Stitching at last

Hello all. I meant to be here earlier. I was a slug all day. All blooming day! It was really kinda nice. I meant to do some cooking and some office stuff, oh and in the wee small, INSANE part of my mind I meant to "finish" my Vierlanden sampler. Well, you know the old addage about the road to hell?

Anyway, I know I only have one last bit of Christmas to catch up on, but I have a hankering to talk stitching so we'll deal with the last days of Christmas later.

Here's what I've been up to on the stitching front--
I was sort of half-hearted at stitching in DC once I got the ornaments finished for the family. But I did manage some progress on Trilogy's Gathering of Hearts --

I finished the blue-hearted side and put in those miniscule 2 oner-1 purple stitches on the right. Pathetic, huh.

Over the tail end of the holiday was spent getting my sister restarted on her Christmas stocking adventure:


The above is for my BIL. I'd done the background a couple years ago so I got restarted on it with the face. He collects nutcrackers and has a fetich for "big reds" so it seemed appropriate for him..... I should explain that I picked out the stocking for the two of them at TNNA one year. My sister decided while working on stocking for both of the grandchildren that she liked doing what I call "fiddly bits" so we agreed I'd do all the "big stitching" and she'd do all the "fiddly bits." It's an arrangement I find most salubrious.
By the time I'd left my sister had taken over working on Nutty. I'd finished the face, she put in the red for the mouth and moved on the the chest.

Go, Sis, go!




That's my sister's stocking. She wanted one with "lots of stuff." I think it fits. Lots and lots of stuff there.
I did the train in Neon Rays. And the blurry pic is of my test of Fyre Works soft sheen for the ornament balls. I think it works nicely. Sorry about the blur; it's what you get when I photograph at 2am.

In between DC and here I've worked on a small number of projects and haven't finished as darned thing. But here goes the report --
Progress on the Vierlanden from this....

through this in DC....

to this the other day...

I've made it further on this today, but frankly looking at this leaves me with one simple thought: How do all you fast stitchers do it????????

Being as the reason for me going to TNNA is I work at a needlepoint shop I thought I ought to take needlepoint with me so I picked up a small piece I've had on bars and completely unstarted since 2006! Sheesh. Unlike cross stich, for me the hardest thing to do is START a needlepoint. I stare at it and stare at it. It's not the thread; I'm ostensibly quite good at picking threads and colors. Somehow it's the act of committing to stitches. I don't know maybe it's because on needlepoints part of the public "judgement" is based on stich choices? I just sit and stare at the canvas with the threads all around working out a campaign of attack, thinking about stitches, scheming about what would go with what, what wouldn't look good next to what, what threads would work/not work with a given plan of stitches. Honest. I just sit and stare. I've spent many a whole day at the shop just looking at a canvas and poking it around the table. Frankly, it's kninda embarassing.

Anyway, the canvas of choice for TNNA was a little piece to be mounted in a clock --

(I did a lot of it upon our return from San Diego while watching the rebroadcasts of the inaugural-- it seemed appropriate.)

I didn't bring the gold house sitting nor did I bring enough of the background DMC. so it sits waiting for me for now.

Today I even hauled out my semi-decent listing of stash and began the contemplation of what I want to try and accomplish in 2009. I'll have to get back to you on that since as of this morning I think I'd highlighted as potentials for the year a half dozen WIPs (including the Virelanden AND my Beatrix Potter Quaker), 2-3 dozen new needlepoints, and at least 3 dozen new cross stitch starts (including a Chatelaine mandala). Sigh. I should really get a grip!

Ok, I intended to give you a TNNA report, but it's 1 blooming A.M. so I'm going to bed! Keep good thoughts and maybe you'll get TNNA tomorrow.