I had a particularly nasty blog response yesterday.  Among other things she/he/it said that I sure do like to whine.  Yup, I sure do.

She said I was a *something* and she could buy her rare books anywhere and clean them herself.

And she sure can, I guess the only real “value added” I do is the cleaning & light restoration to the books plus the pictures.  Descriptions of the book’s condition along with pictures showing exactly the condition they are in.  Not to mention my reviews.

What that is worth, I don’t know but I do know that about 1/4 of the used/rare books I buy, sight unseen- as is the norm in the used book industry- are just terrible.  Unsalable (and usually listed as Very Good).

So, I guess what I do is not without some value, however small.

They keep discontinuing needlework books, books that sell well.  The 2 worst , for me anyway, recently were Iona Dittelbach’s wonderful Creating Contemporary Bargello

I have tried to contact her, to see if there are more copies, with no success .

The 2nd was Di Van Nierkirk’s amazing book A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery & Stumpwork.

I made fun of the title ar first, Boy, was I wrong.  A terrific book, I sold as many as I could get.  I did hear from Ms. Van Nierkirk’s assistant (relative) in South Africa.  They had a few copies left but the cost of shipping them to the US was prohibitive.

He did tell me that her Silk Ribbon Roses book is being re-issued.  I am watching for that.

Well, the latest victim (besides of course The Complete Illustrated Stitch Encyclopedia which I looked for as soon as I knew so I have 3 new & 2 excellent condition used copies)

is Susan Sturgeon Robert’s very helpful book Tips & Techniques for Needlepoint.

She calls is a booklet and it is a small relatively inexpensive book full of practical help.  I searched the net and found that Mrs. Roberts now just does teaching but I contacted her and got a very nice call from her husband Gene.

They have 10 copies left and they are sending them to me.

They also have some copies of her other small book The Thread, Canvas & Needle Handbook for Needlepoint.

which has been discontinued for some time now.  I ordered some copies of that, too.

These wonderful books are disappearing and it is depressing.

What else?  As you may know, I moved in here after the renovation in late September.  It is a townhouse condo so the beds right around the house (and in back) are mine to plant as I like.

Many of the shrubs were half dead, ugly overgrown stock builder’s shrubs (15 years old).  I kept the best and have replaced the others.  This has been fun.  My good friend Criag (husband to my very good friend Pam) is a landscaper so he helped me but I designed it.

Pictures to come.  I find that I missed gardening (or what I can do of it now) so this has been great.

I did a combination pot for beside the front door.  The basic rule for container plantings (which I read years ago in Fine Gardening Magazine & it stayed with me) Is Thriller, Filler & Spiller.  Easy huh?

Basically, the plant at the center of the pot should be upright and with some interest and “presence”.  The plants surrounding that should nicely fill in the space (there can be more than 1 kind for this) and then something viney should grow over the edges, soften it.

Now, many nurseries put these (or something like it) together but they always just shove stuff in.

Mine, which I put together today is in a zinc pot which I punched drainage holes in.  I put a spathiphyllum for the center.  It is upright with a nice shape, it flowers almost continually, upright white flows.

For filler I added peach color bloom Australian Impatiens.  The flowers & leaves are larger then regular impatiens, very pretty and will flower all summer if I keep them watered (yes, these are shady place plants).

For the spiller I used good old vinca, a variegated variety.

I will post a picture when the pot “takes” if you know what I mean.   Anyway.

That’s it for NewNeedlepoint.com (thought I had forgotten to do a link, didn’t you?)

I know I have ranted here before about how they seem to  always discontinue the books that sell well on NewNeedlepoint.com.

Well,  that goes on however I have found a new source for needlepoint, needlework & Bargello books.  They have many, many books.  Some of them are books I thought were no longer being published.  They might be re-issues but who cares?

I placed a huge order today.  I mostly bought books I needed to re-stock with.  I was pleased to find new copies of some books I had been selling as used/rare including:

Decorative Needlepoint:  Tapestry & Beadwork by Julia Hickman

Tapisserie by Hayat Palumbo.  I still have 2 copies of that in used condition.  Hmmmmm.

I have found the American Version of Dorothy Phelan’s Traditional Bargello.  Up till now all I could get was the UK version which is called Florentine Canvaswork.  Not nearly as good a title.

I finally replaced my long gone copy of Rita Weiss’ Charted Monograms in Needlepoint & Crossstitch

And finally..TA DA…Mary Rhodes Dictionay of Canvas Work Stitches.  A crackerjack book of stitches for needle pointers which will challenge even the most advanced stitches…  New copies, imagine that.

I have once again had a “run” on my new & my rare/used Bargello Books categories

Link To New

Link to Rare/Used

A customer from Michigan bought most of the Bargello books I had in both categories  (and I was low on stock to start with).

She also bought The very rare & very good copy of Gay Ann Rogers Illustrated History of Needlework Tools

I had had it listed for some time.  I knew the right person would eventually come along.

To give you an example.  My rare/used Bargello books category had 28 books listed.  Of them 2 were unreplaceable.  1 was a Jane Zimmerman book.  I hope to add the complete (or almost complete) catalog of Jane Zimmerman books to NewNeedlepoint sometime this summer.

Of the remaining 25 possibilities, 18 were out of stock. Impressive huh?  Or maybe the reverse impressive which is pitiful.

I am busily processing some more replacement books.  I still am in progress listing more canvases & kits.

I have some new Laurel Burch and some new Melinda McAra.  She has added the Mets in New York and the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field to her line of baseball team & stadium canvases.

I hope to list them before baseball season is over  (m is not kidding, she is that slow).

The biggest story right now seems to be Barbara Muller’s Florentine Embroidery, which is of course Bargello.  the book was first published in Germany in 1986.  The translation is by Janet Winslow.

This is an amazing bargello book, a very beautiful one as well.   It always sold well when I had them in stock but all of a sudden I am swamped by orders for the book.

The Michigan Bargello lady ordered a copy, It was my last.  I forgot to remove it from the active listings last night.  By this morning I had 2 more sales of the book.

I took it off listing, who knows how many more sales there would have been.  I am wondering why, all of a sudden, this book is in demand.

This is more like what happens with the new hit books like Stitch Landscape by Stacey Tombros & Elaine Olivero

or both the Sandra Arthur Shapes of Needlepoint books (a new one coming soon)

Or June McKnights latest Bling, Glitz & Glamour for Needlepoint.  All my copies are autographed by June.  That is so nice of her.

Ok, I have forgotten where I was going with all this.

At any rate, I hope to have the Bargello Categories re-stocked soon (all ready for the next customer to whoosh in and clean me out, remember the lady from Australia who bought all my bargello books & paid the shipping too?)

Oh yes,  The Muller book.  As I said, I have no idea why this is happening (so much for having my finger on the pulse of the needlework book market).

I am looking for more copies but I am afraid the price is going to be much higher (MUCH).  I know people want this book but will they pay the price I will need to charge?

So, that my store news.  Me?  K took the job in Dallas.  He is more or less Temp for 6 months although it is a permanent job.  I will not even think about moving there until the 6 months are over.

 I am conflicted.  I love my home and this area.  These are the cherry trees out in front of my townhouse.

If you remember, I did a full-tilt renovation here and made this the home of my dreams.  K said we would always live here.

Surprise surprise.   And it is much better job for him for much more money.

Plus he is a sweetheart, in his own guyish way.  I got 2 dozen roses yesterday.

The ones below are lovely pink roses.  The vases are mine (of course)

The next dozen are pale peach/blush color.  Unusual and very wonderful.

(m sighs).  Like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind, I will think about it all tomorrow.

As I stumble along, NewNeedlepoint.com will be 3 years old March 15.  The first year was hard, I did not get my first order for almost  7 months.  The waiting and the frustration were terrible.

The few of you who have been along for this ride, since the beginning or almost, know that I have made many changes to nn.com since I began.  Many.

Now, as a somewhat veteran of the on-line web store biz, NewNeedlepoint does OK.  I have repeat customers, new customers and a few have become friends.

My book sales are amazing, many books pass through here.  I  do a fine used/rare book business  although some of the more popular books are getting very hard to find in good condition and very expensive.  Still. I think some of the older books are well worth my effort.   I sell lots of Bargello books, new & old.  There are so few of them out there.

I do an Ok with Needlepoint Canvases & kits business.  My Laurel Burch category does well.

I have been thinking, off & on, that I might do better to change nn.com (again) to all books.  Then again, my expansion into lots of different kinds of needlework books has not been a success yet.

I have lots of stock in both used/rare & new books on Knitting, Crochet (less then knitting) Embroidery,  Color Theory, an interesting Misc Books category & Cross Stitch including stump work, beading included in needlework, ribbon embroidery and so on.

I am not worried, I figure it will take the time for this change to “trickle down” like the store itself did, in the beginning.

Then again, when I think of doing just books, I get an unpleasant feeling.  Even though I have little time for stitching lately, I started this web store because I love needlepoint.

I bought the Domain Name Needler Books but I am quite attached to NewNeedlepoint.com and the name is getting known.  Many of the searches that bring people to my store begin with “NewNeedlepoint”.  Not New Needlepoint.

So, I am sorry I have bored you all t0 death with my rambling.

I did get some info on new book releases today.   Sandy Arthur’s newest book The Shapes of Needlepoint Series 3 will be Corners, Diagonals, Horizontals & Verticals.  The book will be released in August.

I could use corners, see how I messed up and fudged the corners of this Bargello I stitched with a Trianglepoint border.

and here’s another one with a triple Slanted Gobelin Stitch border that Dr Denise stitched.  I told her to fudge the corners.

Sharon G’s next book, I am pretty sure it is about Borders, is supposed to be released in March/April.  I am looking forward to it.  I need help with borders too .

The second book in the amazingly popular Stitch Landscape series is still being written.  No word when to expect it yet.

Ok, here’s a surprise for you.  When I finally (if ever) finish listing all the new books, new rare books and canvases & kits I have (and I am making progress there) I may reopen the Bargello Needlepoint Kits category

I closed it 2 years ago, no one seemed interested.  Then again, no one was interested in NewNeedlepoint back then.

Now I sell a lot of Bargello books, can hardly keep them in stock so maybe…..

Speaking of, I am in process of re-listing many of the used/rare books that have sold in the last few months.  Some very popular titles are being re-listed this weekend (no, I never have a whole day off, neither do I get a whole lot done in a day)

Shirlee Lantz A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint in Gift Quality condition. Never saw one this good before.

Working on Canvas by Margaret Rivers, mostly Bargello

Dictionary of Canvas Work Stitches by Mary Rhodes, amazing stitch book for advanced stitchers  (way beyond me)

Textured Canvas Work by Alison Park.  I can’t keep this book in stock, as soon as I list one, it sells.

Marion Broome Pakula Needlepoint Plaids in unusually good condition

Good stuff.  Took me too long to replace it, all due to my laggard ways.

I also have 2 Dorothy Kaestner Bargello books back in stock.  I had a really hard time finding salable copies

4 Way Bargello

Bargello Antics

and Barbara Muller’s excellent Florentine Embroidery

oh well, good night  (how did it get to be 3:22am ?)

I have June McKNight’s very newest book, 2012s Bling, Glitz & Glamour for Needlepoint. The book goes into detail about how to embellish your needlepoint projects with some sparkle and life.
Not only that but Ms.McKnight gives you the inside info on beads, sequins etc plus needles, threads, beeswax, and all the how-tos that most blingy book neglect (yes, I know there is no such word as Blingy, there should be).

Great reading for winter nights.

I have finally replaced and listed all the rare Bargello Needlepoint books and most of the  new Bargello books the Australian customer bought from me in November (was it November?).   It was hard to replace some and a few I just couldn’t find anywhere, at any price (within reason).

I can’t pay $100 +++ for the few wonderful rare books out there that cost that much.  If any of you ever want one, I will get it as a special order for you.

Books sales are strong right now, I have gotten a number of orders since Christmas.  I had an order today for 6 books including my 2 copies of Sherlee Lantz’s A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint.

It is going to cost me considerably more to replace them (fair warning).  I am also selling new books.  I seem to move a lot of the TNNA series of books on the basics of Needlepoint & Knitting.    I seem to sell less of the Embroidery book.  I have just ordered the Crochet book from this series.

I had a large backorder of Design Books pending from Search Press, they are finally on their way to me.

Here’s a surprise.  I think (I hope) the formerly discontinued A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork by Di Van Niekerk is available again.  It was a frequent seller on NewNeedlepoint.com until they (so I was told) discontinued it.

I have ordered 5 copies, if they actually show up I will buy more before they disappear again.

I have some new book news.  Sandra Arthur’s 3rd book in her The Shapes of Needlepoint Series is at the publisher right now.  I have an order in to get a bunch.   Series 3 is Corners, Horizontals & Verticals.

Sharon G is also due to release her 2nd volume of her SENSE Series.  She says maybe March.  I think I will hold my breath (think that will work?)

I grew this lovely Amaryllis in my adorable bunny bowl.  I foreced it for the holidays but it only bloomed this week.  It is a pretty one but not a double.  

Want more news?   K is going to Houston for a job interview this coming week.  Yes, he promised me we would stay here.  Yes, I am getting too old to keep doing these moves every year or so (5 moves in 4 years)

The job is a good one, he would be directing a program and the pay offered is amazing.  Still,  do I want to live in (or outside Houston??)   The job is actually in Port Lacava, TX but the bosses recommend we live near Houston and he spends a day or 2 a week in Port Lacava.

I am pretty sure I agree with them, just from looking at it on Google Earth.

It is safe to say I am freaked out, bordering on hysterical.  K says he will not take it if I don’t want to go but I don’t see that as a path to future happiness either.

BUT (big but) it would mean 2 more moves,  to TX to a rental and then (maybe) to a house of our own.   They say is a permanent position but I know K.  I know K very well.

So, I will end this here,  just think of me as someone who has had the rug pulled out from under her…again.

We are off to Boston tomorrow morning to spend Thanksgiving with my son and his soon to be fiancee.  Both Eric & Polly have to work the day before Thanksgiving and the day after.

Eric, because he is a Sous Chef and black friday is a big restaurant day too.  Polly, because she is “the new girl” and so, at the bottom of the holiday totem pole.

We are going to take Polly out to dinner Wednesday night at the restaurant where Eric works.  That should be fun.  He can come out and visit with us and make a big fuss over us.  

On Thanksgiving, none of us wanted them to cook a big dinner on their one day off so we are going to have Thanksgiving dinner at The Top Of The Hub.  It is a big deal restaurant in Boston.

Eric called his former head chef & mentor, Chef Bill who called a friend of his and we got a coveted 7pm reservation for 4.  

Eric & Polly are making a brunch Thursday morning (11ish, I love it).  I am bringing Perrier -Jouet champagne for Mimosas

This should be a terrific holiday.  

Thanksgiving is my favorite, it contains food, no gifts and is about being thankful and that I am.  It has been a ok year and I expect better next year.

Much Better…and the year after that maybe Grandchildren  (please).

This must be a big deal for me since I am leaving my brand new and spectacular Tempurpedic Electric Bed to do this.

Did I mention my bed not only has regular massage, it has something called “rolling massage”?    Sort of a nice wave like movement up & down the bed.

NewNeedlepoint.com had it’s first holiday sale today, that was fun.  I helped a woman find a book for a very experienced, very knowledgeable stitcher.   I suggested a few including my Margaret Boyles Bargello books but she chose  Di Van Nierkirk’s  A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery & Stumpwork.    A spectacular book made even more valuable by the fact it has been discontinued.  I have 2 copies left, they might be the last 2 copies anywhere.

They keep doing that, discontinuing books that sell well for me.

The Anna Crutchley Tassel Making books are gone and I can’t get anymore copies.  it was a good book and a fine seller.

I can only get Charted Monograms for Needlepoint & Cross-Stitch by Rita Weiss on the 2nd hand market now (and sadly, thinner “pamphlet type books” do not generally do well  2nd hand).  They are hard to find and I do not have any right now.

And this book,  The Complete Illustrated Stitch Encyclopedia.  This is an excellent stitch book.  When I learned they had discontinued it, I , right away, bought every copy I could find.  I have 5 new and 2 VG used copies of it .

I have ordered replacements for most of the Bargello & needlepoint books my Australian customer bought from me.  When I will get them listed is THE question.  I am slowly falling even further behind and I was already way, way behind.

I am pitiful.  

I just finished reading this years Man Booker Prize book The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  A VG (haha, I am amusing myself) book.  Real.  I followed it up with Georgette Heyer’s  The Convenient Marriage.  It is not one of my very favorites but I thought it was due for a re-read in my amazing bed.  All good.

So, I wish everyone a lovely Thanksgiving.  Good food, company, feelings & comfort with no weight gain.  I will leave you with my picture of Jack The Cat mesmerized by the fireplace.  

In general, the Bargello Needlepoint books I list on NewNeedlepoint.com sell very well.  There are not that many titles out there, I buy all that I can find (with a few not-so-good exceptions) and list them in either my   New Bargello Books category or the Rare Bargello Books category.   But this is amazing.

I told you about the order from the lady in Australia, she all but cleaned out my Bargello books.   I do have replacements for some of them but they have to be photographed and the condition described, each book is individual and no 2 are in the exact same condition (having said that, I admit if a replacement book’s condition is close to that of the original, I will not re-photograph it, I will just list it, that does not often happen)

It was a huge order 22 rare/used books, 3 new books, 3 needleholders and 1 DMC travel roll (my last one, I am unsure if I should re-order them or not).  The shipping for the order came to $117, using Global Flat Rate Priority Mail.  I could not fit the last book, Shirlee Lantz’s famous A Pageant of Patterns for Needlepoint Canvas.  That book alone weighs 5 pounds and not only was there no room, there was a 20 pound per-box weight limit.  The USPS wanted $48 more to ship just that 1 book alone so I refunded her payment for that book.

I divided the shipping cost with her, as a token of my free shipping.  I paid about 25%, she paid the rest.

Among the books she bought were

The classic, famous & excellent Bargello: An Explosion in Color by Margaret Boyles

Also The Margaret Boyles Bargello Workbook

Dorothy Phelan’s UK version of her Bargello book called Florentine Canvaswork in Gift Quality condition.  The USA edition is called Traditional Bargello.

TrianglePoint by Shirlee Lantz,  despite it’s age, still a interesting & modern stitch similar to the basic bargello stitches

Barbara Muller’s Florentine Embroidery.  Originally published in German, this is a good translation of a great Bargello book.

Needlepoint & Pattern by Gloria Katzenberg, a steady seller here always

As well as Dorothy Kaestner’s Bargello Antics, 4 Way Bargello & her Bargello Needlepoint.  Both my Barbara Snook Bargello books, of course she bought Elsa William Bargello: Florentine Canvas Work and much more.

For new books she bought The Best Bargello Book by June McKnight

She bought Beautiful Bargello by Joyce Petschek and Bargello Revisited by Janet Perry.  I do not have more copies of either of those, right now.

She also bought both Sally Nicoletti books, Weaving Designs for Needlepoint & Japanese Motifs for Needlepoint, Janet Granger’s Miniature Needlepoint Carpets, Katherine Ireys The Encyclopedia of Needlepoint stitches and of course, Geometric Designs in Needlepoint by Mary Jaene Edmonds

This book is probably the most often sold book I list.

Anyway, I did all the customs forms & shipped them.  Since then I have been having something of a minor run on my remaining Bargello Needlepoint books.

My other copy of Florentine Embroidery by Barbara Muller.  Another 4 Way Bargello by Dorothy Kaestner to a lady in Maryland.   And then, yesterday, the surprise purchase.  

I have had Gigs Stevens’ Free Form Bargello for sale here almost from the very beginning of when I started selling books.  I thought it was (and it is) a fabulous book full of original ideas and contemporary ways to use Bargello.  In fact, I like this book so much I have a copy of it in my own collection.

I had despaired of anyone every buying it.  Bargello Books raced out of my web store constantly while this poor little book just sat there.  It was sad.

Then…TaDa…..a smart woman with great taste in stitchery from Los Angeles bought it.

So, now I have a bunch more replacements to re-list…as if I was not already behind enough.

It is my intention (here I fall over laughing at my own presumption) to begin listing some of the canvases & kits from the Baltimore show this week.  I know it is only Tuesday but I have hopes. However there might be a small problem with my getting anything done this week.

Of course, you don’t know this but I sleep on a wonderful Tempurpedic Memory foam mattress.  This is my 2nd one.  I love it so much that one the first one got funky (after years of use) I bought another.

Well, we were at the Mattress Store on Sunday buying a twin size mattress for the DayBed I set up in the guest room for a spare bed.  With all my photography equipment in there, there was no room for a bigger bed and I figured a day bed would do (more or less).

While I was paying, I saw a remote on the nice salesman’s desk.  It said Tempurpetic.  I grabbed it and asked, hope in my voice  ”does Tempurpedic make an adjustable electric bed now?”  

YES!  They do.

I bought it,  I did not even draw breath, I bought it (well, why not..my son is already through college & grad school…and I am getting older by the second).

So, they deliver & set it up today.  It is 5:53 am.  I have been awake for hours, too excited to sleep.  It may turn out that getting me out of my new fancy pants bed this week might be difficult.

Did I mention that it has head & foot lift, massage?  rolling waves massage?   Did I mention that I am old, old, old.

If you want me, I will be in bed.   Oh yes, I am reading Robert K Massie’s Biography of Catherine the Great.  Interesting book, not the slow slog I was afraid it might be.

Ok, so I will be reading in bed.

Good News.  NewNeedlepoint.com received an amazing order today.  $590.10 in mostly rare books, 3 new books and a few tools.  I was thrilled to see it.  Sales have been very slow the last week,  I figured it was pre-holiday reluctance or something.

Then I saw the bad news, the order was from someone in Australia.  Australia!. It is, as the nice lady at the Post Office explained to me, as far as anything can be from me in PA.  The erxact (almost) other side of the world.  This was right before I had to pay $32.00 to ship a $40 (my sale price) book to Australia.

So, what did I do.  I emailed her and asked if there was any possibility of anyone in the USA I could ship the books to.  Knowing that was hopeless, then they would have to pay the $200-$300 (or maybe more) it would cost to ship them.   I told her I would  refund her money, which I will when I hear back from her.

Below is what she bought. I have put in links, so you can see each of them in my web store, if you want to:

1 x Elsa Williams Bargello: Florentine Canvas Work ($25.00)    The classic Bargello book by the Master Teacher

1 x Bargello Antics by Dorothy Kaestner ($22.00)   An amazing 4-Way Bargello book, with patterns that could be followed (although maybe not be me).  Wonderful stuff.

1 x Bargello: An Explosion in Color by Margaret Boyles ($50.00)  Again, the classic Bargello book by THE Master Teacher & the book I used to teach myself Bargello

1 x First Printing: The New Needlepoint: Stitches and Designs by Margaret Boyles ($14.00)  Like me, she is clearly a fan of Margaret Boyles books.  This is more a Needlepoint book than a Bargello book

1 x The Margaret Boyles Bargello WorkBook ($18.00) Another Classic Bargello book, very easy to understand and use.  I did.

1 x The Best Bargello Book by June McKnight ($39.95)  A NEW BOOK   A June McKnight book is always a good book, this one is no exception

1 x 4 Way Bargello by Dorothy Kaestner, Revised Edition ($22.00)  Dorothy Kaestner is another major name in Bargello Needlepoint book, this is a book full of 4-ways I wish I could stitch (and I could if I was not always distracted & lazy)

1 x *Gift Quality* Bargello Needlepoint by Dorothy Kaestner ($25.00)  Again, Classic & terrific book

1 x Bargello Revisted by Janet Perry ($37.95)   NEW BOOK  interesting book my my friend, Janet Perry (who is famous)

1 x American Heirloom Bargello by Millie Hines ($18.00)  This book sell almost immediately when I have it in stock.  It is hard to find and harder to find in decent condition.  Navaho Rugs & American Quilt patterns.

1 x Needlepoint and Pattern by Gloria Katzenberg ($18.00) Another book I can’t keep in stock,.  Surprisingly, the designs are mostly Bargello based, a great book that is getting harder & harder to get.

1 x Bargello Magic by Pauline Fischer & Anabel Lasker ($18.00)  Not my favorite book but almost everyone else praises it.  I think I am too fussy, maybe

1 x Beautiful Bargello by Joyce Petschek ($24.95) NEW BOOK  Advanced Bargello patterns and an absolutely gorgeous Bargello book

1 x The New World of Needlepoint by Lisbeth Perrone ($18.00)  She Cancelled This One, Said She Already Had It.  Again, both Bargello & needlepoint written with Ms Perrone’s expertise

1 x Step by Step Bargello by Geraldine Consentino ($12.00)A real beginner’s book, impossible to find in good condition but I buy & sell it anyway in not so good condition, an important book for beginners

1 x *Gift Quality* Geometric Designs in Needlepoint by Mary Jaene Edmonds ($19.00)  This may be the most often sold book I have every listed.  It sells usually within a week of my re-listing it.  Getting more expensive each time I re-buy.  I love this book

1 x Mira Silverstein’s Guide to Upright Stitches ($16.00)  Useful Bargello stitch book, again almost always in lousy condition.  These are great books but they do not age well.

1 x Florentine Embroidery by Barbara Snook ($23.00)  Bargello from a good teacher

1 x The Craft of Florentine Embroidery by Barbara Snook ($16.00)  And again in a slightly different title, a different book

1 x *Gift Quality* Florentine Canvaswork by Dorothy Phelan ($20.00)  Another of my “core collection” of needlepoint book I used to learn it with and a member of my own collection of stitch books

1 x Trianglepoint by Sherlee Lantz ($24.00) This is a fascinating book, want to see some of my Triangle point?  This is one of my Bargello canvases

Remember when I had some email dialogue with Shirlee Lantz about the Trianglepoint corners.  It turns out she never went into that, so I fudged mine and it worked ok.

3 x DMC Needle Organizer ($2.75)  great tool, good price.  She bought 3

1 x DMC Travel Roll ($16.00)  Handy if you travel with your stitching (which I do)

1 x Japanese Motifs for Needlepoint by Sally Nicoletti ($18.00)  Very fine needlepoint design book

1 x Weaving Designs for Needlepoint by Sally Nicoletti ($13.00)   very interesting book, way before the current interest in Needle Weaving

1 x The Encyclopedia of Canvas Embroidery Stitches by Katharine Ireys ($20.00)  Extraordinary stitch book, even if dated.  it is all there.

1 x Miniature Needlepoint Carpets by Janet Granger ($14.00)  doll house size designs

1 x A Pageant of Pattern For Needlepoint Canvas by Sherlee Lantz ($20.00)   Many people consider this book to be (or have been) the Needlepoint Bible.  Wonderful book but weights 3 ounces short of 5 pounds.

Clearly my customer is interested in Bargello Needlepoint.  She  had all but cleaned me out of my current inventory of Bargello books, if I had been able to ship them. (I do have duplicates for some of the most popular ones but not all of them far from it).

She bought the 2 Sally Nicoletti Needlepoint books I stock, Weaving Designs & Japanese Motifs, both excellent books and a few small tools.

This is, no joke, is breaking my heart, I would love to fill this order but with the shipping to Australia, I would be losing considerable money on the books.

I think I will offer to ship them to her, with a surcharge.  I agree it should cost me some but not all, to send them.  I wonder if she will agree.

So, everything else is OK,  Jack the Cat thinks he needs slippers, the tile floors can be chilly but I love them.  I wish they made Uggs for cats, I wear pink Ugg slippers. I have been looking at pictures of kittens in the local shelter and I found an Abyssissian cat breeder in Kentucky.

K says we can’t get another cat, that Jack does not know he is a cat and that would traumatize him.

I sort of see what he means.  I am told that when my brother was born (I was 2) and they brought him home,  I rolled him out the front door and closed it.  They found him between the door and the screen door.  I am pretty sure I did not understand what they needed him for, they had me.

I suppose Jack might feel the same.

I am reading, of course.  Have I mentioned that I love Kindle books on my iPad.  If you are buying a present for a reader, I can’t recommend an iPad Or Kindle ( now down to $79) highly enough.

***Ooops, or buy them something on NewNeedlepoint.com******

I am reading Robert B Parker’s Jesse Stone books, in order alternating with Joan Smith romance novels, very good books and not tainted by impossible modern attitudes for the heroines (as many are)

We just felt the earthquake here.  In southeastern PA it was not severe but it was a sustained shaking that “moved” the house.  Nothing broken.

I knew what it was immediately, I was living in SanDiego in 1971 when the LA earthquake happened, we sure felt it in San Diego.

The news says it was centered in Richmond, VA and they were evacuating Washington, DC.  As far as I am concerned, they should have evacuated DC in 2008.

I am swamped, which is my explanation/apology for not doing a blog in so long.  The renovation is moving fast now.  The painting is 3/4 done, the custom base kitchen cabinets are in, the top cabinets go in tomorrow.  The granite counter templates were done Monday, the granite (kitchen & 2 baths) is supposed to be installed 8/29.

One of the showers has been removed and the solid Swanstone base is in, the cement board backing is in and the new control (faucet) has been soldered in.  K begins tiling this weekend.

The mirror is finally down from the 3 sides surrounding the jacuzzi tub (shudder).  My contractor did not want to do it (scared?  superstitious?)  so K did it.  It took him barely an hour.  He coated the mirror plates with this plastic wrap made to protect carpets during moving or construction.  It kept the mirrors from shattering while he removed them.  They came apart in larger pieces.

The big hold up right now is the 1 bathroom vanity we ordered from Home Depot.  It was supposed to be in last Friday.  Now it is due Thursday.   Everything is waiting on it.  The granite final template & install, the tile floors etc.

The rest of the painting,the light fixtures, switches and outlets, appliances go in next, last is the carpets.

We only need 1 shower done to move in.   My excellent contractor is going to do the outside work after we move.

I have to tell you, I know renovations, and ones this large specially, are supposed to be the horrors (K watched The Money Pit this past weekend) but ours is going well.  Our Contractor, John Rice, is doing a fabulous job and is a very nice man, as are his helpers.  The custom cabinets designer and maker, Tim Horst of Old Road Furniture in Intercourse, PA is very talented and a pleasure to work with.

Same with the granite guy, Joe Lapp.  All in all, this has been a cordial, pleasant renovation.  Not bad for a total strip out, down to the walls and subfloor.

Of course, it costs a fortune but that is a subject for a later rant.

Plus I have to begin packing to move.  Danielle and I are going to work on the basement storage room tomorrow.  K can do his own side of the basement, which is a total disaster, himself.  I am not touching it.

And NewNeedlepoint.com you might ask (LOOK< my links work again, thank you Zac!).

I have been selling tons of books, replacing the new books is easy(ier).  Just buy them and click a virtual button.

Replacing the rare books is much harder.  I have to find them, get them, clean them up, photograph them, edit the pics, and describe the condition of these new editions.

Not as much work as a totally new listing but not just clicking a (virtual) button either.

Plus, it is always a gamble.  As some of these books become harder to get, the price I pay for them goes up and the condition I get them in gets worse (and worse).

That said, I have listed a bunch of replacements for the rare books.

Here’s an odd situation.  Occasionally, a new book will capture the interest of my (3, maybe 4) customers and sell well.  It is then almost guaranteed to be discontinued by the publisher.  This has happened to me several times like with My Point Exactly by Orna Willis

Which I now buy directly from the author.

Or The Complete Illustrated Stitch Encyclopedia.  When this happened I bought all the copies I could find. I now have 5 copies.

Well, it has happened again.   I have been doing very well with A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery & Stumpwork by Di van Niekerk

It had been selling well, I had been ordering it 2 and 3 at a time.   It was selling so well I was about to order 6 when it was discontinued by the publisher Search Press.

AWWK.  I scooped up all the copies I could find (5) and that’s all there is.

Moving on, I have 16 books to list from my purchase of Ruth Dilts own Needlework Book collection.  I have 27 new books to list.  I have 36 canvases I brought back from the Baltimore show to list.

I have 5 more replacement books to list and 37 *new* used/rare books to list.

Plus I have to change all my address stuff, pack, move……

and visit my parents in Boston before they go back to Florida for the winter in October.

Plus, I am still doing all this out of my 9X9 foot office.   When I go over to the new house, I stand in my new, bright lovely office and sigh.

Yes, I am still alternating reading Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels with Regency Romances.  A very nice balance, really.

Ok, since I raised the price of Stitch Landscape I have had no (zero, zilch, nada) sales of Stitch Landscape

I raised the price to $35.00. Then I lowered it to $34, nada…..then back to $33. Sales were still a dead duck.

So then I thought, I don’t think it matters. It will sell at $35, with free shipping. Still well below the other sellers so…. I priced it back to $35.

I really am silly…..then again, if you read this blog you already know that. I hope someone out there finds this amusing.

I have been listing new books all week. I am good for 5, maybe 7 a day and then I just want to type “yadda yadda” so I stop and do other things (and there are always other things to do).

I have listed a bunch of new books like:

Lucinda Ganderton (the author of the very popular book, Stitch Sampler) Needlecraft: Skills & Techniques. A complete overview of the basic terms and tools and techniques needed for a variety of Needle Works.

Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies in Embroidery & Stumpwork by Di van Nierkerk (author of A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery & Stumpwork). From reading the introduction, I learned that Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies are quite popular.

Being the mother of just 1 boy, I had never heard of them.
Now, Star Wars I know. They really are lovely. This is not a beginners book.

I now have both of Nicky Epstein’s edging detail knitting books:

Knitting on The Edge

and Knitting Over the Edge

They are both amazing collections of edging and borders for everything knit. The 2nd book has more crochet edgings.

This one is not listed yet, it is on my list for today. The entire title is:
Vogue Knitting
Knitting for Pets On The Go

There is a wonderful dog on the cover wearing a very chic sweater, a Faire Isle, no less.

This book and it’s great cover sent me off on a book buying tangent. I have all kinds of books on order about knitting for pets. One is breed specific, so you can knit the right size and shape for your dog and one is both dogs & cats.

When Jack The Cat was a kitten someone (not me, I would never presume) put a kitty sweater on Jack, He hated it, hated it beyond words and squirmed non-stop trying to get out of it.

And speaking of Faire Isle designs (now, wasn’t that a nice segway?) I also listed Alice Starmore’s Book of Faire Isle Knitting.

She is also the author of Celtic Needlepoint. I have a Gift Quality used copy of it on NewNeedlepoint but since my LINKS do not work (did you see that Zac?) I can’t send you there easily. It is is the rare NP Design Books category.

The Baltimore show is next weekend, my first ever since I whimped out on Columbus (it was the week I bought the condo). I will meet Ruth Diltz there and get the books I bought from her private needlework book collection to sell on NewNeedlepoint (in 6 or 8 months when I will manage to get them listed).’

Also, (and I think this is a biggie), I am in the process of trying to get new copies of Jane Zimmerman’s books to sell. Ms Zimmerman said she would “be delighted” to have me sell them on my store site, so all I have to do now is place an order with her distributors. I hope to get them all, all her titles. These are terrific books. They are new but they also qualify as hard-to-find.

The renovation (you knew I was going to get there) is actually going well. We have all settled down and are working well together. I think maybe I did hire the right contractor. He is really making it move along.

I have changed my design. I am now tiling the family room, I had been planning to carpet it but with the wall down, the areas are very open to each other. I think the all tile will flow (sorry, I went briefly hippie there).

I have many nice area rugs from living in Florida, where almost all the floors are tile.

So, The kitchen will be installed late next week or the beginning of the next. The wall work is almost done and the painting is coming along well.

The appliances are bought and the carpet ordered. The come in last.

I went to the stone yard yesterday and picked my granite. It was a hard decision, granite is very forever. Even cabinets, if you hate them, can be painted or tile floors can be carpeted over but granite….it is there.

This is costing many times what my (also) silly estimate was. K & I are doing more of it ourselves.

I am designing the closets and we will use the stuff they sell pre-cut for closets to build them.

He is tiling both bathrooms and will make us new tiled showers. We have pulled out the icky molded plastic showers, wonder boarded the walls and placed Swanstone solid bases on both shower floors.

K is doing a ivory travertine marble with lots of beige in it in his Bath. 4 X 4s on the floor and 2 X 6s on the showers walls in a brick patterns.

We were going to do mine the same but then we saw some closeout marble at Hope Depot. It is gorgeous pink with lots of beige and movement, just amazing.

When I first saw it, I did not think I could use it for the shower with the existing (blah) beige tile there already.

Eventually, my marble lust won. K is pulling up all the tile in my bath and doing it all this marble. I am trading him a tile saw for this. He does not have to rent one, now.

He says he will sell it on Craig’s List then we are all done.

As you can see, I have been all over the place but it isn’t often you get one of your long term dreams and re-doing a home exactly the way I want it is a big one of mine.

And I am doing it.