It's been a day

Temp jobs are like trial marriages. In its initial stages, they have all the full flower of the honeymoon. Everyone thinks everyone else is just ducky. It's a lousy job, but it is a job. Then reality starts to rear its ugly head and you start seeing the cracks. The problems are more frequent, the complaints create more headaches. Then comes the point when you realize you're staying on just for the paycheck and the aggravation isn't worth it for a 30 hour a week job. Fortunately calling the temp agency is easier than hiring a divorce lawyer.

This is an ugly way of saying I had a lousy frelling day at work. I need a new job and I need it now!

Blackwork Links

I discovered blackwork a few years ago, when I was interested in historical needlework. One of my favorite examples shows up in my icon from the portrait of Jane Seymour. I almost figured out how to make that pattern reversible, if you don't include the little crosses below. My frustration usually with tutorials is they show stitching in a straight line as the base example with no indication how you're supposed to make any turns.

Blackwork Embroidery Archives: Lots of very ornate blackwork patterns.

The Bronwen's Blackwork Library: Downloadable Italian and German blackwork patterns with a double running stitch tutorial. From the same site, a cute Elizabethan doll, Dressing Cecily, showing how the layers went on. If you put them in the wrong order, you receive a pithy retort.

Blackwork article: Step by step tutorial on double running stitch.

Blackwork Gallery: Lots of period references and portraits with blackwork examples.

Blackwork discussion: Long discussion from Stefan's Florilegium on the subject archived from the rec.org.sca newsgroup.