A "spook-tacular" finish

Just in time for Halloween, stitching on the Point Lookout lighthouse is finished!

After adding the path using DMC floss #644 in a gobelin stitch, I worked the grass with Sheep's Silk "Green Leaves Dark" in Nobuko stitch. The bushes were stitched in French knots using Silk & Ivory "Ivy." The landscaping is complete!

Paranormal psychologists called in by the State of Maryland to investigate the strange doings in and around the lighthouse are not the only ones to have witnessed unusual occurrences. One such witness was Laura Berg, the last person to live in the lighthouse and the founder of the Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society.

She, along with several others, participated in a seance in the lighthouse in the late '70s and was photographed during the event. The developed photo revealed the presence of someone unobserved by seance participants: the shadowy form, standing beside Laura Berg, of a man in a soldier's uniform, standing casually with legs crossed, who appeared to be leaning into the wall.

While still in residence at the lighthouse, Laura Berg awoke one night to the sight of six bright lights swirling on the bedroom ceiling. Detecting the smell of smoke, she rushed downstairs to find the space heater in the living room on fire.

Rangers at Point Lookout State Park have also had unexplained "encounters." One ranger going about his duties to secure the lighthouse for an imminent electrical storm reported seeing a young, clean-shaven man peering into one of the windows. When the ranger opened the door to investigate, the young man disappeared through the screening of the enclosed front porch. The ranger later learned that his visitor's appearance matched that of one of the passengers of the Express, a steamer wrecked on the Point Lookout shore during a similar electrical storm in 1878.

Gathering weather data along the beachfront, another ranger encountered an elderly woman, obviously agitated, who walked with eyes cast down as if looking for something she'd lost along the path. She shrugged off the ranger's offer of assistance and he continued on his way. When the ranger looked back a short time later, the woman had disappeared. Several weeks had passed when the tombstone of Elizabeth Taylor was discovered in one of the rooms of a local hotel. Records revealed that the Taylor family cemetery had been located on the same stretch of beachfront where the ranger met the old woman. Was it the spirit of Elizabeth Taylor, searching for her family members, that the ranger had encountered?

The Point Lookout lighthouse may not have been one of the most picturesque lighthouses I've adapted to needlepoint, but you have to admit its history certainly has been exciting!

Building the lighthouse

With the sky and water stitched, I started in on the Point Lookout lighthouse itself. I worked the tower in DMC floss #666 in a combination of tent and satin stitches, and the front porch in white DMC floss in tent, Scotch variation and gobelin stitches over two threads.

Stitching small architectural elements isn't always easy: you want to give a hint of how the different areas are constructed, but the size of the areas limits you to the types of decorative stitches that might be suitable. For the roof of the house itself, I used DMC floss #815 in a cashmere stitch to mimic overlapping shingles. The corrugated roof of the porch was constructed of DMC floss #355 in alternating vertical rows of tent and gobelin stitches over three threads.

The house itself is constructed of brick that has been painted a tan color, but the areas to be stitched were too small to use a decorative stitch that might suggest brick. Here I used basketweave in DMC floss #842, which keeps the overall look in scale and further accentuates the decorative stitches I did use on the roof sections.

Ann Davis, the keeper of the lighthouse from 1830 to 1847 whom I mentioned in my previous post, was not the only female keeper. Pamela Edwards, the keeper during the Civil War, must have been one tough cookie! In addition to maintaining her rigorous duties at the lighthouse, she was surrounded by doctors and patients at the Union Army hospital as well as a burgeoning population of Confederate prisoners-of-war. No wonder the laughing, female voice, cussing a blue streak, that paranormal investigators recorded has been attributed to her!

It is believed that at some point, Pamela Edwards was forced to house within the lighthouse itself several female prisoners who had been accused of spying or being Confederate sympathizers. The last employee of the State of Maryland, who lived with her husband in the lighthouse until 1981, complained of an unexplained smell of death and decomposition emanating from one of the upstairs bedrooms. She made numerous attempts to scrub the room, but each night the smell reappeared.

Paranormal psychologists brought in to investigate this phenomenon detected "vibes" of pain and suffering coming from the room. They finally decided the location must have been where the female prisoners had been detained, and once their report was made public, the smell suddenly disappeared. Did the ghosts of these prisoners feel vindicated and leave the lighthouse once their previous existence had been confirmed by experts?

I need to finish "landscaping" the lighthouse, and have a few more ghostly stories up my sleeve, before we slide into Halloween!

Needle-blending a gloomy sky

I began stitching on the Point Lookout lighthouse with the sky, which I wanted to be in keeping with a haunted lighthouse. I chose a gray-blue color palette of DMC cotton floss, starting at the top with four plies of DMC #932 stitched in basketweave. Randomly staggering the stitches at the bottom of each section, I followed this " recipe" down to the horizon:

Row 2: Three plies DMC #932, one ply #3752
Row 3: Two plies DMC #932, two plies #3752
Row 4: One ply DMC #832, three plies #3752
Row 5: Four plies DMC #3752
Row 6: Three plies DMC #3752, one ply #3753

I then added the water, using DMC floss #931 in a gobelin stitch over two threads. It was then time to work on the lighthouse itself, so I hopped on the computer to check the exact shade of red for the lantern room and tower. Some photos I hadn't seen before came up in my search, and I realized the roof of the house itself wasn't black: it was a red so dark that, in most of the previous photos I'd consulted, it had appeared to be black. Not to worry--I'll cover over that black paint with dark red when I get to the roof. I knew there was a good reason for my not painting a master for a lighthouse design until the model had been stitched!

In my previous post, I mentioned the study of ghostly activity, commissioned by the Maryland Committee on Psychic Research in 1980, which produced tape recordings of 24 different voices within the lighthouse. One of those voices, which distinctly utters the words "My home," has been attributed to Ann Davis, wife of the first keeper James Davis. When he suddenly died only two months after his appointment in 1830, Ann took over his responsibilities until her death in 1847. Her apparition, dressed in a long blue skirt and starched white blouse, at the top of the lantern room stairs has been documented by several people.

From 1971 to 1972, a young state employee, along with her husband and infant son, lived at the lighthouse. Each night she tucked the baby in for the night with his head at the top of the crib and, on one particularly chilly evening, clipped a blanket and top sheet down around the sleeping child. Halfway down the stairs to rejoin her husband, she heard the baby utter a blood-curdling scream. When she raced back to the bedroom, the child was sound asleep--at the other end of the crib, facing the opposite direction. His covers had been removed and the bed re-made so he'd still be snug in this new position.

Was it the benevolent ghost of former keeper Ann Davis who had taken it upon herself to rearrange the child? More stitching and more stories still to come!

A haunted lighthouse: believe it or not!

It has stood on the same spot for almost 180 years, but has been vacated for the last 30. Its beacon, the aid to navigation that provided the reason for its existence, was removed 44 years ago. But some folks say there's still a lot of activity going on at Point Lookout lighthouse in Scotland, Maryland, dubbed the most haunted lighthouse in the United States!

The grounds of Point Lookout State Park, at the mouth of the Potomac River where it meets Chesapeake Bay, haven't always been quite so desolate. Originally part of St. Michael's Manor owned by Leonard Calvert, first governor of Maryland while still a British colony, the spot was a mecca for visitors to its wharf and summer cottages when the lighthouse was built in 1830. With the coming of the Civil War, however, the area's charm as a summer resort dramatically changed.

In 1862, the federal government leased land on the point to construct Hammond General Hospital for the care of wounded Union soldiers. The following year, some Confederate detainees were assigned to the hospital. After the Battle of Gettysburg, however, Camp Hoffman--the Civil War's largest prison camp--was constructed on the site to house a maximum of 10,000 Confederate soldiers. By 1864 the population had exploded to 20,000. Conditions were squalid: drinking water was contaminated and make-shift tents provided little protection from the elements. More than 4,000 Confederate soldiers died and were buried a short distance from the camp.

Renovations to the original lighthouse were made in 1883 to allow space for two keepers' families and again in 1927, when it reached its present 2-1/2 story size. By the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy had begun buying parcels on the site and when the Coast Guard turned the lighthouse over to the Navy in 1965, the Fresnel lens was removed and a steel light tower was constructed offshore. After years of disinterest, the Navy did restore the lighthouse exterior in 2002, returning it to its original 1927 paint scheme, and the State of Maryland assumed ownership in 2006.

Oddly enough, it wasn't until the state took over the lighthouse that strange noises and sitings began to occur. Paranormal psychologists were brought in, confirming in taped recordings the existence of 24 different voices and documenting apparitions both in the lighthouse and on the grounds.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, stay tuned for a little stitching and some interesting--and slightly spooky--stories about the spirits of Point Lookout lighthouse!

An encore performance

The "Dreamgirls" are back--from the finisher, that is. I thought those of you who followed my progress in stitching this little Halloween door-hanger might be interested in seeing how it turned out.

The finishing was done by Stitchery Square in Camden, Maine, who turned this project around in plenty of time for the upcoming holiday. Once again, Michelle McCreery, a very sweet and talented lady, has worked her magic with black and metallic white cording and an over-the-top embellishment of sparkly orange and black-and-white ribbons and a little purple doo-dad for good measure.

Our across-the-street neighbors' renovation project is behind schedule, so perhaps this will cheer up the lady of the house!

A double-photo finish!

Both versions of the "Victoria" mini-sock design are now completed!

To finish the lace cuff on the mini-sock on the left, I added black Petite Very Velvet and Smyrna crosses to the squares made by the grid of DMC #5 perle cotton that I'd already established. Then I stitched the last ribbon motif, using white DMC floss in basketweave for the background, #991 in satin stitch for the holly, and #304 in a cross stitch for the berries. I chose not to use French knots for the berries because, as a model, this little sock will get a lot of wear-and-tear traveling around and single French knots could be too easily snagged.

I finished off the cuff on the right mini-sock and, again, had one more ribbon motif to complete. For the filigree ribbon, I chose DMC floss #819--a very pale pink--in basketweave for the background, Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V , and Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032 for the "pearls."

So here we have the same basic design, with two very different color schemes and cuff treatments--I look forward to learning which version YOU like best!

A touch of lace

I've been a busy bee this week, working on the two versions of my "Victoria" mini-sock design.

Yes, Cyn, I did go to the local fabric store, but don't get excited! I went to look, not to purchase. Lace, indeed, was on my mind, and I wanted to get an idea of the different styles to determine which ones would be best for the cuffs on the mini-socks. Bet you never realized how many different types of lace there are: crocheted lace, gossamer lace that looks more like netting, cotton with a starched, perky look--the list is virtually endless! And don't forget the different colors, too: pure white, ivory, and "blond." Having figured out which style and color would be appropriate for each version, I hurried home to stitch them!

As you can see from the photo on the left, the "darker" version really isn't that dark anymore. When I finished stitching three of the four ribbon motifs, I took a long, hard look at the canvas and realized the background of the fourth ribbon should stay exactly as I'd left it unpainted: white! As I began stitching the two upper ribbon sections in basketweave with white DMC floss, the strangest thing happened--the green on the "rosebud" ribbons appeared greener, and I decided it wasn't a bad thing at all as it softened the look of the "jewel tone" ribbons.

I finished the filigree ribbons on the "lighter" version, as you can see in the right photo, and then I got side-tracked--time to stitch some lace! I had already studied some needlepoint lace-making techniques outlined so clearly on Judy Harper's "Freebies" blog and knew essentially which styles would be suitable for each sock. To answer NC Pat's comment, I never planned to link the versions with a coordinating cuff color--I'm treating each version as separate but equal. Getting out my graph paper, I planned out the shapes of each cuff and the spacing of the grid which will eventually produce the lace itself. Believe me, this step took a lot longer than the actual stitching!

The sock on the left has a cuff of crocheted lace, using DMC #5 perle cotton. I tried it on doodle canvas first, with both the perle cotton and Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032, and decided I liked the perle cotton best. I first established the "points" on the edge with diagonal oblong cross stitches, ending with a "drop" at each point worked in a variation of the Leviathan stitch three threads square. Next I filled in a grid that resembles the basis for a framed mosaic stitch. I'll go back and fill in the squares to create a pattern with the black Petite Very Velvet.

The cuff in the right photo is one-third completed, with the stitching of the grid begun in the center "festoon." I used the same DMC floss #712 that I'd used in the plaid ribbon to mimic the look of "blond" lace. The squares of the grid were filled in a pattern of the taupe Petite Very Velvet and Smyrna crosses stitched with the floss.

I still have ribbons as well as cuffs to finish, but I feel like I'm on the home stretch now. And I proved to myself that I could stitch lace, not just buy it!