Here's my take on the Slipped Detached chain stitch --- three ways:
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The garden continues to "serially" bloom --- one "new" plant after another. First of all, the Iris are now popping up all over:     And another tree peony is in bloom:  Allium, in various colors, has appeared in the front garden (that's the Asian lilac and the rhodies in the background...):  As has Evening Primrose (we used to admire these little pink flowers, and their darker cousins, the wine cups - which wont grow here, when we lived in Texas but up here, they become weeds and spread everywhere.):  But most impressive of all are the Clematis --- lots of different ones! And, would you believe, there are still at least two that haven't begun to bloom yet! Every vertical surface seems to have its own grouping of these gorgeous vines!     With my new glasses (fitted on Wednesday), and the left eye still bothering me a little, I decided to do something that didn't need a lot of "focus" --- I stitched up the last seven "base" blocks for Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2103:  And I plugged away at the May block so I could squeak it in under the wire:  Still have a May Bead Journal Project piece to stitch which, clearly, given the date, isn't likely to be done on time. And "Midnight Garden" sits idle as does the 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project wall hanging and I have yet to start on the "Toll Your Own Mandala" being taught online by Tracy Horner of InkCircles. To say nothing of two more online classes I've signed up for that lurk in the near future: Janet Perry's background stitching and Linda Perrin's "Messy Beading"... Will I never learn?
This month's themes were ...
Designer – Blackbird Designs, Style – Humor, Colors – Purple and Brown And I don't have a single project in ANY of these themes. And what with eye surgery on April 29 and May 6, and subsequent recovery time (got new prescription eyeglasses two days ago), nearly an entire month of stitching time was lost. What did I accomplish in this full-moon-to-full-moon cycle? Completions include:
Still in progress are: May Crazy Quilt Journal Project block (basic block is together but no embellishment has been done), May Bead Journal Butterfly (fabric is selected but no beading done), the wall hanging for the 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project blocks (the final side sashings are cut and pinned but not stitched) and "Midnight Garden" (not a single stitch put into it since last report). Fancy Hem Stitch --- one colorway, two ways! 
I think this would be fun to play with with different threads, beads, etc... but I used perle cotton because that was what was at hand.
My last week on drops for the left eye and an eye exam has resulted in new glasses (should be in in a week or so) which should solve any additional problems I have (except for the peripheral vision shimmer which still sometimes strikes without warning). I really lost my stitchery mojo last week --- so a few more photos of my husband's garden which has become a serial bloomer (everything from last week is past it's prime already) because of the heat. We got summer right after winter --- Spring was maybe a one-day season, so things are bolting! Anyway this week it's azaleas (I always loved azaleas in the south but Indicas won't grow here so we have the little Japanese ones):    and one poor bush that doesn't look so happy...  Tree peonies are blooming the back garden...   A hydrangea (Ooops --- Husband says it's a Viburnum! Hey, who said I knew my plants anyway?) is in full bloom in the front yard...  As is an Asian lilac  And if you look carefully in the various beds, there are patches of blue... spiderwort ...  and some sort of "Bachelor Button" which husband considers to be invasive weeds...  I settled down on Sunday to get some stitches in on International Hermit and Stitch Weekend... Finally finished the April BJP butterfly:  May's butterfly will be in orange and white on a yellow background. Just have to get it set up and maybe I will be able to catch up. I got kind-of behind what with eye surgery and all but finally caught up last night with Take a Stitch Tuesday Stitch #65: the buttonhole bar:  I can see this doing a really really neat layering effect on top of other stitches! And it was fun to do! If I'd had more time, I would have tried it with different threads but getting one row done in perle cotton was good enough to learn the stitch. I also did the Coral Stitch (#66) in a different color perle cotton:  It doesn't show up as clearly as I would like but I do like the effect...
My to-do project bag is still full but there's hope that maybe I can catch up before June is too far underway! We need some more pictures of spring, even though it went down to near freezing last night... More crab apples in bloom --- this time the white ones (and a late-blooming redbud) 
And dogwoods --- pink: 
and white... 
A couple of PG Rhodies... 
The red? Last Christmas's poinsettia. taking a chance that it didn't get cold enough last night to melt it away! and some iris... 
While out taking pics this AM. I heard this honking and went down the dock stairs to see who was in distress... 
I don't know if that goose was a male or a female but he/she clearly was lonely, all by him/herself in the middle of 20 acres, honking his/her heart out! And no-one answering! 
To be honest, I can't think what I did this week: - The concert/luncheon with the Toledo Symphony's wind quintet was on a Tuesday, as was a post-op follow-up with my optometrist. - I went to quilt guild Thursday because my husband agreed to drive me (I don't trust my eyes at night quite yet so night driving was out of the questions) and I suckered and signed up for the guild retreat October 11 - 13! Oh my... - and in payment, I helped him on Sunday to pot (he dug and split), label and price over 50 hostas (and Japanese forest grass) for the upcoming Black Swamp Hosta and Daylily Society plant sale (35 pots or so to go to meet his goal of 100 pots...). 
Other than that... Not one stitch. While the right eye was doing a lot better, it now had to deal with the left eye in recovery and focusing on close-up work simply wasn't in the cards. So let's end with another Iris shot... 
My right eye finally began to clear up Thursday, late in that it no longer was dilated. But I was still a little fuzzy around the edges, vision-wise and brain-function wise until Sunday. Of course, my left eye is now fuzzy around the edges (although it did return to normal dilation/constriction much faster than the right one did... but my brain is still on fuzzy function mode so no stitching until later this week. So I will share some more spring garden photos instead of stitchery... The daffodils are past their prime but the tulips are up and showing off: 
The tulip tree has dropped all it's petals and our weeping cherry didn't have a very good showing but now the crabapples are in bloom: 
as are the redbuds (which I think may be my favorite flowering tree...): 
and husband's hostas are all popping out of the ground like mad: 
This weekend is the Black Swamp Hosta and Daylily Society hosta sale and he has promised 100 pots of hostas so he is busy dividing and potting "splits". A true sign of spring in our garden --- as evidenced by the huge pile of top soil/mulch he had delivered this week: 
I promised that, in exchange for him driving me to and from quilt guild tonight, I'd help him pot this weekend! AAACK! I did manage to bead a little on Sunday night on my April butterfly. It is now officially LATE but I think I can get it done this weekend... 
So I'll leave you with a final photo of tulips, albeit many already fading... 
Given that my eye isn't at top focus yet (it was still dilated after 48 hours *and* it's flashing/shimmering when light hits my peripheral vision since the lens hasn't settled in yet), I didn't do much in the way of stitching (or posting). I did complete the TAST Tuesday night since I could do that without extra light and magnification. Here's my Top-Knotted Buttonhole:  and here is the completed "page" for stitches 57 through 64:  Re cataract surgery --- it's taking a few days for my eye to recover.. While I can see, I'm getting the occasional twinge that tells me I'm not healed yet. On interesting side effect of cataract surgery is that the "fixed" eye doesn't see color the same way the cataract eye does! It would seem that, as the lenses hardened, they also yellowed and I've been looking at the world through yellow lenses for years now and didn't know it. Don't know if this will affect my choices of color in future but it is an interesting side effect I didn't expect!
I won't get 20/20 vision from this --- I never had it, but my optometrist, after the post-op check-up, says I'm now near-sighted in that eye and probably won't need glasses to read or stitch. Of course, I can't see for diddly at distance (never could) and my case of adult lazy-eye means I will always need glasses to correct for that. Also, my corneas are a disaster area (something called corneal dystrophy which, in my case is related to the basement membrane which holds the cells of the cornea flat to the eye --- it's not holding, the cells are piling up instead of lying flat,and the surface of my eye looks like the surface of the moon!) and we may have to take drastic action on that front once the cataracts are taken care of. Not a pleasant prospect for someone whose eyes are crucial to enjoyment of life! But what needs to be done will be done... |
AuthorBorn in New Jersey, I grew up in Southeastern Ohio. Attended university at Bowling Green State University (B.Sci in biological science, 1964), University of Southern California (M. Sci in biological science, 1967) and University of Florida (Ph. D in zoology, 1971). 
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