Ups and Downs

This band on Carmen pretty much sums up the way I feel. It's been one of those up-and-down days.

I didn't sleep well last night, then I've had a little, nagging headache all day. I decided maybe I shouldn't attempt Or Nue on my goldwork sampler, especially since it's a technique I have done exactly once previously, and that was close to two decades ago. 

Then we've been watching Debby's track off and on; we're in her path although we're in the middle of the state. Depending on which weather witch doctor you watch, we're supposed to get anywhere from 2" to 10" of rain and there's a slight chance of tornadoes in our area. 

This is one of those days when I'd like to make a trip to Krispy Kreme. But only when the Hot sign is on--I believe a hot doughnut, fresh out of the fat and off the glazing table, might just elevate my overall mood.

Oh, Christmas Tree . . .

 Tricia Nguyễn has designed a new Christmas tree ornament for 2024. The instructions are free. However, she also offers a complete kit, and I, of course, ordered one.

It came yesterday.

I am having a very hard time sticking with the things I'm already working on. As we all know, I have the will power of a squirrel.

Stay tuned to see what happens . . .

Puttering

I needed a break from intense projects and intense competitions, so I took a day off from the goldwork class and Carmen, and I turned off the Olympics for one day.

So I've been puttering. I moved some things around in the stash room, and I dug into my stash to find some multicolor threads for a project that BDE is doing. I couldn't go for a whole day without stitching something, so there are more spiral trellis stitches completed.

 I may just stick with this for the evening. Or not. I'm taking the day off from my regularly scheduled programming, so who knows what may happen!

Taking the Plunge

 I have lots and lots of thread ends to plunge to the back of the work and sew down.

I have stitched both diaper patterns, and it will be time to move on to a different but similar technique with the next motif as soon as I get all the excess thread taken care of.  To be honest, after spending most of the afternoon watching track and field, I am exhausted. I realized I was holding my breath in each event, which I don't think helped any of the athletes, but certainly wore me out! So the ends will be dealt with in the morning.

I was asked what a diaper pattern is. In this context, it means a repeating geometric pattern--the top one is a fairly simple zigzag (maybe fairly simple for some people, but I had a bear of a time getting it going correctly), and the bottom is a diamond pattern, which I think I would have had less trouble with if I had alternated colors. And I still need to work on my tension, but it's better overall than it was, so I'm counting that as a win.

My version of the Olympics!

Sloooooooow Saturday Stitching

 I've done a little--a very little--on a diaper pattern on the goldwork project.

Why so little?

One word.

Olympics.

More Gold

 I made myself stitch today, and I have more gold.

Definitely not my best work, and I noticed some twisted stitches only when I looked at the photograph. Unfortunately, where they are would mean taking the whole thing apart. I've decided this is definitely a learning piece, so the errors will stay as a reminder in the future.

I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to have a lot of reminders in this project.

Olympic Stitching--Not!

 This is all I've managed to stitch in the last few days.

Pitiful, just pitiful.

I literally cannot tear my eyes away during some of the competitions, especially the gymnastics. This means that I can't watch my stitching at all, so I've just decided to watch and not even think about threading a needle during certain sports.

At the moment, though, Dearly Beloved is watching fencing, which I do not understand. Everything happens super fast, then a bunch of people in blue suits go look at a computer screen, then one of them comes up a short flight of steps and waves a hand, and then the fencers start over again. Dearly Beloved and the Big Kid used to fence, so he gets what's happening and has tried to explain, but his explanations sometimes go back to the Middle Ages in France and Italy and beyond. I glaze over after about the first 15 minutes of the lecture.

And I still have no clue what's going on.

I may actually get some stitching done today.