February 27, 2009

Ready for another finish? Ha! I sure did! Number eight in the Year of the Sampler! I stayed up until I completed the inside cover of A Stitcher's Companion. At 4:20am the last stitch went in. I know the words don't show up in this thumbnail, but if you click on it and look at the enlarged picture, you can read the entire personalization.

I want to thank Debi for her help in finding the alphabet that I used. I disliked the text that EL used. Debi stayed up until the wee hours one morning searching through her books of alphabets and scanning them for me to look at. I adapted this one a little bit here and there because it had a little too much stylization, but I think it goes much better with the letters on the spine. I felt that the original lettering was far too different and didn't mesh at all with the baroque style of capital letters used.

Now I have three inside pages and all the pockets to stitch. I think, when contemplated as a whole, this project would be considered a BAP! I'm counting each page as a separate finish and am very anxious to see them come together into the book.

As I go along I think of another idea here and there to use on the final product. I've already decided not to use the dragonfly charm. I'm going to keep my eye out for something that's more "me." I'd love to find a Golden Retriever head or a very pretty porcelain bead or brooch with a horse or something purple that would identify it with me. I guess you'll find out as soon as I do when/if I find the right item to attach in the front motif. I'm also considering using a closure of some type so that threads, scissors, and needles don't go flying when you pick up the book. I'll let you know what else comes to mind as it happens.
More birthday goodies arrived today! Mr Mailman delivered cards and floss from Linda B, Lynn, and Vickie. Thank you all!

I'm guessing Monday at dialysis was a fluke because as soon as I tried to bend my arm today the machine alarmed and my arm hurt. It still does, as a matter of fact. This CryoVein is thinner than the artificial graft, so I feel more sensation than before. I guess everything is a trade-off. The graft was thick and I couldn't hurt myself by moving my arm, but it couldn't handle my low blood pressure and kept clotting. The CryoVein is thinner so the nerves around it can feel when I move, but it withstands my low blood pressure and keeps flowing. Such is life!

This is my progress on the first inside page of ASC. All the pages are outlined in two strands of silk so that they can be whip stitched together during the finishing process. Actually, this is the first two inside pages, with six total, but there are only three panels.

Amy wrote me an email asking about the needles I use and while replying to her I had an epiphany regarding my eczema. I cannot wear any jewelry without having an eczema breakout on my hands. Even necklaces and earrings cause my hands to break out. I stopped wearing sterling silver because that caused the worst breakouts and bought some 18ct gold instead. It didn't matter. It finally clicked in my brain that if metal jewelry causes the breakouts, this latest flare-up must be caused by my use of metal tapestry needles! The lower the quality of metal, the worse the breakout!

Now I have to do two things:

1. buy rubber gloves or rubberized fingertips (like the ones used to separate money or when filing papers) so that I don't actually touch the needles anymore, and
2. buy new gold-plated needles from busylizziecrafts on eBay because almost all of the gold from the ones I bought three years ago has been worn off.

I can't do anything about my dialysis needles, so I hope decreasing the amount of contact I have with tapestry needles will help. Quitting stitching is not an option! Since this latest flare-up has lasted almost six months, I'm really hoping it this experiment works. I'm probably going to add this issue to the list of things I need to discuss with my doctor on the 10th.