Be Merry, 14

I feel very close to the end of Be Merry.  Of course, I try to remind myself that the slowest stitching always occurs on the last 10% of a canvas.  I assume the anticipation of finishing is what makes things move at a snail's pace.

Once I finish this, I need to finish the Noel ornament pillow canvas and then the spool angel ornament.  My stitching eyes always seem to be larger than my stitching time!

In the meantime, I'm trying to think of what items will be next in my stitching rotation.  Hmmm!

Finishes for 2011, 2012, 2013--AND a 60% off sale on Rug Canvases

Feeling more like myself, I took advantage of the 3-day weekend over Christmas to go through previous blog posts to locate photographs of my finished projects for 2011, 2012, 2013.  Somehow, when I updated my computer, the photo files were lost before mid -2014.  Hence, the tedious ritual of going post by post.  When I found a photo of a finished item, I clicked on it and saved it to a jpeg.  Then I could post it on the appropriate year's page.  But it is done now--you might want to check the entries out.  I was amazed at how many ornaments I stitched in, I think, 2012.  Phenomenal!

SALE beginning January 2, 2017.  60% off all rug canvases.  This weekend I will be going through the listings and entering the sale price (60% off).  I've been ignoring my rug inventory, but it is now time to make a concerted effort to sell them.

Years ago, Alice Peterson had Stitch 'n Zip full-size Christmas stockings.  They have now added 5 stockings to their kit line, though without the zipper and backing.  They are 11x18 1/2" on 14-mesh interlock canvas and are kitted in embroidery floss.  I sell many hand-painted Christmas stockings, but have looking for several years for inexpensive kits.  Hooray!

Looking at the individual designs, there are so many opportunities for using pattern-stitches.  Kathy has offered a nice variety of subjects.  Now, to keep adding to them (says Ms Greedy Guts!).

Some Surprise Canvases for Christmas

After the Dallas market in September, I ordered some canvases from Melissa Shirley.  They were for the shop, not customers.  I totally forgot about them.  It was a pleasant surprise when they appeared Wednesday.  I was just thinking that we needed something new to spark up the place!

This egret is part of Melissa's series of large canvases (18x18 or 20x20--in that ball park).  The center design is also available as an 8x8 on 13m or 5x5 on 18m.

 This Bewitched banner has such detail in the letters, while the background allows for large pattern stitches.

 I like to name images in canvases like this witch bicycling with her familiar.

 What a nice combination of shells, flowers, and fruits.

Titled "Tea by the Sea"; it definitely isn't in Florida, but I find it so restful to look at.

For a future blog entry, I am working on variations of the Nobuko stitch.  Friday, I was just congratulating myself for completing a square of the double Nobuko; when I noticed that a third of the way through, I switched to the alternating double Nobuko.  That is what I was doing on the square below this one.  Brain dead, that's what I am!  I picked it out and managed to restitch it before leaving for the holiday.

Paternayan yarn color wheels

Monday morning I was pointedly reminded that shops on both sides of the southern Florida peninsula  south of Vero Beach no longer sell Paternayan yarn.  I had a customer drive 1 1/2 hours north to purchase 4 ounces of Paternayan from me.  Over the years, I have clung to Paternayan for several reasons:  1) many of my customers are traditionalists from New England who cling to yarn; 2) I sell many rug canvases.  I cannot in good faith kit them in silk 'n ivory or another fiber; 3) Paternayan's color range is attractive and is easy to adapt to bargello or counted needlepoint available in hard-back needlepoint books.  At the moment I can't think of other reasons, but I'm sure they will come to me at 2 a.m.!

Over the years, there have only been 2 shades of Paternayan that Needle Nicely does not stock.  That is because they are too close to their surrounding shades.  One is in the 480's and the other in the 680s.

Here are the color wheels that we offer to customers to aid them in their selection of colors.

We have many customers who mail us a 2 or 3" piece of yarn for us to match.  If you tell us the mesh and area you are trying to cover, we can determine how much yarn you will need.

Christmas hours and a display idea

EDIT:  It has been pointed out to me that December 26th is a federal holiday (just like January 2nd), so Needle Nicely will NOT be open that day.  So four days next week and four days again the first week in January.  Hope to see you then.

Needle Nicely will be open December 26th through December 30th, 10 to 5 as usual.  We will also be open the next week, January 3rd through January 6th, 10 to 5.  I didn't realize that, I think, obscure law, that makes January 2nd a federal holiday.  Go figure.  As I am still recuperating (and Macy and Marcia are both headed North for 2 weeks to visit family and friends), I can use the extra day off.  I took massive doses of steroids from mid-November to the first week in December and my body is still trying to cope with the withdrawal symptoms.  And my friendly diuretic, with which I have lost 15 pounds of water from my feet and lower legs, persists in giving me a wake-up call every 35 to 45 minutes.  I'm sorry I didn't purchase stock in Charmin!

We've been in this location since the first of November 2005.  There is a back pegboard wall that nothing can penetrate, tape will not adhere.  We've tried almost everything.  This time, I think we have the solution.  We have attached a piece of fabric to the board above the pegboard.  Now we can pin canvases on the fabric.  It only took us 11 years to figure that one out!

That is a Santa from Amanda Lawford that I brought back from the Dallas market.  We'll be adding other canvases to this display--and perhaps will even change them periodically!

The Perils of Stitching in Bad Light

As I have previously mentioned, Needle Nicely is stitching three belt canvases for a customer.  I haven't been able to do much stitching at the shop, so I brought one home.  I slowly discovered that the floor lamp beside me wasn't up to the task of lighting my work.  I've never done so many straight up or across stitches in my life!   And, I managed to use my left thumb as a pin cushion.

Thank goodness, a solution was not far away.  It's a bit cumbersome, but I folded the belt with a clothes pin and then clamped my Jansjo lamp onto the bottom left edge.  Works like a dream!  Though it isn't exactly the perfect stitching motion!

On another note--Earthlink email (which Needle Nicely has had for over 25 years in various guises) has been down since about 4pm Monday.  They totally were off-line for hours on Tuesday--no response.  Nada.  I finally reached them Tuesday about 6pm and received a munificent $5 credit for 3 days of no email, though they say it will only be 2 days.  Time will tell.   Amazing how our lives have changed that it is so frustrating to not be able to send and receive email.  Mary to the world--I do not need any more aggravation at this moment in my life!!

Be Merry, 13

I stole some time away from my stitching for customers to stitch the "E" on Be Merry and a stripe or two of pattern-stitch on the fringe below.  I also tossed in some blue background.

The "E" is done in the slanted gobelin in red alternating with a single pink continental stitch.  I like the look and it was definitely a quick stitch.

On the health front, I have had reactions to two different antibiotics, so the last 3 weeks have been spent on a steroid high.  Thank goodness, things are looking up.  Though please don't mention diuretics to me in the next millennium!

And I am madly packing and shipping finished Christmas items to customers so they arrive well before the big day.  It's at times like this that I think of all the people who come in and comment "I want to work in a shop like this where I can sit and stitch all day".  Me, too!

Back in the day

Monday I had a visit from Anne Jones from The Black Sheep near Orlando.  She bought the shop from Caro about 10 years ago.  She drove over to pick up the canvas taping machine that Needle Nicely has owned since about 1986 or so.  It has been tucked into one of our many cabinets for lo these many years.  Marcia and I discovered it several weeks ago while looking for something else.

It was nice to spend some time chatting with Anne.  And a nice sidebar is she discovered the empty DMC cabinets.  It was love at first sight and the last 8 boxes disappeared quickly into her car.  I'm doubly glad they are gone--firstly because Anne was so pleased; and secondly because my customers were noticing them after my recent sale.  They were more and more convinced that I am closing.  Not in this lifetime.  Just look at all the inventory!  What was so perfect about Anne's buying the cabinets is that she drove over. The shipping on the boxes is almost as much as I was selling them for ($37.50).

Anne and I spent some time talking about the industry.  I mentioned how 40 years (or more) ago Trubey discovered that other designers were less than helpful about sharing tips about production, paints, sources for supplies.  Barbara Eyre was a notable exception.  Pru di Vincenzo, the original owner of Tapestry Tent, told Trubey and I she wouldn't walk the show floor because people were so quick to make accusations of copying of designs.  Anne told me that Caro had warned her that many shop owners were determinedly not helpful.  I'm proud to say that Needle Nicely has offered advice to 3 shops--Holly from Absolutely Needlepoint in Coconut Grove, Miami; Kathy from Needlepoint Alley in North Palm Beach, and Erin from Needlepoint Land in Stuart.  My feeling is some business decisions can be costly mistakes.  If I can help others avoid them, all the better for the success of their business.  Brick and Mortar Needlework stores now have a private facebook group where we can ask for dyelots of fibers or what company sells something, or just share thoughts, so the ice has thawed.

Anne brought a Christmas present for me, which I thought was so thoughtful.

It looks especially lovely when the lights are shining.

Moment of truth

I was scrolling through my past posts and came across the entry for my decision to upgrade my ticket to Dallas Love Field using Delta frequent flyer points.  It cost me 30,000 points each way.  Frankly, it was a bust.  I thought I would be able to access the First class lounge, but I was quickly told by the baggage checker that that wasn't going to happen.  The only differences from cabin to first class was that I got to board after the babies.  Then I was offered a free alcoholic beverage (at 6 am?) and on the return it was after 9am.  I could keep drinking until the plane landed, but then I would truly need the wheelchair that I had requested for my transit through the airports.  So I won't waste those miles again.

Another downer was I found that our new hotel didn't have a free shuttle service to Love Field.  There goes another $38.40 (including tip which the driver didn't seem to realize that I had paid in advance).

I do think Delta ignored the fact that my suitcase may have weighed more than 50 pounds.  And they marked it as Priority, so it was one of the first 20 suitcases off the airplane.

All things considered, I think the next time I will save my 60,000 miles (30,000 each way) and go somewhere else or donate them to charity.

EDIT:  I mentioned my disappointment in a questionnaire Delta sent me about my entire trip experience.  As a result, they gave me 7500 miles and hinted that perhaps the next trip I could arrange to use the 1st class lounge.  I prefer not to pay real money (like $50), but wouldn't mind it as a perk.  I'll have to think about whether I will spend 60,00 nules for a repeat trip without access to the 1st class lounge.

The ins and outs of blogging

Someone asked me yesterday how long a blog entry took me.  I think he meant the actual time writing and posting.  That takes from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the subject.  But it doesn't begin to take into account the prep time.  Have I made any progress stitching on my latest projects?  If I am taking photographs; I have to take, download, and then edit them.  And,if the topic isn't stitching, what can it be?  Should it be a discussion of a finer point of needlepoint (like determining quantities of fibers); or merely showing photographs of new inventory.

And a good ratio of topics is a consideration.  I try to make at least 50% of my entries about my stitching projects.  Perhaps 20 or 25% personal opinions and/or rants; and the other 25% or 30% new items. I try to never photograph the finished projects of customers, because many of them are presents, and who am I to spoil the surprise?  Most of the canvases Needle Nicely stitches for customers never see

the light of day on blog.  There again, no reason to announce to the world that the mother/grandmother/whoever didn't do the stitching herself.  She had the idea for a gift and shouldn't be publicly punished for not being able to finish stitching it.  This past winter I stitched a Christmas stocking for a customer.  No one cared who stitched it, they just wanted a beautiful product.  I spent a lot of time coming up with stitches and then stitching that stocking.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  I also think the photos I took of different areas will help others come up with ways to use the stitches I used.

Incidentally, it was only this afternoon that I realized that of the 10 or 15 blogs I try to follow, all are by women.  I know there are male stitchers (I have about 6 among my customer base), but none of them seem to want to share their ideas and feelings about stitching.  Another factor in who writes blogs--I think the marathon November (NaBloPoMo) every day blogging (some do this in March instead) was to encourage people to get into the habit of writing a day and eventually either compiling their entries into a book or letting bloggers realize that they could write a book, if only if they got into the habit of writing daily.  However, I just want you to visualize me, sitting at my computer every Wednesday and Saturday evening, with a vodka and water by my side, trying to communicate to you what I think is so wonderful about this pastime (and industry).

Some new items

In the midst of a very successful Small Business Saturday, Fedex appeared with a shipment from a needlework supply house.  I was thrilled by the box's contents because one was the Wonder Marker, blue disappearing marker.  I had been searching unsuccessfully for over 2 years since Chernin went out of business.  Ah, bliss!

The box also contained some unusual bell pull hardware.  We  have little demand for this today, but do try to provide a selection.

These are for needlepoint 5 1/4-5 1/2".  The silver one is chrome.  I'm not sure the gold one is brass or just plated.

This chrome triangle measures 10".

I also purchased something to experiment with--a pill remover to see if it will help remove the pilling on some stitching.  I thought it was worth a try!

Lap Stands for Needlepoint Frames

In the past few years, more of my customers are doing pattern stitches (versus continental or basketweave in hand), so they are using frames to hold the needlepoint. I prefer stretcher bars since they keep my stitching tighter, though I do have roller frames made years ago by our friendly carpenter in Blowing Rock.  I have sold Two System 4 Traveling Stands in the past four months.  In fact, I just sold that second one this week, and I wish I had taken a photo.  Its beauty its total collapsibility--a real positive with my customers who travel so often to other homes.

I personally am an advocate of the K's Creations Lap Frames, though I am not fond of their clumsy Universal Clamp.  Fortunately, I had a friend's husband make about a dozen sets of the original metal clamp years ago after K's discontinued them.  Fortunately, those metal clamps surfaced last winter when Macy did her clean sweep inside some Needle Nicely cabinets.

This is the LaPetite stand for very small projects such as ornaments and 5x5 canvases.  The stand will tell you if you're trying to attach too large a frame, because it will tip over.  Notice that Universal
Clamp.

There are three additional sizes of the K's Creations lap stands.  I am awaiting deliver on the Small
(it seems to be the most popular).  The other two sizes shown are the Medium and the Large.  Notice the smaller metal clamps.  The one on top is the newer version.  It has knobs to tighten or loosen when adjusting the length of the stand.  Much better than the former version that had tiny wooden flaps to try and control movement.

Today I received from the finisher my Pippin Hearts. inserted into a pillow.  I'm showing it here and will then be entering it on the list of 2016 finishes to the right of blogger.

On another, perhaps more manic note--I lost my camera last and this morning.  I tore the shop apart after having searched at home in the most likely spots.  Nada.  When I came home this afternoon, I did some excavating around my computer.  Thank goodness it was lurking in the weeds.  It did cause me to resurrect the other camera I received when my original went on the blink years ago.  Now I need to find it a memory card and batteries, so it can leap into action.  Someone mentioned that my i-phone also had a camera.  It will be centuries before I tackle how to transfer those photos to my computer.  Taking the pictures is only the easy part.  I'm not looking forward to a life of constantly searching for my glasses, my camera, my i-phone...and I suppose the list will go on and on.  Sigh!

Sickness--something I don 't do well. Also, Small Business Saturday

Two weeks ago at the shop (Tuesday and Wednesday) I had some episodes of chills and fever in the afternoon.  Neither Dotty or Macy or I had a second's thought--I  just put on a sweater.  HOWEVER,
Friday night I started having really intense chills.  I spent Saturday and Sunday in bed, sleeping sporadically.  I'd sleep for an hour and a half or two, wake to go to the bathroom; out into the living room for an hour,  back to bed--repeat as  required to get through the day and night.

Thank goodness I am a concierge patient with my gp.  I called Monday morning, went in at 11am, received a cortisone shot and a prescription for a zpack.  I also had my sinuses and chest x-rayed.  I tease the x-ray technician that she almost has a complete inventory of my body--and when will she publish the book?  To avoid the gruesome details, something in a bottom lob of a lung and something in my sinuses.  The cortisone shot ensured that I would receive no sleep (until 6am) Tuesday morning.  Got a lot done--talked with Indiiia about for over 1 1/2 hours about why I could suddenly not send emails.  Finally gave up at 4:30.  Woke up to discover that I could no longer receive email, also.  Went to the shop until noon, since Macy had a commitment.  Then home to rest in bed like a latke, no sleeping.  Upon surfacing, called Indiiia again. Discovered the man from the night before had solved his problems by deactivating my email accounts, thus explaining why no activity.  No one admitted that, but I was helped to settle the problem of sending and receiving emails.  HOWEVER, I couldn't send a photograph as an attachment. Big bummer since I often send photos of canvases to inquiring customers.  So, after dinner (soup), I called again and finally managed to have the problem solved.  Approximately 5 hours spent listening to sometimes very English, sometimes very rapid, sometimes very soft, conversation with about 8 different technicians from Earthlink in India.  I could never have been able to do it if I felt 100% or had spent the day at work.  So, thank you cortisone!

The good news is that I am feeling better everyday.

On another topic:  Next Saturday, November 26, 2016, is Small Business Saturday sponsored by Amex.  This is the only Saturday in the year that Needle Nicely is open (10am to 5pm).  I will be offering 20% off no matter how you pay, though if you have registered with Amex, they have a great deal.  This offer is open to in-store, email and phone orders, so you if know something you are dying for, just call me 772-567-6688.  I always make an early stop at our local bookstore, The Vero Book Center, to pick up a few necessities since they open earlier than I do and Vero is small enough, I can make it happen.

New canvases, hooray! And 700th blog post!

Received several shipments of canvases today.  First, some canvases from Amanda Lawford.  I just love this Bear cabin for painting, stitching, canoeing, biking, etc.  I think it's one of those canvases that children will want to pick out the various details.  Not to mention it will be fun to stitch!

 This is one of Amanda's elegant overall patterns.  Change the background color and we change it's personality entirely.

This is an ornament of a dressed-for-snow little girl by The Artists Collection.

                                   And the accompanying young boy, similarly bundled.

 Vero Beach has a high school girl's lacrosse team that has won many state championships.  Even though  this seems to be a boy, I think it could easily gain a pony tail.

This swan canvas is the 5x5 18-mesh version.  There are two  other versions of this designs--one is 8x8 on 13mesh.  The larger version is approximately 18x18 on 13mesh.  The larger versions also have a 2 or 3 inch border with some delightful designs.

 And swallow-tailed hummingbirds on 13mesh that is 8x8.  It was so sensible of Melissa to introduced these smaller sizes since the larger versions range in size from 18" to 23".  Many people don't want to tackle that large a project.

EDIT:  Anne Stradal mentions in a comment the lack of 18mesh, but I neglected to indicate which ones are.  The first by Amanda is, the 2nd I think so, but will have to check. It is. The 3 ornaments are all 18mesh.  The Melissa canvases come in 18mesh for the 5x5 image and 13 mesh for the 8x8 and the 18x18  or larger versions with a border.

The lull after the storm--literally!

We hsd several weeks (I checked, October 7) after Hurricane Matthew to organize the shop again  before the 35th anniversary sale Oct 31-Nov 4.  We had time to get the pillows back up on the shelf around the ceiling of the shop, and a few canvases were placed on the walls.  Then I put some retired shop models near the front door, hoping they would attract attention (not so much, we have only sold 3).

The sale was successful, though I was disappointed that no one from south of Vero drove up to take advantage of it.  I thought posting  it on Facebook, on my blog and in my sale newsletter would be sufficient to spread the word.  It has gotten so the cost of newspaper advertising has become prohibitive so I didn't do any of that.

Remnants of the sale remain--all canvases marked "sale" are 50% off the sale price.  Also, all "vintage" books in the bookcase are 50% off.  This does not apply to the newer stitch books NOT on the bookcase.  Over the years, when I have traveled, I have frequented bookstores that specialize in "old" books.  Therefore, I have a great selection of out-of-print needlepoint books dealing with various aspects of the art from finishing to bargello to alphabets to oriental to....the list goes on and on.  Give me a call if you are interested in a specific title (772-567-6688).  I have lots of Maggie Lane, an abundance of Pageant of Pattern, Elsa Williams' bargello, etc., etc.

As I have mentioned before, very little stitching has been occurring.  I did manage a few more stripes on Be Merry and a few more strands of the background.

Ah, aren't cell phones marvelous! NOT!

First, a confession.  Last Monday, at the end of the day, I couldn't locate my i-phone.  I wanted to take it home to charge it.  Now, you must understand that I have my cell phone for several reasons:  to call "my driver" when I return from a needlepoint market so he can pick me up outside baggage claim; to call my husband when I leave the HD opera broadcasts so he can pick me up; and to call Needle Nicely when I am at wholesale needlepoint markets.  I have no apps, I have about 15 contacts (including our favorite pizza place to order ahead for pick-up).  I regrettably never activated the app:  locate my cell phone.  I guess I'll be adding that one soon.  I also never activated messages, because I never give the number out.  It is a convenience for me, not a method of communication.  So however you got my cellphone number, never leave a message on it.  That far I ain't going.

Anyway, last Monday I couldn't find my cellphone at the shop, so I assumed I had left it at home (though I had a visual memory of putting it into my purse Monday morning).  It wasn't at home.  Hmmm.   So, Tuesday I called the number at home; and then when I got to the shop, I called it.  I knew it was fully charged.  It didn't ring in either location.

Tuesday afternoon, I called Verizon and suspended my service.  Then it occurred to me  to check and see if it had been used.  Of course, Verizon wouldn't let me lot into my suspended account.  Duh!

Originally, I had thought I would go to Verizon on Saturday and get a new i-phone.  I wasn't too concerned, since my missing phone was a 4-S (I lost confidence in Siri when I asked her the first week I owned my phone, where is the closest K-Mart--She told me to go to Port ST. Lucie--when it is about 40 yds from Needle Nicely in the same parking lot.)  Anyway, my husband and I decided I could wait, even though my new phone will cost me minimally, because I had no immediate use for it, no operas, no out-of-town trips.

Imagine my surprise, Monday morning (November 7, 2016), when I checked the answering machine for messages left over the previous weekend.  My ornament finisher left a message to call her.  She had found a black i-phone in a silver case in the bag at the bottom of the ornaments I had just sent her for Christmas finishing.  Naturally, there was no identification on it.  When I called her, she was getting ready to go to Verizon to find out who owned it.  I have no idea how it got in the finishing box.  A brain fart?  The good news is that she will me sending it back to me when she sends the ornaments back to me.  No rush--the next HD opera I am attending will be in January.  (And no trips for the foreseeable future).

So, I have learned that I must add "locate me" to my cell phone and I may also ask for help to add messages.  Old dogs learn slowly--I was even looking fondly at my old flip-phone.

Christmas tree display case

Almost 40 years ago when Needle Nicely was only located in Blowing Rock, NC, we had someone steal a model of a Christmas ornament. Someone said to me, it was only an ornament.  Well, yes.  But I think of the price of the canvas, the cost of the fibers, the time it took me to stitch it, and then the cost of making it into an ornament.  I only have so much stitching time (the most important aspect of the formula).   Trubey and I conferred about this and came to the conclusion we needed a case that we could lock.  We would have a Christmas tree painted on the back and we would then place out finished Christmas ornaments on the painted tree.  The case was then locked. It was dismaying how often we heard the lock chatter as people tried to open the case.

 When we decided to open the shop in Vero Beach, FL, we knew we had to have another Christmas tree case.  We had a wonderful carpenter in Blowing Rock who did a magnificent job on the first, so we asked him to do another. The painting of the trees was done on two different occasions (about 2 years apart).  I have to chuckle because the tree for Blowing Rock was definitely a gigantic "pot" plant (the artist was a local who was often high--he later went on to design sets in Hollywood!). Amazingly, none of our customers noticed!   We later sold that case to a friend of ours in Miami at the Naughty Needle.  She has since closed her shop.  

Wednesday, Macy added the past few year's ornaments to the case.  Regrettably, few people really examine the ornaments in the case, so while it prevents loss; it also limits the visibility of the ornaments.

If you look closely, you can see Needle Nicely's limited edition ornaments hanging from the shelf above the Christmas tree case.  

Rearranging the pillows on the shelves around the top of the walls

As I have said previously, before Hurricane Matthew Marcia and I took all of the pillows down from the shelves around the top of Needle Nicely's walls.  We stashed them in cabinets all around the shop.
When we dug them out, Marcia took them outside and banged them together to eliminate some of the dust.  Then I weeded a few out (like an old beginner class model that we no longer use).  Those you can see in the list to the right at the top of the page (discontinued models on sale).  The prices are really steals.

Saturday Macy came in and we proceeded to return the pillows to the shelves, changing  their positions from where they had been.  Macy was the climber of choice.  She also put some more canvases on the walls to accompany those Marcia and I had put up.  The remaining blank spaces will be filled, probably next week after the sale.  I'm hoping that this week we are going to be too busy to think about things like that.  Here are pictures of the current situation.