Big Mama, a Chatelaine challenge and other miscellaneous things

Well, I took two days off from stitching - which didn't help with my stress level but freed up my hands - after finishing Paradigm Lost. For some odd reason, while I have plenty of books and spent the two days thereafter reading, it felt like my hands were not occupied enough and sure got restless to a point that I had to pick up another WIP.

YUP, not a start this time, but a WIP!

OK ok... maybe a tiny little start which I dare not post pictures yet.... sssshhh...

Getting back to the WIP, I pulled out a three-year-old piece, Mette Putfarcken 1811/1824. Here's a link to Sabine Taterra's site, if you want to purchase a copy or any other of her gorgeous reproductions: European Reproduction Samplers  Mette is a 19th century Vierlanden sampler, originally stitched in black and what looks like a bit of chocolatey red. It also spans over 40 pages.  Some people accuse me of being a masochist, but really, I don't know what they're talking about :)

Anyway, could you imagine stitching on all that black?  I couldnt... so, ahem, I swapped some colours: to purple (main colour), pink (offset colour) and a spot of blue. This piece is mainly cross stitch, and it is huge -- some time, I'll post a piece in its entirety and you can see how big the piece of fabric can get.

This is Mette, on Pages 16-16 - there's a ton of great detail stitching here, which is great if you like intricate designs like I do. Off and on you'll get to do some long stitches or sort of erm, satin stitches, but they would be very easy to do.

OK, I'm a colour whore. So sue me :)  For a better reference: These are colours picked off Vikki Clayton (ie Hand-dyed Fibers)'s Ultra Violet and Rose Quartz range -- I also think that any combination out of those two would work. The blue is from one of her mystery floss skeins, so I can't tell you what it is exactly.

As Mette tends to be a piece I stitch in-between (ie it is a piece that helps me transit to the next 'Target WIP', she gets pulled out off and on and worked on a little bit. I never have an end-deadline goal for her, because .... well.... 40-something pages of purple, pink and blue again and again and again... need I say more?  However, because of the frequency of stitching this, she is never boring and always a joy.

Aside from that, here's some food pictures.  Steamed clams in ginger, wolfberries and Chinese wine at a Thai restaurant I went to recently:  (This is mainly for my sisters' benefit, because they're not living in Asia but they... ok I'll stop before one of them clobbers me):

And the on my own last week, not such a great pic but what the hey: sourdough bread, with black forest ham, rocket leaves, tomato, Harvarti cheese, spicy mayonnaise:

Last, but certainly not least, my stitching sisters and I - ie Joysze and well, the Sexy Fairy and I, who are not related by blood but feel like we've known each other forever - have managed to cook up a SAL for Chatelaine pieces. I think it's going to be a real blast and worth dipping your toes into -- so if you are an experienced stitcher or are just keen on dipping your toes into your first Martina Rosenberg masterpiece, come and join us here!

The original post is on Joyce's blog; http://joysze.blogspot.com/2014/01/chatelaine-challenge-teaser-and-video.html

After several discussions, there was a minor change to the rules (which makes things much easier): 

http://joysze.blogspot.com/2014/01/chatelaine-challenge-new-update.html

Do join in -- and whisper in my ear what project you'll be putting up onto your scroll rods, Qsnaps, etc.  Mine is Chinese Garden Mandala -- which will be winging its way courtesy of Joyce's wonderful mom and dad. 

Until the next post (and possibly a new WIP pic)... have a great week ahead!