November Ornament

Well, I have to say that went as badly as I imagined. Seven days with eleven other people? That kind of thing is doomed from the start.* Sure we had an owner’s suite with a bathroom that was bigger than ours at home (a  double sink! it had a double sink!) but as everyone always says about cruises, you don’t spend a cruise in your stateroom. 

The weather was kind of bad (um, you could feel the largest cruise ship in the world rocking and rolling with the waves), and we had to skip Nassau all together because the seas were too rough to navigate such a narrow port. We went deep sea fishing in St. Thomas on 3-5 foot** seas.  And then they canceled our mountain trek in St Maarten because of the mud after three days of rain (too slippery). Also, there were about 5000 kids on the cruise. So fabulous accommodations aside, this was not the best vacation I’ve ever been on. But it’s over and we survived. (And, my BIL saved a woman’s life. For real. She was choking in the dining room, and her husband was doing a bad imitation of the Heimlich maneuver. Jersey strode over, pushed the husband aside and the next thing you knew, he was being congratulated by people at all the tables around us.)

I did finish my November ornament. I even did it before last Wednesday, but I was totally disconnected on the trip. I didn’t miss a minute of social media. On Monday my first full day of reconnection, I was bored by Facebook and had no desire to play WWF. The horror!

This is Little House Needlework’s Pear Tree from the 2006 JCS Ornament Issue. This poor ornament was plagued with errors in the printed pattern, not down to Diane Williams, I am sure.  I stitched this on a random piece of khaki fabric, 28-count. It’s not the pale green of the original, so the green in the design looks really washed out. Oh well, I was out of reach of my supplies. Sometimes you have to make do.

*Now my mother is talking renting a house for 12 people next time. OMG. I have to figure out how to divorce my family. Hasn’t anyone ever heard of traveling alone?***

**That’s what Captain Crazeballs told us it was. It was over five. (In response to me saying “A bad day fishing’s still better than a good day at work,” my cousin’s husband said he just kept imagining being at his desk in New York to be followed by a Manhattan and a steak at Sullivan’s.)

***You would be correct if you think the dude and I would never travel with you. I was just flabbergasted the first time I heard about people traveling with another couple. Why on earth would anyone do that?

There's Good News in Here Somewhere

Jo of Serendipitous Stitching followed Jan from Thread Garden and Shebafudge in making a top five list of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. And I'm playing along. I KNOW IT'S NOT A REVIEW. I just have not had the right amount of time to sit down and attend to it...but soon.

My List (in order of appearance)

1. Mosey n Me, Ewe-le Tide Greetings (Horrible pun, cute ornament)
2. Stitcherhood, Peace (even though it's a bit derivative)
3. Needle Bling, Frosty Snowflake
4. Amy Brueken Designs, La La La
5. Wee Works, Holly Rondel

Next week, I am off with the whole damn family for a Thanksgiving cruise. (Not Maggie, she doesn't travel anymore.) It's a weeklong cruise with only three stops. Since I will no doubt be contemplating diving from the highest point those other four days, I'm bringing some stitching and the Ornament Issue so I can write the long-awaited review.

I was going to write various disclaimers here, but they just made me sound cranky. I'm doing my best to be grateful. You should too.

Maggie Monday: My Eyes, My Eyes!

Thanks all for your love of Maggie. I think my aunt likes to see her stories here; it must help her realize she's not hallucinating these things.

I went to Maggie's yesterday to drop off her laundry and give her some lemon chicken and rice and chicken parm and spaghetti. She started the conversation by saying she won't be able to eat it for a couple of days because she bought a couple of mini lobster rolls on Saturday. 

She then says, "I didn't know you cooked like this." Apparently she thinks that I haven't been cooking for the last 40+ years. 

She asked me whether she should keep some clothes she had bought (QVC). After nixing some Denim and Co. jerseys and some Women with Control slacks, she started bitching about her big floppy boobs. And that's when she flashed me. 

My aunt hopes to retain her vision for the upcoming family vacation, but we're not sure...

I have not illustrated this post for the obvious reasons.

Whovians

I'm not a Dr. Who person myself. When I was in high school, I had a problem with insomnia, and I watched it--in reruns--occasionally on the 12" black and white my parents let me keep in my room. (Can you imagine trying to explain that to a high school kid today?) It was a privilege, and when I got in trouble (which occurred with surprising frequency), the TV had to be given up. (My sister had a small color TV, but that was later, and it was the one we hooked the computer up to.) (Seriously, life has gotten so strange.)

So my experience of Dr. Who was of the original doctor, and I came in late. All the reruns in the world weren't going to help me sort it out. Of course if the original Dr. had been a little more David Tenant, I might have tried a little harder. (This is also the same period that I got into The Prisoner, and my sister and I would watch it on this tiny b&w sitting on the hardwood floor of my bedroom  because it was so crazy and crazy-different from anything we had seen on TV.) (Patrick McGoohan then showed up with incredible regularity on Columbo, one of my favorite shows.)

At any rate, Dr. Who is 50. And someone scoured the internet and brought together 10 Cross-stitch projects with which to celebrate. My favorite comment is about this Tenth Doctor pattern by BabyMish, "The finished design measures 4 inches wide by 7 inches high when worked on 14-count Aida fabric, so it shouldn’t take you too long to complete." Yeah, except the part where there are a million stitches because it is 28 square inches of solid stitching! I guess it all depends on the definition of "too long." Enjoy! 

I Have Found My People!

Since I started working outside the home, I have taken nine stitches (I counted). (It was the first nine of the top pear.) Tuesday night I brought my stitching with me to the hairdresser and got a knot in my floss before I even took one stitch. I didn't have my cheaters and the light was bad, so the stitching went back in the bag.

I've made some progress as you can see.

The other day one of my colleagues was showing off socks she had knit. We got to talking, and she invited me to come to the knitting circle* on Wednesday. Meet at her cubicle just before lunch, we were driving over.

At ten to twelve, I walked up to her cubicle and she was gone! I was devastated--mostly because I couldn't remember where they met. Fortunately someone saw her car still in the lot, so I raced down the stairs and out the door. She saw me and pulled over. "I kept saying I thought I was forgetting someone!" she exclaimed. I stepped over the dead squirrel, and off we went.

It's quite a diverse group and growing exponentially. My friend brought three newbies along, for example. We were about 14, so we had to move from the parlor to a more exposed location. The students were intrigued. There were a lot of "whoa!s" and "What are they doing?" murmurs, though none approached us. Anyway, it was delightful to be back among the stitchers.

So, good news, I'll be stitching and have things to show. Woot!

*They're looking for a better name. It's mostly knitters, a couple of crocheters, and the one cross-stitcher. If you have ideas, submit them.

Shame Faced

Oh, goodness gracious! I forgot Mary Agnes's version of Be True. How could I? (I saved this one in a different file from the others. D'oh!) I think someone is going to have to revoke the challenge from me.

Keep the applause coming!

And if I lost your photo by filing it in still yet another folder, please tell me!

Challenged Challenge

This post has been delayed for all sorts of reasons, but I'm blaming the camera. That technology is so 2000. 

Last April, I announced another stitching challenge. 

Unlike in past years, I totally forgot to remind you about it. Then I forgot about it all together. About two and a half months ago, I got a photo in the mail from Monica, the Hoopless Stitcher…(which I always misread as the Hopeless Stitcher, but really she's not!) She stitched Paulette’s pattern and finished it as a threadkeep. I sent her a little return message to let her know it came though, and then I thought I should perhaps look up the deadline for this thing. (Which I just did now.) 

Then I got another one in the mail from Jo at Serendipitous Stitcher as a birthday present! With a card and everything. So that was like a month ago now. I’m blaming the silent auction coupled with the new job for preventing me from sharing this fabulousness with you. Thanks, Jo, it is ghetto-fabulous! (Actually it's just fabulous.) I love how she undermined the original by adding the tattoo. 

Backing fabric and little charmer.

You know who else stitched this? Riona over at Oubliette. 

I feel so badly about dropping this ball from such a great height, I feel moved to send a little surprise to everyone who actually stitched this. So Monica, Jo, and Riona, please send me your snail mail addresses.

I hope you enjoyed all the beautiful examples people made. Let's give them a round of applause.