Birthday Blessings

Please weep with me as I tell you that the planned birthday celebrations all came to naught, due to me collapsing into an exhausted heap on the sofa. This happens every fortnight on the weekends Pelle spends with the ex, so I should have known better than to whet your stitchy appetites with my plans, but there you go.

But! I did finish my socks (of which later) and I did spend a lovely day with Harmien on Thursday. Harmien’s 40th was earlier this year, but for some reason, I never got around to giving her the birthday pressies I had made for her. Until now, that is. I’m pleased with them, and I hope she is, too.

Stacy Nash’s Let’s Play in the Dirt (do NOT google this. I beg you).

The linen was originally of a virginal white, but I dyed it with my special Christmas blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, juniper berries, ground ginger and cloves and coffee, baked in the microwave (as I am, alas, oven-less). I filled the pincushion with birch chips, cinnamon and juniper berries. Yum.

The basket is just a regular bread basket that I use as a sewing basket all the time. Seriously, I carry it around with me everywhere, so I hope Harmien will find a use for it as well.

For my birthday, Harmien stitched this sweet, gorgeous sampler by Silver Creek Samplers, called Sweet Friendship:

The frame, she told me, is a family heirloom, and it is a thing of beauty. I don’t know what I did to deserve all of this, but I’m very, very happy with it. Dank je wel, lieve Harmien! As I said, the socks are done. In the end, I decided to not call them Chateau Chit or Chateau Chic socks, but, since I finished them on my birthday, and since my birthday is the second of November and since November 2nd is All Soul’s Day, I call them All Soul’s Socks (or Allersokken in Dutch).

Ta-da, I’m sure you will agree.

Harmien and I have been entangled in this never-ending SAL of the Village of Hawk Run Hollow. Every time we visit each other (which is rarely, thanks to me failing miserably at any form of time management), we work on the Village. This time, the inspiration to continue is quite strong and I’m still working on it, so maybe next time there will be another picture or two of some things stitchy. There will definitely be talk of another sock, No surprise there.

I hope you all have a fabulous week filled with stitching and sewing and quilting and knitting and whatever else you enjoy doing.

Yours stitchingly,
Annemarie.