Pretty Thing

 I have something else to stitch once RST 1779 is history.

Look what came in the mail!

Amy Mitten's Needleworkers Reticule arrived! This is actually all BDE's fault because she saw it first and told me I had to get it. She is going to do it, too. We've decided this might be a good SAL for the two of us.

Along with the two classes we're taking at Salty Yarns next week. (Actually, I'm taking three classes.)

Like daughter, like mother, I guess. Interesting when the roles start to reverse . . . 

Eating my veggies and dishpan hands

 I decided to eat my veggies and do those two big geometric designs that were fully filled in.

That whopper of a design--which we have been calling the conjoined twins motif--took way more time to fill in that I anticipated. I was beginning to think that the gremlins were pulling stitches out after I went to bed. But it's done--and I can move on to some smaller geometrics and the last pretty floral designs.

My time was also taken up by washing dishes. For the second time in our marriage, we have had to endure a dishwasher that was out of order. For a week. O.M.G.

Now, I don't mind washing my fine china by hand, but the everyday stuff . . . it's a big enough pain having to figure out what to eat three meals a day, When you add washing dishes three times a day on top of it, well, domesticity loses all allure. And, yes, we did resort to paper plates when it was practical, but there are some things that really need solid dishes. 

And working with silk with dishpan hands . . . I think I have used up half a tub of CeraVe hand cream in the last week.

However, we now have a working dishwasher again. Happy Days, especially since we have ribs in the crock pot and a large bowl of marinated veggies and plans to bake cornbread for dinner tonight. By the time I scrubbed all those pots and pans out, I'd have to finish the other half of the tub of CeraVe!

Another corner

I finally made it down to the lower left corner of RST 1779.

 I was beginning to think that Dearly Beloved was going to have to bury this with me, because I was sure I was going to die of extreme old age before I got these repeating motifs stitched.

And, I have to admit, I found them a wee bit boring to stitch. I don't do well with the same thing over and over again, and there was a lot of that.

Now I have a decision to make. There are two honkin' big repeating motifs on the other side of the sampler. Do I go ahead and knock them out, then reward myself with flowers and little geometric designs that don't have all that repetition?

Basically, do I eat my dessert before I have my veggies?

A little of this, a little of that

 I had to take a day off from stitching to let my wrists rest, and then I was very careful and stopped as soon as things started to twinge.

But I have the beginning of another tiny motif on RST:

And I had the first class on the Napoleonic Goldwork motif from Liz Tapper.

We started by stitching the cording and string down for some of the padding. Then we did a wee bit of stitching with passing thread--all seven leaves have to be stitched, although we only have to have one done before next week's class.

But meanwhile, I need to put on my Domestic Diva attire and get some laundry done, and corral the dust bunnies, and think about meals for the next day or so.

I'd rather be stitching.

Strawberries or Rosebuds?

 What are these?

I can't decide if they're strawberries or rosebuds.

I think RST is going to become my Sampler Sunday project. I need to stitch something besides Queen stitches for a bit, and I definitely have a lot of things that have fallen by the wayside while trying to finish this sampler. 

As it is, I am Zooming all over the place for the rest of the week. I have my Zina Kazban class this afternoon, then a chapter meeting with Dayton EGA tonight. Tomorrow I have a new class with Liz Tepper and a group correspondence group meeting tomorrow night. Finally, on Saturday, I have a region stitch-in in the morning and a surface embroidery interest group meeting in the afternoon.

I just may have overbooked myself.

Going Sideways

 Well, after many mental gymnastics, I got the sideways bud on this particular posy stitched.

There's another field of flowers below this wonky flower, and this is one of those times when I'd like to speak firmly to the child who stitched this sampler originally. Like, why in the world would you put those random lone stitches where they are? I know they could be considered place holders for complete flowers, but couldn't you figure that out from the wholly stitched flowers that come later? And then, she couldn't decide exactly on how she wanted to shade the buds in this particular field, so some are done one way, some another.

I would work on this longer tonight, but I'm suffering my usual discombobulation with the time change. Simply put, my brain and body function better on Standard Time, and it will take me a couple of weeks to get even partially adjusted to the shift. Yes, I know I'm retired so it shouldn't make so much difference. The problem is that the whole world isn't retired, and those are the schedules I have to adapt to.

I fear Miss Crankypants will be in ascendence for a bit.

More Posies

 This is the place I reached when my eyes, my hands, and my brain simultaneously said they had had enough.

That little flower on the right changes direction after the stem is stitched, and the second bud is all worked sideways. That is definitely something I want to work on when I'm rested.

We'll see if that's what happens tomorrow. I have decided I am not going to deal with deadlines or plans or anything else when it comes to stitching. This is supposed to be a relaxing pastime, and I want to get back to that. I also want to get back to more regular blogging, since that's the way I keep track of what I've done and when I did it.

For example, I found something in the finishing basket that I stitched ten years ago. I think this means it's aged quite long enough and needs assembly. 

Maybe tomorrow . . .