Useful Books

Last week's Booking through Thursday asked, "What’s the most useful book you’ve ever read? And, why?"

The first book that jumped to mind is When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads, Revised Edition: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy by Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein. This book was definitely the turning point for me while carrying my twins. It had great information about what was going on without being scary and provided much-needed diet and nutrition information. My neighbor who's a doula lent it to me, and I read it in a weekend from front to back. I recommend it to anyone I know who's expecting twins or more. They can be a bit strict about bedrest, but that's the only thing with which I remember disagreeing (and so did my doctor).

1,000 backstitches

They should call this the pattern of 1,000 backstitches.

There's not a single cross-stitch in it anywhere.

I think I stitched every stitch in this twice.

The ripping nearly killed me.

And, then, of course, I decide to finish it as a biscournu and add the outlined border.

Sorry for the bad photo, but it's the only one where you can see the snowflakes and beads.

I'm glad I did this, but now I'm really, really glad it's done.

Sweetheart Tree Snowflakes in the Pines Platinum Cashel linen
I used the brown that the pattern used, the green that was one shade darker than the one used in the pattern, and the newer off-white, since the ecru just blended right in to the fabric.

It's a Beatiful Day

Well, it was. I wrote a post yesterday that disappeared into the ether. Sigh.

But yesterday was a gorgeous day here in DC, and I got to relax and experience it because DDL was home from daycare. (She'd had a brief fever on Monday.) We played outside (and I even got to stitch a bit), we walked to the grocery store, and we had dinner outside too. This year we've had a number of fine spring days, which I'm trying to enjoy as much as possible before the humidity hits.

Here's DDL after her lunch, which contained blackberries.

In tribute to the gorgeous day, it only seems right that I'm finally posting a picture of the stitching I finished two weeks ago. This is the Spring Band Sampler by Elizabeth Designs. I love, love, love the colors in this. It was super easy to stitch, and I'm thinking of doing it again as a birth sampler for a friend's daughter. I used the called-for DMC colors, substituting 3836 for the Lilac and 893 for the Pink (I wanted something that was more coral rather than mauve).

May SBQ

Lee, the Lake Stitcher, has reincarnated the Stitching Bloggers Question. I'm so very excited. This is a terrific way to find new-to-me stitching bloggers. She's doing it as a monthly, rather than weekly, enterprise.

Her first question is Which kind of stitcher are you: a process stitcher or a project stitcher? Does this carry over into other parts of your life?

As Lee wisely points out, most stitchers are somewhere in the middle, which is definitely true for me. To pick one, though, I'd say I'm more of a project stitcher. I stitch a lot of gifts, so there are often timelines involved. I also fret (lightly) when something has been sitting in my work bag for a long time. I do get really excited when I finish a project.

When I first started stitching, it was all about the project. As I've become an experienced stitcher, I've learned to relax a bit and focus on enjoying the process of stitching. I particularly like projects in which I learn new stitch techniques.

I'm like this in the rest of my life too. I tend to focus on the end goal and not as much on the process. Again, as I've gotten more experienced, I try to remember that life is about the journey. Getting pregnant and having my daughters has really helped in this area of my life.