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.