An Artichoke?

 I finished the flower that I was stitching on RST 1779 and started the first motif on page 4:

I can't decide if this is a flowering shrub or an artichoke. 

I planned to get more done yesterday, but my hands started cramping. As I'm trying to stave off carpal tunnel, I stopped, did my hand stretches and exercises (which I now do after every hour of stitching as a matter of course), and put on my braces (I have them for both hands and usually sleep in them).

And I didn't stitch any more. Actually, not much you can do with braces on both hands--but anything to be able to continue stitching in the long run!

Almost another flower

 Here's the second big-ish flower on page 3.

 

I was moaning and groaning to a friend that it seems to take forever to make any progress on the motifs I'm currently stitching. She said she thought that I was actually getting more done than I thought because

• everything is Queen stitch, which takes longer than just plain old cross stitch
• these are not tiny motifs (and all done in Queen stitch--see above)

And she suggested that I photograph each area I complete during a stitching session so I could see how much I've actually done. She also said I should post the pics on my blog because she was tired of checking to see if I had written anything only to find I hadn't. This way I would have a blog post on a more regular basis than I have in the last few months.

I do appreciate a regular reader, and I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like.

I was concerned that I was only going to have Queen stitch motifs to show, and that is boring after awhile, but I realized that I am starting three online classes in January, and have another starting in March, and a group correspondence course starting sometime in the new year, and I've decided to try my hand at WIPGO this year to empty out the finishing basket.

Actually, the question may not be whether or not I have content, or whether or not I'll have time to blog if I keep up with all this stuff and nonsense.

There's a reason I'm a stitching fool.

One honkin' big tulip

 And I'm halfway through with page 3 of RST 1779:

This is one humongous tulip--at least, when you compare it to the previous flowers.

I decided the most efficient way to manage the color changes was to thread up needles with each shade of silk and work back and forth in rows. And mark off each row as I did it. Otherwise, I do believe my head might have exploded.

Whoever RST was, she was masterful in shading, especially when you consider she has limited herself to Queen stitches all the way. Cissy said that she had never seen some of the patterns and techniques when she was charting the design from the antique she owns. And she's been collecting Queen stitch patterns for years.

Anyway, I'm going to work on the other big flower on this page today and hope to make significant progress, although this project may well be the definition of slow stitching.

And enjoy the tree for a few more days. And maybe watch/listen to White Christmas one more time. Along with Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story, and the version of Christmas Carol with George C. Scott as Scrooge.

It just goes too fast . . .

Merry Christmas!

 May you have a lovely, peaceful day.

A finish and another page

 I have a finish!!

Summer Crewel

designed by Sara Rickards

Online Class from Well Embroidered

There are things I would do over, but I think I'll leave them. This was a learning experience, after all.

And I have another page of RST 1779 stitched. This one was a lot easier and a little faster to stitch because there were repeated patterns and fewer color changes.

That weird squiggle on the right side is the beginning of the leaf on a big flower that will continue on page 3 of the charts. I believe I'll start working on that while watching Miracle on 34th Street. This is the week that I spend time with Christmas movies and Christmas music and let the sights and sounds of the season flow over me.

While I stitch, of course!

Page One--Done!!!

 When last I wrote--good grief, was it almost two weeks ago?--I was planning to do some ornament assembling.

I didn't.

The linen for a model I'm stitching for my friend Cissy arrived and I started stitching that instead.

This is Page 1 of 1779 RST. All Queen stitches, all the time, reproduced from a sampler in Cissy's amazing collection. Absolutely amazing motifs on this one--beautiful, soft pastels--this is going to be like an ice cream shop when it's finished!

I would have thought I'd have more done, but we had our family Thanksgiving/Christmas combo celebration last weekend so there was much cooking and cleaning to be done before I could host The Saint. Actually the cooking was the big thing. No, I may retract that statement. It was probably cleaning off the guest room bed and finding places to put the stuff that had accumulated on it. (Of course, now I have to find the portal to the dimension in which those things landed--that fabled "safe place" which means it will take forever to locate my stuff again.) And then we had to make a day trip back to our old stomping grounds--and then it took a day to recover from the day trip.

At least with company coming, the halls got decked as well as dusted, and the tree is ornamentified, except for the new ornaments I have stitched but not assembled.

Maybe I can squeeze out a few minutes (or hours, if I'm honest) to put them together. But I also have just a wee bit more to do to finish Summer Crewel, the class I've been taking from Sara Rickards.

Because I'd really like to have this sampler stitched before I start the three--yes, you heard it here first--three online classes that begin in January. Plus the EGA correspondence course. And then the Kate Barlow class in February. And there is likely something else that I'm signed up to do that I've forgotten about. 

At least I don't have time to get bored. 

Finishing . . . SO much finishing!

Tomorrow I am going to put Christmas ornaments together.

I've been trying to get to that for the last three days and something has interfered every time, so this is it. Tomorrow I am going to finish, finish, FINISH!!!

And I've added another ornament to the stack of ornaments that need to be done:

 Barbara Jackson't 2024 ornament through Shining Needle Society--no, the class hasn't officially started yet but I think this will be something like the 23rd or 24th of her ornaments I've stitched over the years. I believe I've figured out how to put them together by now.

And I need to finish decking the halls and clean the guest room (which means finding a home for all the stuff that is covering the bed) and make an extensive grocery list because The Saint is coming for a combination Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration on Saturday. As she has taken over Mother's job of critiquing everything we do, we need to be ready for the inspection.

And then I can sit back and enjoy the season.