Counted Cross Stitch: Millennium Wheel (original M. Kloeppel design)

 

The Bat has been designing and working cross stitch patterns of her own, now, for several decades. She finally decided it's time to share her work, for anybody who wants a satisfying, challenging project. The first pattern she's releasing – all of them will be free of charge – is up now, and all you need to do is just download the 15-page pdf.  Be forewarned, it's a seriously big project, and took her about a thousand hours to work, at roughly 1000 stitches per square inch. Unless you want a full-sized wall tapestry, I recommend following her suggestion and using the 30 count aida fabric, as stated at the top of the pattern… and, maybe, pick up a pair of good magnifying glasses while you're at it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V0KIX3c2CGdwQPLYCstmXjmSxcbhgLAy/view?usp=drive_link


It's from a visit she and my seester made to the UK (the original piece, pictured above, is in the private collection of a dear friend).

Causing a Stir in the Garden: Plant Markers on a Budget

 

Stick with me, kid.

A week or so ago, my cousin posted a set of photos on her social media page, showing off her brilliant work on a packet of plant markers for a friend. She took paint stirring sticks, wrote on them with a wood burner, and then trimmed them with some nice beads and twine:

My cousin is a LOT more artistically
detail-oriented than I am. And her hand
is steadier.

Naturally, I felt the need to steal her idea (albeit with my own variations, to meet my peculiar preferences). It took me a few tries before I settled on the format I liked, and now I'm better than halfway through the list of the perennial plants requiring identification.

Ours is a big garden.

At any rate, some paint stores will give away a stirring stick or two, so if you shop around, you can do this on the SUPER cheap, but I ordered a packet of 100 from one of those giant online retailers who shall remain nameless, and the sticks cost an average of 25¢.

It also helps to already have a wood-burning tool on hand, but if you don't have one, and you think you might take the craft up as a hobby, these are not particularly expensive gadgets, and you don't need a lot of added doodads to make it a costly addiction... unless you decide you need to start working on specialty wood, or suddenly "need" a laser cutter/burner.

A pencil and eraser, also, are useful for marking guide lines and text. Don't bankrupt yourself on high-end toys. Just grab what you have on hand and have some fun.

Color enhanced for clarity.
Really. It's just pencil markings.

I admit it. I'm a nerd. I need to include basic Linnaean taxonomy.
And I did this on both sides of each stick.
Because.

For the record, my wood burning tool is a multi-tool, for soldering, stencil-cutting, and wood-burning. I bought it several years ago at my all-time favorite place to shop, and this is the first time I've applied it to wood. It's a learning process for me, too.

And I may also dig out an old can of spar varnish from the basement & give these puppies a coat of it, for durability out there in the elements. We'll see.