Work in Progress comments: 25

Thank you so, so, so much for your orders! Seriously, thank you! I haven't had a minute to jump back in here this week and the days are just flying by. So, I am in the weeds with lotion-bar orders that came in without a kit order, meaning they need to ship ASAP. I am trying to pour and package and ship over 200 orders just for the lotion bars right now, so I promise I am doing my best. I've shipped a hundred so far this week, but I really underestimated this one, I'm sorry! I've ordered more stickers, more tins, more supplies, everything, and I have the next two days while Andy is home to make and ship as many of these on their way as I can. So if you were among the first to order last week and haven't already received your advice of shipping, please watch for it over the next couple of days. Other people who ordered lotion bars to ship with Summer Storm kits, I am still planning to ship yours with your cross-stitch kit in July as discussed.

I've gotten a much higher number of emails with order amendments, requests for additions, etc., this time and I do answer those as quickly as I can. But, for the record, if you didn't add a lotion bar to your kit order and you would like to do so (and your first order has not shipped yet), the best way to do that is to place another order for the lotion bar (and anything else you would like) and leave me a note to combine your open orders on the order comment-box itself, and not sent in a separate email. I use a separate shipping app (ShipStation, which is awesome) for all of my shipping and it does a brilliant job of combining orders. But I must do that manually within the app itself, and I have a better chance of getting it right if you leave me a note within the order itself, where all the information is. Please know that I do not have access to credit card or PayPal information, and I cannot automatically add things to anyone's order, and I do not send invoices for extra items. Placing another order through the web site and leaving me a note is the best way for me to combine your open orders. With a volume of orders like this all at once, things always get a bit tricky to manage on my end, so thank you so much for your orders and your interest and your patience, and I promise you will be hearing from me soon.

Thank you, you sweetest people!
XOXOXO,
Alicia P.

Summer Storm Cross-Stitch Kit Now Available for Pre-Order comments: 43

The SUMMER STORM Cross Stitch Sampler Kit is now available for pre-order. Please CLICK HERE to order.

All week here in northwest Oregon we've had scorching hot weather and blazing sun broken by the onset of sudden cloud cover, wind, and thunder rumbling long and low across the sky. I have been thrilllllllled with these summer storms. They are exactly like I remember from my childhood in the Midwest, and are what I tried to capture in this little cross-stitch design. In my front garden here at home, today on Midsummer Day, my dahlias and daisies are just starting to bloom. I couldn't be happier to see gray skies and bright clouds. It's my favorite kind of summer weather. I'm weird, I guess.

Summer Storm is the third in a series of seasonal pieces I'm designing. The first, for winter, is called First Snow (a kit is available here; the pattern is here). The second, for spring, is called Time of Flowers, and unfortunately the kit for it is sold out (but the pattern is always available here).  A design for autumn (on the most delicious color I don't even know how to describe — sort of a rosy pale brown) will be forthcoming later this year. 

Vital Statistics:

Finished Size of Design Area: 6.25"w x 8.5"h (16cm x 22cm); 100 stitches wide x 138 high on 32-count fabric

The kit contains:

One 14" x 16" (36cm x 41cm) piece of 32-count evenweave Country French embroidery linen in Rain 258 from Wichelt
(54) 24" (61cm) lengths of various colors of DMC 6-ply cotton embroidery floss
Stitching instructions
Full-color cross-stitch chart with symbols over color blocks
One piece of chipboard for creating a floss organizer

You will need your own:

#24 tapestry needle(s) for cross stitch
Embroidery scissors
4" (10cm) embroidery hoop
Frame and framing supplies

If you are new to counted cross stitch, or need a refresher on the basics, please see my "how to do counted cross stitch" tutorial here.

This kit is designed to fit in a ready-made 8" x 10" frame. All you need to do is make sure the frame is deep enough to fit a piece of foam core (and glass, if you want to use glass. I never use glass. I don't like it. I have my embroidered pieces hanging all over the house, and I don't feel that they suffer appreciably for being exposed). What you will do is wrap you embroidery around a piece of foam core, and stretch it with the help of about a million sequin (about 1/2" long) straight pins. You can read my tutorial about how I've done that in the past (though I finished the rest of the framing with custom frames at a frame shop). But with an 8" x 10" piece you can even buy the pre-cut foam-core at the craft store (JoAnn's or Michael's, or easily online) for just a couple of dollars. A frame store can also cut foam core for you for just a few dollars if you ask nicely.

This kit will be shipping sometime toward the middle of July. I will order the fabric as soon as I get a handle on the number of pre-orders we're getting, but the distributor has a ton on-hand, so we will be able to take as many orders as needed. We will pull floss and assemble patterns and ship as soon as we have everything here.

The pattern-only option will also be available separately as a downloadable PDF, but not until sometime in the next couple of weeks. I'll post here when that is ready, too.

This kit is done with two plies of DMC cotton embroidery floss on 32-count linen. That means it has sixteen stitches per inch. If you are interested in waiting for the PDF because you're worried the 32-count linen is too small, I think you'll want to read this post about cross stitch that I wrote a couple of months ago. It will help you determine what supplies you need to purchase, particularly fabric.

And, as always, I carry my favorite embroidery supplies in my web shop, should you need lovely, high quality tools. These are the exact ones that I use every day.

I also have finished developing my lotion bars, and oh, I love them so. Here is Summer Day:

And here is Forest Flower:

When I started dyeing yarn earlier this spring, my hands started to get really dry from all of the washing and rinsing of yarn I needed to do. I got interested in making lotion bars with my own customized essential oil blends. Lotion bars are great because they have no water in them, so they last for ages and a little goes a long way. I've been so pleased with how they well they work and they smell absolutely amazing! Summer Day is made with beeswax from local bees; coconut oil; unrefined shea butter; lanolin; and essential oils of grapefruit, orange, lemon, tangerine, neroli, and a drop of balsam Peru. It reminds me of sitting on the screen porch on a summer afternoon, eating a Dreamsicle after spending all day at the lake.

Forest Flower is made with beeswax from local bees; coconut oil; unrefined shea butter; lanolin; and essential oils of cedarwood, Ylang Ylang, clary sage, bergamot, sandalwood, and jasmine absolute. I think it smells like a walk in the woods after a spring rain.

To use, just hold the lotion bar in your hands for several seconds until it starts to melt a bit, then rub lotion into skin and cuticles, or anywhere you need some TLC. It also works great on feet, elbows, and knees. 

Doesn't my friend Sahra (not to be confused with my three friends named Sarah) have beautiful hands?

All bars come in a reusable tin, as pictured. Please note: Lotion bars are solid at room temperature but can start to soften in very hot weather while in transit. Your bar will be packed in its tin with absorbent paper, but shipping it at this time of year may result in the design appearing a bit soft by the time it reaches you. This won't affect its qualities. I left my lotion bar packed but upside down on my back deck in 90-degree weather and nothing much happened to the design, honestly, but I did want to mention it in case yours arrives a little less crisp than it looks in these photos. Do let me know how they travel (and, of course, let me know how you like them) — I want to hear it all.

I love the labels that the lovely Greta Gohn of Thrive Design designed for me. She has also designed a new pattern template for my patterns, as well, and it will debut with Summer Storm. I can hardly wait to use it. It's just so pretty and fits so perfectly in with the rest of my branding (yes, I actually said that). We've been working together for a few months to get some new packaging and a blog ad and yarn labels and this new template together, and working with her has been such a great experience. I absolutely love the entire process of doing stuff like this and it's been a while since I've had some pretty new things. I can't wait to send them to you. I'm doing all of the packing and shipping now since Stacey went to grad school and I have really been enjoying that, too. I get emotional seeing everyone's names and addresses. It's weird, but I do.

We do ship overseas! To place your order, you will be required to read this information, which contains details about international shipping and customs fees you may incur when ordering outside the U.S. (If you are overseas, the shipping cost charged by Posie does not include any further charges you may incur when importing goods.) To see the shipping-only costs for your order and location, just place the items in your cart and choose your location (or enter your zip code, if you are in the U.S.) and it will tell you how much the shipping is. As usual, I have a sincere request: Please check on and update your shipping address correctly in your Paypal preferences so that there is no confusion when we go to ship. If you do need to add things to your order or change your address after you've placed the order, just email me and we'll figure it out, no worries! I just like to remind people of this ahead of time, because it's a bit easier.

Please note that all lotion bars and supplies, and anything else you order at the same time, will be shipped along with your Summer Storm kit. If you need other items before Summer Storm goes out, please place a separate order that will ship right away.

Phew! Okay, hopefully I got this all right. I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now and the music is loud so, fingers crossed. I always feel very nervous whenever I launch new things. Thank you so much for watching me develop these things and for being excited about them as I've talked a bit here and there about what I've been doing for the past few months. I have more coming, more yarn and stitch markers and patterns, and I'm just keeping my head down and working away. I'm so grateful for your interest and support and the very real fact that it all allows me to continue to do what I do to help support our family financially and also stay home and take care of Amelia full time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. I honestly can't thank you enough.

With much love and hope for lots of rainy days this summer so that I can talk about more than my ever-present obsession with the weather,
Alicia

School's Out! comments: 49

Yep, it happened — preschool ended. Preschool is over. I took it hard. Not so much because I mourn the loss of baby days (I really don't) or have a hard time seeing my girl grow up (I really don't). I really love watching this beautiful, curious, hilarious, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed little creature grow and change and climb and talk and write and read and do things for herself, more and more and more every single day. I have absolutely loved aged five, and I feel like I love each year even more than the one before, quite honestly! But I have found the end of preschool a little bit difficult because, I don't know, I just liked it. I liked the place and I loved the other kids and the other parents, and I loved our little after-school hang-out group, and our little school-yard playground, and our picnic table, and our mom-convos, and the dramas, and the boo-boos, and the monkey-bar feats, and the worry over the stupid unlocked gate (grrrr) and the lead dust (grrrr), and the hiding in the camellia tree that drove me insane, and the tears more often than not when it was time to leave (and let it be known that we were almost always the last to leave as it was). I'm going to miss our friends and my flails and my rants and their patience and the laughing and the sometimes crying, and the potlucks and the lantern walks and the birthday celebrations and the shady wall on which I sat with ivy poking into my back while knitting a thousand rows. I'm going to miss my friends and the things I learned from them. Most everyone is going to different kindergartens next year. We have only one acquaintance at our new school, and although I think it is a lovely place and I know we'll make friends and hopefully we’ll love it, these two years of preschool have been magical for me. Watching Mimi get off to such a great start has been a dream. And I'm just so grateful for that experience.

***

Conversation after taking Amelia to meet the admissions director and tour her new school last week, during which she was nonchalant and inscrutable, saying hardly a word (though her eyes were just darting everywhere), and after which she got into the car and immediately fell fast asleep:

Me: “Did you like your new school?”
Her: “Yeah.”
Me: “Oh good! I’m glad you liked it! I thought it was wonderful!”
Her: “Mm-hmm. Yeah.”
Me: “Were you a little nervous? I always get a little nervous when I go somewhere for the first time, and meet new people for the first time. . . .”
Her [looking at me like I am insane]: “No.”
Me: "You weren't nervous?"
Her: "No."
Me: “Oh! Oh, well, that’s good. Wasn’t D. [admissions director] so nice?”
Her: “Yes!!! She was! Mom, she was as nice as . . . FROSTING!!!”

***

I will confess that the first morning of summer vacation Amelia and I just laid around in bed, binge-watching cartoons and drinking coffee and eating bananas and surfing Instagram until practically eleven o'clock, and we never do this. It was wonderful. Then we fed the birds and cleaned the house a bit and went out to lunch and went to the grocery store, and all of it did have a perfectly leisurely quality I am not used to. There was mint growing outside of the Thai restaurant we frequent and we asked Wassana if we could pick some and she said yes; we stopped and got lemons and an English cucumber and I made cucumber simple syrup and squeezed the lemons and mixed up a really great cucumber lemonade with mint, sweet and cool. The weather here has been PERFECT. Coldish and cloudyish and only a little bit sunnyish, perfect for sitting outside and birdwatching in the front yard, or reading on the chairs, or playing with the neighbors' guinea pigs at 5:00 p.m., an hour that will be so blazing hot by next month I won't be able to stand it.

Construction projects in the neighborhood are still ongoing. No sooner did one wrap than another porta-potty appeared on another lawn and another project started, at the third of the four properties that border ours. This time, roof replacement. The sound of summer: Nail guns, compressors, banging, guys talking, trucks beeping, trucks IDLING (seriously, whyyyyyyyyy? why are you idling?????), power saws ripping, high-screeching things doing I-know-not-what. I never thought I'd be like this, but I literally growl when it all starts getting going around 8 a.m. every morning. I am becoming my father. My father was just exactly like this about noise. DNA is no joke, people. I try to tell you.

Buried deep in my office on Andy's days off (like today), I label yarn and work on cross-stitch charts and stick new labels on new things I'm excited to show you soon. The next installation of my seasonal cross-stitch series (called Summer Storm) is finished and I'm very excited about it. I'll start taking pre-orders for that next week. The distributor has plenty of fabric in stock, so we'll take as many orders as there are orderers. Mid-summer is not the best time in the world to launch new things, but ah well. This is where I'm at in my life, so hopefully it'll be okay. Andy is going to start pulling embroidery floss for me next week and we should be able to ship this one by mid-July for sure. Then I'll have one more coming, for autumn.

I've been putting my hand-dyed yarn through its paces. I finished Amelia's Flax Light sweater in my own hand-dyed merino sport (that's the one with the garter stitch on the sleeves; Andy wants one now) and my lord, do I ever love that base. It is the absolute perfect yarn for me. It's sturdy but soft and it has a bit of halo but not too much. Agh. I'm happy with it. I started another sweater for Amelia out of the same, this time based on Rat's sweater in the Inga Moore–illustrated Wind in the Willows (which the illustrations above are from, and which is part of my own personal non-depressing summer reading list, which also includes Three Men in a Boat [one of Andy's favorites] and Diary of a Nobody, which I've read before and which I absolutely adore. Thank you for the suggestions, too! I'm planning to do a lot of reading this summer, so I'm thrilled with them). I also made Amelia a little skater skirt (it started out as the dress in my last post) using one of the three fingering bases I will be dyeing yarn on, this one made in the United States from 90% superwash Targhee wool and 10% nylon. I machine-washed the skirt on hot and dried it on high heat and I honestly couldn't believe how much it softened up. Wow. No wonder people like superwash. I mean, there's a whole debate. I never machine-wash knitwear, myself, and still don't really recommend it but . . . it worked. Anyway, more on me and my yarns and thoughts about yarn soon. I feel like I'm taming an octopus with all of these things I've got going on, but slowly they are all coming together and I'll be officially blathering even more about them soon. I still need to put all three of these new knits on my Ravelry page, sorry.

Also, I need to tell you about all of the awesome shows on TV I've been watching while knitting but I don't have any more time today.

For now, I mean, just look:

First day of school this year | Last day of school this year. Look how much older she looks. Maybe I actually will cry, I don't know.