My Scissors -- New and mysterious

Happy Monday morning everyone!

Look what arrived in Friday's mail:

These are so fine and I am glad I finally sprang for them.  Wasa Solingen 3 1/4 inch in a style Silent Stitches calls "Ada".  Sharp tips, well balanced, great "feel" my new favorites. 

Now these are a mystery.  My grandmother gave me boxes and boxes of her old stitching stuff last year, and these little scissors were among the goodies inside. 

I've done a little Googling and it seems that Hainlin & Co on the sleeve is a store in Germany, but I can't find out anything about those little scissors themselves.  They are small and sharp, about 2.75" long, and the maker mark looks like a grimacing face or something with a needle in the mouth.  There is a word printed under the face but it is hard to read, might be "werklass"? 

I don't know but I suspect Grandma picked them up on one of her many travels through Europe in the 1980s, but I could be way off.  They might just have been a freebie the store was giving away but they seem decent quality. Anyone have any idea?

Kids at the volcano

Yesterday the weather was a fantastic Fall day, sunny and crisp.  So instead of staying home and taking more pictures of scissors (my new Wasa Solingen arrived! next time) we decided to take advantage and go for a day trip to Mt. St. Helens. 

You'll recall this volano exploded during the eruption of May 1980.  I was but a grub, only a little smaller than this excited child in the pink coat:

So pretty up there, it was the kind of light where even the weeds become beautiful.

The air was so clear you could see each tendril of steam on the lava dome.

Do I go *anywhere* without my stitching?  (no.)

See you again next time.

My Scissors -- from Italy!

Ackk I just finished this whole post and then Blogger ate it so I'm doing it over.  Happy Friday anyway, everyone!

I have two pairs of Italian-made scissors.  This first pair is one of my favorites to look at-  I love the rubbed black finish that shows through silver in the high areas, and I love the hook-style handles. This style handles suits me well since I usually put my thumb and middle fingers through handle loops and steady the blade with my index finger, rather than put my thumb and index finger through the handles. 

The one thing I do not like about this pair is that the action is not as smooth as I would like.  I fix this somewhat by putting a tiny dot of sewing machine oil near the screw, but of course then I must be careful oil doesn't get on my fabric or threads.  Oh well.  I am careful and I enjoy these enough to use them anyway.

My other Italian pair is by Premax, the 4.25-inch ring-lock pair, and aren't these space-age?

These have a perfect brushed steel finish and that smooth action the first pair is missing.  SWOOSH.  Also, they are made in the village of Premana, Italy, which is near Lake Como, which is where George Clooney lives.  So, these also have a touch of Hollywood glamour, haha!

Next time-  grab bag!

Ladybugs and clover

A quick break today from scissors week. 

Yesterday while collecting eggs we saw that the chicken coop was swarmed with ladybugs!  There were hundreds of them, maybe enjoying the sunshine for a last time before going to find a cozy place in the eaves to hibernate.

Little Lena was fascinated.

Of course lots of them landed on us. 

Lena wanted to "feed" them some clover.

So I was inspired to make a small piece I've been pondering for a while.

Thanks to a Japanese book "Embroidery Animals and Insects" for this pattern.  How should I finish it?

My Scissors -- From Japan

These are so pretty.  And I started another sampler of sorts, too, a couple days ago.   Ink Circles "Alchemical Romance"...it was 10/10/10 and if that's not a reason for a new start I don't know what is. 

But OK so this might be cheating a bit.  I bought these lovelies from someone in Japan, but they have no maker marks so I don't really know where they are from. 

They are both fairly large and blunt and not good for very fine work.  Very pretty though and it's ok, I have another pair from Japan that is super-great for the fine stuff.  Meet Kai Scissors:

Yes, for the safety of myself and others, they normally hang around with that point protector on.  These suckers are not that pretty but they are by far the SHARPEST scissors I own.  Let's take a closer look.

Yikes!  If you are doing fine cutwork, you should maybe know about these.  Specifically, they are Kai's 4-inch straight blades for needlework.  They also make curved, bent, and blunt 4-inch needlework scissors, and I've also heard great things about Kai's shears and other larger blades for a variety of uses, but I haven't invested in any of them, yet.

Next time:  Italian scissors (and that won't be the last of them, either...)

More scissors -- Lift N Snips

Lightweight little Lift n Snips. 

Great to slide into the project bag because they are inexpensive, and the blades are very short and blunt so they are airplane-safe.  At least, I haven't had a problem...of course there is no gaurantee what your TSA agent will think.

I only have two of these, but I think there are only two models anyway-- straight and curved blades.  Both also have one blade with a small hook-shape blade, which you can slide under a thread to slip it close without knicking any other threads. 
Hard to explain maybe but easy to show:

Anyway I like them both about the same.  The curved blade ones are newer, so have smoother action, and are finer all-around.  It's good these scissors are inexpensive, because they don't seem to stay sharp as long as some other brands-- I think that little hook is probably the culprit there, I suspect it's hard to sharpen and gets a lot of use always at the same point on the blade. 

Next time: Japanese snippers...

My scissors -- The Dovos!

Continuing where I left off yesterday.  I have a small but growing set of Dovo scissors for Solingen, Germany.  My dear husband shares my love of perfect tools (of course his tend to be larger, more expensive, and used on wood) so these are all gifts from him.  I've told him that anytime he needs to find a gift for me, *any* Dovo scissor would always be welcome! 

Dovo scissors are spendy, but so well engineered and perfectly finished that they are a dream to use.

Right to left:

1.  5-inch scissor, these have the most fabulous swooshing action when you close them.  A little too large for most embroidery uses, but they are perfect for trimming fabric when trimming light applique fabrics or finishing those small pieces or ornaments.
2.  4-inch embroidery scissors, pewter finish.  Just a wonderful all-around pair for needlework.  Fine blades that are perfectly matched and honed.
3.  2  7/8-inch small gold-finish scissors.  These are tiny but great for those small spaces (I've used them more than I want to admit ripping out the small stitches on 40-ct Metta, already).  They are really well designed and have a great balance so the action is a lot more like standard-size embroidery scissors than most "minis".

Tomorrow:  Lift-n-snips