Better Beaded Bra (and More)

Here's a better photo of the finished beaded bra. I finally realized that doing a scan after dark would give better results. Duh.  (Sorry, my brain has been turned to mush by all this snow.)  Looks like we are not going to get another foot of snow, however.  The weatherman is still saying 8-10 inches but so far we have about three.  It is coming down harder, though and we are to have high winds so I probably will not shovel much today.  It'll just blow right back.

Instead, I'll work on adding t-stitches to the tap pants background.  I have all the leaping deer finished!  Hurrah for me!  Can you tell any difference between the all Medici deer on the bra's background and the mix of Medici and Burmilana deer on the tap pants' background? In person I can sort of see differences, but that is because I know there is one.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Beaded Bra

One funny byproduct of all the snow here is that I'm finding it hard to get a good scan of my canvas progress. The snow reflects the light into the room with the scanner, which effects the end result.  You'd think on an overcast day you wouldn't have this effect but this is the best photo I could get of the finished beaded bra.

For those of you who thought the background too dark, I like it but if I decided I agreed with you, I would probably not pull out all those stitches.  Instead, I'd probably put another row of tent stitches on top of the cross stitches that make up the leaping deer, using my light ecru Burmilana that is used in the t-stitch background around the deer.  Sometimes you can avoid ripping out by adding more thread.

I have started the leaping deer background around the tap pants.  This time they are all tent stitched.  I'll go back and top stitch a \ to make a cross stitch once the deer are in place, using either my Medici that I'm running out of or the Burmilana that is a close match.  The thread change won't be noticable that way.

Another foot of snow is expected starting this afternoon which means we will have four feet of snow covering the hillside driveway.  I expect to be trapped here again for at least a week and almost certainly nearly two.  One would need a front loader to clear the driveway of that much snow.

Well, I am probably going to get a lot of stitching done!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Feb. 8 is Harikuyo

Today is February 8, the day when many shrines in Japan celebrate the Festival of Broken Needles, or Karikuyo.  I am snowbound and not celebrating (although I continue to add old needles to my collection for next year) but I thought you might enjoy reading a bit about this celebration.  I rarely break needles but I did last night as my beading needle eye gave way.  That needle immediately was put away and I remembered Harikuyo.
http://japanese-embroidery.blogspot.com/2010/02/harikuyo-festival-of-broken-needles.html

http://needleprint.blogspot.com/2010/02/hari-kuyou-needles-prayse-festival-of.html

Valentine's Day is drawing closer and Gay Ann Rogers is celebrating by selling some of her heart designs.  Details and photos of these exquisite pieces are on her website.  But act now.  She does not have sales often or for long.
http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Hearts.html

I didn't finish beading the bra last night. I was too tired after shoveling show off the upper deck, clearing a path from the breezeway into the yard and starting to shovel snow off the front porch.  But only a bit of the left strap is done and the tv has come back on now that some of the roof snow has melted and the satellite dish is visible again.  We didn't miss the Superbowl which I fully expected.  So life is good.  I'll get busy and try to finish the beading by tomorrow so I can start the leaping deer background around the beaded tap pants.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Bra Beads

Until the snow stopped falling, I stayed inside and beaded my ShraonG camouflage bra.  I didn't finish it, but I came close.

I like how the beaded bra dominates the background but you can't see the icy sparkle, which is way too much like the icy sparkle outside now that the sun has come out in Chilly Hollow. The ridge line in the background is the Blue Ridge Mountains.

More plowing and shoveling today.  We only have until Tuesday to dig out the driveway as more snow is predicted then.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

28-30 Inches of Snow

We may get another inch overnight and the low is going to be around 7 degrees but at least the sun is out right now.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow