I made it!

As soon as I hit publish, I will have blogged every day in November.

I'm not sure I'll do this again, or at least, not until my life changes to the point that I have significant stitching time every day. This is my busy season at work, which means that there were days when I felt I either had time to stitch or I had time to blog, but not both--so I did neither well.

Today there was not much time to stitch. I'm not going to say I'll never travel on the Sunday after Thanksgiving again, but I'm going to have to think about it very seriously before I do. I think the entire Eastern Seaboard was on the same highway Dearly Beloved and I were traversing today. We saw no fewer than six accidents in a hundred mile stretch. Most of them were caused by people driving too closely together. When the first person had to hit the brakes, the next two to five cars then hit that person and each other. Consequently, a trip that normally takes fewer than five hours took six-and-a-half plus.

I did get a little more done on Mariposa tonight:

The next step requires careful counting and thinking. At this point, I do not believe I am capable of either, so I am going to pick up the current book and call it a day.

Second Thanging Feast

We had the second Thanksgiving (i.e. Thanging Feast) with the Big Kid and his family today.

I have now had tofurkey.

I was also able to stitch for a bit today while we watched The Flash for his parents.

If you want to stitch when there is a small boy around, bring a brand-new box of Legos and a grampa and you will be left in peace while they carry on intense and serious conversations about the various bits and pieces required to construct whatever it is they decide to construct. There was also a major conversation about who got the red Lego car, since apparently it was the more desirable vehicle.

Even though the class doesn't start until January 1, I've been looking at Mariposa and looking at Mariposa and trying to wait to start it.  I admit that I brought it with me and I'm glad I did. Since the Big Kid and his wife go in for mood lighting rather than the brilliant lighting Dearly Beloved and I prefer, I found that I could see 18 mesh canvas by a 60 watt bulb.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here is what I accomplished today, between mediating multi-generational Lego disputes and helping with the Thanging Feast.

It is NOT this dark but I'm photographing by the light in the hotel room. This is a lot of fun to stitch and I hear that there are some kits left, so if you're interested, hie thee hence to Shining Needle and look at the colors that are still available.

I would stitch more tonight, but I think I'm ready to take a nap. Or just go to bed. It's been a long day.

Not even two days . . .

We have traversed the mountains (which were still snow-covered, although the roads are clear) to have our second Thanging Feast with The Flash and his parental units. That is scheduled for tomorrow.

Since it's cold and we will likely be inside a lot, I thought I should bring a project or two to work on in the evenings and during the day when there was no cooking to be done. I can stitch and carry on a conversation most of the time.

But what to bring?

I am only going to be here two nights and one full day.

This is the tote bag that came with me.

There are five projects in this bag. Five.

Mary Atwood (sampler), Fair Maiden Workbag (small), Christmas is Coming (ornament on linen), Catherine's Crown (ornament on Congress cloth), Mariposa (canvas).

If we end up snowbound for a month--and the weather forecasts do not predict any precipitation while we're here--I would still have something to do.

It's definitely an addiction.

Thanksgiving

I've been thinking about Thanksgiving this morning.  And I've spent some time thinking about life in general, since I'm very close to another birthday.

I decided I'm thankful that I have enough.

I have enough to eat, enough to wear, enough to drink.

I have a family whom I love and whose company I enjoy--children who have become friends as they have grown up and a grandson whose existence is pure sunshine and joy.

I have dear, dear friends.

I have a job with coworkers whose company I enjoy, who are generous and supportive.

I have access to extremely good medical care and caring doctors.

I have opportunities to travel, to visit museums, to hear concerts, to attend plays, to enrich my life.

I have books to read.

I have a home to cherish and care for, a roof over my head that is my shelter and refuge.

And I have my needlework, a passion that interests and sustains me, that has brought me comfort in times of stress and enjoyment every day of my life.

I can't ask for anything more.

A wee bit of stitching

I am ashamed to admit that I started this Christmas ornament last February.

And then I forgot about it.

Until last night when I was rummaging around in the big tote bag (as opposed to the other tote bags that are not as big) and ran across it. The only thing left for me to do was stitch the poinsettias and put it together. Obviously, I have finished the stitching. Obviously I have not put it together.

I'd thought about doing that tonight. We've already had our Thanksgiving so I'm not chopping, slicing, dicing, baking and roasting.  Instead of finishing, though, I have been doing some major rearranging in our living room, which includes excavating my corner.

You should know that any rearranging is fraught with trauma in this house. My mother-in-law was an interior designer. Dearly Beloved never knew where anything would be or how it would look from the time he left for school until the time he arrived home--she once sold his bedroom furniture to a client who fell in love with it. He slept on a mattress on the floor until she decided how she wanted his room to look in its next incarnation. One of the things he asked me when we were talking about marriage was whether or not I like to move furniture around. At the time, I thought that was majorly weird until I met his mother. At that point, I realized it was only a minorly weird thing.

Anyway, we have to move stuff around to get the Christmas tree in, which will happen sooner than I think it should, so I may as well make some other changes at the same time.

And I have come to the conclusion that we need another bookcase but we have no wall space left for one. Dearly Beloved has suggested a pulley system and a series of boxes that we can raise and lower from the ceiling to contain the overflow from the current bookcases.

His mother would not approve.

Regal Stitching

Last night I started on Catherine's Crown, an ornament designed by Gay Ann Rogers based on a crown owned by Catherine the Great.

Of course, most of the evening was spent basting the outlines. Basting is such a pain--wish it didn't make things easier but it does, so I guess it's worth it.

I still don't enjoy it.

Enhancing the Stash

I think I'm having Christmas early.

Two packages arrived at my door today.

Needle in a Haystack is offering a series of finishing classes, designed and engineered by Jackie du Plessis. This is the first installment--isn't that fabric glorious! (And, yes, I'm a Jackie groupie--one of these days I hope I become half the finisher she is. Until then, I'll just keep plugging away at her designs.)

And there were two surprise gifts in the package:

There's a pin keep to match the set AND a needle magnet!

Then, as if that weren't enough, the materials kits I had ordered to go with some of the goodies I bought from Gay Ann Rogers at her eWeek sale arrived from Kate Gaunt.

Kate is a long-time friend of mine as well as the driving force behind Shining Needle Society and the proprietor of a business that offers kits for Gay Ann's designs. Everything is beautifully packaged and organized, as, knowing Kate as I do, is only to be expected.

I immediately pulled the instructions and beads for one of Gay Ann's designs and that's what I'm going to work on tonight:

I'm finding, as life becomes more and more complicated, that having a kit already assembled simplifies and de-stresses and provides more actual stitching time.

So I'm going to use that time and stitch.