back to reality

I could most definitely have gotten use to seeing this view every day, but alas, our vacation has come to a close, we left the high 80 degree weather, white sand beaches and crystal clear waters for....cold, wind and rainy Pittsburgh fall weather.  blah.  

I'm also going through slight withdrawl from these yummy fruity "Banana Mama" drinks.  Who knows what exactly is in this, yes lots of rum, (and, ahem, lots of calories, I'm sure) but they were delicious, and I want one.  Now.  

Anyways, while our resort did have free WiFi, I didn't use it much.  It was nice to be away for the week, and untied to my laptop and the internet (however I feel completely lost as to what is going on in bloggy land now :-) )

There was of course no sewing to be had (I think my sewing machine is going through withdrawl) I did start a new hand project, and made some progress in between naps on the beach.  I had seen this Daisy Chain ABC Crewelwork Sampler  from Posie: Rosie Little Things a few times now, and decided it would be the perfect new take along hand project.  I had been meaning to put together some Birdie Stitches blocks to take with me, and just plain ran out of time before we left.  

Since this was sort of last minute, I didn't have time to get my hands on some crewel yarn, so I am using 2 strands of DMC embroidery thread, which, for the most part is working out fine.  I'm not getting as much of the "fuzzy"ness that the crewel yarn would give, but I like it well enough.

I am using some Robert Kaufman quilters linen in Taupe and am really enjoying working with the different stitches.  My new favorite is the stem stitch.

My favorite letters by far are the "A" and "B".  I think that A took the entire plane ride down to complete, but was worth the time, for sure.  The B is done completely in the stem stitch.  

 

I'm getting much better with my satin stitch.  My only regret with this is the ink I used to transfer the design.  The directions said to use a super fine tipped pen, so I did, but I'm finding that some of my stitching is not completely covering the line marks (probably because I'm not using the crewel yarn) and the ink is permanent.  It's not a huge deal, but I'll remember that if there ever is a "next time" with this pattern.

I'm off to get reacquainted with my sewing machine, its been far too long!