Rippity-rip-rip

I've been ripping stitches out.

Actually, I don't like the term "ripping" since it sounds like tearing and rending, accompanied by weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

Well, maybe the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth holds true.

What I've really been doing is very carefully clipping and removing stitches that are not pleasing to my eye.

I've been working on the Purple Pansy class that Tanja Berlin taught for Shining Needle.  I have a stem that I like quite a lot,  a leaf that I'm pleased with, and a leaf that is not cooperating.  The uncooperative leaf has been removed twice now.  The piece is in time-out until I figure out how I want to tackle it.

What I've done so far is trace the shape on a piece of paper and I'm drawing in lines with colored pencils to see where I want it to go.  We'll see if that helps.

The other thing I've been undoing and redoing is the obligation piece from February and March. It has--er, had--a very wide and, to my eye, very heavy border that I didn't like with the delicacy of the inside of the design.  I've been sitting and staring at it for awhile, not sure what to do, but knowing I didn't like it as it was.  Finally I wanted the stretcher bars it's on for something else, so it needed to sort itself out.

Luckily, after I realized that the kit didn't have enough of the color called for in the original border, I had ordered another skein, so I didn't feel nervous about removing what was there. So it's all out and I'm in the process of stitching in a lighter, airier border.  I'm much happier with the way it looks. Somehow I didn't think it would take quite as long to re-stitch as it has, but that is the story of my life.

And, in the midst of all this, I ran across an ornament that just needs to have beads added to finish the design, so I'd like to do that this afternoon as well.

Week-ends are just too short.