Doing my homework

 We had a mid-term break in the online crewel class I'm taking. We also had a LOT of homework to do before we resume classes this coming Tuesday.

And of course I procrastinated.

So today I've been stabbing linen with a sharp needle, and I'm about halfway through the assignment.

My eyes and hands are getting tired, and I'm starting to make mistakes, so I think I better set this aside tonight. This leads to a dilemma. Tomorrow is Sampler Sunday. Monday we are going back to see our "old" dentist since Dearly Beloved needs a root canal--this will be a day-long trip since we also want to get there early enough to have lunch at our favorite Japanese restaurant. I don't think I'd have enough time Tuesday morning to finish everything. I think I'm going to have to sacrifice Sampler Sunday to get this done. Phooey!

Meanwhile, thanks to the readers who are voting on my Christmas ornament decision. I'm going to wait a couple of days to tabulate the results to give anyone else who might be interested a chance to weigh in. So far, from what I can tell, the numbers are very close.

Help Me Decide

I had to have a biopsy done on what's left of my thyroid this morning. While I was lying on the table getting stabbed in the throat multiple times, I was doing my best to distract myself. And how do I generally distract myself? I think of needlework. Of course.

Anyway, I was thinking that I could probably do another four or five ornaments before Christmas. Two of them will be Tricia Nguyen's 2024 ornament (free pattern available from Thistle Threads) and Barbara Jackson's 2024 ornament through the Shining Needle Society.

That leaves spots for two or three more ornaments.

And I can't decide which ones to do.

So, please help me decide by voting in the comments. The choices are:

Poinsettia Heart

Christmas Treats

Elizabethan Christmas

Joyful Pome

Christmas in Virginia

Christmas Rose

Please pick up to three and let me know what you think. The three with the most votes will go in the basket by the chair, and the rest will wait 'til later.

Thank you in advance!

Planting Trees

I needed something mindless to work on, so I'm stitching tree trunks. Rows and rows and rows of stem stitch--so mindless!

The striped Seuss tree on the right is done. I need to stitch a big bird to sit on top of one of the clump of leaves. The tree on the left has the rest of this branch plus one more--then I can add the leaves. Actually, I'm not sure what they're called--fronds?--because this is a weeping willow tree. I suppose I could google it but I do not feel that strongly about finding out. If anyone out there is an arborist and knows, please inform the rest of us.

I ran across an article the other day written by a scientist who studies creativity. She suggests that any creative person should have multiple projects going at one time--she suggests something like five to a dozen. This way, if you hit a snag on one thing, it's easy to move to something else. It also maintains the "creative flow."

Well, as a total failure at even partial project monogamy, which I have been trying this year, her ideas fit the way I usually work. I have a whole basket of WIPs sitting by my chair so it's easy to move from one thing to another as the mood strikes. I would like to keep Sampler Sunday going, but it's nice to have actual scientific research to back up the fact that I generally bounce from one thing to another like a BB in a boxcar.

Elizabethan Rose

 The stitching for the Elizabethan Rose Christmas ornament is complete.

I just realized the image is turned sideways, much like I feel after the election results.

So very, very close

I am so very close to finishing the stitching for the Elizabethan Rose Christmas Ornament, designed by Alison Cole.

So very, very close.

 I was going to spend today getting my homework done for the Summer Crewel online class I'm taking from Sara Rickards, but now I'm leaning towards working on this instead. I mean, I am SO close.

Of course, I can always work on both of them in the course of the day. That sounds like a legitimate compromise. 

Oh, Christmas Tree . . .

 The tree is still sitting right in front of me. And, yesterday, after I finished House on the Hill, I was rummaging around in the stash room, and stumbled across one of the bins where I stashed things I planned to stitch in retirement.

It happened to be the Christmas bin.

And Christmas is coming. And there is a tree sitting in front of me, calling for new ornaments.

So I pulled out one of Alison Cole's ornament kits and started it this morning.

I have now learned a new stitch, which Alison calls The Elizabethan Double Twisted Chain. It's a chain stitch that is slightly raised, so it has more texture than a regular chain or broad chain. This has me ridiculously excited.

It is quite possible that there will be Christmas music playing as I stitch this afternoon. Dearly Beloved (aka Santa's Evil Twin Skippy, aka Ebenezer Scrooge) is already muttering. After all these decades of marriage, he should know better.

Totally Finished!

 House on the Hill Shaker Carrier by Merry Cox has all its goodies assembled!!!!

I have also attended a lecture this afternoon so I have had my mental stimulation for the week, which obviously I needed because I had totally forgotten about going until I got a reminder.

Now I think I'll put the ironing board away and clean up my worktable.

What about Sampler Sunday, you ask?

It may be Sampler A-Different-Day-This-Week. No excuses, just not feeling it today. Actually, I would like to just sit here and bask in the glow of finishing something all the way. It happens so rarely, I think I deserve to bask. So, I just decided, I'm going to bask.