Wednesday, October 28, 2015

best dressed





I hit a wall yesterday. It wasn't pretty. I needed a change of scenery. 

I've been sick this week for the second time in October and I'm pretty much done with it. I am attempting to Lemon Lift my way to health, or at least comfort and I am pleased as punch that I have the best dressed little mug for the task. I had plenty of extra yarn from my zip mitts so I whipped up this cozy coaster. Isn't it a treat? I found the button loop a bit fiddly so I knotted my yarn and left a tail, which winds around the button like a button fly closure on the journal of an intrepid adventurer. Or deep thinker. My mug, the philosopher. 

I am still awaiting being able to acquire the correct needle (I should have just ordered off Amazon) and I refuse to cast on a project just to be knitting, when what I want to be knitting is different. So I'm stitching. 

This is the first of my Christmas gift sewing. The embroidered bird will join two other teacups and a teapot to form the corners of this table topper mini quilt. The finished piece will measure 25"x25" and though I love the colors it is shown in, the fabric I have for it is all springy-floral. 
***

As for reading, I laid feebly on the couch two weeks ago while I was sick and finished up A Land More Kind Than Home. It was a hard book to read. One of my best reading friends recommended it, so I jumped in with two feet - never mind that the cover called it a thriller and I was NOT in the mood for a thriller. It really is everything I love in a book: southern, rural setting, quirky people, complicated family dynamics, rich descriptions including sounds and smells, and multiple narrators slowly parking the came mysterious story. It's just the snakes that get me, you know, and the dying, and the lying, and the grief. "It was like Mama was lost in the desert and had gotten so thirsty she was willing to see anything that might make her feel better about being lost."

So I'm rebounding in happy-book-land. The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise has me smiling again with the story of a really quirky Beefeater who lives with his wife and 120-year-old tortoise in the Tower of London. I'm only just a few pages into the book, so I'll have to update you next week as the story develops more.

What are you reading and stitching? Show and tell with me and the others at Yarn Along. 

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12 comments:

  1. Tracey ~ CloverOctober 28, 2015 at 11:08 AM

    I'm so sorry to hear you have been sick Amanda, that is no fun, but your cup is super cute so I hope that made you smile.
    Love seeing the needle work, your bird is quite adorable. I need to pull my basket from the shelf and take needle and thread to fabric again, I like embroidery.
    I have read a few books that while enjoyable, they weren't read at the right time so I understand your feelings toward a land more kind than home.
    PS- I baked gingerbread cookies and made homemade apple sauce yesterday, my kitchen smelled like an autumn candle only so much better.

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  2. DonnaOctober 28, 2015 at 11:38 AM

    Oh I hope you are feeling better now Amanda! I have been successfully fighting the bug off - although I felt a little congested and a horrible rash appeared on my legs last week so, maybe I wasn't that successful? Get lots of rest and keep reading.

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  3. JituOctober 28, 2015 at 11:43 AM

    Oh je, a pink mug too. Great! And thanks for your visit. :o)

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  4. karenOctober 28, 2015 at 12:35 PM

    hope you feel better soon! love the mug and the tiny stitches :)

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  5. deborahOctober 28, 2015 at 2:50 PM

    I hope you are soon feeling 100% better!

    I love the mug coaster! I may have to try my hand at one!

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  6. EMMAOctober 28, 2015 at 3:01 PM

    Mug cozies are great, I seem to have made one of most of my friends but never one for myself!
    Get well soon.

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  7. CarolineOctober 28, 2015 at 3:41 PM

    Isn't being sick the worst? I'm with you and I'm so over it and ready to feel healthy again. I adore your mug cozy - need to make one for myself I think. Also - how sweet is that embroidery?? Lovely.

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  8. Rebecca D. MartinOctober 28, 2015 at 3:53 PM

    My mug has a sweater, too!! I am not sure if it actually does any good warming-wise, but I love buttoning up my cup of coffee.

    And I love your little birdy bit of stitchery there.

    Please do update on the beefeater tortoise book.

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  9. SarahOctober 29, 2015 at 12:10 AM

    That is going to be such a sweet gift! I am wanting to move more and more into embroidery as well so I'm watching closely anything anyone is doing along those lines! I have never made a mug cozy but I bet I'd like how it allows me to hold a hot mug cozy up to my face to let the steam warm my always-cold-in-winter nose.

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    Replies
    1. AmandaOctober 29, 2015 at 9:06 AM

      Thank you, Sarah! I got started on embroidery using Charlotte Lyons patterns/kits and then Julian made me a light box. with the lightbox and a transfer/washable pen I can embroider any line drawing I want! This bird is from Jacquelynne Steves.

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  10. MDLOctober 30, 2015 at 9:41 AM

    What a perfect cozy for Fiestaware!

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  11. aspiritofsimplicityOctober 31, 2015 at 5:10 PM

    Glad you are feeling a bit better. I am not a thriller girl either...in books or in life.

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