At my fav thrift store I found eight unadorned white linen placemats just waiting for a little personality. My plan is to embroider each one with a different autumn motif. After a little sleuthing, I gathered images from the internet of a squirrel, pinecone, ears of corn, mushrooms, apples, a pumpkin, leaves, and an acorn. I sized them to fit the placemat before printing and as I go I'll transfer each design to the linen with a light box and a water-soluble pen before stitching.

I'm using two strands of six-strand DMC floss in a brassy olive green. I think the single color will give the set a vintage look.

This is a "zero hurry" project: something I can pick up for fifteen or twenty minutes whenever I feel like doing embroidery.

Tonight I'm hosting my long-time knitting group—the KnitWits—and their spouses for our annual BLT party. There will be twenty of us gathered around the tables where I'm using the patchwork tablecloths I made last year, and I'm happy to report that I think I've finally gotten everything under control...although it wasn't exactly easy this year.

We had just returned from a wonderful week in Maui, so there wasn't much time to ease back into real life before I had to switch straight into party mode. The garden, especially, was crying out for attention after being neglected for a week. I knew there was no way I'd have time to get it looking as polished as I would have liked, but sometimes you simply have to accept that good enough is good enough.

The morning after we got home I picked an overflowing basket of green beans, but I honestly didn't have a spare minute to blanch or freeze them. Fortunately, I was headed to a friend's birthday gathering that evening, so I took the whole basket along. They disappeared in no time, and I came home with one less thing on my to-do list!

The bigger challenge, though, was getting little Biscuit settled again. While we were away, our wonderful neighbors cared for him, shuttling him back and forth between their house and ours. He was absolutely beside himself with excitement when I picked him up, but it took several days before he relaxed and started feeling like himself again. Poor little guy. Usually my son is our go-to dog sitter, but since he was in Maui with us, that wasn't an option this time. I'm not quite sure what we'll do the next time we travel. That's life with a sensitive little dog—but you wouldn't trade them for the world.

I hope to get pictures of tonight's BLT party and share them next week!  

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