Madonna Is Happy; Ruth is Sad UPDATED

Madonna's blog just announced that Pocket Full of Stitches in Texas has new owners starting April 1.   We already knew this but Madonna has the details on her blog,
http://frontrangestitches.blogspot.com/2010/03/oh-happy-day.html

and more information is on the PFOS website. This is excellent news!  The shop has long been a favorite of folks, particularly for their monthly clubs, and it is good to know the owners will be able to retire and leave the shop in hands of two of their employees.  Good wishes to all.
http://www.pfos.com/

In other news, I'm still futzing around with my list of NP blogs.  I am having real trouble posting Ruth Schmuff's blog address.  It's Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint has moved here,
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2010/02/its-starting-to-look-magical.html

but Blogger (which hosts Blog) can't find the new address, even if I enter it on my blog list.  People who click on the link to Ruth's blog get the Dreaded Not Found message.  I took down my blog list at lunchtime today and reposted it, trying to figure out a way to add Ruth's new address so you can visit, and finally gave up.  Ruth has put her new address on her old blog, so if you click on the link below, you'll be sent to the old blog and then redirected.  I'm sorry you have to do this in a roundabout manner, but Blog refuses to go to Ruth's new URL directly even though the new blog is hosted by Blogger just like the old one was.  Ruth hasn't given up, though.  She may figure something out and if she does, I'll link to the new blog directly.

Blog won't let me move the blog list to the left column, either.  It is still at the bottom of the page.  Sorry, folks.  Sometimes the Mysteries of the Blog are not solvable by mere humans!

UPDATE:  Madonna has found if she clicks on the title of Ruth's latest blog posting, the blog is found normally.  If she clicks on the name of the blog in her blog list, she gets the error message.  So if one uses Blogger and has both the blog names and the title of the latest posting up and running, you can click on the title of the last entry and make it to Ruth's blog.

I don't have this enabled as I have too many blogs listed to have their latest postings listed, too.  But anyone who uses Blogger and wants to list Ruth's It's Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint on their list of blogs can try this work-around.  Thanks, Madonna!

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

Happy Birthday, Marty!

We miss you.
With love from Jane and Mark.

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

Elmer Has a Cap

Last night I gave the little dog his Santa stocking cap.  The red is stitched in random long stitches, slanting to show direction, using Vinceyard Silk for the bright red and Silk N Colors in a darker variegated red for the shading.  The fur trim is all French knots, just one wrap, done in Burmilana (white) and Medici (gray).  I can see lint in the photo from the wool in these threads I'll need to remove today.

You can see in the photo that I've started filling in the large snowflakes at the top using white Very Velvet.  I am not quite sure I like this as much as I like the couched lines in Very Velvet.  In a certain light the Very Velvet looks pink paired with the red Crystal braid.  I will think on this while I work on the dog's body.

Mixing whites with other whites and whites with strong colors can be tricky.  I think the white Burmilana on the dog's cap looks ok with the white in the Very Velvet but I'm not sure.  Another thing to think about.  I wasn't going to use the Burmilana and Medici on Elmer's muzzle but now I think I might want to, just to minimize any differences between the face and cap.

Do any of you stitch a lot of Santas?  How do you handle the differences between Santa's white beard and the fur trim on his red Santa suit?

I plan to pad the candy cane and stitch it tonight and then work on the muzzle.  That's The Plan anyway but things change.  Elmer is a very demanding dog!

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