OMG it's the last Sunday of November, which means......{gulp} December is here

It's that time of the month that all of us crazy stitchers who are more serial starters than finishers (talking about myself) show off what we have done, or in my case what I've not gotten done.  If you want to see more go here to WIPocalypse and see what others are done....http://measi.net/measiblog/

I can't believe I am at the end of November already, work has kept me busy and December isn't looking much better.  I work with some great people, but unfortunately, the powers that be, don't always see the efforts put forth by those, and this leads to them getting new jobs.  So this year we've had 3 people leave our small group out of 6 people.  We have replaces 2 of them and added 2 more people, but it's still stressful and I will miss this person, as she is my morning buddy.  But I am so happy for her, she is getting a great opportunity and will be given the respect she has earned.  Next week will be her last week and I'm hoping to spend 3 full days with her transiting her work.

I don't do a lot of holiday crafting anymore, I just can't take the pressure of the deadlines.  When I have a work deadline, I'm very proactive, but a personal one, just makes me procrastinate because it becomes the dreaded chore to do...... so I try to keep any of those at a minimum and generally none at all.

So with that being said, I am doing 4 small gifts for Christmas this year and have 2 of them completely done and just need to be mounted, #3 is started (the little Indian) and #4 is waiting in the wings.

I also have one Christmas stocking to get together and mailed out by next Monday so it will there in time for Christmas.  The stitching is done, just need to add the embellishments and sew it into a stocking.  My machine has been tuned and ready to go, so shouldn't take me too long.  I have finished 10 other stockings in the past, so I have it down pat :).  Hoping to do it on Friday after the Thanksgiving rush is over with and life is back to normal.  NO I'm not doing Black Friday, too old for those early morning rushes.  But we are doing dinner for 13 people - told my sister her long term boyfriend would be banished to the basement because I refuse to have 13 seated at the table.  Other option is setting it up for 14 and getting my brother-in-law to come in a for a minute before he goes to his daughter's house for dinner.

So what have I done this past month you might ask?  I showed you all my hippo last month.  You see pictures of #2  Fairy Bee and the start of #3 Little Indian.  The shiny things are the front and back of the credit card holders where they will be mounted.  I have 3 of them, two blue and one black.  Thought I had 2 black and one blue, oh well, can't change it now.  

The last needlepoint will go into a pocket mirror for my 12 year old granddaughter.  I started out with an elephant to put in it, but then found the Crane and knew it would be perfect.  Of course I have to admit I didn't just "find" it, I hit 3 shops between KY and MI I called about 5 different shops until I found one that actually had it in stock.  Should have started with them, as that is where I got the Lotus flower on my daughters checkbook cover I did last year.

I also jointed a stitching group that does Stitch Alongs each year.  This year they have been doing Lucky 13, which are 12 charts of little halloween motifs.  I'm pretty far behind the group on this one, but that's OK, I'll start it in January and see if I can't get it caught up.  When I say I'm pretty far behind, they are on chart #6, and I haven't even pulled my threads yet.  Such is life.

So for the question of the month - what new stitching techniques did you learn this year?   Well to be honest, this year was the pits for my stitching and I really didn't try anything new, didn't get a lot of trying done on what I was doing :( .  While moving home was the thing to do, I didn't realize the pitfalls along the way.  There has been a lot of adjustments to overcome and I'm sure there will be more in my future, love working from home, love NO office politics to contend with, LOVE working in my PJ's when I don't have anything I need to do outside of the house and I really LOVE no traffic lights between my bed and my desk.  So maybe if this question is asked next year I'll have a better answer.

As for getting my she-cave together I did add two new items,  I put together this small chest of drawers.  I have my needlepoint canvases in there as well as things that are ready to be finally finished.  I'm hoping to do some ornaments, they are all stitched, just need to be finished.  And of course I finally got a replacement for my cutting table that didn't make it from CA to MI/KY.  I like this table, it's a little better made and I can have it up all the time!!  Right now it has my cutting mat on the top and both leaves are spread out!!  I'm excited about being able to cut stuff out.  I'm not sure I'll do pillowcases this year for Christmas as by now I generally have them done, but will try to do a few for special people.

With December's post I hope to be able to show you the things finished that need to be done, like the stocking.  And also looking at what I'm going to get done for 2020 - would like to get 20 finishes in 20.  Maybe with my own space now I will be able to get it done.  Even it's if its only one thing done in 2020, I will be happy as it's the journey that gives me happiness, the finishes are just a bonus.  I will now and forever be the serial started, but at my age, you need to do the things that make you happy in life and not stress over the things that don't.

Sandy