Random Stuff

I got the Not Forgotten Farms' ornament done at lunchtime today.  It is a lot more colorful than originally charted but I like it that way.  The deep red and the yellow gold give it just enough autumnal pop.  The black and green and grey are still suitably funereal for Halloween.  It seems a perfect marriage of bright and dark.  I may turn this into a flat ornament for my own Halloween tree or for an exchange.  I wasn't particularly attracted to this chart at first ... the English teacher in me was not too pleased with the forgotted bit.  I had seriously considered changing the wording to Rotten but not Forgotten, but that would have destroyed the primitive whimsy of the ornament.

Then I did a quick shift back to the Celtic knot work border on the Woodland Angel stocking.  Here is a  shot of recent progress.  I was only able to devote an hour to this after work.  I did manage to do the back stitching of the knot work I had already stitched and then continue with the border till I turned the corner.  While this section is very clearly charted, I find I have to stitch slowly and carefully to make sure all the quarter stitches are neatly and correctly placed.  Given my slowed down pace, I figure it will take another 2-3 hours of serious stitching to finish the border.  Still, I am getting close to a finish.  I am almost tempted to draw the process out a little longer.  This has been such a wonderful piece to stitch, I hate to be done with it.  On the other hand, I have to sew it up, trim it, stuff it and mail it to the West Coast.  So perhaps, I'd better keep the momentum going.

However, I think I'll steal the time to stitch one more Halloween ornament, Primitive Needle's By the Light of the Moon, before the month is done. I'll use that piece of purple linen on which I stitched two other Halloween ornaments earlier this month.  The deep purple will make a suitably spooky night sky background for the piece.  I don't think I am quite over my Seasonal Stitching Disorder yet!

In mid November, I'll be going on another retreat: this one will be a spiritual retreat instead of a stitching retreat, though.  Even so, I always pack a few stitching projects to work on in my down time - I can't stay on the psyche's equivalent of mountain tops all the day long - too intense for a mere mortal like myself.  I'm already thinking about what I will take along.  Certainly the Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking, if it is not finished by then.  Also, The English Band Sampler.  But I will also want something small:  I am close to a finish on my Fertile Circles Needlebook or I could work on my older son's Name Tree ornament.  Then, there is The Framing Shop from the Town Square SAL to be considered if I haven't finished it by the time I leave for the monastery.  But there is also the lure of all the new items brought home from Mystic as well as a few charts  given to me as anniversary gifts by my husband that are calling my name rather insistently.  It's just a Sunday evening into Tuesday morning, so I'll only need stitching for two nights.  But if I run true to form, I'll pack more stitching than clothes.