Week Two Goddess and other stitching news

The first Monday of a new month and not one appointment or event jotted down on my calendar which is nice for a change. It rain late last night and continues through the morning which will make it a great day for stitching, reading and writing a few reply letters while drinking cups of tea. Well those things will come  after my drop off at the post office and my time at the gym.

First I have some stitchery pieces to post, for the second week of 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks challenge I have my Baba Yaga, she is hand embroidered and crayon tinted on white on white tone print cotton fabric.

Baba Yaga tinted and stitched

before embroidering

Baba Yaga the ‘old woman’ of autumn was called Baba by the Slavic inhabitants of eastern Europe, Boba by the Lithuanians. This seasonal divinity lived in the last sheaf of grain harvested in a year, and the woman who bound it would bear a child that year. Baba passed into Russian folk legend as the awesome Baba Yaga, a witchlike woman who rowed through the air in a mortar, using a pestle for Her oar, sweeping the traces of Her flight from the air with a broom.

Baba Yaga’s themes are the harvest, rest, providence, thankfulness and cycles. Her symbols are corn sheafs, wreaths of wheat, corn, rye and wild flowers.  This Lithuanian/Russian Goddess of regeneration reawakens in us an awareness of time’s ever-moving wheel of seasons.

I had planned to post her as my first Goddess last week but my iron decided at that moment to stop heating so I located my older iron packed up in the garage. I am so glad I decided to keep my trusty old weighs a tone iron and didn't have to shop for a replacement.

Here is a link to the challenge which has all the guidelines and more bloggers Goddesses to view, this isn't a stitchers challenge you can choose the medium you want to create and its open till December 2016, check back next Monday for my next Goddess.

https://timelessrituals.blogspot.com/

My other stitchery is an update on block seven of Hocuspocusville Quilt

stitched in the morning

stitched in the evening

I posted the progress I made throughout the day between yesterday between reading, doing laundry and printing labels and packing items to drop off at the post office today. If you look close enough you can see the needle poking through where I stopped to snap the photo.  I am linking up at Supermom No Cape today too.  Here is the link stop on over and have a peek what other bloggers are working on and the free vintage embroidery pattern with a sports theme.http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/06/06/vintage-embroidery-monday-and-stitchery-link-party-61/

On Thursday after meeting with the Thread Therapy group at the library I picked up something new to read so yesterday while I was resting my fingers after a few hours of stitching I started reading the newest Susan Wittig Albert mystery.

While reading one of the chapters yesterday I noticed how much the books along with the characters have evolved, no longer the cozy mystery silly antics you can usually expect, the story holds more interests and the characters have more depth to them and always there is the herbal information that is usually spot on.

I also picked up some summer crochet magazines for some light and airy shawl patterns with the idea to use up some of the yarn stash I have and really would like to make a dent in using up this year.

I don't normally like to crochet in the warm weather but lately I have the urge so what the heck I'll give it a try. 

 I found this shawl pattern which uses bamboo I have quite a bit of just sitting in the bin, I like the light open pattern but not the color.  Any way I need to check the pattern for yarn quanity and my stash.

Now I am off to the post office and then the gym.