Elizabethan Rose

 The stitching for the Elizabethan Rose Christmas ornament is complete.

I just realized the image is turned sideways, much like I feel after the election results.

So very, very close

I am so very close to finishing the stitching for the Elizabethan Rose Christmas Ornament, designed by Alison Cole.

So very, very close.

 I was going to spend today getting my homework done for the Summer Crewel online class I'm taking from Sara Rickards, but now I'm leaning towards working on this instead. I mean, I am SO close.

Of course, I can always work on both of them in the course of the day. That sounds like a legitimate compromise. 

Oh, Christmas Tree . . .

 The tree is still sitting right in front of me. And, yesterday, after I finished House on the Hill, I was rummaging around in the stash room, and stumbled across one of the bins where I stashed things I planned to stitch in retirement.

It happened to be the Christmas bin.

And Christmas is coming. And there is a tree sitting in front of me, calling for new ornaments.

So I pulled out one of Alison Cole's ornament kits and started it this morning.

I have now learned a new stitch, which Alison calls The Elizabethan Double Twisted Chain. It's a chain stitch that is slightly raised, so it has more texture than a regular chain or broad chain. This has me ridiculously excited.

It is quite possible that there will be Christmas music playing as I stitch this afternoon. Dearly Beloved (aka Santa's Evil Twin Skippy, aka Ebenezer Scrooge) is already muttering. After all these decades of marriage, he should know better.

Totally Finished!

 House on the Hill Shaker Carrier by Merry Cox has all its goodies assembled!!!!

I have also attended a lecture this afternoon so I have had my mental stimulation for the week, which obviously I needed because I had totally forgotten about going until I got a reminder.

Now I think I'll put the ironing board away and clean up my worktable.

What about Sampler Sunday, you ask?

It may be Sampler A-Different-Day-This-Week. No excuses, just not feeling it today. Actually, I would like to just sit here and bask in the glow of finishing something all the way. It happens so rarely, I think I deserve to bask. So, I just decided, I'm going to bask.

Out of Chaos

 This is what my worktable looked like earlier this afternoon:

This is what it looks like now:

House on the Hill

designed by Merry Cox

I think I mentioned before that I started this at Christmas in Williamsburg in 1999.  I think a quarter of a century is long enough for anything to age in the stash.

However, I am not through yet. I still have all the goodies that fit into the pockets to assemble.

I think I know what I'm going to be doing with the extra hour this weekend.

P.S. Several people have asked for photos of the tree in the middle of the living room. I will take a picture once we get it in its assigned place and get the branches fluffed out and get an ornament or two on it. At the moment, it is not fit for photography.

Oh, Tannenbaum

 There is a tree in the middle of my living room.

A Christmas tree.

You are probably saying that we're rushing the season, but let me explain.

The lights on our old tree started dying last Christmas, so we had decided to replace the tree this year. We found one we liked, but the store was out, so we had to order. The box came yesterday. It was damaged, so Dearly Beloved felt we needed to unpack and assemble the tree to make sure we had all the parts and that everything works.

We have all the parts and everything works.

So I assumed that he was going to take it apart and stash it until after Thanksgiving. I was wrong in my assumption. Having gone through the hassle of assembly, he is disinclined to go through the process again in the same calendar year.

So I have a tree in my living room.

Meanwhile, I had planned to show some of the stash enhancement I have indulged in lately, and today's installment comes from Sassy Jack's. I decided to sign up for a couple of Kim's regular clubs.

First off, this month's installment in the Week's Dye Works linen club.

Cappuccino, 40 count, plus a skein of Weeks floss. Both are much darker, richer colors than the flash on my camera allows. I'm not really a seasonal stitcher (other than Christmas), but I can see something fall-ish on this. It will go in the linen stash until the right thing comes along.

Then, Jack's Stash, which comes out quarterly. Loads of goodies! A couple of Plum Street Sampler charts, stickers to go on the back of samplers, a lovely selection of threads (including a full skein of Floche, which I love), ribbons, a Jack-o-Lantern pin, and another piece of Weeks linen, just the right size for an ornament or small.

Stash enhancement is so much fun! I'm thinking maybe I should have wrapped all this up and put under the tree.

Which we have in the middle of the living room.

Woolgathering

 I forgot to mention the online class I'm taking when I talked about the projects I've been stitching.

As of today, I have caught up with my assignments. Whew!!

I think we're going to work on leaves tomorrow, which will need to be stitched before the next class. Luckily we'll have a mid-term break--I think it's going to take me that much time.

And a confession. I have been spoiled, totally spoiled, by stitching with silk. Silk glides through linen. Wool doesn't glide.  I'm not sure what exactly it does, but it isn't gliding. It doesn't exactly fight, but it is not as pleasant as silk.

But it does go much faster than silk. If I were working this design, at this size, in silk, I'd still be working on the first week's assignment.

Everything is a trade-off.