Hi friends, One of the reasons I love writing this blog is the opportunity it gives me to wander down the crafty highways and by-ways of the internet in search of little bits of handmade treasure. I found one of those today: Isn't it great? Stitched by emshim, via Feeling Stitchy. Embroidery been on my mind lately so I imagine there will be an embroidery project on my crafty to-do list soon. In fact, I spent a good half hour looking through books by Jenny Hart (of Sublime Stitching fame) last weekend, soaking up the good ideas. You can read Jenny's blog here. The last thing I embroidered was this Pyrex-themed table runner inspired by Alicia Paulson's " Pleasant Kitchen" dishtowels (available as a free PDF download – look in the right-hand sidebar on her blog). If you're familiar with Alicia's blog, Posie Gets Cozy, you might have seen today's post about using waste linen for monogramming. So neat! She's got an embroidery book coming out in August and I can't wait to add that to my collection. And of course, there are tons of embroidery resources on the web. Some links:

• Feeling Stitchy
• The Purl Bee (check the sidebars for links to embroidery-specific projects and tutorials)
• Wee Wonderfuls (with patterns for free or to buy; and an embroidery resource round-up)
• Hand Embroidery Network

Finally, for a look at something absolutely extraordinary, go take a peek at The Embroiderers' Story. It's a blog that details the recreation of an exquisite 17th-century embroidered jacket on the Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It took three years and more than 250 people, and you need to see it to believe it. It gave me chills. On that note, I'm outta here. Have a great night!