No regrets

The long, endless, dreamy summer days are filled with easy warmth, free time and endless inspiration. I have to keep pinching myself to see if this is for real. I spend hours at my loom while my daughter sits next to me weaving on her loom. At last I am at the loom long enough to weave tapestry. It has been many years to get to this point. I treasure those years and I have no regrets about my decision not to weave tapestry during her babyhood. When I finally put that first warp on two years ago this September I got so much joy just looking at the warped loom that it more than made up for the fact that all I had was bits of time. It is now that I have time and I am relishing this new freedom. I lose track of time and a day pass's unnoticed. Shocked I wonder how that could happen - I do after all have a phone to remind me- but wait a minute- I didn't turn it on. I spend the afternoon on the floor drawing out a weaving cartoon while my daughter sits beside me tracing her hands with a pencil and than colouring them with felt markers. Than she draws moons. Earlier that morning before the sun peeked over the mainland hills we had walked the beach gathering rocks and shells and we had admired the luminescence of a full moon hanging over the island. Her moons are bright and colourful and many are striped. She is in love with what she is doing. "Mommy I can't have supper until my work is done," she says. Apparently that means using up the large sheet of paper I gave her. I smile feeling the joy in my own heart. Life is full and sweet like that moon.
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Notes on cross stitch

I liked this text enough to cross stitch it and make this pillow which I have on my bed. The only way one can do what the text admonishes is to surrender one's will and look to God for His will to be done on a daily basis. If you haven't done this I suggest you try it. Cross stitch is remarkable easy. This is my second project. I find it much easier to design my own patterns. I use graph paper and do a basic outline of the shape and leave the rest to the whim of the moment when the needle is in my hand. I do all of my cross stitch with my four year old daughter and find this process works very well with frequent interruptions. She has finished two complete projects on her own- motivated completely by herself. Both of these were worked on plastic canvas with yarn. Back stitch and French knots are two other great stitches which complement cross stitch and give one greater design possibilities. Cross stitch is extremely inexpensive. All of the required supplies are available at Walmart for under 20.00. To keep in that budget I wash my Aida in hot water to remove the sizing and this softens it enough that a simple 4" embroidery hoop is more than adequate. The only other things you need are a tapestry needle and floss. Ordinary scissors work fine to trim floss and are not necessary. Patterns and ideas can be found online or in thrift stores for 1.00 or less. I would love to hear your thoughts on cross stitch or embroidery.
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A new ribbing stitch

I was attempting to learn a look alike cable ribbing stitch from a knitting dictionary. I never did master that one instead I came up with this one. It's simple and fits easily into the rhythm of my pattern. Cast on an even number of stitches. Row 1: *purl two sts., knit two sts., repeat from * to end of row. Row 2: repeat row 1. You are knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches. Row 3: *purl two stitches, k2tog but do not slip off needle, insert right hand needle between these 2 stitches and knit the first stitch again, slipping both stitches off needles together. Repeat from * to end of row. Row 4: repeat row 1. This stitch has given me joy while doing my annual sock knitting task. I always knit a new pair usually for myself and several pairs for my daughter. As I sit barefoot knitting the next pair I feel the glory of summer content knowing we will have warm socks for whatever lies ahead.

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