November 2023 – Karen Turner Stitching Life

November

Thirty days, thirty boxes, one box a day. Counting the days, observing the minutes, watching time as it hurtles past.

As always, I’ve only used very simple embroidery stitches – mostly variations on running stitch and straight stitch, with a little blanket stitch here and there. Life is complicated enough without trying to figure out double braided Hungarian dragon stitch, whatever that might be. I may have just made that up.

It looks more complex than it is probably because of the variations in colour and thread weight. Some threads are very fine; some are thicker. There is probably meaning in the colour and thread weight I choose for a given day, but if there is then it’s unconscious.

You can only see the patterns in your life when you’re far enough away to be able to look back on them. Close up, it’s hard to see a difference. But stand back and squint, and you can usually make sense of the threads.

There is still no date for our house move. Today’s square is the shadowy ghost of a house. I know (I hope) our new home is waiting for us, but without a date I can’t connect with it. And frustratingly, I can’t (daren’t) start any packing.

I will have to temporarily close the shop for a week or two when we do get a date because at some point I will have to pack everything away. In the meantime, if you’d like to help me have less to pack, there are quite a few threads left and some of the fabric scraps packs are reduced. I’ll post updates here when I know more about when the shop will close, but keep in mind that we may not get much notice. My last international posting date is 6th December.

Also, while we’re on housekeeping, my stitch journal PDF templates are now available in my Teachable school as well as in my online shop. They’re exactly the same templates, just in two places at once. This is in response to requests from those of you who signed up for my Intuitive Daily Stitching class (thank you) and wanted easier access to the templates. If you’ve already bought the templates from the shop (and thank you, if you have) then please don’t buy them again from Teachable. If you have problems downloading any templates, or if you’ve lost access to them, please let me know so that I can email them to you.

I think that brings us all up to date – and here we are, poised on the doorstep of December, wondering what the last thirty-one days of the year will bring.

Next month, stars:

December (yes, it’s biro. All the outlines will be covered up)

Dear Diary

Last year I bought a diary, to help me plan my newly self-employed activities for the year. I had great hopes for it. I planned to write down all the weird and wonderful national days, like National Kazoo Day and Inane Answering Message Day (28th and 30th January respectively, if you’re interested) or World Three-Legged Zombie Day (ok, that one’s yet to be confirmed).

I intended to plan and schedule blog posts, dyeing days, shop updates, accounts days, and lots of other things besides. It was a great plan.

Here’s a fairly typical diary page from this year:

blank. Of course I will recycle and reuse the paper.

It’s not that I have nothing to do.

It’s that I have So. Much. To. Do that I haven’t got time to write anything in the diary. I did fairly hit the ground running in January, and it’s been pretty much non-stop ever since, but it’s mostly reactive activity rather than planned activity. Fire-fighting is exhausting, and I see now that I do really need to set aside some time to plan things better. I’ve been so busy this year that I haven’t found the time (and if I’ve had the time then I haven’t had the energy) to make the art that I thought would be possible.

Next year I really must make time to use the diary for effective planning and scheduling, because all work and no play is no good for anyone. There are Skillshare classes I want to take. I want to become more proficient with Procreate. There are all kinds of messy mixed media avenues I want to explore. I want to make sketchbooks and draw more. I will schedule and ring-fence play times. All play and no work is no good either, of course. I will also schedule strategic planning meetings with myself and maybe even a weekly team meeting (can you be a team of one?) It’s a good plan. Let’s see if any of that works.

So I’ve bought another diary and next year I will try again. I will only use it for planning, not for writing my life story as it unfolds. It will be a purely administrative tool, holding and measuring time, and will let me see how I can use my time better.

All of the above has been a very lengthy – and probably very dull – prologue to the real content of this post. As you may know, I like to make covers for books. Just because. Making a slip cover for a book is quite quick and easy – you just need something long enough to wrap around the book and under the front/back covers and something an inch or so wider on each long side.

I placed a few scraps on a foundation cloth. The ragged vintage lace down the spine was exactly the length I needed. I always think if something fits exactly without needing to be cut or shaped, then it was probably meant to be there. The lines are fairly straight, but the photo is a bit crooked.

A little hand stitch here and there and it was soon done.

diary front cover (eco dyed leaf fabric from Jane Hunter Textiles)

I stencilled 2024 onto a piece of painted card and attached it by over-laying a scrap of sheer tulle that has little dots on it and just stitched around the edge:

Once the stitching on the front, back, and spine is complete, you can turn the long edges down so that the height of the cover is about 1/4″ longer than the height of the book. I just tack the hem down with tiny stitches on the surface because you won’t really see the wrong side.

For the wrap-around edges, I usually just try the book cover on the book, wrong side outwards, folding the long sides around book and then closing the book to make sure it’s not too tight. I can then mark the outer edge with a pin and oversew along the top and bottom edges to create the slip case for the front and back covers. There are lots of other ways to do this. I’m sure there will be many tutorials online for making book covers like this one.

Turn everything right side out again and the book just slips nicely into the cover.

I like it.

And there we are, fit for the future. I can see next year coming and I’ll be ready for it.

Thanksgiving

We don’t have Thanksgiving here in the UK, but I thought today would be a good opportunity to say this: thank you for being here.

I couldn’t continue doing what I do without the kind support of customers, readers and friends around the world. I’m thankful for it every day.

Joining

You may recall this sample made as an example of what might happen with the 2024 stitch journal map

stitch journal 2024 (artist’s impression)

and this failed sample of the patchwork version:

Two orphan samples, both alike in dignity, but – unlike Shakespeare’s ill-fated star-crossed lovers – destined for a happy ending after all. I’d prepared my stitch journal for next year, tracing the templates:

stitch journal 2024 (yes, that’s blue biro)

It’s the same fabric as the last two years – vintage cotton/linen, from an old French bed sheet. Next year will be a large square rather than a long strip, just to see how that works. It’s ended up about 36″ inches (ish) square (allowing for a little border around the stitched area), and folds up quite nicely. Then I thought it’s going to need a cover of some sort, just as a little protection from dust and light.

Aha, I thought. You probably know what’s coming next:

A little extra work, and it looks as if that might be a nice way to combine both samples into a Useful Thing. Not that everything needs to have a purpose, but they turned out to be exactly the right size, and I always think that’s a Sign. I’ve made the cover slightly roomy to allow for some expansion because the cloth will become slightly thicker as it’s stitched. I’ve found it surprising to see how much bulk is added by thread as the months pass.

A few hedges (textured yarn, couched with one strand of DMC) and a little extra stitch here and there:

And there it is – it’s almost making itself. I’ve folded the lower half up, stitched the edges together, found a piece of fabric exactly the right size to make a lining, and then the other (embroidered) end will fold over, like a very simple clutch purse:

Still not finished, but you can see how this will work:

Ready for a new adventure next year.

Progress but slow

In the UK when you buy a house, it’s all very exciting at first but then there are weeks and weeks where nothing happens. The buyer’s and seller’s solicitors are all busy doing land searches, drawing up contracts, and asking each other questions. In the meantime you can’t do anything because there aren’t any dates for exchanging contracts or actually moving. Until contracts are exchanged, the buyer or seller can change their minds and withdraw at any point. It’s quite stressful even before you start packing.

So, for now, it’s a question of being stoical, trying to keep calm, and carrying on.

This doesn’t look any different, despite hours of work. Another case of art reflecting life.

It is actually quite calming.

I made a repeat pattern based on the fields and sampled it on a little zipper pouch from my RedBubble shop:

As a result of seeing it in real life I tweaked that weird wedge-shaped field/hedge and re-uploaded, so the current design looks slightly different. Better, I think.

Maybe next week there might be some news…

Month: November 2023

November

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Dear Diary

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Thanksgiving

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Joining

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Progress but slow

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