Sinister Craftiness

2010 humbug series:  Summer Wings and Autumn Glory by Just Nan
Blue Whisper and Golden Sand Cashel linen (28 ct)
Stitched with DMC

These two humbugs finish out the year’s series.  For fun, the humbugs are posing in Thing Two’s pumpkin vine.  He is hoping to grow his own pumpkin for Halloween.

In keeping with the cute bee beads on the summer humbug, here’s one of our neighbor’s honeybees collecting pollen in a pumpkin blossom.

How many humbugs can a pumpkin leaf support?  All of them!
(If you take the picture fast enough.)

It has been both a busy and mellow summer.  Thing One’s summer has been busy:  first, a return trip to Philmont for NAYLE, then three weeks away from home for the BSA National Jamboree in Virginia, followed by a week of scout camp, and he’s currently finishing up the summer by staffing a NYLT session.  Here’s Thing One at the airport, just home from the Jamboree.  He’s not quite taller than his parents yet, but he’s working on it.

All those adventures exhausted the family travel budget (and then some!) so the rest of us have stayed home.  Thing Two wanted a vegetable garden, and we’ve enjoyed tending it and watching his little crops grow.

2010 humbug series:  Spring Frills by Just Nan
Lavender Whisper Cashel linen (28 ct)
Stitched with DMC and GAST

Will it take a dash, a pinch or a smidgen of beads to finish this humbug?

The second installment in Just Nan’s humbug series took a little longer than expected to arrive, as the linen shipment was delayed from Zweigart due to the volcanic eruptions in Iceland.  But now it’s here, marking a pretty end to spring.  The special pin is a jeweled tulip.

I’m happy to report that I have my own camera again!  After the burglary I tried out several different point-and-shoot models, but couldn’t find anything I liked as well as the camera I had owned (which was no longer available in stores).  Finally one turned up on eBay for the right price and new in the box!  It is the black lens model (my original camera was the silver lens model) which led the Gimlet to remark that my camera is now wearing guyliner.  Nevertheless, it’s like welcoming back an old friend.

2010 humbug series:  Winter Hearts by Just Nan
White Opal Cashel linen (28ct)
Stitched with DMC and GAST

Thanks to El Niño, we are having one of the warmest winters on record in the Pacific Northwest while the rest of the country is solidly snowed in.  Just Nan’s Winter Hearts humbug is as close to snow and ice as we’re going to get around here.  (Not that I’m complaining:  last winter was our big one for blizzards, so it’s good to have a year off.)  Assembling a humbug is simple enough, but the design was intricate with a few specialty stitches to keep me busy.  The chart comes with the pretty snowflake pin.

Aren’t these scissors great?  If you haven’t seen it already, Yuko has set up a special scissor blog where she’s selling these and other scissors.  They are all adorable (look for more of her scissors to show up in my future stitching photos), and mine arrived about one week after placing the order.  Not bad for shipping from Japan!  Thank you, Yuko!

Over the Top/In the Tin 2009 series:  Glow by Just Nan
Opal Sparkling Promise Cashel linen (28ct)
Stitched with DMC and Kreinik #4 braid

First finish of the new year!  Glow rhymes with the rest of the year’s tins, but this tin top and humbug are all about sparkle, from the linen to the metallic braid, and the beads and charms.  Like the fireworks on New Year’s Eve, this is a dazzling end to a very enjoyable series of small projects.

Hootzi Humbug by Just Nan
Golden Sand Cashel linen (28ct)
Stitched with DMC and GAST

A humbug is a pyramid-shaped finish which can be used as a scissor fob, an ornament, a pincushion, or if the cat finds it, a cat toy until it is rescued.  This little guy, Hootzi, is the preview for Just Nan’s 2010 series of four humbugs.  A bad cold kept me from stitching this up as quickly as I would have liked, but once I got better he was a quick stitch and as the chart promises, a fast, easy, and fun finish.  Bring on more humbugs!

• A very helpful humbug tutorial on Plush