or a silk snob? or just have to touch, feel, see and try every new thread that comes out on the market? Well all of the above…that’s me! There are so many new threads, that it is hard to keep track of them all. Market is just around the corner, and I am sure that there will be many more new just have to have, can’t live without threads.

In this picture you might notice 2 new threads…Silken Straw by Alchemy Yarns on the left hand side and Wonder Ribbon by The Collection in the right hand corner. The latter is not quite as new as the Silken Straw.

This is kinda my thread collection when I start stitching on a new piece for designing and teaching. I select many, many possibilities both from the inventory of threads that I have at home and ones that I purchase new in pursuit of the best colors.

I sit down to stitch and start narrowing down the selections. When the colors are not just purr~fect, they are tossed onto the coffee table which is just an arm’s reach away. Later they will be collected into a basket of threads to be put away at a later time.

This spread of threads is usually an instant if not sooner cat magnet. Not to play with them, but just to lay on them and take a little cat nap. The selection of threads that Sylvester had to nap on had been thinned out quite a bit by the time that he decided to settle in.

Silken Straw by Alchemy Yarns. There are 19 colors so far and the line will be expanded as time goes on. I would liken it to Sea Grass by Thread Gatherer, but with a much softer texture and in the most amazing colors.

I was anxious to try this thread and was searching for a very special teal-blue-green color to finish up The Stilt Houses by BB Designs that I will be teaching on Friday morning at the TNNA Winter Market in San Diego. It was just the right thread, color and texture! What could be better than that? And I loved working with it!

Silken Straw is carried by the The Needlepointer in Everett, WA and give the shop a call if you would like to try some. She also sells it wholesale for shops that would like to carry it too! Thank you to Jill, the owner of The Needlepointer who generously donated this thread for our class. I discovered more than one way to stitch with it too and that I will save that for our class. Stay tuned later this week for pictures of the finished piece.

The next new thread that I used was Wonder Ribbon by The Collection, but this was in the Daisy Blue Cup by Melissa Shirley. Again I thank Kim, the owner of The Collection for her generosity too, for donating a spool of Wonder Ribbon for every student. I was looking for something to give dimension, rather than needle weaving or creating picots and this was it! Look for this thread in your favorite needlepoint shop.

I had a great day Saturday starting with the most delicous breakfast at The Cottage and then spending the day in La Jolla while my car was getting a little TLC. I didn’t partake into too much retail therapy as I wasn’t sure how much the bill from the car was going to be. We had glorious, beautiful much needed rain and the bill for my car was way less, that’s right I said less than I expected!

When I got home it seems that some certain person got locked out on the balcony. I’m sorry AlleyCat! I am sure that the wind blew the door open, she went out and then the wind blew the door closed. She was NOT pleased with me and sure gave me a mouth full of meows when I let her in.

and until next time…keep on stitching