That was the week that was

 I am not sure what has happened to the last week. We had our family get-together so there was a lot of cooking and baking, and we had a major domestic disaster. So I think, actually, that's what happened to the last week.

And it's already December 10. This means that a third of the month has vanished. I feel like there was a big whoosh as it roared by, and I have not a clue as to where I am at the moment.

I haven't been stitching much, that's for sure. I had plans. I should stop making plans.

What I have done is bargello on Jackie's Flame Stitch Pocket. As I said earlier, once you get the first row done, the rest just fit together without much thinking or counting, and that's about what I'm capable of handling at the moment.

I have finished the first complete color retreat, so I know what it's going to look like. And here that is:

I think I'll go finish the last bit of laundry that I've been trying to do since Monday, and then do a few more rows on this. I plan a very early bedtime tonight, so hopefully I'll be back and rarin' to go tomorrow.

OMG, I just realized that today is Mother's 98th birthday! They were planning to have a cake for her in her extended care facility, and promised to send The Saint photos of the event. Actually, last year when they tried to take pictures of her for her 97th birthday, she had a tizzy and covered her face, so I'm not sure what to expect from this year's celebration.

A fancy bug

So I woke up at 5 and couldn't go back to sleep. I gave it an hour and when snoozing didn't happen, I got myself up and downstairs.

And I now have a very fancy bug.

 It still needs antennae and legs but I have to finish the gold band around the piece before I can stitch them. I'm beginning to feel the need for a nap, so maybe this isn't the right time to carefully couch down delicate gold threads.

I've also added several rows to the Flame stitch piece I'm doing in the evenings.

This is going to take a minute or two to stitch--but it really is the perfect project to do later in the day.

Other than that, things are icy cold and they are predicting the dread wintry mix, which means sleet, freezing rain, and possibly half a dozen or so snowflakes. The Saint was supposed to come this weekend for our combination Thanksgiving/Christmas feast, but she sprained her ankle doing something with garlands at her church. Consequently, she will likely be coming for a combination Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's/ possibly Valentine's Day get-together. We'll figure it out later. However, we are still cooking and celebrating since the turkey was already thawing when disaster struck. Tomorrow, therefore, I will be cooking and mixing and preparing whatever can be cooked and mixed and prepared ahead of time. 

"Tis the season!

Ups and Downs

I decided my stitching life needs to set aside certain projects that I can work on when my hands need to stitch but my brain doesn't need to make decisions. The holidays tend to make this even more urgent.

So, at the moment, I have started the bargello pattern for the Flame Stitch Pocket, a class that Jackie du Plessis taught at Sassy Jack's awhile back. Once the first row was in, the rest is just following the pattern.

 I'm going to move to a red family, then a green family, then a blue family--then the color progression will begin again.

And the silk colors are simply beautiful.

They make me happy. And happy is much better than stressed.

Spoiler Alert!

If you're waiting for the new Frostings Box from Thistle Threads, read no further.

I bundled up against the frigid air and tottered to the mailbox this morning because I had a notification that mine had been delivered. And it had!

 This one is packed--lots of new colors and metal threads and trims. I have to admit, olive greens and bronze-y golds are not in my usual color palette, but I am pleased with the purples. And I love the new trims and metallic threads.

So, this is heading into the stash. I am absolutely not going to play with any of the colors until I have finished decorating the tree. I have been fiddling with that tree for almost a week now, and it's time to finish. I am ready to move on to something else!

Who? Where? When?

 I have been totally discombobulated.

I realized that Monday is December. Like, really? What happened to August? But then it's been November for 6 months. Except for the last week. I really don't know what happened to last week.

And it still feels a little like 2020.

The halls are being decked. Slowly. The guest room bed is being cleared so the Saint will have somewhere to sleep when she comes for our family's combination Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration next weekend. This is also happening slowly.

Apparently I am moving slowly. Possibly because the Arctic Blast has returned and I'm frozen.

Anyway, there was a wee little bit of stitching done.

Barbara Jackson's 2025 ornament for Shining Needle is stitched. Finishing will occur soon so it can go on the tree.

But it is likely that the finishing will also go slowly.

Everything else is.

It's a Syndrome

I have decided I am suffering from Post-Project Depression.

Unlike postpartum depression, this does not involve hormones. (At my advanced age, anything hormonally involved is highly unlikely, but that's a rant for another day.) This is the letdown after completing a project.

Ever since I finished Ann Kemp, I've been picking things up and putting them down without threading a needle or poking a needle into anything. Nothing seemed to scratch that particular itch. 

It's not like I have nothing to stitch. I have lots of things to stitch. I suffer from SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) worse than most. But nothing called to me. 

I finally decided that this is ridiculous--I had just been thinking last week that I need to stitch more, not less, to make a dent in my stash--and it didn't make any difference what I stitch, as long as I stitch on something. So, I pulled out the Queen sampler and finished the band I had been working on.

I wish to say right now that this is my least favorite band. I don't care for the combination of colors and I really don't like the stitch Darlene used to fill the flowers. And I have to do it again on the other side of the next big band. But it's done and now I feel like stitching again. At least it jump-started the desire.

So NOW the problem is deciding which project I really want to work on.

It's a better problem to have.

*****

Dearly Beloved took offense at my comments in my last post, especially the one about it takes him only 2.5 seconds to get to sleep. He mentioned that he also has to:

• take off his glasses
• remove his hearing aids and plug them into the charger
• put on his C-PAP mask
• strap on the braces he wears at night for carpal tunnel

Hence, I stand corrected. It takes him 10 seconds to get to bed and go completely and totally asleep.

I still find that infuriating.

Ta-DAAAAA--another finish for November

 Ann Kemp 1815, aka A Fancy Basket, is done!

I had only two goals this week: to get enough sleep to function and to finish Ann Kemp.

Ann Kemp first: I thought I was so close to finishing her that I could get it done in a day. If I stitched all day. 

So I stitched all day.

She wasn't done. The garland around the bottom of the basket was, but that was all.

So I stitched a good chunk of the next day.

Nope, didn't happen. 

This continued. I was beginning to wonder if the gremlins were coming out at night and either removing things I had already stitched or adding things to the chart that I would have to stitch. I mean, I know I stitch more slowly than I used to--that electric needle has rusted out--but really!

I finally decided to stay up last night until she was completely stitched. And I did. There was much rejoicing.

And then I thought that maybe my weird sleep patterns were partially to blame.

Sleeping has been a problem. I've fallen back into sleeping for about four hours, then waking up and being totally unable to get back to sleep for a couple of hours, then falling back asleep--hard--to the point that when I finally wake up much later in the day than I want, I am stupid and cranky. I've tried getting up and doing things--I've had just enough sleep to get into motion but not always enough to know when to stop--or I've spent the time staring at the ceiling and making plans--which I have then mostly forgotten by the next day. So I have tried getting up at the time I originally wanted to be up and just pushing through. By the end of the second day of this, I'm able to sleep through the night, but then it starts all over again the next night.

I have heard from various friends that they, too, have similar problems. It may be an issue for people of a certain age. The male of the species does not seem to have the same difficulty. I swear, Dearly Beloved can lie down, pull up the covers, and start snoring in 2.5 seconds.

It is infuriating.