Oh, Tannenbaum

 Feels strange to be writing that on May 4. But here it is, the little tree that goes on one side of the needle book.

I did think about doing Smyrna crosses for the decorations and now I don't know why I didn't. I may go back and add the top cross. Then again, I may not.

You can also see the tree on the right. Hopefully by the end of the evening, there will be birds sitting on those branches. They are vaguely cardinal-ish in profile, although their colors don't quite fit the cardinal's usual plumage.

And if I get those birds stitched, that means something else for the finishing pile. Based on recent behavior, I should start assembling this in he next few days. However, I think I'm going to break the pattern. Ode to Jane Austen has been sitting in the finishing pile since forever--or whenever I finished stitching all the parts--and I don't know why I keep putting it off. It may be that this is one of my favorite designs from Jackie, and I don't want to run the risk of screwing it up. Or it could be the fact that there are a lot of moving parts to this one and I'm a little overwhelmed. Or it may be all of the above.

Whatever it is, I need to hitch up the Granny panties and get on with it.