Well we are a little over a month from sending 2023 into the history books

We are at the end of November and another year is almost over.  While most people are thinking about shopping for Christmas presents and stacking them under the tree.  I'm thinking about other things, like what 2024 will bring and can I really work another year?  While I love Christmas, most of the time it's just hubby and I and we don't get each other anything.  We both have what we need and as you age your wants become less.   I was getting something to eat at a Taco Bell and the young man chatted with me while he waited for our order to be assembled.  I asked if he was going to have the weekend off, and he said no, he picks up all the hours they will give him because there are things he wants in life.  Then he looked at me and said, at your age you probably have everything you want.  To smiled and told him NO, we have what we need and are happy.  I think he thought about that for a minute and realize as Mitch Jaggard says "you can't always get what you want, but just sometimes. you get what you need".  So we will continue to care for my parents and enjoy our life.

The question this month asked by Measi at WIPocalypse, which is the group both in FaceBook and a blog for all of us who feel the need to complete our WIPS before the world ends, or ends for us anyways, is:

What is your favourite way to finish an ornament or small?  Well that is simple - I really don't do many smalls - the last couple were framed and I have done some small pillows.  But I really am not too experienced in doing those kinds of finishes as my real love are the BAP, or large.  

We just build a new addition onto our house as it's becoming multi-generational and hubby made a comment "when you get ready to hang your x-stitch we will bring in the tall ladder so you can start at the top"....  It's like a bare canvas in here, can't wait to start to put stuff up on the wall.  The ceiling along the wall that is showing is 14 feet up, so lots and lots of space.

So what have I actually stitched this month?  

Here is what I've done, but not in the order they were worked on, just in the order that the picture uploaded.

Frankenstein Sampler by Stitching Posey - I had started this one back in December of 2022 because I'm in WIP Warriors and decided to do NO NEW START's in 2023.  What do you do when you join something like that?  Well you start everything your heart desires in December before the challenge starts, of course.  So I did - this was a Halloween Box I got and really liked the chart.  I decided that I needed to touch all of these starts at least once during the year so I've been looking at what I have and what hasn't been touched and tried to pull those out in November.  

This one I was so stupid and decided I wouldn't have enough thread, so I took out a lot of what I had done with the idea I'd only use one thread - well that was dumb - I should have just tried it first in another spot to see how it looked before unstitching anything.  Well I've decided if I run out of thread I just won't do the last section and put back in everything I took out and a little bit more.

I started the house on it and will get the rest of the outline of the block in the next time it comes out.  Doesn't look like much yet, but soon.

Next up is a previous finish of a stocking I had stitched, and finally got the embellishments sewn on and then it sat for for a while until I decided it had to be finished into a stocking for Christmas.  My daughter is getting married next November and this is for her soon-to-be hubby.  I'm hoping this makes him feel more a part of our family.  He lost his parents this year, so this will be his first Christmas without them.  We want to make sure he knows he is loved by us all.  We are very much about family even when we can't all be together.  He has 2 brothers and assorted nieces and nephews, so he's not totally alone in the world, but everyone needs lots of family.

My daughter will need to fill this huge stocking for him, so that is her problem.  I also got them a stocking hanger that stands on its own.  The fireplace now has a TV mounted over it and the previous stocking holders no longer have room to sit on it.  

Next up is my Coming to America by With Thy Needle & Thread.  I decided to backstitch around the seagulls and I'm so much happy with them now.  I'm still missing 2 of them, but not sure if I will put them on or not at this point as I want to move down.  Just realised this picture is an old one :(. I must not have taken the final one before it went back into its project bag.  But the Cape Cod section has been completed as well as the two pigs. 

This one isn't as much fun as I thought it would be as I'm not happy with the colors of the threads being so close and you can't really see the define objects.  Not going to pull it out or restart it, as I have restarted it 3 times already.  I'm just going to go forward with it and maybe change some of the colors as I go.  There are chickens that are the same color as the seagulls, so need to see about changing them to another color.  We had a red chicken when our kids were small, so maybe will go that route.

Autum Quaker by Rosewood Manor came back out again this year.  I had totally messed up on it - the small diamond shapes under the first red leaf were only suppose to be 3 or 4 and I have 6 - guess I was in a grove.  Which then put the next leaf off and so forth.  So I took out one of the leaves and placed the rest of the motifs where they belonged.  Not going to go back and take out the original mistake as there would be too much to unstitch. So I'm calling it a personalisation and going forward.  I'm all the way over to the right side and have one full page done and most of the second page done.  I love the colors, but to be honest not thrilled with the quality of the thread - the colors are great, but the threat itself isn't the best.  I have Winter Quaker in my stash to start with also the called threads so we'll see how that one does.  I'm pretty sure with all that I've had to take out and re-do on this one I'll run out of some of the colors.  Won't put in the year until I'm done.  Who knows when that will be.

The next picture is Wicket Was Here by Heart's Content and it is stitched over one with one thread.  I'm working on the tree and have it about 1/3 done, maybe a little bit more.  There is a witches' hat at the top of the tree, but other than that, it's all the same color.  I'm just picking a branch and following it until the end and then picking the next one.  This one is probably 35-40% done now, so maybe a finish next year. 

The last picture up is my needlepoint by LuLu called the Story Teller.  I have all the kids hair and faces done.  Still working on the background and need to put in the lady's hair yet.  Then bead it and get it mounted into the box that will hold the stories of my sister when she was younger.  This is for my niece who got married this past spring.  She knows it's coming, so would love to have it finished by Christmas and sent to you.  Still a lot to get done so not sure it's going to be a reality for Christmas's but will give it a go.  It will get a lot of love in December and be my main stitching focus.

I'm working on Alice by AuryTM, and I'm loving it and would like to get it finished in 2024 for sure as I have so many more of her designs waiting to be started.  Oz being the next one up and then I'll have to decided between so many more of them that I love, but the Princess and the Frog might just win out.  

I almost have a second page finish and of course I have ventured into a few other pages to finish a motif.  I have a problem with leaving a particle motif and tend to pull the page that the rest of it is on and just get it done.   One more big motif on this page and then will go back to another page and work on the part that is solid stitching - above the keys and door.  But then I really would like to do the caterpillar that is to the left of the door.  Decisions, decisions.

The last picture is from our local newspaper.  Last summer they had an antique car rally in a neighbouring town.  Wish I would have known about it as I would have gone.  The picture I'm almost sure is the car my Mom had that she got from her great aunt when she decided to stop driving.  If this is the car it's a 1951 Ram-Dodge made in Canada.  

My two older sister's actually took their driver's test in that car and I had some driving lessons in it.  So many wonderful memories of going on vacation in that car with my Mom and sisters (my brother rode with my Dad in station wagon pulling the boat).   The car was huge inside, plenty of room for us and the cat LOL.  Good memories.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving if. you celebrate and have a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate.  

The most important thing to remember is to love one another, to treat people with respect and to enjoy life.  To steal a tag line from the Sunshine Stitchers - "the sun is always shining when you're stitching" and so it is because I'm hoping to have a lot of stitching time this weekend so let the rain come I don't mind ;)

Sandy