Guten Morgen!

Look at this gorgeous piece of vintage redwork I found while out thrifting this week! This piece of linen is edged at the top and bottom with a bit of lace, and is fairly large - I think it may have been used as a curtain or wall hanging.



It has the most beautifully executed satin stitch. I can do many things with a needle and thread, but satin stitch isn't among them. I'm always on the look-out for hand embroidery in the thrift shops. So many hours go into creating a piece like this, and then someone decides it's of no more use and sends it off to the charity shops. I'd be willing to bet that the stitcher didn't part with this themselves - no doubt, they passed on and some wretched ingrate of a non-crafting child sent it packing. I'll add here that my children aren't like that - in fact, Elly promptly claimed this for herself when she saw it, though it's going to live with me while she's studying in Ireland.



I'm not sure if my photo is good enough, but there are two shades of red this stitcher has used. Wow. As I said earlier, just gorgeous!

And look! Look!!!



We have a new front door, and it's a real stunner (my photos really don't do it justice). The centre panel of glass is in a Frank Lloyd Wright style - so, so stunning - and the inside is covered in wood which will be stained to match the trim.



And look! Look!!!

We also had a new storm door installed - also a stunner - just a plain sheet of glass, the dogs love it,



but don't look! Don't Look!!! At those terrible brown patches all over the front lawn - I swear we had lots of rain the very next day and it greened up considerably.

And as for my latest projects? Well I've pretty much finished the tot cardigan for Elly's little cousin Johann. I just need to add some buttons - I think mother-of-pearl would be sweet.



And for Elly and Johann's new cousin, who should be arriving in the next few weeks:



A sweet wee jacket, bonnet and booties set. This also needs buttons - again I'm thinking mother-of-pearl - and I'll make some bishop's cord for the bonnet and booties, but now wait, before you start thinking that everything is going super fantastic, well...

I started that Seaweed Shawl, remember?



I made twelve of those long tendrils and began the body of the shawl, I'd worked about six inches, when I realised I was doing one of the stitches all wrong and had fewer and fewer stitches with each row.

It looks like this now:



Very sad.

I decided instead to work on an easier shawl. The Storm Water Shawl by Handmaiden Yarns in the recommended yarn Sea Silk in colourway Lily Pond. It's so much easier than the seaweed shawl (which I'll get to later this summer).



And lastly, here's a sneak peek at the handmade for May:



Glub, glub. I'll try to post sooner next time.

I'll also try to get all my photos going the right direction.