More Midnight Moogies

Here is the promised progress photo of Midnight Moogies for your delectation.  I have finished the black outlining.  The only black that remains to be stitched is the checkerboard border.  Since that is not only boring but exceedingly tedious due to the seam placements, I have decided to ration that stitching.  I will stitch two 18" lengths of black floss on the checkerboard at the start of each stitching session and then dive into luscious color..  It's a Catholic thing: you've got to spend your time in Purgatory before you can enjoy the bliss of Heaven.  

 I am currently working on the navy blue shadow houses that form a background to the brightly colored cats. There is one section between the rose tail and aqua body of one of the larger cats in the center that I will have to frog out some of the black and replace it with navy.  The mistake can be traced back to the damnable color chart and is one of the reasons I detest color charts so thoroughly.  The symbol for black [DMC 310] was a solid black square on a grey background and the symbol for the navy [DMC 823] was a thick armed black X on a grey background.  They two symbols are virtually indistinguishable at mid distance ... i.e., the distance of the chart stand from my eyes.   See the photo above.  I think I can be excused for making this particular mistake.

The picture to the right shows progress made as of 12/9 and the one below shows my progress to date. What with the adjustment to my husband's enforced retirement [he was laid off the week before Thanksgiving], I have not been stitching quite as much as usual.  I guess having him for company and getting back into the routine of  cooking our meals instead of ordering out after work [a luxury we can no longer afford], I have less "me" time for stitching  I am sure I will recover some of that time as I establish new routines and Bill establishes some independent routines of his own as well.

.In any case I am fairly happy with the progress I have made on this piece.  I confess I sometimes mutter minor imprecations against Vivienne Powers, the designer of the piece, who has a love affair with multiple borders: the thin lavender line and the broader purple band separated by thin black lines, surrounded by the black and white checkerboard, and finally surrounded yet again by the as yet to be stitched very broad [10 stitches deep] band of grey [DMC 169].  She really makes you pay for the joy of working in bright colors.