Family Sampler

So I've decided to concentrate on the Little House Needleworks Family Sampler that I'm making for my brother and SIL for Christmas. I realized Christmas isn't that far away (in crafting terms) so I'd better get moving. Plus this thing seems huge! Not difficult though, so that's good. Seeing as Janelle isn't my actual sister-in-law, I'm kind of hoping this might end up a wedding present instead. We'll have to see about that...

Family Sampler (c) Little House Needleworks

32 ct vintage buttercream linen

started 7/8/14, 8/5/14 - 20 hours

I've hit a couple of minor snags already. The square in the upper left corner is supposed to have an "R" in it, but the "R" in the large alphabet included with the chart looks weird to me. Kind of cartoony, and nothing like the other letters. So I think I'll have to figure out another "R" to use, which shouldn't be too hard. And the other thing really isn't a snag as much as just an annoyance. The leaves on the vine next to the square are supposed to alternate between a DMC floss and a Classic Colorworks overdyed floss. But in real life there's hardly any difference between the two colors. I think this is either due to the fact that the floss is dyed differently between when the pattern first came out and when I got around to making it, or it's just the photography. I run into this a lot when picking fabric colors. Usually whatever the background looks like on the pattern isn't anywhere close to what the fabric actually looks like. (Case in point, this fabric is actually light yellow - not whatever it looks like in the phone above.)  But as for the leaves, I didn't really notice the (lack of) difference until I had stitched more than I'd want to frog, so it is what it is. I don't think anyone else would even notice.

I guess there's really 3 snags - I bought this fabric with the pattern from 123stitch, as it was what was called for. It's supposed to be 32 count, but I think it's really more like 30 count. It doesn't sound like it should make that much of a difference, but the chart barely fits on this piece of fabric. Hopefully it won't be an issue when I go to frame it!

In other news, the PMC has come and gone, and it was really a much different experience this year. It poured!! I don't know if I've ever been that wet. But as I was standing there (absolutely soaked) cheering in the riders as they hit the finish line in Bourne, it really put the whole thing in perspective. Usually the weekend is a lot of work and very tiring, but mostly fun. This year was not quite as fun - too cold and wet. But I figure it was not as bad as actually riding 192 miles, and absolutely nothing compared to what people like my boss Tom are going through in their fight with cancer. So I sucked it up and cheered my little heart out. Toby was grilling this year (bbq chicken) and really enjoyed it. It was the first year he felt he was really productive (and nothing to do with the fact that the grills were pretty close to the free beer tent, I'm sure!) We'll definitely do it again next year (it'll be my 5th year, his 4th), but I really hope it's sunny!