Damn You, MCG Textiles!

Damn you straight to hell! I have spent the better part of my "stitching time" today preparing for my start of the Rainbow Gallery SAL ( I decided to make use of the day by starting C & D since I am waiting for my A & B fabric to arrive). I got the fabric out (MCG Textiles Blue 32 ct), measured it and cut it to the dimensions that Erica Michaels recommends, then I stitched the edges to prevent fraying. Then, I spent at least 30 minutes looking at the Splendor Silk color cards online deciding on conversion colors because as I have previously stated, I am not Mrs. Gottrocks and am not willing to lay down the $ for the real deal. DMC works just great for me.

Then, I sat down to stitch. And got up to help with dinner. Then to put a movie in. Then to help DH decide which children's books to add to the baby registry. Then to play with the kittys for a minute. And then back to stitching. The directions had me puzzled for bit. I found the center of the fabric and marked it with an x, then I counted 12 threads and basted a line. The next part of the directions said to center your stitching. Well, was I to center it again or just start from the basting line? After much deliberation and more time spent on the computer looking at the Erica Michaels pictures of the finished book along with Jo's first 2 letters (the April 16 entry) , I decided to start stitching at the line that I basted. But centered. Clear as mud, eh?

But, that wasn't my problem. See, I had heard this legend of the bad fabric. The kind where you prep and prep and stitch only to find out that the fabric itself is seriously jacked up. Maybe you have heard the tale as well? It seems to only afflict linens in the tales I have heard. Let me tell you IT IS TRUE! There are linens out there that say that they are 32 count, and they are - going in one direction. But they are a different count going in the opposite direction. Take my picture for example.

The stitch count for this is supposed to be 53x53. A perfect square. Does it look square to you? No siree. Appears rectangular to me. It is 32 count going across, but going up and down it is 28 count. This is a different fabric than what I used for my previous finish (see last post). I got this MCG textiles fabric in a package at Michael's or something when we lived back in the States and thought it would be good to have in my stash.

Damn it! Now I am back to the drawing board. Baaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

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Seems that the power rate hike of 100% is has everyone up in arms. Read a great article that sheds some light on life on Saipan here.

This is another article from the paper today. What I don't understand is that the power is supplied by gasoline, and gasoline prices have gone up since 1989. So why weren't these rate increases passed along to consumers this whole time? No, let's just do it all at once 17 years later. Can't wait to see what the crime / theft rate goes up to with people trying to make ends meet and put food on the table.

Peace