starts and finishes

This weekend, I finished the booga bag for the mil and the squiggles and splash scarf. I was worried that I might finish both while I was away from my stash, so I threw a couple of Sandy Cozzolino perforated paper Santa ornaments into the bag to keep myself amused. I finished the booga bag on the plane to Denver and the scarf on the way back to L.A. I did start one of the Santa ornaments—the unfortunate “Papa Navidad.” Don’t get me wrong, it’s cute, but does Santa Claus really wear a serape in Mexico? I have to say that I did not enjoy knitting with the squiggle. It doesn’t add very much and it is a huge PITA to work with. But you should also remember that I am an “advanced beginner” when it comes to knitting. YMMV. Tonight, I felt...if it gets below 85 degrees in my apartment. Why can't I afford to live at the beach in the "style" to which I've become accustomed?

I was putting away some stuff in my craft dresser (in the craft closet, two drawers are dedicated to cross-stitch: spent kits and UFOs.) I located several patterns that had ended up in there through no fault of their own. Three of them made the new “she’s a crazy woman” list: Trilogy’s Happy Bunny Bunny Day, Liberty Street’s Rose Bunnie (sic), and Birds of a Feather’s Scaredy Cat. The good news is that I only added 159 stitching hours to my list. I spent some time yesterday perusing the R&R Reproduction fabrics color chart to see if I had to stitch some of my pieces on their fabric. There are about half a dozen patterns that I have that call for various overdyed fabric, that I think can be stitched on antique white or summer khaki, without losing much. I am sticking with beach plum for "Chilly Willy and His Best Friend Nick"—and with the Alpine Green Tula for "Frost" and Highland Mist for "Upon a Pumpkin." As far as I can make out, however, light espresso, antique cotton, and candlelight can adequately be substituted. Wouldn’t I rather have more patterns and more threads? It’s moot right now because even given that I don’t plan on starting any of these projects in 2004, I do have the floss and fabric to do at least 11 of them. Buying more fabric can wait. ‘Til, like, March. Nevertheless, I ordered more fiber from Elegant Stitch. I really did need some of the Gentle Arts Sampler Threads for a Christmas gift project, even if I asked for more than I needed.