Santa has gone AWOL

Since my March 31st post has 17 photos, I thought I'd simply stick to prose today. Or more accurately, ranting against the fates!

Last week the mood struck me to start some Christmas-y stitching and I chose Sue Hillis' Yo Ho Ho Ho [the Pirate Santa]. Since the picture in the last post, I have done another 2 hours of stitching on this piece and have only the two lighter colors in the boot, the peg leg, the hook hand and the back stitching to do ... probably another 3-4 hours of stitching ... tomorrow is my day off so I anticipate completing it during the day. Since I am so close to a finish, I believe I'll wait till I'm done for another photo. But I am still in a Christmas-y mood and I looked for my Sue Hillis Cookie Baking Santa to kit up ... and I can't find it! It was purchased at the same time as the pirate Santa and I swear I saw it in the same tote last week when I pulled the pirate Santa ... but now it is nowhere to be seen and I am gritting my teeth. I will content myself with either the free SH Pirate Santa ornament or the Prairie Schooler Fireside Santa in the meantime but Sunday I will tear my stitching room apart in a search for the SH Santa. I have stitched every one of these charmed [and charming] Santas since the series began and it annoys me that I can't lay my hands on this one at the moment.

I suppose this is what comes of having too much stash ... though I tend to keep mine fairly well-organized and rarely have a problem laying my hands on a chart ... I shall have to check one more binder ... I don't think I filed it in the Current Rotation binder but who knows what I may have done. This binder is probably misnamed since it holds 25 charts that I intend to stitch this year rather than what I am actually stitching at the moment ... but be that as it may, it is the last place I can think of to look.

Anyway, I managed to stitch for 45 minutes of my lunch hour, advancing my April goal to work more assiduously on the Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler. I haven't picked up this piece in about two weeks since I have been concentrating on finishishing ornaments. And that is really a shame since this is a very enjoyable piece and so delicately beautiful. In short, it is a joy to see it come to life in one's hands. Once I have finished the rather wide band of tracery [vining and leaves], I'll take another photo.