Legends of the Dragons Day

Crooked scan as usual!! Geez! Anyhow, today is Wednesday, and lately I noticed that that has been Legends of the Dragons night. I kept that tradition going for at least this week. Now Magic (the Dragon Dreams dragon) is all outlined and I have started the border. I have found out now what the stitching pace is for the border, and it is excellent - moves really quickly using the Waterlilies instead of as it is charted :-)

Q. How many strands of floss to you prefer to stitch with? Why?

A. This totally depends on the fabric count I am using. I prefer two strands with 28 ct and 32 ct... while only one strand with 36 ct and 40 ct. Sometimes I like the effect of one strand on 32 ct as well - for samplers as an example - The Drawn Thread does this often too in her charts... I don't enjoy stitching on counts lower than 28 ct, and truly dislike ever using more than two strands in my needle...I've noticed something in others' responses that I had overlooked in my own reply - my aforementioned preferences apply only to cotton floss. If stitching with silk, my strong preference is for one strand, but Chatelaine often calls for two and I follow her instructions and like them :-) If any other fiber, I go with recommendations from the designer - one strand for Wildflowers, etc...

I picked up a couple of new British stitching magazines today - I now have plenty of Margaret Sherry charts... and a super cute Garden Fairies chart that I have to do - I will scan that in soon! And, while I was out I also got this really cute kit (ditch the aida, though!) from the Dolly Mamas line (Janlynn) - I thought this was the funniest thing - your thoughts? LOL! I have a freebie near the bottom of my sidebar by this designer - you can see the freebie being stitched up right now by Jo :-)

I received my Fabric of the Month today from Dyeing4U. Just as I was thinking I should cancel my membership because I did not care for receiving a big fat quarter of Cameo Peach last month... well, this month they sent me a lovely pale aqua that is a FOTM Exclusive Color, as well as Silver Ice, which is much prettier than their scan shows.... more like lilac and pearl gray with significant mottling. I cannot wait to decide what to use this for - it won't take me long! I do plan to drop out of the club fairly soon, though. Not because I am unhappy, but because they send two fat quarters - and I will never be able to keep up with that much fabric!! LOL!! I wish they had a one fat quarter per month option....

I also received my most recent order from Stitching Bits & Bobs - this one came lightning fast with the three skeins of Soie Cristale for Skyler Wayne, the newly released Daisy Lane Cottage and the pack of black pebble beads for a Mary Engelbreit design - and in the package, a backordered spool of #4 Kreinik for Queen Mermaid :-)

Nothing good to report about the Red Sox today - they got crushed 13-6 by the Oakland Athletics - David Wells, not ready to start - what did they get against him?? Was it 5, 7 or 9 runs in two innings? I am too traumatized to remember. I feel bad for him, though. I am sure he is just as disappointed. Well, at least they finally flew home tonight - if even only for three games. The Red Sox have been on the road so much this season - so much more than most teams. I think they are getting a bit worn out... that is at least part of the problem.

Oh, and this was not just a day for cross stitch - I picked up a Siloam Ribbon Candy daylily for the garden... but I am starting to think this particular cultivar is already in my huge garden... somewhere :-)

Stitched on today: Peacock Cypher and Legends of the Dragons