Meanwhile, the Prisoners Crocheted a Darling Rope Ladder From Their Cells (and Were Never Heard From Again)

I spotted this interesting tidbit (from the Des Moines Register) on Google today. The brief quote says it all:

A Dallas County jailer who was fired late last year for poor performance claimed she and her co-workers played computer games, watched DVDs
and did cross-stitch at work.

I hope the local cross stitch store is offering her a job. That pretty much describes the skill set for working with me, at least.

Alternate title for this Blog entry: Can My Kids Fire Me For This, Too?

Please excuse my delinquency in posting for the last week or so. School vacation took precedence over blogging.

Little Egg on the Prairie

Today's Market Fresh Specials:
Mirabilia's Easter Fairy Kit and Four New Prairie Schoolers!


Look for more updates to the website next week!

How I Spent My Day Off

The new Nashville Releases are up. I've spent my day compulsively working my uploads, categorizing, checking .jpgs, and getting ready to update the site. OK, so it's not stitching, but I don't hear anyone complaining, especially when you see something as pretty as this, from Birds of a Feather:
I'll finish the website later. The New Listings are UP, and there are some real beauties! :^)

A Foot of B5200

Don't you just love it when a blizzard and the Olympics collide? It's the Perfect Storm of cross stitch! My work week is done (and a busy one at that), I'm getting over a nasty head cold, and the young Boyers are learning all about Women's Hockey.

At the request of the Littlest Boyer, I'm digging back into In the Arms of an Angel from the oh-so controversial Lavender & Lace. It's one of my favorite L & L designs, and one that is promised for my daughter, though it's almost certain to clash with her current wall color.

It's a nice diversion from the fabulous Mansfield Park (see previous posts), with all the soft overdyed thread and primitive styling. The angel is all bright DMC, with intricate folds of the dress and blanket, and the upcoming challenge of beads/metallics. I'm loving getting back into the jigsaw puzzle approach to stitching, especially on a nice tight piece of Belfast.

Say what you will about L & L -- and there is a lot to criticize -- Marilyn is a stitcher's designer. She doesn't usually give you a lot of "confetti". You can dig in with a color and watch something take shape (while the US women crush Germany). Her designs are big, but do have a way of getting done fast. Who doesn't like that? And though her more recent designs leave a lot to be desired (variation, perspective, and a face that doesn't look like a Stepford Wife), she's got quite the back catalog of great designs, which fortunately don't go out of print.

Back to stitching. What are YOU working on today, fellow East Coasters, and anyone else? Delurk/discuss.....

*B5200 = DMC's ultra snow white [Note to self: do a blog entry on DMC's crazy color numbering scheme!]

The Craft That Dare Not Speak Its Name

Just for kicks, I use Google News Alerts to send me links to any news story mentioning Cross Stitch. I was recently linked to this article from a Salt Lake City, UT newspaper, mentioning the poplarity and relative market share of various crafts. There's a lot of boring blah-blah, but I noted a couple of interesting tidbits:

Cross Stitch /Embroidery is the most popular craft, ahead of Crocheting and Scrapbooking! Interesting. I think I'll leave that one alone for the moment, given my recent decision to close the store and go to web-only.

The article mentions a "futurist" (o-kay) who ties the popularity of crafts to the celebrities who so fabulously and famously do them:

"Celebrities are taking up crafts in big numbers. Julia Roberts, Kristin Davis, David Arquette and Cameron Diaz are among the knitters. Katie Holmes and Lorraine Bracco paint pottery. Nicole Kidman and Elizabeth Hurley do their own sewing. Jennifer Love Hewitt paints hatboxes. Kate Hudson does mosaics. Tony Bennett, Donna Summer and John Cougar Mellencamp love to paint. There's a big carry-over effect."

We really need a celebrity who does Cross Stitch, or at least some kind of embroidery. Rosey Grier and Carole King, both sighted doing needlepoint and tapestry are good examples from yesteryear (read: my childhood). But I want to open up Star magazine (not that I actually read it....) and see some young hot star doing a nice sampler for a change. It would be a lot better than yet another paparazzi pic of Britney, Lindsay, or Ben Affleck picking up their umpteenth venti latte at Starbucks. Note to Star Magazine: Coffee is good for a photo op, but coffee dyed linen is even better! One such item could lead to a national explosion the likes of which hasn't been seen since Ugg boots! And I could sit back and watch the orders pour in......

Not that I'm holding my breath.

Mansfield Park Fixer Upper

Now Available: 4 BR, 1 BA fixer upper with period detail. Completion date scheduled for mid-Spring 2006. Contact Jane Austen Realty for a showing.

My progress pic of Mansfield Park by The Sampler Girl.

Cross Stitch Lightning Rod

Evangeline by Lavender & Lace. Love her? Hate her?
Come out of lurkdom, and discuss!