Needlepoint in the 21st Century

outrage, petty & otherwise

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:33:15 +0000

This part is not about “outrage”. I will get to that in a moment.

I am slogging through the 5 “tax organizers” I have to send to my accountant so he has time to do them.

They are more complicated then you think. Every investment has to be accounted for, every dollar in has to be matched with a dollar out.

To be specific. let’s say I bought GE stock. Let’s say 300 shares at around $16.00 a share with a $10. commission.

OK, now lets say that my on-line brokerage was not able to get it all at the exact same price so it bought 54 @ $16.39 & 97 @ $16.12 & 149 @ 15.99.

That is how it shows on the 1099 investment tax form the brokerage sends me. I have to list every incremental buy and match it to a sale plus figure out which buy paid the commission.

And if I was foolish to do Dividend Re-Investment on a Mutual Fund. Oh My. Endless calculations of a share or 2..endless.

And it is not only the trust accounts I do for the “next generation” in my family.

I can’t claim overall inventory for my business and deduct sales. My accountant says that is like issuing an engraved inviitation to audit me (shudder). I have to match every sale to specific inventory items & costs.

AWK!

OK, outrage. I went to pick up my new glasses today. They had them for 3 weeks and no one called me to say they were ready.

The Opticians were busy, both of them were with customers when I got there. So I waited…and waited..and waited while both sets of people endlessly fussed over their glasses.

Now, this is a basic human right and I do it too but one of the couples was nickel & dimeing…on and on. They were finally almost done when the Mister says to the Optician “so, what kind of schooling and training do you need to do this?”

The optician made a brief answer and they began to pepper him with questions….while I waited.

Ok, finally my turn.. The store claimed to have “left me a message” on 3/8. hmmmm, OK.

My glasses were ready and I was happy. So, we are doing my short little transaction, The Optician is adjusting the fit a bit when the Mrs of this couple comes roaring back in. She comes right up to the Optician and starts in with him about a $4 difference between what she thought it would cost and what it cost (this was on a receipt of probably $300-400 for 3 pairs)

The optician tried to explain it to her, that so many things had been discussed. The things on the bill were the options they had chosen, in the end.

She was not satisfied and kept it up (and up) He eventually said to her that he would talk to her when he was done with me.

I was SO close to “rounding on her” and telling her to get lost, it was my turn now.

The upshot of this was after I was done, the next person in line had to wait while she went on and on. I have no idea how long. I was out of there.

Some people think they are more important then everyone else….and it seems to be increasing.

OK, BIG Outrage.

The Margaret Boyles book, Bargello, an Explosion in Color has become very, very rare in the last few months.

I have sold 3 of then on NewNeedlepoint.com or maybe 4. I am not sure. The book went from a reasonably priced used book to now minimum 50-60 dollars for a crummy one to $200-300 (or more) for a nice one.

I searched hard and found 2 for sale today at more or less reasonable prices

Quick like a bunny I bought them both.

A few hours later I got this cutsey poo email from one of the sellers telling me “she has looked everywhere and torn the inventory apart looking for the book but it has disappeared.

Un huh, right, sure it has. She had not done her research and did not realize how much more she could get for the book.

But meanwhile, I bought it in good faith, at the price she was asking but now it is “missing”

Ok, then this evening I get another email from the other source I bought the other one from telling me the book “is no longer available”.

I am not a big fan of coincidence. I think they are both lying, unwilling to sell to me at the price they asked and I agreed to, when they could make much more.

Shameful.

So, my web store has taken off. I am getting orders and making sales. It is like at 1 year in business someone hit the switch and Wahoo!

I am selling lots of books and a pattern is forming. Bargello books are hot, people want them.

I know I have closed my Bargello Category but I am planning a “Private Client Bargello Print Catalog” available on request.

I am going to charge what the Bargellos really cost me in materials, time & effort. I don’t expect many sales at these prices but there is a real ground swell of interest so you never know.

I sell more Needlepoint Reference Books than I do Needlepoint Design Books. Even from the Big Name Designers. Interesting.

For Needlepoint Canvases & Kits I sell more Animal or Animal related canvases & kits then any other kind. I thought I had too many of them but I was wrong.

This is very exciting for me, to be finally seeing some movement and sales at NewNeedlepoint.com but I did not realize how much time processing each purchase can take.

Not, mind you, that I am complaining. Some of it is me and how crazy I am.

I ended up partially re-picking the colors for the Lee Cranes Needlepoint Kit I sold last week. When I was packing the kit in it’s nice mailing tube, I thought I could do better for colors and I did.

And here’s the biggie, my own Outrageous.

I mailed the American Flag Bargello Kit today. I was always troubled by the design. I felt the flag ended badly, on the right side. With no grace, if you know what I mean (and I bet you do).

But I was limited by the size of the canvas. The sample was stitched on 14 mesh. Well, I did the establishing lines and layout of the same size (12.5 X 12.5) canvas but I used 16 mesh.

The smaller mesh allowed me to bring the flag out to a full 3 sequences of the Ripple Stitch. Before I stopped at and awkward 2.5 and I hated the effect.

I had begun by stitching what I thought was the bottom Ripple Line for the flag as the establishing line, but then I saw that the whole design had to “move upwards” to compensate for the flag change.

So now my establishing line for the flag is the 3rd line.

I should have taken a picture but I don’t know how much you would have gotten from one line of Ripple red and a double row of the zig-zag background stitch and some filling at the top.

My customer had said she will send me a picture when it is done. I hope she does.

I know she may not be pleased with my changes so I have offered to refund her purchase price if she does not like it.

I have not offered to re-do it as it was. I am not willing to do that.

So today I am both outrageous & outraged. Does it really matter? Not at all.

Even Georgette Heyer’s Friday’s Child was not able to soothe me today.

I gave up on the third Claire Darcy book in the Trilogy of her books. It wasn’t a trilogy like the stories were related or anything. Each was a stand alone but I just could not care about “Allegra”. At one point a character in the book talks about “shaking some sense into Allegra” and I heartily agreed. I wanted to do so myself.

I did something I never do, I skipped to the end and read it. Yes, she does marry the handsome lord. I know I would.

Heads Up, Important Warning

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:48:32 +0000

If you are trying to buy something from my web store and you live in the USA it might insist you have to pay International Shipping, please do.

I will refund your shipping charge right away.

Otherwise, please be aware that the drop down selection menu for shipping is crucial.

If you select International you will be charged a hefty fee.

If you select USA you will be charged nothing

Shipping is free in the USA….except for the big Mighty Bright Floor lamp which does have a surcharge. It is a fortune to ship.

YIKES. This keeps happening. I have to figure out what is wrong. I have an emergency call into Zac, the Tech…of course.

YIKES….

a nice lady in Nebraska was charged $60. shipping for 5 books!

AKK

maybe the worst book

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:38:22 +0000

I have been writing these needlepoint & bargello needlepoint (ok, only 1 bargello) book listings for 3 days now. Bargello books are scarce.

I have a limit how many of them I can do at the time. After that one day when I roared through them and did 15 I have not been able to match that accomplishment.

I manage 4, maybe 5 and then I have to go lay down. I read some, maybe doze a bit then I get up and write some more. I walk between my room and my office like a zombie, with stops in the kitchen for snacks.

Most of these books are wonderful. Some are great and the condition is depressing and discouraging. However, I took the advice I got here (I usually do) and am listing most of them with lots of pictures and honest descriptions.

I have to admit, there are a few that go too far, ones I do not want to touch.

The book with all the foxing is one of those, that one hit the trash. It even smelled bad.

Today I listed Needlepoint from America’s Great Quilt Designs by Mary Kay Davis & Helen Giammetti. the book inside is good but the poor dust jacket is just awful.

I wish I had the bravery to throw away these awful filthy dust jackets and just sell the often very fine book inside them but supposedly a dust jacket, no matter how bad, adds to a book’s value.

I also listed the Walt Disney Characters Needlepoint Book by Lisabeth Perrone. This book has the distinction of being the only book by Ms Perrone that does not put her name above the book’s title. I guess old Walt Disney was even more important than Lisabeth Perrone is.

It does look like a charming book, aimed at beginners & novices.

Just now I did the worst listing I have ever done and I enjoyed it. One of the books I ordered, sight unseen , of course, and that was not listed in my needlework book bibliography (and I thank Catherine J. Sestay, it’s author, she has improved my web site more then she will ever know).

The book is the Handbook of Needlepoint Stitches by Mary Meister Walzer. I like to stock stitch and technique reference books. They do not go out of style and have important information for all of us stitchers, at every level.

This book, however, is just bad. It is stupid, the stitching is a mess and the whole thing is amateurish. I was surprised to see Van Nostrand Reinhold published it in 1971.

Maybe her husband was “somebody” or maybe she was fooling around with “somebody” or maybe they were desperate for Needlepoint books then.

Who knows? There is a picture of her sitting in one of those nice leather “stressless” chairs that were so popular, in a beautifully appointed 1970’s room. She has a very “knowing” look, almost a smirk.

She is described as an expert needlepointer. Oh my!

Hold on, I am going to take 2 fast pictures and edit them so I can put them here….

These are samples she stitches and shows in her book.

That one above is just bad. This next one I am not positive about but I am pretty sure it is not well done.

Sorry about the dingy icky pictures, these are pictures of B&W photos taken at night with my lights not set up. Below is the book.

I wrote a truly snarky listing for it. I suggest people buy it as an example of what not to do when you write a needlepoint book.

Next Up. Well, I am almost 60 and I have been cleaning my house (!bathrooms!) since I was 17. One of the big life changes I made at 50 was I do not want to clean my own house anymore.

I am not one of those freaks who has them change their sheets and do their laundry and clean out the fridge etc. I want them to vacuum, do light dusting, mop the tile floors, clean the 2.5 bathrooms and occasionally see to the dust on the blinds & the ceiling fans.

I polish all the wood and do all my *collectibles and collections* myself.

I hired some people to do this on an every other week basis. Over in Tampa I was paying $139.00 every 2 weeks for decent cleaners. That was/is an outrageous amount of money but they did a pretty good job.

I found these people here who seemed fine. They wanted $80 a week (going rate here), one of them spoke english (a biggie), so I tried them out. They were only OK but I figured I could do more of it myself and they were cheap so I hired them.

When they left the last time he told me they would get in touch with me about when my next cleaning would be. Well, I hear nothing, no response to my calls, nothing for 2 weeks.

On Monday afternoon at 4pm I get an email telling me they will be here at 2pm Tuesday to clean.

First off, since I do some much of it myself I need more an 1 evening’s notice. Second, at 2pm we will be their 3rd or maybe 4th job of the day. I would get even sloppier cleaning from people that tired.

Next, he is telling me. no consultation, no asking, nothing. Guess what? I fired them.

So now K & I are doing it ourselves. I hate cleaning bathrooms. I know given the state of the world and the economy this is unimportant, completely superficial still…I am willing to and do give up other things to not have to clean the house myself and it matters to me.

Oh well.

Another cherished customer misunderstood my web site checkout and paid International Shipping of $12.00 for a $20 book to Maryland. Of course I refunded the $12.00.

Zac says there is nothing we can do. The only possible way to charge an International Shipping surcharge is a pull down selection menu. It works that way if you pay on my web site, on PayPal or on Google ( I think PayPal too, I am not sure).

So, I do what has to be done.

Goggle, the Supreme Master of the Internet Universe, decided recently that the words *ship, shipping and shipped* are now toxic works and they will not update any listing that contains those words.

I had to edit and change every single one of my listings last weekend. All 278 of them.

I will take delivery of the Spring 2010 Claire Sanchez Tote and Shoulder bags later this week. She only has 3 new designs this season and I bought 2 of them but I think they are terrific.

This one in just the tote bag. The next one in both Tote and Shoulder bag size

To conclude my “complain-a-thon ( I haven’t done one of these for a while now). I am still on my Georgette Heyer substitute author reading jag, still Claire Darcy. Lady Pamela was a wonderful fun read. Victoire is ok, not as good as Lady Pamela but better the Elyza. I have a trilogy of her books, there is one more after this. Elyza was a stand alone paperback. I must say, the paperback covers are so very dated they are quaint.

So much for me, today.

good condition?

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:04:36 +0000

I suppose you already know what my blog post is about from the title. Yes, it is the condition of the books with pictures plus my usual blather.

Remember I said the first shipment from the worst of my suppliers, the one who sends the most messed up books listed as *good* or *very good* was a pleasant surprise?

Well, I spoke too soon. That was before I opened them or looked very closely. I was aware some of the dust jackets were pretty bad but since the books inside were ok (not great but ok) I let that go.

This one was the 2nd copy of A Gallery of Needlepoint Patterns From the Past. I took the picture after I scotch taped the dickens out of it. I sold the last one. I taped it up to prevent further damage, as if that mattered at this point, and took a picture of the book itself as well.

Now, keep in mind all of these books were sold to me, without my seeing them, as *very good* condition. I will list this one, the book is not ruined, just the dust jacket.

This one upsets me. This is a rare and hard-to-find copy of Needlework Stitches by Barbara Snook. This small book has 370 stitch graphs, with no repeats.

I was ok with the yellowing from age, the book is paperbound and was published in 1963.

But this, I don’t know what to do about this.

Do I glue it and list it, being upfront about the fact that the spine has been glued? It is, after all, a truly rare book. Is it unsalable?

Anyone with an opinion, I would like to know what you think (and I pride myself that my few and select readers all have decided opinions on everything).

Adventure in Needlepoint by Wilhelmina Fox Feiner is ok outside, the dust jacket is even pretty good but inside it is so badly “foxed” that it is unsalable.

I looked up some “bookseller terms” and learned a lot of new words and ways to deascribe the books, many of which will soon begin appearing in my listings. Below is the definition of Foxing.

“spotting, ranging from sort of beige color to a rusty brown (like a fox’s footprints or maybe it’s reddish coat). Sometimes foxed spots are referred to as “age spots”. The causes of foxing include temperature & humidity changes, (don’t store your books in unheated or damp places!) and impurities within the paper (high acidity)”

“There may be other causes such as fungus. The reason for foxing in a particular book is often difficult to discern”.

This quotes (or quotes) are fromThe Empty Mirror Arts Magazine web site.

I gather it happens to newer books but I think in a very advanced state, like this book, it is unacceptible.

Then there is this book, this is just strange. The book is The Creative Art of Needlepoint Tapestry by Joan Fisher.

What you are looking at are holes. Actual holes punches into the book from the back. They are more or less the size you would get from a Awl used for leather. The start in the back of the book and there are 5 of them, one bigger then the rest.

Why anyone would do this is beyond me although Jane, the doyenne of the Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Advanture Blog suggests it could be another way of showing that the book is a returned to the publisher book and should not be sold. I don’t know the exact word for it, like a paperback where the front cover has been removed.

Again, I am interested if you think this is salable or not? The holes do not really affect the text of the book but still….

My next book dilemma is my own fault. I list Erica Wilson’ Needlepoint: Adapted from Objects in the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a marvelous and beautiful book. I was so “taken” with this book that I orderd 2 each of Erica Wilson’s Needleplay and Erica Wilson’s More Needleplay.

I use her name twice for a purpose. These books are a showcase and total vanity publications for Erica Wilson. I had no idea she once had a TV show.

I can’t imagine anything more boring than watching someone stitch on TV but there are all sorts of shows out there. Keith watches all these nature shows that put me to sleep.

These books are All Erica All The Time. They are stuffed with Erica, pictures of Erica, Erica, Erica’s thoughts and lessons. I have 4 of them and they are awful. So bad I do not want to list them.

The main advantages of buying book from NewNeedlepoint.com are my description of the subject & contents of the book and the actual pictures of the book. Outside and specially inside. Not to mention my taste & judgement (overstatement alert)

Remember, I buy these books blind so I assume the risk of unsalable or terrible books.

I am working on the American Flag Bargello that someone ordered after I closed the Bargello Category.

The price I was charging for these Original Design Bargello Kits did not compensate me for the work & time involved. This was one of the reasons I closed the category.

I had hoped they would act as “loss leaders” and bring buisness to my web site, they did not.

However, I suppose there are a few people out there who would be interested in the Bargello. I am going to work up a catalog of Bargello Kits I will create. Although the patterns remain the same, each Bargello canvas is unique.

I will (snail) mail this catalog to anyone who requests it. The prices will be higher and the color photos of the Bargello will, I hope, be spectacular.

I am planning to offer The Twin Peaks Design

The Waves with the Trianglepoint Border

And I will finally finish (big sigh) the purple & yellow/gold Cubes Bargello. I am just 2 hours away from being done (the length of one good movie).

Plus the American Flag Bargello.

And, of course, my Aurora Borealis Adaptation stitched by Margaret from Oklahoma.

It has been blocked and I am going to have it made into a pillow and give it back to Margaret as a thank you.

To wind this up I want to talk about the book I am reading. I had found Clare Darcy’s name in an amazon.com review as being similar to Georgette Heyer, whose books I have read to shreds (and replaced and re-read ).

The first Clare Darcy book I read did not “blow me away”. Elyza was a decent read but not exciting or compelling. I thought Ms. Darcy deserved a second chance and I am very glad I did. Lady Pamela was fun, funny and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I will be reading more Clare Darcy. Total escapist fiction with no uplifting qualities besides enjoyment. I love it.

Jack in Paradise

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:24:56 +0000

I just took these pictures a few minutes ago.

This is quite the position, isn’t it? No dignity here.

Too bad they don’t make Kitty Sunglasses. He is sunbathing, he has been like this since the sun came out around 7:30 am.

And what am I doing awake at this hour? I have no idea.

I wanted to respond to Margaret’s comment. I think she is right. It makes perfect sense to me that once Needlepoint becomes a job, it is not longer a refuge and relaxation. Stitching too becomes a job.

This is funny, after I wrote here that I was closing the Bargello category (and closed it) I got an email asking if I would do the American Flag Bargello for someone. I guess they hesitated a little too long. I said I would, of course but it figures they picked the #1 most difficult one.

I have to create 3 different charts for the 3 different stitch patterns, do 2 major establishing lines of stitching and in general, lay it out which is the hardest of all. I confess that I did the layout on the sample as I stitched it. There was quite a bit of un-stitching involved. Now that I have the layout it will be easier…but not easy if you know what I mean.

I sold the Beginner Chicken & Eggs Kit yesterday. My supplier says it is an early Susan Treglown and it might well be.

I marketed it as a Beginner’s Kit and it will be good for a novice to stitch but imagine if all the different colored dots in the design were done in French Knots. It would be difficult but gorgeous. I did suggest the chicken body be stitched with Mosaic Stitch or Brick Stitch. Both those stitches are do-able by a beginner.

I was packing the kit up to ship today at 1 am (my usual time for this stuff, the tape gun late at night drives K crazy) when I realized all the links to stitches in my own Beginners Manual, that I include with each Beginner’s kit, were links to Stitchopedia sites. These were done with the site owners permission but before the site became a pay site.

So I quick had to find and use new links to the stitches, then reprint the manuals.

I used the ANG stitch of the month sites. The earliest ones are simpler stitches. I told my *readers* they could use the site but not copy the stitches to share or anything. I also urged them to join the ANG.

In reading the *legal* on the page, I think I got that right.

I wish Carolyn McNeill well with her “privatization” of Stitchopedia and I understand why she did it, we all have to eat but still…..it was a marvelous needlepoint asset when it was free to all.

Yes, I pay for it. And I don’t have ads on NewNeedlepoint.com, although I have been offered the opportunity.

But that is me, I can choose to be picky and I do (and difficult and cranky and fussy and…..)

Pleasant Surprise

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:41:03 +0000

I received the first part of my big book order today and I was very pleasantly surprised. Most of the books were in “very good condition”, as promised and paid for. The few that weren’t were in “good condition”.

There is nothing in the box that is unsalable. This vendor was the one I had the most trouble with. Yes, some of the dust jackets are sadly ripped and tattered and the books all need a hard dusting & damp towel wipe down. However all the books, even inside the sad dust jackets, look OK.

I have some interesting titles. Some familiar and some not so.
A brief list before I get to blather on about other stuff:

Lisbeth Perron’e Folk Art in Needlepoint and Cross-Stitch. I am not a fan of Lisbeth Perrone’s stitch book but this is a subject no one else has covered. There is currently some interest in Folk Art designs.

Also Lisbeth Perrone’s Walt Disney Characters Needlepoint Book. This was a popular book when it was published in 1976

Gardener’s Book of Needlepoint by Jack Bodi, Meg Merrill & Catherine di Montezmolo. The title says it all

Needlepoint from America’s Great Quilt Designs by Mary Kay Davis. I love quilts and I love needlepoint, I can’t wait to look at this book. She couldn’t be the makeup lady , could she?

Weaving Designs for Needlepoint by Sally Nicoletti. This book got my curiosity up, it might be full of great graphic designs.

Another excellent Mary Rhodes book, Needlepoint, The Art of Canvas Embroidery

The Portable Needlepoint Boutique by Joyce Aiken. If I remember correctly this is supposed to be all small, easily carried around needlepoint projects.

Needlework Stitches by Barbara Snook. I am always curious about stitch books

Adventure in Needlepoint, no idea what it is but I liked her name. By Wilhelmina Fox Feiner.

The Creative Art of Needlepoint Tapestry by Joan Fisher, her name seems familiar to me from other books.

The Needlepoint Pattern Book by Dennis M. Arnold. No idea if it is stitches or patterns.

Needlepoint Workbook of Traditional Designs by Cecelia Felcher. I wondered what Traditional design meant. I do not want to admit to liking her name too.

Floral Needlepoint by Melinda Coss. She is the author of the very fine Bloomsbury Needlepoint Book about designs created by the Arts & Crafts Movement artists and designers. I figure this book has to be good too.

Carolyn Ambuter’s Needlepoint Celebrations. I am not sure if this a holiday oriented design book, I do know C. A.’s stitch book is very good, very well done.

American Heirloom Bargello: Designs from Quilts, Coverlets and Navajo Rugs. There are so few Bargello books out there that I buy what I see

Needlepoint for Everyone by Mary Picken. I see her name everywhere on books she has written but I have never seen one so…..

Needlepoint Samplers by Felicity Lewis. I tried to get this book once before but it never showed up. Samplers are another “under-served” area in needlepoint.

Handbook of Needlepoint Stitches by Mary Meister Walzer. I am always a fool for stitch books

Three-Dimensional Needlepoint by Gale Litvak. We shall see.

Keith has gone to Knoxville for a week to take a training course about using his new Vibration Meter (since he is a Vibration Analyst).

He said he did not need the course, that he “knew it all” but this is a brand new type of meter for him with different software and the class is free, part of the purchase price so off he went.

Jack the Cat is now the “man of the house” but he is mostly interested in his meals and feeding his *treatsie addiction*.

He is quite the actor. I get renditions of “cat about to expire from a criminal lack of treatsies” or sometimes “look how cute I am, don’t you want to give me treatsies” or my favorite ” I love you so much, wouldn’t you love to give me some treatsies”.

Still, he is company. After Keith left this morning (driving) I got the house all straightened up, “ship shape & bristol fashion”. It will stay that way until he comes home.

I have gotten a lot of work done today, since I do not have to follow him around picking up whatever he has discarded along his way. His debris takes a good chunk of my time.

I miss him however, I will miss him more everyday but within 2 hours of him coming home, I bet he drives me crazy again.

I am reading Georgette Heyer. I needed a break from the pseudo Georgette Heyers.

I did read an amusing book last night. It was a quick read and held my attention so I read it right through. It is called Mr Malcolm’s List by Suzanne Allain.

I am glad I did not read the author’s comments on the back cover bio before I read the book because I wouldn’t have read the book then. “Full of herself” is a major understatement. That is a shame too since she has written another book…what to do? (such dilemmas I have).

Last week’s sell-a-thon in books has ended but I am OK, better then OK.

It is a great relief now that I have closed the Bargello Needlepoint category. I got thinking about it tonight and realized that with the exception of a few small “Stitch & Frame” canvases (another happily closed category) I have done only Bargello sample stitching since October 2008.

No stitching of my own or anything thing else. Wow, I had no idea but there it is and it is true. The last few days I have been stitching my 3/4 done Provencal Rooster for my family room and suddenly the needlepoint does not feel like such a chore.

It had begun to be something I dreaded, I think that is over now.

Interesting, I open a needlepoint store and almost lose my love of stitching….go figure.

newer news

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:04:48 +0000

I work and sleep odd hours. I always have, if my schedule permitted. I consider it something of a privilege to be able to do this now (in my dotage, LOL). I worked hard all day yesterday, slept from 9 pm to 2:30 am then worked again until 6 am. Then back to sleep until 11 am.

I have had an incredibly productive few days and I now have all but 3 of the new (used) needlepoint books listed. Plus I have the 3 I found that I have had for awhile but never photographed or listed.

This is good since the newer new books are going to start arriving any minute now.

Why do I do this to myself? Well, the books are now selling so well that I need frequent replacements for ones sold (assuming I can get them, some I can…..some I can’t). The other truth here is that I love searching for and finding these great books.

Searching for, deciding on and buying hand painted needlepoint canvases is much harder. I have to expand my own tastes to be able to guess what people want and the cost is many times higher, per piece wholesale.

I have listed a few special books since my last blog post.

Needlework Masterpieces from Winterthur by Hollis Greer Minor is one book that does not abuse the word “masterpieces”. Winterthur is a decorative arts museum in Delaware that specializes in the years 1640 to 1860 in what was first the colonies and then the United States.

The needlepoint and the graphs that allow you to copy them are terrific. This book is a inspiration.

If you love genuine Amish quilts (like I do) you will like this book, Needlepoint Designs from Amish Quilts by Laura Gilberg & Barbara Bucholz. They use the colors the way the Amish do and the effect is wonderful.

Katharine Ireys Finishing and Mounting your Needlepoint Pieces has 40 original designs as well as comprehensive direction on finishing a stitched canvas.

Ok, enough book blather. My NewNeedlepoint.com news.

I have permanently shut the Bargello Needlepoint Category. I have tried marketing this is 2 very different and very labor intensive ways and neither has worked.

It was impossible to price these pieces in line with the work and set-up involved on my part and still have them marketable. I thought if they were successful they would drive enough traffic to my site to make it worth while.

This has not happened and I am, in the end, a fairly hard nosed realist (despite my occasionally airey-fairey prose). So…..

I have also shut down the Counted Thread Charts by Patt & Lee Designs. I though these were terrific but absolutely no one was interested. I offered them with appropriately sized, hemmed and ready to stitch white Zweigart canvas but no go.

This is the 2nd time I have closed this category. It is most likely the last time.

I do not see these changes as a failure. It is clear to me the book categories are a success and I am going with my strengths.

pretty much all books

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:06:57 +0000

A friend of mine and a reader of my blog, Margaret from OKlahoma, who I know you will remember me mentioning before offered to do some sample stitching for me.

She told me she stitches for other needlepoint designers, as well. I think she is beyond terrific.

Before I forget to mention it, Margaret has a needlepoint blog as well: Stitch with Me, This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Needlework

This is the second piece Margaret has stitched for me.

This is my own design, it is a variation on Elsa Willaims variation of the classic Aurora Borealis Bargello pattern. The colors are me.

I used, for the first time, my new copy of Mac Stitch to chart the bargello pattern and it worked wonderfully.

I haven’t yet found my blocking board, I think it is packed somewhere in the garage, so I did my best blocking this with a wet towel and the iron, I know it is not straight yet, but it is close.

The really amazing thing here is that Margaret never stitched a Bargello design before. Now, she is an experienced stitcher, but still.

I sent her my graph, the colors and what order they go in, some written instructions and a copy of my own Bargello Beginner’s pamphlet. The choice of border colors was left to Margaret.

I give her beautiful success to her skill as a stitcher. This is a gorgeous, well-stitched Bargello Needlepoint. I am so impressed by what she has done here

One of my early customers on NewNeedlepoint.com, Connie from Louisiana, sent me this photo of the Susan Treglown Needlepoint Kit she bought from me, all stitched.

I think she did a terrific job, when I first saw it my mouth dropped open and I said “OH”. Of course, I love Susan Treglown Graphics but this is great. The black really sets off the other colors.

Connie does not know this (yet) but when she bought this (and the Claire Sanchez Tote Bag she bought at the same time) my web site was supposed to only accept PayPal or Google Checkout.

Connie paid directly on the web site. This was not supposed to happen, to be able to be done.

This had not come up before, all my previous customers had chosen PayPal or Google. What I did not know is the tech (junior tech, not my wonderful Zac) had been sloppy doing the initial set-up and the web site would accept most major credit cards directly on the site (although I had made no arrangements for this and had no way to process the payment) and the email system to contact and update buyers of the progress of their orders was not turned on.

I did not know this either, in the few previous orders I filled, I had no way of knowing my customers never received any communication from me.

So, I had this nice order, presumably paid for and I could not contact the customer. All my emails telling her of my problem and asking her to contact me went unanswered (DOH).

And it was a Friday. So, I sent Connie her order, pretty much on faith, and on Monday Zac fixed the web site so the email would work.

The only way to collect my payment was to open an online Merchant Bank account, to the tune of $40. a month.

I did and I got my payment. That was a very stressful sale so I am glad to see this beautiful needlepoint, the end result.

I am not sorry now that I have the Merchant Account for my web store. I estimate that half of my on-line sales now pay directly on my web site, so in the end, it is good.

Let’s see, Keith has been going out every day in pressed chinos and a nice shirt (and real shoes) making sales calls. People have been nice and fairly receptive to him. He is a nice guy and he looks like he would know what he is doing, vibratation analysis wise.

So far he is applying to the different towns & districts for permission to work in them, and finding out who oversees this kind of work at the various sites where his work is called for. He is more then willing to sub-contract.

It is exciting, this new venture of his and I too am excited.

I am selling a lot of books, more and more every week. I wonder if this is, in the end, my niche? I am not going to give up the rest of my interest and stock in NewNeedlepoint.com but I have moved the books to the top of my category list.

I have so many books listed now I have divided the books into 4 categories but one is really a *mirror* category.

They are now divided into
Needlepoint Design Books: which are all the design and patterns and such from all these wonderful needlepoint *notable names* and designers

I have a new one. This is a very unusual & beautiful book.

And this excellent book by Elizabeth Bradley

Needlepoint Reference Books:
These are the stitch books, the work books, the technical and technique books.

So many of them are terrific but as you might have guessed by now I am a Margaret Boyles devotee so I recommend

Or Carolyn Ambuter’s stitch book, she is not a “name” so this great book is somewhat overlooked

Bargello Books:
Is unchanged. I have ordered more Bargello books but there are few of them out there.

side note: I now stock my friend Janet Perry’s Bargello Revisited, a new self-published book.

The Gift Quality Books category books are all listed in the other categories as well. Mostly they are in Design Books since most of them are Design Books. I wanted them to have their own category so if you are looking for a classic needlepoint book to give as a gift, they are all in one place.

I have listed many of the new books. I have 14 left to do including 2 I am not sure about. I have found one of the hardest to find of these books has some pages cut out of it.

But here is the kicker…(hold on while I count them all) I have ordered 71 more books. (yes, 71).

Now, some of the them are replacements & duplicates for the books I have sold (some of them more than 1 copy) but I bet 50 of them are new titles.

So, I have all these books about to drop on me from the sky (more or less and I did it to myself) and I am racing to list the one I should have listed already.

I even found 4 books I have had for a while and never did list. 3 of them are so lost I haven’t even photographed them yet.

As I often say, Oh well……

expert needlepointers

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:25:37 +0000

My good friend Patt, of Patt & Lee Designs asked me to look for some advanced needlepoint stitch books for her.

I have been doing so during my last 2 book buys (yes, I did another 2 buys but I am not so bad …I have listed 7 books).

My new wonderful needlework bibliography rates the books in it by difficulty level. A being the easiest and D being the hardest.

There are a number of C level books out there but they are like the Alphabet books or the famous designer/specialty/niche books, that sort.

There are very few D level books. There are lots of A level books, teaching beginners is a biggie in the needlework book industry and I completely agree.

I have written a Beginners and a Bargello Beginners pamphlet myself (sent out with any beginner-type kit or canvas I sell).

Back to my subject. Advanced Stitchers books. There are few, especially stitch reference books but there are a few (ah ha!).

Needless to say, I have some of them. The books by Mary Rhodes are extraordinary.

Her Canvas Work Stitches, as well as having many of the *boilerplate* stitches has some amazing and amazingly difficult stitches.

The Mary Rhodes books are all published in England by B. T. Batsford. Canvas Work is, of course, the common British name for Needlepoint.

The next one is Ideas for Canvas Work, in this book Mrs. Rhodes has a few completely unknown to me stitches as well as texture and technique ideas.

The dust jacket on this book is pretty much in tatters but the book inside is just fine. The value of used book is increased by it’s having it’s dust jacket, no matter how grotty (and this one is).

The last of the Mary Rhodes books I have is somewhat different. I ordered this before I had my handy Needlework Bibliography, so I had no idea what the contents of the book were, I was just going by name recognition. It is The Batsford Book of Canvas Work

This book is more of a well-researched and comprehensive history of the art of Needlepoint through the centuries. It is jammed with pictures, most of them B & W but still…..

I am reading this book, quickly, in case it sells fast.

Then there is the stitch reference book by Katherine Ireys, the author of several other books on Needlework. The book is The Encyclopedia of Canvas Embroidery Stitch Patterns. I have not listed this yet (today, I promise).

Despite the name “Canvas Embroidery” it is indeed a Needlepoint Stitch book. It has 170 stitches carefully and clearly diagrammed.

Again, as well as the usual stitches there are some very interesting stitches here.

Nice cover, isn’t it?

I am not covering the *name designer* books as *expert needlepointer* books. Some of them have some very complex patterns & graphs but few of them require decorative stitches. They are mostly Tent & Basketweave Stitch since most of them were published before 1990, many way before, and back then there was little interest in fancy stitching.

The exception to this is, of course, one of the terrific Margaret Boyles books. Needlepoint Stitchery is the earliest (that I know of, published in 1974) book that deals with using decorative stitching for more then just an occasional highlight.

As you can see from the cover, the difference is clear, the same design stitched both ways. My bibliography gives this book a D for difficulty (the most).

Other stuff, Keith has officially started his consulting business today and I have finally broken through whatever wall I had built and begun listing the new books.

I think I was pushed by a massive *self-shove*. I have 3 new orders of books on the way. Sometimes what I need is a nice kick in the butt, so I gave myself one.

I told Patt I will send her a few of the new *advanced* book to preview (on approval, of course) before I list them so I hope we will have her comments on them, as well as mine.

I finished the Clare Darcy “Georgette Heyer replacement* book, Elyzia. It was OK, not terrific and not GH but not bad.

I am now reading, as well as the Mary Rhodes needlepoint history book, another of the *pseudo Georgette Heyers*, The Stanbroke Girls by Fiona Hill. The back cover states “considerably more wit and pizazz then the legendary Georgette Heyer herself”.

To this outrageous statement I say, having read a third of the book, POO. The book is not bad, but that statement is very wide of the truth.

In between I read a terrific book. It is one of the Jane Austen “afterwards” books but this one based on easily the most unattractive character in Mansfield Park, Maria Bertram.

Maria of Birkthwaite by Judith Brocklehurst is a wonderful book, I enjoyed it much more then I imagined I would. I have ordered Ms. Brocklehurst’s other novel “A Letter from Lady Catherine”.

It has occured to me to wonder if Judith Brocklehurst is a “nom de plume”. Wasn’t Brocklehurst the name of the nasty head of the terrible school they sent Jane Eyre to?

BTW, I am unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit (remember when we all played that game?)

Once again, I have neglected the all-important link to my web store so…Be sure to visit my extraordinary Needlepoint store, NewNeedlepoint.com where you will also find a world-class collection of rare & hard-to-find Needlepoint and Bargello Needlepoint books.

There

I am confounded

thedutchessofneedlepoint — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:40:35 +0000

Going too far is one of my trademarks. I always fill that envelope too full to seal it, always.

This harkens back to my former friend’s remark about me many years ago:
“Your’re inappropriate and you expect too much”

And so I am and so I do.

BTW, did I mention that NewNeedlepoint.com is now a US Trademark? Anything I make or do under that name has Trademark protection.

I think that is so cool although it is not cool to say “cool”.

So, what did I mean by this blog title?

Well, I finally have all the new books ready to list. I have them photograped and the photos edited and I am all set to begin listing them.

But every time I sit down at my desk to do it I seem to *slide* away from the task.

Instead of listing a book I ordered some black teas from John Harney & Sons (I am a deep dark black tea drinker, not coffee).

I picked the first book to list and then I went to take a bath. That did not work out, my tenants were clearly not bath people, the water ran brown from the unused pipes to the bath tub. Ick.

I went back to my desk to begin the listings and then I started cruising around the Eileen Fisher web site and comparing what was there, to be bought with shipping charges with what was on the Neiman Marcus web site from EF to be bought without a shipping charge (I hate shipping charges which explains why I do free shipping on nn.com).

I new sweater and cropped pants are on their way to me.

I opened the first book : 97 Needlepoint Alphabets by B. Borssuck. It appears to be a great book of graphed out alphabets to stitch. The graphs vary in size, the idea is that you can copy them and use them as is, correctly sized.

Then my mind wandered. I imagined how tough it must have been in grade school to be named “Borssuck”. I can easily imagine the nicknames that would be applied to that name….oh dear.

I began to open all the programs I need to have open on the desk top to list an item (6 of them, 2 admin, 3 word and text counter) and then I thought I had better go start the laundry.

I did that, now I am sitting here writing the blog. Notice I am still not listing any books.

I have no idea what my problem is. I seem to be all over the place.

Really, it is odd.

So, I have these 33 books to list (as I photographed them I found 2 more unsalables, very bad condition) and what did I do?

I ordered 20 more books.

You might remember (but probably don’t) my talking about a bibliography of Needlepoint books. I got it in this last batch of books. It runs just until 1982 when it was published but still, it is remarkably complete.

Up till now, I have been buying books with no information about them except the name, author and supposed condition (HA!). With this book I have so much more information including a short synopsis and critique of each book.

It is wonderful, I went along consulting the book as I scanned the used needlepoint books in the distributor’s stock.

I found some excellent books, books I would not have looked at before since I was not familiar with the author or the subject/title seemed to be off point.

This opens up a whole range of books to me, books I would have overlooked before I had this bibliography.

I am concerned the book stops in 1982, but as Janet Perry said not too long ago ( I have her 2 books, new, to list too) there were no (zero) needlepoint books published in 2009.

None.

Anyway, I have 33 books ready to be listed and 20 more ordered and I just made myself a lovely Chambord & Soda (which means I am out of it for the rest of the evening, I am such a cheap date).

Plus I have a second load of laundry to do.

Anybody out there want to play Freud and tell me why I am avoiding what I do not dread, in fact rather like doing? We all know I am pretty much nuts but this is a whole new wrinkle.

Ok, I have to get my obligatory link in: check out my extraordinary and enticing Needlepoint web store NewNeedlepoint.com where you will find excellent needlepoint canvases & kits plus a world class (but not complete) collection of out-of-print and hard to find books.

How’s that?