December Stitchy Hopes and Ponderings

Well I had high hopes for November, but Thanksgiving and then being ill really took a lot of time from stitching.

But I did manage to stitch on Taj, WG, Midi, and the Christmas Mandala. I don't think I stitched any other Chatelaines. It was nice to focus on them for a bit. I'm disappointed that I didn't finish any Chatelaines this month, but I'm more bothered by the fact that I didn't start anything new. I love starting things.

I'm back to a more varied stitching regimen this month.

1. Finish Midi 1
2. Finish Amethyst Mystery
3. Stitch a bit on WG
4. Stitch a bit on Stealing Oats.
5. Stitch a bit on Taj
6. Stitch a bit on Tree of Hope
7. Stitch a bit on Christmas Tree Mandala (freebie)
8. Start and finish the teacher gifts. (I hope I receive the materials soon).
9. Stitch a bit on Japanese Lady

I think I'll hold off on new starts (except for the teacher gifts) until the new year. And by typing that I realize that I will probably give in to temptation and have multiple starts this month. Maybe I'll just hold off until Christmas. I'm also hoping to do an out with the old/in with the new year SAL at the Chatelaine Board. And then I'll try to do another Lenten SAL there in preparation for the Chatelaine Olympics next summer.

Midi would go faster if I would just stop tinkering with the design. I keep trying different things, some of which don't work and then I frog. I changed the dress, which I love, but then it caused me to change the roses in the archway, which led to a change in the beads serving as the buds on the arch, which caused me to think that I should change the beads in the bush immediately to the left of the arch. But I didn't like it (too bright--it drew the eyes away from the center of the design) so I frogged the beads and re-beaded with the original beads. I didn't like the color used for the sheaf stitch so I went with a different color silk, which caused me to re-think the greenish bead used on the vines. I've selected a substition for the original bead, I hope. Then I decided to go with Martina's original chart for the partial jessica windows, but I don't like the way it looks. I'm not sure I want to use the substitution offered by another stitcher because it moves the center of the window by one square. I think I'm over thinking this design. Sigh.

I just can't believe it's December already.