Take a Stitch Tuesday - Pekinese Stitch - Week 33

This week for Take a Stitch Tuesday, the featured stitch is the Pekinese Stitch. It also is known as the Peking Stitch.

I liked this stitch because it is one that can be stitched quickly and the visual feedback is immediate once the complementary stitching begins.

Source

There are some examples of the stitch that has been used in Chinese embroidery throughout the years on the Marla Mallett website. 

For the Pekinese stitch, since I'm just learning it, I did three rows of the stitch. I chose the rainbow colors - red paired with orange; yellow paired with green; and blue paired with violet. No indigo, though.

Trio of rows of Pekinese Stitch.

I also made a heart using purple and red embroidery floss.

Heart made by using the Pekinese stitch.

This stitch would be a great one to use with a  variety of textures of yarn, thread, and floss. I'd like to re-visit and expand upon this stitch at a different time. 

Both the samples went into my weekly journal.

My journal entry for the week.

The journal included a weekly reflection about what happened during the week, a list of five things for which I'm grateful, the embroidery samples, the name of the stitch, and a few images:

=> Image of an angel. My mom told me this week about when her Stephen Minister visited her and they were talking in the sun room. She told him that because he questioned why she hadn't called a friend even though she wanted to, it motivated her to call her friend and set up a lunch date at the end of July. 

Her friend came over for lunch and they spent the entire afternoon having a wonderful time together. It would be the last time they saw one another. My mom's friend died unexpectedly two weeks ago from a stroke. My mom is so thankful to have had this opportunity to spend so much time with her friend whom she knew since she was 14 years old (she is now 82 years old).

As she was telling this story, a red cardinal came up outside on the deck and sat behind my mom and looked straight into the eyes of my mom's Stephen Minister. Normally he doesn't interrupt her, but he stood up abruptly and said, "Dorothy, there's a cardinal and it is looking right at me!" 

My dad loved cardinals. They were one of his favorite birds. Cardinals have never come onto the deck - they always visit the feeders in the yard...but never come that close to the house. Nor do birds sit at the window behind my mom and stare at someone inside. They truly felt this was a sign from my dad.

=>  The word "peace." I have seen hummingbirds and monarchs - quite a few this week - and they bring me a lot of peace. They make me stop what I'm doing and enjoy watching them.

=> The image of lightening and a horse remind me of the lightening storm that happened on Saturday night. The lightening was directly overhead. I remembered that both the horses were still wearing their halters (which have metal parts on them) from when the girls were grooming them earlier that afternoon. 

Ran out to the barn, and thankfully both horses were inside. Bailey was relaxed, with her back right hoof on its edge (a sign that she's content), and was watching the storm from the south door leading to the pasture. Took off their halters and gave hem some treats before running back to the house.