Pink Chalk Studio » Blog Archive

One Year

Mar 9th, 2007 by Kathy

A blog birthday. Wow. It even surprises me. A huge hug for all of you that read, comment, blog, and shutterbug.

To celebrate I’m sharing my favorite embroidery book. I took these photos way back in December. They’ve been sitting out on Flickr waiting to be tended to. For the 3 of you left that didn’t ask me the name of the book it’s time to get this post written.

The book is the Reader’s Digest Complete Book of Embroidery. It’s my favorite encyclopedia of stitches book. When I searched Amazon for a link I also came across this version published in 2006. I haven’t seen the newer book in person so I can’t speak to the contents being the same but updated (which I’m assuming it is). I might just have to order it and find out!

Why I like this book so much.

The illustrations for each stitch are very detailed. They are presented in a step-by-step format. The scale and 3-D effect of the drawings provide enough information to reproduce the stitch accurately. On the left-hand side of the drawings is a short paragraph listing suggested uses of the stitch. If you click to enlarge the photo you should be able to read a detailed example of this.

The book is divided by Stitch Family. At the beginning of each of these chapters is a photo of a sampler that uses all the stitches represented in the chapter. It is keyed at the bottom so you can identify by name the stitch you see on the sampler.

Happy Stitching!

***

Caitlin ordered a set of Newberry Award winner Lois Lowry’s books from the Scholastic book order. She really enjoyed The Giver and asked me to read it. It was a very provocative look into a future world defined by rules and structured sameness. A book that begs to be discussed out loud. We’ve had a lot of fun mulling over this fictional society on the way to and from the bus stop. Reading the same books as my daughters. Definitely something I want to make time to do more of.

Posted in Embroidery | 25 Comments

25 Responses to “One Year”

on 09 Mar 2007 at 11:02 am1stephanie s

congratulations on your one year!!!! and thank you for deciding to blog, you have added to my life by doing it. pretty nifty, right?
on 09 Mar 2007 at 11:18 am2Jen

Happy blog birthday! And thanks for sharing this book–it looks like a great resource for a newbie like me.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 11:57 am3Amy

glad you’re here — happy anniversary!
on 09 Mar 2007 at 12:58 pm4Rachel S

Happy blog birthday and thank you for sharing!
on 09 Mar 2007 at 1:13 pm5Mama Urchin

Happy Bloggy Birthday! I’m going to look into that book. I love embroidery and really need to do more of it.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 2:14 pm6Dee Light

Happy, Happy Blog Birthday!!! OOOO that book looks so great. I have to admit I have not done embroidery by hand in a very long time, but that book of yours has inspired me.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 2:24 pm7clarice

Congratulations. I am soo glad you started your blog, or I probably never would have meet you and that would be sad. Clarice
on 09 Mar 2007 at 3:04 pm8Regina

Yea!!! Happy blogiversary!! Thank you for your amazing inspiration! And thanks for sharing this wonderful book!

Have a wonderful weekend!
on 09 Mar 2007 at 3:12 pm9Net

Happy Blog Birthday! I’ve only just recently found your blog and I love it - your pictures are always so beautiful!
on 09 Mar 2007 at 5:42 pm10Sarah

Happy blog birthday! The embroidery book looks awesome, I should check it out.

I love The Giver. I think it’s an amazing book to introduce kids to a lot of really adult concepts that they’re going to encounter later on in literature and in life. I first read it in 7th grade as an assignment and I’ve read it several times since then. Still makes me cry. How old is Caitlin?
on 09 Mar 2007 at 6:08 pm11Robyn

Up until this year, my husband taught The Giver. Always an eye-opener for the kids and sparked great discussion. (He teaches a different grade now and so has different curriculum.) I think it is good to read the same things as your daughters. With some of the junk that is now coming out, especially in adolescent literature, I would highly recommend that you continue it.
But, really, Congratulations! One year is so awesome. I’ve learned a lot from my visits here and you’re such a great person. Glad you make time to share some of your world and knowledge. Thank you.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 6:57 pm12Tami

Happy Blogiversary! Here’s to another great year of crafting!

That looks like a great embroidery book. My favorite reference book is The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Needlecrafts by Cecelia K. Toth. It has a little of everything in it … knitting, embroidery, etc.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 10:00 pm13Kristin

Happy Blogiversary! I have the Reader’s Digest Complete Book of Needlework and really like it for the same reasons you mentioned.

I love Lois Lowry books! I read a lot of the books that Chloe reads as well, though as she’s gotten older it’s hard to keep up. Did you know that The Giver has a couple of sequels? They are Gathering Blue and Messenger. You really have to read them all! They may not seem to be connected at first, but after a while you figure it out.

Also, I just found that Lois Lowry has a website and blog. Go to www.loislowry.com. On her blog I saw a brief mention of The Giver possibly being made into a movie. Very cool!
on 10 Mar 2007 at 3:56 am14claudine

Happy Blog Birthday, Kathy!

That looks like a great book. I really want to try out embroidery. It’s funny how it looks just like a simple craft but turns out there are so many different kinds of stitches. Just like knitting I guess, and sewing, and …

PS. I made some Pigs in a Blanket with your recipe for my mothers’ group the other day, and they all loved it Thanks for sharing, again!
on 10 Mar 2007 at 12:12 pm15JudyC

Another Happy Blogiversary to you!

I found the older version of the book after you gave me the name on Amazon at one of their re-sellers. Received it just last week and love it! You are right about all the detail and very well thought out instructions!
on 10 Mar 2007 at 2:01 pm16Alicia A.

Happy Belated Blog Birthday!
on 11 Mar 2007 at 2:01 am17katrin

happy bloggiversary!
keep on going with your inspiring blog - it´s always a pleasure to stop by and read
on 11 Mar 2007 at 11:49 am18Dale Anne

CONGRATULATIONS on your Blog Birthday!!!
I enjoy coming and reading every once in a awhile!
GREAT JOB!!!
on 12 Mar 2007 at 1:40 am19Kate

Congratulations on 1 year! Think I might need to look for that book!
on 12 Mar 2007 at 7:27 am20Beth

Happy One Year!
on 12 Mar 2007 at 6:01 pm21susan

oh happy bloggie birthday to you ! i love your blog, your work and love hearing about your daughters. my youngest just read the giver too… and i re read it. it is a good one!
here’s to next year!
on 13 Mar 2007 at 6:56 am22Jo Ann

Congrats on your one year blog anniversary.
Thanks for all the inspiration.
on 13 Mar 2007 at 7:19 am23Melissa

Happy Anniversary!

I love Lois Lowry books as well.

I also have instruction sheets from the same company because I needed them when teaching a group of 70 plus women how to embroidery two little cherries on a linen handtowel to use as a basket liner for bread.
on 16 Mar 2007 at 9:13 am24Amber

Happy Blogiversary! The Giver is a really great book. I’ve been recently re-reading a few favorites and passing them on to a 10-year-old daughter of friends, including The Giver. My latest was The Westing Game, which I bet you would also immensely enjoy together. I also remember enjoying reading Avi with my mother when I was about that age - one summer we moved and read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle in the afternoon breaks from unpacking all our boxes.
on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:54 am25ana rose

your version looks as though it is much better. i have the newer version but it does not give the projects.