Stocking Detail 35

Today's detail is a feather stitch seam with pistil stitches along both sides. The other little seam at the top is palestrina stitch with knots along the sides.

Stocking Detail 34

The top seam here is cretan stitch, whipped along the inner zigzag. Along the top are silk ribbon knots and loops.
The filler motif is lazy daisies sewn with Caron wildflowers silk floss.
Along the bottom seam is a ruched silk ribbon.

Stocking Detail 33

The lower diagonal seam is herringbone sewn with silk/cashmere knitting yarn. Along one side is silk ribbon chain stitches.
The upper diagonal seam is palestrina stitch sewn with silk ribbon. Along the top are pistil stitches and straight stitches in silk ribbon.
The motif is a braid trim couched down in a spiral.

Stocking Detail 32

This detail is simply two overlapping cross stitches that form stars or snowflakes. Along the seam is chevron stitch with French knots.

Stocking Detail 31

The main seam in this detail is covered with a piece of tatting I made with a single strand of Caron wildflowers silk floss. The upper seam was done with loose silk ribbon stitches. Straight stitches and lazy daisies were added along one side. The left patch has a filler motif started, a chain stitch vine sewn with silk floss. It needs further embellishing.

Stocking Detail 30

This motif was an early attempt at silk ribbon embroidery. I don't recall the name of the rose stitch, but it is made with straight ribbon stitches in a circular petal formation.
The pink seam is a zigzag chain stitch sewn with a hand dyed silk blend fiber. Along the side are detached chains tied down with pistil stitches.

Merry Christmas

The next few days are big events here. We have Christmas with two teens and a baby. It's the first that the baby can tear paper and get into things herself. The day after is my birthday, and the day after that is my anniversary. I don't know if I'll be online at all, but I hope everyone has a joyous Christmas.

Snowy Cookies - Gluten Free

Mexican wedding cookies are one of my favorites. I remember them as a traditional Christmas cookie while growing up. There are many variations on the recipe as well as the name. I've also seen them called Russian tea cakes or snowballs.
It's been almost a year since we discovered the baby is allergic to wheat. Since she is nursing, I have given up everything made with wheat - bread, pasta, crackers, pizza, Chinese take-out, almost anything processed or packaged, and cookies. There are several good cookbooks for making these things gluten free. We probably don't need to go totally gluten free, but it's easier to find gluten free recipes. If it's gluten free then it's also wheat free. I've tried making bread, but not been successful. I tried making pizza. It wasn't great, but it was okay. I haven't been motivated to make pies, but I do make a good apple crisp. Macaroni and cheese with rice noodles is good enough. I've made chocolate chip cookies twice and they were good. Thanksgiving and Christmas are full of traditional baked treats that I was just planning to pass on. But there are a few good gluten free blogs that I enjoy reading: Gluten Free [Cooking School], Gluten Free Mommy, and Karina's Kitchen. They make it sound easy enough to experiment with adapting a favorite wheat filled recipe to one that is gluten free. So, I decided to give it a try. If it didn't work out, there are other uses for the less than desirable cookies. They could be used to make graham cracker pie crusts or in the crumb topping for the apple crisp. Well, these cookies are as good as the original. They do leave a bit of an aftertaste, but that's easily cured with a good milk chaser, or something more interesting if you're not nursing a baby. :)
There are probably other flour substitutions that would work just as well, but here's the recipe that I used:

1 pound butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but I like it)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
2/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup soy flour
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
8 ounces walnuts (or almonds or pecans), ground fine in a food processor
Extra powdered sugar for rolling cookies in (1-2 cups)

In a large bowl, cream butter and extracts. In another bowl, mix powdered sugar, flours, and xanthan gum. Gradually mix into creamed mixture. I use a hand mixer and it was easier to mix by hand after a while. Stir in the nuts. Cover and refrigerate until workable with your hands. Roll into balls about 3/4 inch. These cookies are plenty crumbly when made with wheat, so err on the small side. Arrange on cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake on top oven rack for 11 minutes. Let cool 3-5 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and roll in powdered sugar while still warm. I didn't count, but it probably made 8-10 dozen cookies.

I have zero will power when it comes to cookies, so I store them in the freezer and warm up a couple when I want them. That keeps me from eating one every time I go in the kitchen.

Stocking Detail 29

The details on the black stocking were very challenging to photograph. I took the pictures on a nice sunny day without the flash and I still got quite a bit of glare. I have tried to adjust the brightness the best I could. This detail is the toe area. There are silk ribbon flowers started.
The large seam is a meandering feather stitch variation. It is sewn with a few different fibers added in layers. A seed bead was added to the end of each stitch.
There are tiny peach colored roses on the next patch sewn with rayon floss. They were an early attempt at bullion stitches.

Stocking Four

This is my stocking. There is still much stitching to be done. I got stuck on the focal motif. I couldn't think of a motif that I wanted to represent myself. So, this was as far as I got. Notice, there isn't really a theme for this stocking like there was for the others. It has a color scheme of sorts, but even that has not been strictly adhered to. Many of the threads and ribbons I dyed myself. There is a piece of tiny delicate trim that I tatted. Still, this stocking has more of the feeling of being a sampler of sorts.
When I pulled these out two years ago, I eventually decided on an angel motif. This is not to say I think of myself as an angel. My husband could certainly tell a few stories that would squash that thought, but he won't. I chose an angel more for lack of anything better. Angels are good Christmas symbols. They are helpful and kind and sometimes mischievous. They are God's messengers, but not always welcomed. I have since crafted a couple of polymer clay faces to try out. I have some ideas percolating for creating my angel. She may make it onto the stocking before too long.

Stocking Detail 28

The right seam along this cuff is a bit different. The base is not an embroidery stitch. I started this seam by sewing on a line of chip beads. I don't remember what kind they are, possibly some type of jasper. They're sewn on with a gold rayon sewing thread. Along the upper edge of the seam, I added French knots with metallic floss and detached chains with rayon floss.
For my husband's name, I couched on decorative fibers, a green knobbly fiber that looks a bit like silk and a fuzzy gold fiber.
The left seam was detailed in yesterday's post.

Yoyo Garland on Heather's blog

I just discovered Heather's blog. I was poking around a bit and found this great idea for garland. Figures, I finally got my tree up yesterday and did most of the decorating this morning. Maybe next year.

Stocking Detail 27

The focal motif on my husband's stocking took some time to decide on. He means so many things to me. Eventually, I decided on a cross. Our church was very important to us when I chose this. Neither of us grew up in church going families. We began attending church together several years ago. For the last three years and the next three, my husband has been a deacon. It also adds to the Christmas theme. I created the base of the cross with herringbone stitch sewn with three strands of gold metallic thread and then added seed beads. Detached chains and straight stitches sewn with a single strand of the metallic thread add a bit of radiance.

A new blog I've found reminds us of the reason for the season. They're having a birthday party for Jesus. Check it out.

Stocking Detail 26

This filler motif was made with a glass flower bead with bugle beads around it. I added a gold swirl design around it with chain stitches and a metallic thread that resembles tinsel.
The lower right seam is also chain stitch in a wavy line with a combination of threads.
The upper seam is closed buttonhole with French knots and detached chains along the side.

Stocking Detail 25

A couple of simple motifs for today. The key and heart charms on my husband's stocking are because he holds the key to my heart. The glass leaf beads paired with gold metal beads aren't exactly like holly leaves, but give a similar feel. I used a metallic gold thread to fill the background with similar leaf and berry shapes, knots and detached chains.
The seam across the middle is chevron stitch in gold. It's accented with rayon floss detached chains and clusters of French knots.

Stocking Detail 24

I used buttonhole stitch with metallic gold floss for the seam here. Metallic gold French knots and rayon floss detached chains create the tiny flowers. The reindeer charm adds a touch of Christmas, with gold running stitches showing his flight path.

Stocking Detail 23

Progress on the pink stocking is slow going, but I am enjoying it. I have found that when I am tired it takes longer to decide on a fiber and stitch for a particular spot. I was adding a piece of trim across the toe area last night. I tried three different fibers , all with different stitches, before I found something I was happy with. This is very unlike me as I usually avoid the frog stitch. I'm also whipping and lacing stitches more than usual. When I was taking this picture, I noticed how linear all the stitching is. I've since started adding the extra bits and straying off the seams. There is much still to be done, but it is coming along. At this point, I am thinking these will be done for next year. There are a few charms and such that I want to use on this stocking that I don't have in my stash, and a motif or two to create that will take more time than I have before Christmas. When I started the first four stockings, I started early in the year and planned to finish them that season. That was several years ago. I've since enjoyed pulling them out each autumn and adding to them throughout the season. My current goal is to keep working on them when the season is over and finish them before next advent. If all goes well, next year will be our first in a house of our own. The home inspection was this morning. I was really looking forward to it, but I had to miss it. My little angel has had a fever for the last three days and may have an ear infection. So, I stayed home and my husband went alone. He took notes for me, but I am more obsessive about details. It would have been easier to ask the inspector questions directly. There aren't many major concerns, but there are some things to address. Hopefully, they can be resolved.

Anyway, on to the photos. First is the full shot for a snapshot of current progress.

Here is my 'princess of the cows' seam. I wanted dimension and fluff to balance out the other seam along the cuff. These silk ribbon loops filled that requirement nicely. I dyed these myself. The ribbon came from RibbonSmyth. It has a wonderful feel to it and is very nice to work with. Several of the other fibers used on this stocking, including the thread in the seam here, I also dyed at the same time. I was experimenting with starter packs of Setacolor and Dye-na-Flow fabric paints. It was lots of fun and produced some nicely colored fibers to play with.
Zigzag chain over herringbone:
Knotted cable chain with added lacing:
I'm not sure if I like this yet. I had something darker in mind for the lacing, but this fiber jumped out at me.
Pekinese stitch, lacing done with feather boa yarn:
Crested chain stitch, with last week's TAST, pistil stitches added:
Pistil stitches are one of my favorites for accenting a seam or motif. They have all sorts of uses. Many sources for inspiration can be found among the blogs of my fellow TAST participants. I particularly liked the way Elizabeth and Maureen used this stitch.
This is the 'feathered' up and down buttonhole, which is now hidden under the added stitches. I've done this week's TAST stitch, berry stitch, in the little V spaces, with a different thread for each of the detached chains. I've also laced the seam with a knitting yarn, a ladder type. The lacing goes up the seam and back the other way to fill it out.

Stocking Detail 22

A beaded spider lives on the heel of this stocking. His web is straight stitches with metallic gold thread. The seam on the left is a curving buttonhole stitch sewn with two colors of rayon floss. Metallic gold floss was used for detached chains and pistil stitches along the seam.

Stocking Detail 21

The feather stitch on the left seam is sewn with a single strand of gold metallic floss. Two different greens in rayon floss were combined to make the French knots along the seam.
The bottom seam is cretan stitch sewn with two strands of the gold metallic floss. Changing the number of threads used in the needle creates the illusion of more variety where I had a limited number of threads that fit the color scheme. A variety of beads were used to embellish the seam.
A flock of butterflies adorns the patch. They are made with three black seed beads for the body. The wings are detached chains sewn with two strands of a darker gold metallic thread.

Stocking Detail 20

A simple detail today, around the patch is herringbone stitch sewn with three strands of metallic floss, one gold, one green, and one black. On the patch is a black ribbon tacked down with gold seed beads.