Boxing Day

Things are getting back to normal again, after the last-minute flurry of cooking, baking, feasting, and celebrating. Yes, we had a lovely, quiet, small Christmas.

So, today I pulled the Hummingbird out, and spent an hour or so doing invisible couching. To do this, you untwist the metal thread just slightly so you can see a single thread of the three that make up the twist of the thread. You sew that down, then retwist the thread. Rinse, repeat. This also involved plunging the thread ends and sewing them down.

I need to do another layer of outlining on the wings, and outlining around the bird, and then fill in the tail. I do not believe I will have all of this done in a day. 

Maybe several days.

Maybe a week.

Merry Christmas!

 

Fa-la-la, la-la-la-la

Right before I woke up this morning, I had the most vivid dream. I dreamed I had five ornaments stitched, two large and three small, all on red linen, and all I needed to do was put them together.

I woke up and thought I should get right on putting those five ornaments together. Then, wait a minute, I do not have five ornaments stitched on red linen and ready to assemble. I do have my 2025 ornament from Barbara Jackson stitched.

So I put that together.

As soon as the glue has time to dry, I'm going to hang it on the tree.

And then I might look for red linen for those other ornaments that came to me in a dream.

 

Serendipitous Stitching Joy

 I've decided that 2026 will be the year of Serendipitous Stitching Joy--basically, as I mentioned a day or so ago, I'm going to stitch what I want when I want without deadlines or schedules or goals.

As in, today I have put a few stitches into the Flame Stitch Pouch project, which is my want-to-stitch-but-don't-want-to-think project. It is coming along nicely, and I really, really, really love the colors.

And, in the middle of the night, I had an epiphany.

I was thinking about my Blessing Sampler. I thought about the stitches involved and the different areas, and I started planning what I would do each week to have it done by the end of January.

Full Stop.

Had I not just decided that I would not work toward any kind of goal or deadline?

And yet here I was, back in pre-retirement employee mode: Plan the Work, then Work the Plan.

Nope, nope, nope.

So, there is now going to be no Blessing Sampler. I am going to consider stitching every day the blessing and the joy. I should probably go about doing that in the rest of my life as well.

Stash Diving

 I went hunting in the stash this evening with two very specific projects in mind.

I didn't find either of them. 

However, I think I found my Blessing Sampler.

It is small and likely to be finished in a month, even with other things calling my name. However, most of it is worked over one on 35 count linen. I'm wondering if I could get away with tent stitch rather than cross.

The other thing is that Dearly Beloved and I have a milestone anniversary in 2026, and this seems appropriate for the year.

So, I think I may give it a go and see how the New Year begins.

Taking the Plunge

I have spent the afternoon plunging threads.

 My little hummingbird looks much neater now.

If you've never plunged threads, it is a process. It is a very fiddly process.

What you have to do is make a lasso from thread--you cut a piece of strong thread (I use Coats Craft thread), double it, and put the two free ends through the eye of a big needle. Then you insert the needle into the spot where you want to sink (or plunge) the metal thread ends, lasso the very end of the metal thread, and pull the metal thread through to the back of the work. After you get a few ends plunged, you turn the work over and sew those ends to the back of the work.

Sounds easy-peasy, right?

Well, maybe if you're not a klutz.

And it helps if you have lovely long, slender fingers. (I have short, pudgy tot hands.) 

If you don't leave a long enough tail on the metal threads, it is very difficult to grab the very, very end of the metal to get it through the lasso. If you're not careful, the metal wrap around the base thread of your thread will start to unravel, and then you won't have shiny metal on the front of the work--you'll have the yellow string that the metal is wrapped around.

So, basically, I found I need to leave longer ends so my short, fat fingers can actually grab the end of the thread, and I need to trim the ends before I pull through so I have metal wrap all the way to the end and I have to use a humongous needle to make a big enough hole to get the ends through to the back. And sometimes a thimble to push the humongous needle through the felt padding.

And bandaids. I need bandaids. Because there is no doubt that I am going to stab myself at least once if not more with the humongous needle.

And this is why it can take me an entire afternoon to plunge threads.

Another orbit around the sun

 Today is the day I start another orbit around the sun, and I've been thinking.

I've been panicking about the end of the year and how few things I've managed to finish this year, and about all the things I want to stitch, and about how I'm definitely getting older and how much time do I have left to finish all my to-do lists . . . 

I saw a post on Instagram from someone who had kitted up all the projects she wants to stitch in 2026. She had a very elaborate shelving system with a tray for each project. I counted 24. And then there was a later post where she showed the auxiliary shelves with room for at least 6 more projects, maybe more, for anything else that might come her way in 2026.

I've listened to Flosstubers talking about doing a project a month, and all the SALs that are starting up, and goals, and finishes.

I thought to myself--wouldn't it be fun to do a Twelve Days of Christmas thing, where I pick out 12 projects (obviously) and work on one each day, beginning on Christmas and ending with the last on January 5, Then I would commit to finishing each of them in the New Year.

That is when I realized that I'm still in work mode, setting goals and ticking off to-do lists, and stressing when things aren't coming together the way I want them to.

Full stop.

This is not the way to spend ones Golden Years.

I have now decided that my stitching will have no goals, no deadlines, no pressure, no stress. If I don't finish one single thing in 2026, I'm going to enjoy the trip and not worry about any destination. By golly, I'm going to enjoy stitching again, if it kills me! I'll still take classes because I can't not take classes, but I'm going to try to pull a few more things out of the stash that I've wanted to play with for years. I'm going to do my best to get over FOMO.

The only thing I want to do is to stitch every day with the understanding that if I don't feel like working on the project I started on in the morning, I can set it down and pick up something else, or two other something elses, and it's OK if I stick a needle in 14 different things in the course of the day, as long as I'm having fun.

Meanwhile, I pulled out a project from a year or so ago, and I've added this to the three other pieces on my worktable that have gold threads in them. It is definitely the sparkly season around here!

Lizzie Pye's Hummingbird in Silk and Gold was an online project EGA offered. I ran across the project box while I was trying to organize myself the other day and decided it was time to pull it out. I am in the midst of plunging threads. I would like to mention that this is not one of my favorite things to do in goldwork, but the finished project looks absolutely wonderful when it's done.

But today I may put another Christmas ornament together so it will have time to shine on the Christmas tree.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I am thinking about going stash diving for a smaller sampler to use as a Blessing Sampler. Yes, I know that it's supposed to be finished by the end of January and I said no goals--but if it just happens to get finished in a month, I'll consider myself blessed and move on. If not, so what?)

That was the week that was

 I am not sure what has happened to the last week. We had our family get-together so there was a lot of cooking and baking, and we had a major domestic disaster. So I think, actually, that's what happened to the last week.

And it's already December 10. This means that a third of the month has vanished. I feel like there was a big whoosh as it roared by, and I have not a clue as to where I am at the moment.

I haven't been stitching much, that's for sure. I had plans. I should stop making plans.

What I have done is bargello on Jackie's Flame Stitch Pocket. As I said earlier, once you get the first row done, the rest just fit together without much thinking or counting, and that's about what I'm capable of handling at the moment.

I have finished the first complete color retreat, so I know what it's going to look like. And here that is:

I think I'll go finish the last bit of laundry that I've been trying to do since Monday, and then do a few more rows on this. I plan a very early bedtime tonight, so hopefully I'll be back and rarin' to go tomorrow.

OMG, I just realized that today is Mother's 98th birthday! They were planning to have a cake for her in her extended care facility, and promised to send The Saint photos of the event. Actually, last year when they tried to take pictures of her for her 97th birthday, she had a tizzy and covered her face, so I'm not sure what to expect from this year's celebration.

A fancy bug

So I woke up at 5 and couldn't go back to sleep. I gave it an hour and when snoozing didn't happen, I got myself up and downstairs.

And I now have a very fancy bug.

 It still needs antennae and legs but I have to finish the gold band around the piece before I can stitch them. I'm beginning to feel the need for a nap, so maybe this isn't the right time to carefully couch down delicate gold threads.

I've also added several rows to the Flame stitch piece I'm doing in the evenings.

This is going to take a minute or two to stitch--but it really is the perfect project to do later in the day.

Other than that, things are icy cold and they are predicting the dread wintry mix, which means sleet, freezing rain, and possibly half a dozen or so snowflakes. The Saint was supposed to come this weekend for our combination Thanksgiving/Christmas feast, but she sprained her ankle doing something with garlands at her church. Consequently, she will likely be coming for a combination Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's/ possibly Valentine's Day get-together. We'll figure it out later. However, we are still cooking and celebrating since the turkey was already thawing when disaster struck. Tomorrow, therefore, I will be cooking and mixing and preparing whatever can be cooked and mixed and prepared ahead of time. 

"Tis the season!

Ups and Downs

I decided my stitching life needs to set aside certain projects that I can work on when my hands need to stitch but my brain doesn't need to make decisions. The holidays tend to make this even more urgent.

So, at the moment, I have started the bargello pattern for the Flame Stitch Pocket, a class that Jackie du Plessis taught at Sassy Jack's awhile back. Once the first row was in, the rest is just following the pattern.

 I'm going to move to a red family, then a green family, then a blue family--then the color progression will begin again.

And the silk colors are simply beautiful.

They make me happy. And happy is much better than stressed.

Spoiler Alert!

If you're waiting for the new Frostings Box from Thistle Threads, read no further.

I bundled up against the frigid air and tottered to the mailbox this morning because I had a notification that mine had been delivered. And it had!

 This one is packed--lots of new colors and metal threads and trims. I have to admit, olive greens and bronze-y golds are not in my usual color palette, but I am pleased with the purples. And I love the new trims and metallic threads.

So, this is heading into the stash. I am absolutely not going to play with any of the colors until I have finished decorating the tree. I have been fiddling with that tree for almost a week now, and it's time to finish. I am ready to move on to something else!

Who? Where? When?

 I have been totally discombobulated.

I realized that Monday is December. Like, really? What happened to August? But then it's been November for 6 months. Except for the last week. I really don't know what happened to last week.

And it still feels a little like 2020.

The halls are being decked. Slowly. The guest room bed is being cleared so the Saint will have somewhere to sleep when she comes for our family's combination Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration next weekend. This is also happening slowly.

Apparently I am moving slowly. Possibly because the Arctic Blast has returned and I'm frozen.

Anyway, there was a wee little bit of stitching done.

Barbara Jackson's 2025 ornament for Shining Needle is stitched. Finishing will occur soon so it can go on the tree.

But it is likely that the finishing will also go slowly.

Everything else is.

It's a Syndrome

I have decided I am suffering from Post-Project Depression.

Unlike postpartum depression, this does not involve hormones. (At my advanced age, anything hormonally involved is highly unlikely, but that's a rant for another day.) This is the letdown after completing a project.

Ever since I finished Ann Kemp, I've been picking things up and putting them down without threading a needle or poking a needle into anything. Nothing seemed to scratch that particular itch. 

It's not like I have nothing to stitch. I have lots of things to stitch. I suffer from SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) worse than most. But nothing called to me. 

I finally decided that this is ridiculous--I had just been thinking last week that I need to stitch more, not less, to make a dent in my stash--and it didn't make any difference what I stitch, as long as I stitch on something. So, I pulled out the Queen sampler and finished the band I had been working on.

I wish to say right now that this is my least favorite band. I don't care for the combination of colors and I really don't like the stitch Darlene used to fill the flowers. And I have to do it again on the other side of the next big band. But it's done and now I feel like stitching again. At least it jump-started the desire.

So NOW the problem is deciding which project I really want to work on.

It's a better problem to have.

*****

Dearly Beloved took offense at my comments in my last post, especially the one about it takes him only 2.5 seconds to get to sleep. He mentioned that he also has to:

• take off his glasses
• remove his hearing aids and plug them into the charger
• put on his C-PAP mask
• strap on the braces he wears at night for carpal tunnel

Hence, I stand corrected. It takes him 10 seconds to get to bed and go completely and totally asleep.

I still find that infuriating.

Ta-DAAAAA--another finish for November

 Ann Kemp 1815, aka A Fancy Basket, is done!

I had only two goals this week: to get enough sleep to function and to finish Ann Kemp.

Ann Kemp first: I thought I was so close to finishing her that I could get it done in a day. If I stitched all day. 

So I stitched all day.

She wasn't done. The garland around the bottom of the basket was, but that was all.

So I stitched a good chunk of the next day.

Nope, didn't happen. 

This continued. I was beginning to wonder if the gremlins were coming out at night and either removing things I had already stitched or adding things to the chart that I would have to stitch. I mean, I know I stitch more slowly than I used to--that electric needle has rusted out--but really!

I finally decided to stay up last night until she was completely stitched. And I did. There was much rejoicing.

And then I thought that maybe my weird sleep patterns were partially to blame.

Sleeping has been a problem. I've fallen back into sleeping for about four hours, then waking up and being totally unable to get back to sleep for a couple of hours, then falling back asleep--hard--to the point that when I finally wake up much later in the day than I want, I am stupid and cranky. I've tried getting up and doing things--I've had just enough sleep to get into motion but not always enough to know when to stop--or I've spent the time staring at the ceiling and making plans--which I have then mostly forgotten by the next day. So I have tried getting up at the time I originally wanted to be up and just pushing through. By the end of the second day of this, I'm able to sleep through the night, but then it starts all over again the next night.

I have heard from various friends that they, too, have similar problems. It may be an issue for people of a certain age. The male of the species does not seem to have the same difficulty. I swear, Dearly Beloved can lie down, pull up the covers, and start snoring in 2.5 seconds.

It is infuriating.

As Ye Sew, So Shall Ye Rip

Well, so much for blogging every day in November. I think I've ripped out more than I've stitched.

And I've only worked on two projects for the last two days. Maybe it has something to do with being able to count . . . 

This is where I am on Carmen at the moment. I wish I had more--you'd think I would--but ripping, oh, the ripping!

And here is Ann Kemp. I am off somewhere on the border, which is throwing off the spacing for some of the motifs at the bottom.

I have not looked for the error because I know it's probably back at the top. I also know that if I find it, I'll feel the need to rip everything out to fix it. I also know that means I would be likely to put this in time-out. Possibly forever. Therefore I am following the Great Jean Lea's advice, "Always forward, never backward" and making it work. Hopefully.

I blame the trees.

What do trees have to do with my stitching, you ask.

In the spring, I am allergic to tree pollen.

In the fall, I am allergic to leaf mold.

I went for a walk several days ago for my stupid mental and physical health and the wind was blowing and the leaves already on the ground were being blown about and then I stayed outside for awhile enjoying the beautiful fall day

and then I came inside with a runny nose and a stopped up head. My sinuses were so congested that my throat was sore from drainage. One ear was completely stopped up and the other was making weird popping noises. I had to take an antihistamine to dry things out.

And that's when I started making counting errors. Dearly Beloved says I should blame the drugs, not the trees, but I wouldn't have to take the drugs if it weren't for the trees. 

I should probably have taken the meds and a nap. I will remember this for the next time.

 

Raw Materials

This rather boring looking box with little envelopes and tissue wrapped objects came in the mail a week or so ago.

If you look closely, you'll see a bit of a new goldwork project that I'll be working on for the next few months. Actually, the first lesson was posted today.

Am I ready to dive in?

Not quite.

I'm really in the mood to work on Carmen today, so that's what I'm going to do. Basically, strike while the iron is hot--but seeing me working on the interminable border is not going to be the most interesting thing you've ever seen.

So this is just a tease of things to come.

Looks Like Spring

 Yeah, I know what the calendar says, but my flowering shrub looks like spring!

I think I need to move on to part of Carmen's never-ending border next, as much as I'd like to work on a few more motifs. I remember that Jackie said she had left the border for last, and thought she would never, ever get it done--so I'm trying to get bits of it finished as I work along the side.

I used to be a do-the-whole-border-first kind of person--eat the broccoli before you get to the creme brûlée--but I'm finding my stitching is more accurate if I do a little at a time. I will never enjoy doing borders, but they're more likely to match up if I work them as I work the insides.

Now if I could just figure out a way to enjoy stitching letters and numbers . . . 

Flowering shrub

 I decided to poke at Carmen for awhile today.

I think this is supposed to be some kind of flowering shrub. Obviously I don't have too many flowers on it--yet--but I hope I can finish it tomorrow. Actually, I may stick with Carmen until I get the two pages I wanted to finish in October completed. We'll see how that goes. Apparently, along with epic fails with rotations, I also don't do well with setting goals when it comes to needlework.

And, on another topic completely, I do want to let the readers who comment on my blogs know that I read and appreciate every message I receive. For some reason I haven't been able to respond to them for over a month.  It probably has something to do with metrics, or the algorithm, or whatever odd and peculiar computer/media thing operates blogger. Please just know that I love and appreciate you all.

A special day?

Not special because of the quantity of stitching . . . 

 I have totally lost the name of this piece--however, it's the focus project for the goldwork special interest group sponsored by the Dayton Chapter of EGA.  I am not happy--I crunched the gold purl when I was sewing the beads around the center. As I don't have any additional purl in this size, I couldn't replace it. I am going on the "if it can't be seen from the back of a galloping horse, don't worry" philosophy and moving on.

And I moved on to the border for the attribution at the bottom of Ann Kemp. I decided that I wanted to get all the borders and letters out of the way, and then go back to the fun stuff.

And why has there been so little stitching to show for a Sunday with an extra hour?

Today is Dearly Beloved's natal anniversary. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you will remember that Dearly Beloved does not like birthday celebrations. He does not like being reminded that he is a year older. He wants no fuss.

So there has been no fuss but we have been doing what he wanted to do today, which means I have been holding things and handing him tools and being a general go-fer for one of his projects. We will have Chinese take-out later.

After all, you should do something special when a person makes it to three-quarters of a century.

(I think that was one of the things I'm not supposed to mention. OOOPS!)

Finally! A Finish!!

 Last stitch has been placed in the Cherished Letter Case, an adaptation of a French embroidery from the late 1700's. This came from an online class offered by Zina Kazban at the beginning of the year.

It is very sparkly, which the camera didn't pick up, and I'm quite pleased with it. And it checked off one of my October goals, even though it was checked off in November.

Actually, most of my October goals are going to move into November. I had a week in which I did not thread a needle. I did have a good excuse for last weekend--Best Daughter Ever and I went to Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg was offering special Fall Getaway rates at their hotels, BDE wanted to have a break, I wanted to go to DeWitt Wallace (the art museum) and so we went.

I did take stitching with me (of course) but I never took it out of the tote bag. However, the textile gallery at the museum had some gorgeous, gobsmacking, amazing 17th century English embroideries (including a casket) so I did look at embroidery.

And then we came home, and the skies turned gray and the temps dropped and the rain fell, and I went into one of my winter funks. Aside from Christmas, I do not care for winter. I don't do cold well, I was built for spring and summer. So I was grumpy and cranky for a few days and binged on TV and ate chocolate.

Of course, it was a very good mail week, with lots of needlework goodies showing up in my mailbox. And you may see them during the coming few days. This is November, when traditionally bloggers blog everyday. I am likely the last of a dying breed, but I'm going to make a valiant effort to keep up the tradition this year, and I need content!!

So we'll see how it goes.

A little of this, a little of that

 I have been puttering among my needlework projects.

I've done a little of this, a little of that, but hardly enough to talk about.

I did finish my homework for my Elizabethan Rose class. Not only have I finished it, I finished it two weeks before the next class. That is not typical behavior so don't expect it to continue.

I did a tiny bit more on Carmen. It felt like I did a lot more but I have realized that getting anything done on Carmen is going to take time.

I rolled the scrolls on Ann Kemp and started working on the bottom half. Actually, I'm going to try to finish the borders and do the attribution along the bottom. This requires stitching letters again. I would rather get the letters out of the way and then work on the fun stuff.

And I figured out where the directions for filling in the little tree motifs were in the instructions for the Queen Sampler and got a start on doing that.

As usual, I am bouncing from one project to another like a BB in a boxcar. And if you know what a BB and a boxcar are, you may just be dating yourself. I realized I must be amongst the elderly when I saw a question on FB--the stitcher was getting ready to put a drum together and the directions said you could use BBs as weights. She had no idea what they were. 

Like I said in an earlier post, I've become an elder.

Aged and Decrepit

 I finally feel really, really old.

I rolled over in bed Monday night and threw my back out.

How ridiculous is that?

Anyway, I have been foggy and out of it for a good bit of the last few days--muscle relaxers will do that to you--but at least I should have been doing something like flipping a mattress or changing a tire to cause my suffering. But rolling over? Good grief!!

Obviously, there has been very little stitching going on in this part of the world.

I got part of the endless border on Carmen stitched:

There are wings on the bug and the Elizabethan version of rosebuds on the Elizabethan Rose:

And, finally, I pulled Catherine Theron's No Place Like Home project out of the basket and did a few stitches on the needlebook  that will go inside the sewing case:

Not much to show for a week. 

However, I did get my annual mammogram and all is well. And that is a good thing.

Sampler Weekend

 September might have been the month to work on samplers, but I'm oozing over into October with my stitching. And this weekend was the perfect time, since I have three different sampler guilds that meet online, all on one weekend.

Yesterday was the Mayflower group. It's a delightful group, and the program highlighted the stitching journey of one of the members. While it was going on, I was filling in buds and blooms on Ann Kemp.

You may have to look really closely to see all the blooms and buds--the shade of white is all but ghosting in the photo. It's a little more obvious in the actual piece.

However, it is October, so I suppose ghostly threads are appropriate.

Today, I just left the Kindred Spirits Guild, and will soon enter the Sampler Guild of the Rockies meeting. I started a new band on Darlene O'Steen's Queen Sampler, and this is how far I got during Kindred Spirits.

I'm a little ahead of the assignment for this month, but since I can't fill in the spiral trellis grapes until I take the sampler off the scroll rods, I figure that's OK.

And, yes, I do belong to a fair number of sampler guilds. When we moved, I had to leave my beloved Carolina Sampler Guild behind. There isn't a sampler guild in this area, so I may have overcompensated by joining as many as I could find online. However, each group offers something different--and it's all needlework so I'm getting my fix. Sometimes several times over in the course of a few days.

I'm not going to mention the EGA chapters I have also joined since we moved . . . let's just say that I can now get inspiration from three different EGA regions and leave it at that.

Dearly Beloved mutters about addictions. I have no idea what he's talking about.

Twigs and Vines

Today was gray and gloomy. My hands wanted to stitch, but my brain didn't want to have to think too hard, so I spent the day cross-stitching the rest of the vines and twigs and branches.

I say I didn't want to think too hard, but getting all the twigs and branches in the right place may have taken more brain power than I had. There was some reverse stitching. I know Jean Lea said never backward, always forward, but on occasion you have to go backward to go forward.

 Now I have to fill in all the little flowers and buds that bloom on all the vines and twigs.

This may take awhile.

Fa-la-la and Tra-la-la!

 I have a finish!!

Christmas Sparkles

2025 Christmas Ornament

Tricia Nguyễn, Thistle Threads

I spent the day finishing this.

There was angst.

There are little foil doodads that the beads are mounted on. You have to punch a hole with an awl--it also requires a mallet so you can get enough pressure on the awl to make a hole. (I was using my wooden meat tenderizer hammer because Dearly Beloved was out hunting and gathering. I didn't want to rummage in his tools without supervision because I don't want him rummaging in my tools with supervision.) The hole was tiny, so I was trying to just slightly enlarge it with my stiletto.

And I broke off the tip of my stiletto.  Which I use a lot, so I had to find a source for a replacement and order the replacement.

So, the hole was going to be tiny. It was so tiny that my size 28 tapestry needle would not fit through it.. I decided maybe a beading needle should work.

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll remember that beads and I are not compatible, so I have a limited number of beading-related items.

That means the only beading needles I could find are a size 13.

Have you ever seen the size of the eye on a size 13 beading needle? I have the needle. I have magnification. I still don't think I've actually seen the eye--it's that small. So I had to thread the needle by feel rather than sight.

OK, beads and trims added, and I needed to press the fabric I wanted to use for the back of the ornament.

My iron decided it didn't want to heat above "barely warm enough to notice."

I now have a new iron.

Finally, fabric pressed, back and front sewn together, really neat metallic trim attached around the ornament. . . 

And I have to stow away all the leftover stuff from stitching the design and assembling the ornament.

Maybe it's the clean-up after completing a project that keeps me from having more finishes.

I did stay in bed

I had a bad headache on Monday, so my poor pitiful self just went back to bed. Then I didn't sleep much Monday night, so I dragged most of the day Tuesday. However, today I am all but back to normal--whatever normal is for me--and there has been some stitching.

If you look closely, you'll see a little pink blob. Look quick, because it is going to come back out in short order.

I don't like the way it looks. It is tight and cramped and awkward. So I will remove it, probably first thing tomorrow morning since I don't trust myself with sharp, pointy scissors at the moment.

I am, however, very happy with all the shiny gold stuff.

I am also happy with Ann Kemp.

More sprigs and vines, but I'm getting close to having a page done in short order. I stitched most of the new stuff last night during the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild meeting. It's a delightful group of people and they offer some phenomenal programs. I'm always delighted when the first Tuesday of the month rolls around.

Actually, since Ann Kemp is currently so satisfying, I believe I will work on this for the rest of the day.
 

Maybe I should have stayed in bed

 This is all I have to show for today's stitching. There would have been more if I could have read the chart accurately!!!! 

I ripped more than I stitched.  I am just slightly aggravated with myself.

I had also planned to trace the project for a Stitch Along and get a layer of padding stitched down for the goldwork involved in the design. However, after my experience with stitching, I decided maybe I should do something else that did not involve needlework--so I read a murder mystery.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Icky-Poo

 This has not been the most productive stitching day I've ever had.

I did not sleep well last night, so I woke up achey and cranky this morning. My arthritic joints were united in their unhappiness so I took a pill and went back to bed for a bit--which meant I got a very late start to the day. Don't even ask how late the start was--let's just say I could barely say "Good Morning" legally.

Anyway, I decided that perhaps I shouldn't work on anything complicated or challenging, so good ole Ann Kemp came out to play.

There is a bird on each side now, and I filled in more of the flowers.  I need to add more greenery and flowers on the right side so I can turn the scroll bars and move down a bit.

And then I went rummaging in the stash, looking for something else entirely, and I ran across this:

From the 1998 session of Christmas in Williamsburg, Merry Cox's Americana Sewing Case floated to the top of its bin.

Well, 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the United States, and, as worried as I am about the state of the country, I do believe that there are enough people of good will to help it survive. Therefore, I plan to celebrate. So this is now going into my 2026 plans.

And, yes, I'm already planning what I'll stitch in 2026.

I should probably get what I plan to stitch the rest of 2025 out of the way first.

A tisket, a tasket

 I have a tree

and a basket.

The tree is this year's ornament from Tricia Nguyen. The pattern is a freebie on the Thistle Threads website, and you can also find the first two years' trees there as well.

This one started out looking like a bunch of spiders, but now that the other stitches have filled in, it looks lacy--mainly because the tree is all stitched in eyelets. I still have to work the pot the tree sits in, my initials, and the date. Then it's embellished with beads and a trim called gilt folien.

You have to punch a hole in each of the trims. I have a terrible feeling about punching holes in anything because I am a well-known klutz. If I'm successful, it will look really neat. If I'm not--well, I probably have some other kind of shiny bits I can use.

And then there is the second hanging basket on Ann Kemp. I need to stitch the bird heading towards the basket for this side, then work more on the random vines and branches and leaves and flowers.

I could, though, get the prework for the Monday night SAL done ahead of time. This will require pulling out the Lightbox and tracing the design and wrapping the hoop and sewing on the first bits of padding.

I think I'll do that tomorrow morning and just cross stitch some more on Ann Kemp tonight. That's about what I'm capable of at the moment--last night was a short night and today has been a very long day.

Dearly Beloved is watching Bonnie & Clyde on TCM for the 487th time. Maybe I'll go upstairs and get away from the gunfire and listening to Estelle Parsons screech. No wonder the real Blanche Barrow was irritated by her portrayal in the movie!

I finished my homework

 Well, I finished the mandatory part--although we aren't getting graded and can't fail, at least I'm keeping up.

We can move on to do the other side of the frame if we have time. I'm going to try to make time over the weekend.

But this afternoon I think I will sing a fa-la-la or two and work on a Christmas ornament. Somebody said Christmas is less than ninety days away, which means it will get here faster than we think it will.

But this year has passed much faster than I thought it would, so Christmas will be here day after tomorrow.

And now it's October

 I decided to make a list of goals for October. Then I decided I should make a list of reasonably attainable goals and a list of pie-in-the-sky goals.

The reasonably attainable goals:

• It appears that I am going to spend some of October reading serious books instead of murder mysteries. EGA offers a number of lectures through the national organization, various regions, and individual chapters. Two of the lecturers I listened to in the last several weeks have also written books. I had to buy the books because both lecturers were so very fascinating. So now I'm going to read and learn more. 
• I want to stay current with the class I'm taking from Zina Kazban, the Elizabethan Rose.
• I'd like to get two pages of Carmen's charts completely stitched.
• I want to finish-finish at least one of the projects in one of the finishing baskets
• I want to finish the border on the Cherished Lettercase--Good Grief, that is ALL I have to do!
• I want to stay current with the two SALs I have going, The Queen Sampler (actually, I'm already a little ahead) and the goldwork piece that the Dayton EGA chapter is doing in the goldwork  Special Interest Group (SIG)
• And I want to stitch and finish-finish Tricia Nguyen's 2025 ornament

And now for the pie-in-the-sky goals, in addition to the ones above:

• I'd like to get a total of four pages of Carmen done
• I would REALLY like to get another two projects in the finishing basket assembled.
• I want to get a page of Ann Kemp stitched
• I'd like to get another couple of ornaments stitched.
• I'd like to finish the Hummingbird in silk and gold.
• And I'd really, really, REALLY like to start and catch up with Tricia's Nuremberg pincushions

I told you it was a pie-in-the-sky list of things to do.

And, actually, what it means is that "SQUIRREL!!!" and I'll dive down another rabbit hole.

September is over????

I had grand plans at the beginning of September, a whole list of things I wanted to work on and a couple of projects I hoped to finish.

As usual, my plans were more expansive than apparently my abilities are. Actually, if I could stop puttering and start stitching, I might be able to be more productive. Please do not ask me what I'm doing while I'm puttering--there are days when I'm busy with something all day but cannot tell you what those things are. It appears that I move things from one pile to another and call it reorganizing.

I was talking to someone over the weekend and she said her mother used to stitch from 4 a.m. - 10 a.m. Then she would do whatever she needed to do that day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then stitch again from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. 8 p.m. was her bedtime.

I do not get up at 4 a.m. voluntarily for anything other than going on a trip, but maybe making stitching a priority would help.  I may experiment with a schedule--that horrid word I swore I would not follow once I retired--in October.

Meanwhile, this is what I've been able to get done:

Part of my homework on Elizabethan Rose:

 

I need to add some more layers to the stem and do more gold on the other side of the frame.

I replaced what I messed up on Ann Kemp and added some more:

I had the thought that if I got a good bit of the basket stitched, it might give me a good reference point for all the twines and vines.

And I started the 2025 Christmas ornament from Tricia Nguyen of Thistle Threads:

At the moment, it looks like ranks of spiders marching in a Christmas tree formation. I hope that will change when I get the other stitches filled in, but it's a little creepy right now--more Halloween than Christmas.

I'm not a big Halloween stitcher anyway--I deck the halls for Christmas to a fare-thee-well, but other than avoiding those big bags of candy, I sorta forget about Halloween. It may be because orange is one of my least favorite colors, so why stitch with it? Christmas, however, is all sparkly and bright, and I do like my sparkles.

Wouldn't it be boring if we all did the same stuff?

One step forward, two steps back

 I had a class today on the Elizabethan Rose, and we worked on couching gold threads on the frame, and started attaching silk gimp to the stem of the flower.

There will be a lot more gold stitched on the frame before our next class, and we'll add more rows to the stem.

And here is Ann Kemp.

I have not mixed up before-and-after pictures. This is how Ann looked after I discovered that I had miscounted the first stem I stitched. The very first stem. The one that all the other stems were counted from. 

When I mentioned that I have a black thumb when it comes to gardening, I really didn't mean my stitched gardening as well.

Foliage

 I've been stitching foliage the last couple of days. This is the only way I will have foliage since I have a black thumb. I would love to grow flowers and have a vegetable garden, but apparently I do not have the gift. Dearly Beloved does, so he gets that activity in the division of labor.

However, I now have stripey leaves on the Elizabethan Rose project I'm taking from Zina Kazban.

They will have all sorts of embellishment before it's all over, but this is the start.

And there is foliage on Ann Kemp's sampler:

So now I'm adding flowers to those branches and leaves. 

I really wish I knew more about Ann Kemp. She has some motifs on her sampler that are textbook perfect, like her pinkes and the apple baskets. But then she has a wild group of vines and leaves and flowers that twine and twist and flourish all around the handle of the basket. I'd love to know what her embroidery teacher thought about this--did she encourage her or did she shake her head and sigh? I guess we'll never know.

I am enjoying stitching after a couple of days of feeling like a zombie. I never felt ill--but I really was sleepy, as in sitting up straight with a needle in my hand, sound asleep. This is my usual reaction to the Covid shot, but I think having the flu shot on top of it multiplied the effects. Anyway, now I can sit up straight with a needle in my hand and actually stitch.