I know, I know....still behind and as scattered as ever :) Oh well, it is the story of my life. I have gotten a bit done though. I have about 10 inches of lace done and it looks pretty good. If I can stay at this pace, then I have no worries on it being finished well before the wedding. That is good :) I do have to get my friend started on her little "Baby Heather" edging for the sheets though. I'll probably end up helping do the pillowcases, but I would love to see her finish the sheet edging on her own.
I cut out the smock and shirt cuffs and have left them as one long strip. I put the strip onto a scroll frame and then transferred my blackwork pattern onto the fabric using a water erasable pen that I have had good sucess with in the past. I chose to use silk to stitch with as it seems to be the thread of choice in the extant examples shown in the Janet Arnold books, and I am using black to keep the color theme going in the outfit. I am using Rainbow Gallery's Splendor 12 ply silk, and I have broken it down to two thin strands that I am stitching with. this is a good long strand silk and is actually pretty tough thread, but very nice to work with. I want the stitching durable since it will be on my smock and my husband's shirt, but I also want it to look correct and feel good both in the stitching and in the wearing. I am also trying to keep it as reversable as possible, but I do have to tie it off somewhere, so I do have the occasional thick spot. I see that also in the surviving peices, so I don't feel too bad about mine.
Here's the front...
and here's the back....
I've been doing the double running stitch along the vine and then around the leaves and through the next section of the vine. I leave the vine undone until I run out of thread, and then I start my new thread at the beginning of the vine section, filling in until I get to where I left off. It works, and it leaves fewer bulky sections, I think...
I am paranoid about getting it dirty, so I have only been stitching on it at home and then only when the babies are napping or it is late and the kids are in bed. Needless to say, it has been slow going so far.
Another thing that has been slowing me down is simply that between the teething babies I watch, and my own kids' activities, I have been running around pretty crazily. Between Scouting and TaekwonDo, I have been doing a lot of waiting around but away from home. Being the person I am, I can't just wait around, I need to do Something! So I picked up some beautiful bamboo and acrylic yarn and am crocheting myself a scarf. I haven't "just crocheted" in awhile and this stuff feels so soft! I couldn't resist, and while I actually have to pay attention to most stitch work, the crochet I can just do without really watching my hands. It made attending my daughter's TaekwonDo testing a bit more enjoyable. I do like to watch her when she is actually doing something, but at testing it can be a lot of waiting too. So I got a goodly bit done while I was there...
I'll add fringe at the ends when the scarf is done. I love how it feels so far. It is going to feel heavenly around my neck :) I am always amazed at how wonderful bamboo feels.
Here is a picture of my daughter at her testing :)
She passed, so she now has green strips on her belt...She was so proud of herself :) Her brother will test in April for his next rank. He is just a few short steps away from his black belt. A bit nerve wracking for him, but I know he can do it.
The last thing I have been playing around with is an old kit that resurfaced when I was looking for a scroll frame for the cuffs. It is an African Folklore kit and it is rather fun to do. It is all very simple as there aren't any rules to the piece at all. The design is printed on the cotton fabric, and you are provided a hank of riotous colors to play with. The threads are a mix of cotton perl and wool and are very bright. It is the perfect thing to pick up your spirits when the lack of sun starts getting to you. I have been doing mostly chain stitch and some stem. I rather like the look of the voided spaces rather than filling it up with satin stitch. It is my other "travel around" kit right now.

That is it for now. I know I need to get more on track, but I think the influx of new snow hasn't helped my sense of wanting to hibernate. I could really use some green about now....