Adrienne Martini – The Lyf So Short

As I mentioned yesterday, pumpkins have long been one of my favorite motifs to recreate in fabric, fiber, floss, murals, poetry slams, bronze, slime, skywriting, performance art pieces… whatever. And every year I have plans to stitch up a bunch of pumpkins to celebrate this time of year. I’ve managed to stitch a few Halloween-themed pieces, but I’ve never been able to commit the time to fully indulge my pumpkin love. But, if I were, it would look a lot like this:

Heart’s Content’s, “French Harvest: Cinderella’s Pumpkins” is probably first on my “To Stitch” list. The main thing keeping me from stitching it right now (besides my sad, uninsured, middle-aged eyes) is cost. For some reason, Heart’s Content only releases its patterns in kit form, and I just can’t bring myself to buy more fabric and floss that I already own. Maybe one day… or maybe I’ll just wait for a used version to show up on Ebay.

French Country is not usually one of my favorite styles, but I could definitely make an exception for this adorable petit modèle de citrouille: JBW Designs, “French Country IV: Pumpkin”.

JBWDesignsFrenchCountryIVPumpkin — If I stitched this, I’d stitch “Citrouille” instead of “Pumpkin,” ’cause I’m fancy.

This little gem is tied for first on my “To Stitch” list, and I actually own this kit (is it OOP?) so I have no excuse. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the gloriousness that is “Itty Bitty Trio of Pumpkins” by Twisted Threads:

Itty Bitty Trio of Pumpkins

And this classic from Bent Creek, “Autumn Row.” I love the entire “In a Row” series and I have a dream of completing one for every season–you know, right after I finish stitching the entire “In My Garden” series by Mirabilia (see progress bar on right if you want a good chuckle). I’ll let you know how that goes, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Autumn Row by Bent Creek

I love Bent Creek’s “In a Row” series so much, I designed and stitched my own tribute, “Celtic Alphabet in a Row”:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — I think we can all agree that my photography skills have improved since then….

And finally, this little gem is tied for first place on my “To Stitch” list (hey, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds). I’ve seen so many beautiful variations of “Pumpkins Three” by La-D-Da online that I just can’t decide what colors of fabric and floss I would choose. Indecision, thy name is Kate! Here are just three of the many possibilities:

Pumpkins Three Official Version — “Pumpkins Three,” the official Twisted Threads version

Pumpkins Three from Stitching by the White River — “Pumpkins Three” from Stitching by the White River (blog)

"Pumpkins Three" from the La-D-Da Lovers Blog (laddalovers.blogspot.com) — “Pumpkins Three” from the La-D-Da Lovers Blog (laddalovers.blogspot.com)

And, last but not least, no tribute to stitching pumpkins would be complete without a shout-out to my friend (and the first person who made cross stitch seem cool), Stitch Bitch, whose August 1, 2007 blog post originally inspired this one. You can see her collection of pumpkin patterns here–she’s got great taste! And I suppose, by extension, I should give a shout-out to Adrienne Martini of martinimade.com for inspiring her.

Have fun stitching those gourds, my friends!

One of my favorite bloggers, Adrienne Martini of martinimade, has a regular blog feature called “Many Things Make a Post” where she collects a variety of links on subjects that interest her. When I click on one of her links, I’m never disappointed, even when it isn’t, at first glance, a topic that looks like my cup of tea. I always find something new, fascinating and (often) hilarious in her links. And, by the way, if you haven’t already read her book Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously, in which she chronicles a year spent knitting Alice Starmore’s “Mary Tudor” sweater, you’re missing one of the rare knitting memoirs that is simultaneously well-written, humorous and informative.

So, I am shamelessly “borrowing” her idea and limiting it to the knitting/stitching worlds with this recurring segment, “All the News That’s Fit to Stitch,” which will focus on any interesting, relevant, infuriating, humorous, amazing, or puzzling links from the knitting and stitching worlds that have crossed my path recently. If you have any links you’d like me to look at, send me a message; I will always give credit where credit’s due.

For the Premiere Edition, I offer these links for your edification and amusement:

From one of my quilting faves, Elizabeth Hartman, comes a cross-stitch version of her Tokyo subway map quilt.
From The Globe and Mail, knitting is hot again (again). It’s the “new yoga” again (again). And celebrities are doing it too (again). Still, this article is better than most, and the “granny count” (thanks, StitchBitch) is only one.
From Buzzfeed (via martinimade), which is surprisingly friendly to the knitting community, we get this reflection on the hope and trepidation that comes with knitting for babies, and we learn two important lessons: first, “Don’t worry too much about size; babies vary, and knitting stretches” (via the inimitable Elizabeth Zimmermann); and, second, “it was easy to forget that life can come into the world just as it leaves it.”
The world of illusion knitting. Excuse me, illusion *art.*
From treehugger.com, the answer to the question: “Why bother knitting a scarf?” It turns out we’re not just saving our sanity, we’re saving the planet, investing in the local economy, and preventing the exploitation of the developing world. Get on board with the “slow clothes” movement!