twist, that family from North Carolina relocated for a job opportunity in Connecticut a year and a half ago. And still there were daily emails, but now with the added bonus of an occasional visit in real life too!

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that this friendship is probably reaching a 10-year anniversary and both of us are celebrating our 40th birthdays, only eight days apart, and I could probably bring this project to completion if I focused. So it's easy to remember stitching some of the drawn thread work just after Christmas 2006 and the hardanger section at the bottom on my own 40th birthday a week ago.


To further exemplify the long-term nature of this project, I'm especially laughing at myself to realize that when I started this thing, I was able to stitch it at dusk while camping in the middle of a grove of trees and now I need my trusty bifocals and a good, strong light positioned such that my hand does not cast shadows over the linen if I want to see well enough to get those stitches positioned correctly. What a long strange trip it's been. ha!

Framed over the last 24 hours and presented last night in celebration of the 40th birthday of my friend...

The saying on this sampler is:

"Stitched in the tradition of an earlier time,
when gifts of the heart were completed only by hand."

This gift of the heart has been in progress for a long time, but I'm sure what it represents will continue for much, much longer.

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The details:
Pattern: Only By Hand, by Emie Bishop, my favorite needlework designer
Fabric and thread: 24 count ivory linen, size 8 and 12 ecru perle cotton, DMC floss
Stitching techniques: Hardanger, drawn thread, counted cross stitch
Frame: from the oh-so-wonderful attic stash, custom re-sized by Scott :-)
Framing technique: lacing, as taught by Thistle Needleworks in a series of classes that I took about 20 years ago
Modifications: Many, many. Recharted the alphabet to include the J, which was purposely omitted on the published pattern. Had a little email chat with Emie Bishop about this along the way. (I also talked with her once before, to show her Leah's xmas stocking , inspired by one of Emie's patterns.) Skipped the queen stitches in the upper grid because I abhor queen stitch. (It's the only stitch I don't enjoy. I gave it a go again this time and still don't like it. Too much fuss, not enough of a result to be worth it, IMO.) Used DMC floss instead of silk, simply because we have so much DMC from the prizes when Scott's entry won the Best of Cross Stitch, Best of Needlework, and Best of Show categories at the Big E years ago. Wove every other linen thread back into the base cloth to right and left of drawn thread sections, instead of satin stitch block on either side, for a cleaner look. Eliminated the disembodied hands from the floral vine section; substituted more flower buds and tendrils. Recharted words in the saying so "only by hand" is all lower case text. Spiffed up the bottom hardanger heart with Algerian eyes around the perimeter and dove's eyes in the central hardanger grid. 

you can take the family out of Pittsburgh...

...but you can't take the 'burgh out of the family.

Oh, the things you might do with bedsheets and fabric glue in 1995, after having grown up in Pittsburgh in the 1970s, era of the Steel Curtain, with a somewhat warped father who referred to himself as Coach Kenny Noll. (Chuck Noll was the Steelers' Head Coach and Ken was my dad's name. See below.)



Here's a group shot from our annual Super Bowl Bash, 1996. (Sorry for the quality -- picture of a picture from the pre-digital photography world.)



And if there's a heaven, here's one guy who's dancing around it with a Terrible Towel in one hand and an IC Light in the other. Go Steelers!

out there

This young knitter is psyched to get herself and her passion for fiber arts out there. She knit this hat for her oh-so-loved Great Grandma's (Gigi) 88th b'day a while back and shipped it off to Pennsylvania.



This is the Madison Hat, the same pattern that she made for herself last winter. She happened to have her own version of this hat with her when we were in Greece this spring and it was mighty windy up on Acropolis Hill, so she loaned her hat to Gigi to keep her toasty. Since this hat is made of mohair-merino and alpaca yarns, it's soft, fuzzy, and very warm. The last time we visited GiGi, she mentioned that she would like Leah to knit her a hat like that someday. And so she did. Exactly like that, since we had plenty of both yarns.

Leah is also getting her knitting out there by becoming an entrepreneur. The owner of a boutique in Pittsburgh has commissioned her to knit gauntlets/fingerless gloves. She knows it goes against copyright protection to sell knitwear made from someone else's pattern, so she made her first pair with an online pattern and gifted them to a friend, and she is now choosing cables and stitches from stitch dictionaries as she designs her own fingerless gloves. She's on her fourth of five commissioned pairs and having an awful lot of fun with the design possibilities. She even came up with a name for her little knitting empire, Cotton Hollow Creative, named after one of our favorite swimming holes. I just have to smile at all of this because I know somebody who earned a tidy sum, starting at around the same age, by selling crocheted clowns, taking orders of up to 30 at a time!

On her urging, we have started up a new group called the String Thing as a way to connect with other homeschooling fiber artists and those who might like to be. Through this group, we've already made some new friends, hooked up with known fiber junkie friends, heard about some cool events, and discovered some older friends with similar interests. Perfect.

She'll be demo'ing spinning and knitting at Burgis Brook Alpaca Farm at their open house this Saturday as part of National Alpaca Farm Days. I'm looking forward to the knitting time while we're there too and am hoping that the blanket-in-progress will be finished by then so I can start the project that's next in line, assuming the yarn arrives in time. The more mechanically-minded members of this family will be on a romp full of steam-powered contraptions and primitive technology that day, so when we hook back up in the evening, there will undoubtedly be a lot of enthusiastic chatter! We're all looking forward to an inspiring day out there among our peeps.

And at long last, this young knitter's Ravelry invitation arrived this week. I wasn't home when she got the invitation, but apparently she has already set up her account as cottonhollow. She hasn't added any projects or details yet, but she most certainly will, as soon as she can get the momperson to help her. Now I can quit razzing her about surfing the Ravelry goodies under my account and she can add her favorites to her own notebook, which is good because once you've been bit by the bug, there are a fantastic lot of project temptations out there.

back home

Had a great visit with Gram in Pittsburgh for a few days and have been trying to get our feet back under us since. I'll put up a photo album from the Pittsburgh trip soon, but there are a few other things I wanted to mention too, so when this beautiful creature roamed across our yard this morning and Kodi never made a sound, I was lucky enough to capture a picture for today's post. It's blurry because it was taken through the glass and screen of the window - chilly this morning. We enjoy a good variety of wildlife here on our tiny patch of land in the 'burbs, thanks to the nearby pond and the stream through the woods in the ravine across the street.

Jen at The Woollen Earth asked for proportions in my Beauties and Beasts blog entry about baking soda and peppermint oil toothbrushing powder. I can't be any more specific than to say it's to taste. I use a handful of baking soda and a barely a drizzle of peppermint oil, more if I feel like it. There are many recipes online for various toothbrushing concoctions that can give more details. I've tried some of them over the years and narrowed it down to the simplest as what works best for us. I'm going to use wintergreen oil for flavor the next time I refill the container.

Since a few folks have followed up on the CitizenRe solar power program I mentioned last week, here now is the link to sign up for a site evaluation so I'll get a discount for referring you if you eventually have a free system installed. Even if you sign up now, the only commitment you're making is for one of their people to evaluate your site, so I encourage you to read up on this option if you've ever considered solar power for your home, but been discouraged by the usual up-front costs of having a system installed.

There's been lots of work to catch up on this week, but we took a much-enjoyed break for a thunderstorm Wed. evening. Dinner was already nearly cooked by the campfire outside anyway, so when the power went out, it barely mattered. We ate dinner on the porch by natural light, as we often do, and then all spread out on the wide open floor (furniture currently out for reupholstering) for family games and conversation and playing with the dog. As usual, we talked about how pleasant the evening was without electricity and options for using even less in our home.

Oh, there's been some knitting and glassy goodness too. I don't have pics now, so I'll get them up here soon, but in the meantime, looky what I found, not too far from home: Mocha's Fiber Connection . I don't need anything, but figured I'd share the link anyway.

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Edited to add: Here's a little something that I love: How To Disappear. (Keep clicking on the drawings to move through the pages.) Apparently my family has been in the process of happily disappearing for years. :-)

crochet mode

I just love a morning like this. By 7:20 a.m., I had:

1. Rec'd notice that an exciting book is waiting for me at the library
2. Made hotel reservations for Spa Knit and Spin 2010 at discounted group rate -- w00t!
3. Printed packing order for a set of silly sheep stitch markers on their way to Australia.
4. Spread the word about an upcoming event that I'm setting up (more on that soon).
5. Written to someone with whom I'm swapping soap/buttons/beads for enough teal roving that I can spin a sweater's worth of yarn for myself.
6. Checked out our options for awesome fun in Pittsburgh this coming weekend.
7. Downloaded much of the day's work that supports this family.
8. Rec'd confirmation of two custom bead orders.

All while still in my jammies and sipping the day's first cup of coffee. We lurves the Internet.

Meanwhile, Leah seems to have swung back 'round to crochet mode. A couple of evenings ago, she printed directions for a granny square. I offered to show her how to make them, but she wanted to do it on her own, so off to her crafting studio bedroom she went, emerging the next morning with this:

(wonky because she used whatever yarns happened to be within reach, one wool and one cotton, of different gauges)

By yesterday afternoon, she had the beginnings of what will be a granny square scarf that's long enough to wrap multiple times around her neck.

Even at this shortish length, she wore it to ukulele band practice last night and rec'd many compliments on it, as well as a surprise birthday celebration from her friends there! With the sound of the band in the background, I had a thoroughly delightful conversation with a new friend and also had the pleasure of helping someone take her first few knitting stitches.

We lurves the real life connections too. :-)

since we last talked

Whoo boy, I feel like it's been forever since I wrote a blog post. I suppose that's because there was a 5-day trip to Pittsburgh tucked in between, for my Gram's memorial celebration (which was perfect in every way) and dismantling of her apartment. While my mom, sister, and I were working on clearing things out, Scott and the kids also managed to hit up a Pittsburgh Pirates game, the always fabulous Carnegie Science Center, and the new-to-us Sportsworks, where they climbed and soared and bounced and flipped!

Hey, when this family spiffs up,
it's worthy of a snapshot.
We're not really in as much pain as it might appear;
just rushed and a lot going on around us.

Now we're back at home and gearing up for the summer farmers' market season. Leah finished sewing one of her outfits for her work at the Nathan Hale Homestead. Skirt, top, scarf, apron, bloomers, and chemise, all handsewn and ready to go! The skirt used to be a duvet cover, the apron and bloomers a sheet, and the top was some nearly-vintage fabric she found in my stash. Now she's working on a lighter weight top to wear when the weather gets warmer.

BTW, the seamstress is turning 12 years old today. Woot!

We're also making a square each (mine on the left, hers on the right) to contribute to a friendship afghan that will be sent to a member of the New England Textile Arts group who owns a yarn shop and has supported the group's charitable efforts for years. This generous woman suffered a stroke recently and many people wanted to do something for her, so what better than to wrap a knitter in knitterly love?

odd, that.

I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 70s. Ties to and love for that city continue to run strong and deep.

The last pic in this post is one of my favorites of my dad. He died a little over eight years ago. Lung cancer in a lifelong heavy smoker. No surprise. No major tears. Love him a lot, but okay with it all, y'know?

But I cannot read this essay or others like it without the tears flowing. In a good way. But it surprises me and makes me laugh every time. 

I spent much of last weekend alternating between choking up and laughing out loud as I transcribed many ESPN interviews as a rush job for a Super Bowl documentary that will air this weekend. I liked the Cardinals interviews. I LOVED the Steeler interviews. 

My dad would've been 68 today. Tomorrow, I will pin Steelers buttons from my childhood onto my shirt and the rest of my family will wear their Steelers paraphernalia as we gather with old friends to watch the Steelers in the Super Bowl, again :-), and remember one of their biggest fans, whose shenanigans and Steeler-love live on. 

Because even though we packed the Pinto and the U-Haul and physically pulled away from the 'burgh 30 years ago, our roots clearly still reach all the way back there and the Steelers Nation is not bound by geographic location.