White Threads

in the mood to knit something

Yesterday, in a wonderful example of how to suggestively market to someone, I received a shade card from Bendigo Woollen Mills. And now, suddenly, I’m in the mood to knit something.

I knitted Elder Daughter (The Reader) a jumper (sweater) a few years ago, but I’ve never knitted something for Rainbow Girl. This has mostly been because she has very little respect for clothing, and I haven’t wanted to waste a good knitted, woollen garment on her. But she seems to be improving with her care for her clothing, so maybe its time for a garment for her this year. (And maybe The Reader can have one as well – after all, I am between books!)

So I headed over to Ravelry to see what I could find in the way of funky knits for kids. I found a few patterns that I would like to make. No idea if either of the children would deem them suitable to wear, so I suppose I mustn’t get my heart too set on them just yet!

The ones I liked were (and you probably need to be a member of Ravelry to get to some of these links, sorry):
Oriental Lily by Georgie Hallam (you’ll have to scroll down to see it)
Candy Twist by Tina Barrett
Girl’s Best Cardigan by Georgie Hallam (scrolling down to see it once again).

So now I’ll have to suggest the idea to the children to see what they think. I wonder if I can get it all organised in time to knit with bamboo needles on the plane trips to Adelaide and back? Hmm…

This morning Rainbow Girl and I are off to the Elite stream State Gymnastics Championships. (By the time you read this we might already be there.) She came 10th in her level at the trial, so her goal is to come 9th today. She’s so terribly excited! I’m not so excited about having to get up at 5am to be at the venue by 7am (with her hair all beautifully done in a Perfect Bun). It wouldn’t take so long if it were only me to get ready in time, but Rainbow Girl is NOT a morning person. What fun. 🙂

Back from Maitland

I’m back from Maitland and had a wonderful time! The two classes that I ran on Portuguese Whitework went really well, and I’m pretty sure the students enjoyed them greatly.

I have never met a group of more attentive hosts. They were so welcoming and so accommodating of my needs. Many took part in organising my visit, ferrying me around, providing me with food, providing me with a place to stay the night, and all of them were so helpful and lovely to be with.

Thank you to all the friendly members of the Maitland Embroiderers’ Group. You’re a lovely bunch of ladies!

Maitland visit

Tomorrow and Wednesday I will have the pleasure of being with the Maitland Embroiderers, teaching a couple of workshops. I spent a couple of days with them last year doing Mountmellick embroidery, and it was a wonderful time. From memory I had one of my Portuguese whitework projects with me, as my current project, and it whet their appetite. So this year, that will be the topic of our workshops. I’m also looking forward to showing them the advance copies of “Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães”.

I’m working towards being organised for Beating Around the Bush, and I’ve been feeling a little bit panicky about how much I had to get done before I go. Last night though, I realised I had a whole extra week before then, that my brain had just been skipping over.

What a relief!

If any of you are in Sydney, you may be interested to know that the Remnant Warehouse in Alexandria are having a sale (25% off all fabrics) from Thursday 29th to Saturday 31st March. Might be time for me to get the next lot of leotard fabric for the young gymnast. With the cold weather coming on, she’s going to need new 3/4 sleeve leotards. Not sure that last year’s ones still fit!

I probably won’t get the chance to post tomorrow (very early start) or Wednesday, so I apologise in advance for that.

Needlework cruise

Yesterday I received a whole pile of brochures for the needlework cruise that I’ll be teaching on in February next year. As I’ve never been on a cruise before, it was a bit of an eye opener to realise the strange and unusual activities that will be available to me when I am not teaching.

I’ll be able to go iceskating… Who would have suspected?!

Just to make sure all those arm muscles get a great workout before stitching, I’ll be able to go rock-climbing!

There will be glittering ice shows. What is a glittering ice show? My husband has said that I *must* attend this, because he wants to see photos!

Of course, for people who come on the needlework cruise, there’ll also be 4 days of needlework tuition. (And for me there’ll be 4 days of teaching people the delights of embroidery!)

More information on the cruise can be found at http://www.needleworktours.com.au/index.htm

Hardanger Treasure Chest write-up

Last night, on a forum that I belong to, I read that someone had done a write-up of their experiences with making my Hardanger panel for the Treasure Chest project that’s in the current issue of Inspirations magazine.

You can find Jillian’s write-up on her blog, AlwaysStitching.

Congratulations to Jillian, on such a magnificent result. I’m thrilled that you did so well, having never done any Hardanger before. (In fact I find it amazing that you’ve never done any before… an experienced stitcher nonetheless, I am sure!)

Has anyone else made this project yet?

Beating Around the Bush 2012

We’re getting a lot closer to Country Bumpkin’s needlework conference, Beating Around the Bush, which runs from Saturday 14th April to Friday 20th April, in Adelaide.

I’ll be attending Beating Around the Bush as a teacher, and also as an exhibitor at their Village Fair. Sadly, two of my classes will not be running, but my Mountmellick class will be, which is wonderful news.

At the Stitchers Village Fair, I will have stock of all my books, and probably a selection of kits and supplies. But the MAIN THING I want to be there to show off to everyone is my new book “Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães”. If all goes well, my stock should arrive from the printers in just the few days before the conference, and the plan is that I will bring copies of it with me to share with the world!

If my shipment gets held up on the docks – these things can happen! – then I will at least have my advance copies to show you all, and will take orders to be posted out as soon as the shipment arrives. This is a worst case scenario, and one that I am hoping will not come to pass!

I will also have a display of projects from the book that you’ll be able to see in real life, to inspire you.

If you attend Beating Around the Bush on any of the days I’ll be there (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday), please come and say hello to me! Don’t be shy – I won’t bite!

Portuguese Whitework tablecloth

This is my favourite project (and favourite image!) from Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães. I wanted one really big, really impressive project for the book, and this is it!

I started this cloth when I was in Ethiopia back in 2010, so it has special memories attached to it, of our time in Ethiopia.

If you would like to make one of these tablecloths for yourself, the full instructions can be found in Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães. Order your copy today!

Advance copies are here!

The advance copies of Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães by Yvette Stanton have arrived!

The book really and truly exists now! We just have to be patient for the rest of them to arrive at their destinations so that you can have your very own copy!

Don’t forget that you can pre-order your copy from Vetty Creations today, so that it is posted as soon as our shipment arrives here at the end of April.

For orders from your local needlework shop, give them the ISBN (978-0-9757677-5-7) and ask them to order it in for you. Our European distributor is Search Press. Our US distributor is Dinky Dyes. Our Australian distributors are Craftbook Wholesalers and Ristal Threads. Our New Zealand distributor is David Bateman.

For all those of you who think something is missing from the photo, yes, I forgot to put my glasses on! I’m not being vain, I just forgot, as I often don’t wear my glasses at home. 🙂 Oh, and as of yesterday I have quite a lot less hair – new haircut – so that’s missing also!

Advance copies on their way

When you have a book printed, there is the option of having what are called “Advance copies” sent. This means pretty much what you might think it would mean – some copies are sent in advance of the main shipment. Two copies are the usual quantity.

I got an email from my printers last night to let me know that my advance copies are on their way from Hong Kong. While there was one occasion that I received a parcel from Hong Kong the day after it was sent (and was QUITE amazed!) I am not actually expecting that they will arrive today, as I think tomorrow is more likely.

Whenever they arrive, this is terribly exciting! It will be the very first time I have held this book in my hands! I had forgotten about the advance copies, and was only anticipating the actual shipment itself, so this is a lovely surprise.

Q&A Portuguese Whitework?

Do you have any questions about Portuguese Whitework in general or about my upcoming book, Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães? Well, this is your chance to ask those questions, and if I know the answer, then I’ll definitely answer it for you. Ask away!