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.