Redwork Towel

Here in China, the threads available, or, perhaps I should say, the threads I've found are fairly limited. DMC floss can be found in the cross-stitch shops at about twice what it costs in the US. Of course, here it's also sold by the yard if you prefer.

I found balls of this single strand, thick, cotton thread in black, white, and red from different street vendors and decided to see how it worked with redwork. I used the black and white threads to crochet art quilt embellishments.

This thread was not especially smooth to work with and knotted easily, but since I was stitching on a never-been-used flat diaper, that wasn't a major concern.  (Note: those new flat diapers are terrific art cloths!)

I used a single strand and did not double it for stitching. Also, because of the slight patterning of the cloth, the design did not transfer well and was really light in spots. Can you find the error I made because of this? Again, since it's going to be used to mop up spills and dry dishes, I wasn't too concerned.

Overall, crocheting with this thread turned out better than stitching with it. It worked fine for this project, though.

Crocheted Charger Cord

I saw this pattern on Through the Loops and since I had a very small portion of Koigu yarn left I  decided my charger cord needed embellishment. It wasn't quite enough to cover the whole cord, but it still brightens up the cord, uses up a tiny scrap of yarn, and makes me smile. It also makes it much easier to find on my creatively crazy desk.

Turmeric Pillowcases

This was a pair of lavender flannel pillowcases that were quite old and worn which I dyed with turmeric. One of them had a hole in them, so I wasn't worried about ruining them in the least. I loved the coloring. They actually look much more yellow in person than they do on-screen. The triangular embroidery pattern was done with 3 strands of DMC and took an inordinately long amount of time to complete. I tried drawing the pattern with several different marking pencils, but none of them showed up well and left me trying to guess where each stitch should go.

The bottom pillowcase I finished in less than an hour. I used a single strand of indivisible cotton thread and just did 3 rows of running stitches. I think I like how it looks better than the other one, too. The red also looks better with the yellow in person. The pillowcases don't seem so washed out when I look at them as they do in the picture. But, updating the pillowcases was pretty easy and worked out well so it was worth it.

Hollyhocks

The last of the summer hollyhocks. So pretty and pink. And, I just love saying the name. Maybe it's because I always liked Holly Hobby, but hollyhocks are just so much fun. We had such a cool summer it seems as if it's already been fall for a few months. But, these lovelies are proof that summer was here even if it slipped by unnoticed between spring and fall this year.

Turmeric Dye

 Boiling turmeric powder in water on the stove.

 Steaming the yarn.

 Pillowcases and Aida in the simmering water.

Turmeric yellow is such a happy color! Now, what to do with all my yummy yellow goodness!

I used about a 1/2 cup of turmeric powder and steamed/simmered my items for approximately 30 minutes. I didn't use any kind of mordant so I'm not too sure how lasting the color will be, but we'll see.