Here Be Dragons

I really enjoy photographing nature. I am a total photography novice but I hope you might like to see my offerings.

Weeping Cherry blossom from my backyard

I was able to roll out of bed when the alarm went off. I found I was actually looking forward to the morning's adventure.

My first instinct was to sit down at the spinning wheel and plug on with the merino/silk, but then I thought, "No, you need to spread the love around."

Today's Project: Counted Cross Stitch

I have two counted cross stitch projects that are my old and dear friends, the Peacock and the Dragon. I had spied them both on an upper shelf yesterday, so I pulled down the oldest, my dear peacock. I got him all set up, thread ready, and....where is the pattern? Drat. Instead of blowing my hour looking for this, I turned instead to the dragon.

THE DRAGON

This is a Teresa Wentzler design I purchased kitted up, lo, so many years ago. I think it is actually called The Guardian. I probably bought it at Michaels. You can see the unfinished area there, but there is also a rather elaborate Celtic knot border that has to be applied. Hoo boy.

Many things have changed since I started these projects. The main one is my eyesight. I used to be able to read a flea's tattoo. I had to have cataract surgery two years ago and now can't hardly even find the flea without reading glasses. The other is my ability to sit practically motionless for an hour. My neck says this is not a good idea at its age.

What hasn't changed is my love of detail. The pixelated nature of the craft, the colors, and just the subject himself all still thrill me.  By the time I got it all set up, I had about half an hour left. I might have gotten about 20 stitches done, in two colors. Mama mia. I know I still want to complete these, but I can only hope I live long enough to do it.

I certainly need to work on my ergonomics. I think switching to readers instead of bifocals will help the neck situation.

Podcast du Jour

• Caithness Craft Collective--a knitting/crafting podcast out of Scotland. She has a section called the Drams where she and her husband review whiskys. That man could read the dictionary and I would listen.