I Don't Know Why I'm in Such a Hurry

I got quite a bit of stitching done yesterday,

and finished the bird last night.

I like the swirly light blue motif. I still need to finish the light blue DMC 932 in the tail for the bird to be really finished.

I haven't decided whether I'll do the letters with one thread or two. The 'e' is done with two. 

I have selected an ornament to finish for our Trillium Guild ornament exchange at our December meeting. It'll be a pretty plain ornament finish but I'll jazz it up with cording.

When I was dropping something off at the library last week I noted that the plexiglass container for the Red Scarf Project was filling up. 6" x 60" scarves are created with red yarn and donated for HIV Awareness Week the last week of November, when the scarves will be tied around the city with tags that say "Please take this scarf if you are cold".

I have a bunch of Mary Maxim acrylic DK yarn that I bought at a tent sale with the intention of weaving a bunch of them like I did back in 2015.

This time, I decided to crochet at least one with a big hook (5mm) and double crochet so it would go faster. 

I chained 24 sts, then am doing 24 simple double crochet stitches back and forth. In just a couple of hours I am almost half finished.

It's a loose weave but I like the softness and drape. A smaller needle would have made it bullet-proof, which probably would be handy on city streets but doesn't make for a snuggly scarf and would have required about double the crocheting. This way I'll be able to knock off a couple of these while I'm sitting watching TV over the next few days.

I have been looking for my box of sewing threads for the past week or so. I've hunted high and low to no avail. Finally yesterday, I was picking something up from the dining room (aka Geri's Sweat Shop/my sewing area) and I found the container WAY back under the cart that I keep my sewing stuff and ironing board on. Thanks goodness I don't have to replace all those spools of thread. I have been commissioned to make some project bags and now have all the materials I need. I just need to get off my behind and get started making them. Once I get going I enjoy the process, it's just a matter of tearing myself away from stitching that is my challenge.

I used my nifty carpet cleaner to clean part of the family room carpet yesterday - the spot where I had spilled chocolate pudding. I can't believe how dirty the water was that I pulled out of that little  bit of carpet. I then cleaned a bit of the dining room carpet (which is when I found my box of threads) and it's amazing how good the carpet looks. I will have to do more of it sometime. It takes quite a bit of effort hauling the machine around and I work up quite a sweat. But with the furnace on, the carpets dry pretty quickly.

I have lots on my crafting 'to do' list:  * are 'must do' items

• make one of my wool felt applique ugly Christmas sweater ornaments
• *finish the ornament for our guild ornament exchange.
• make the wool felt applique sheep and mitten piece
• *sew three project bags
• *crochet some more red scarves
• bind the quilt Sue quilted for me on her long-arm over a year ago
• *think of a treat I can make for my closest crafty friends for Christmas and make it.
• find my Cinnamon Stars pattern to give to Barb
• rummage through my pattern stash for other giveways
• rummage through my pattern stash for projects to kit up and stitch
• stitch the companion piece to my Strawberry Thief
• start my Three Pumpkins project.
• *get caught up on my Steady Thread SAL
• plan some projects to start to whittle down my yarn stash 
• assess the yarn stash for skeins to give away to knitters or to charity.

I'm sure there are lots more things to do but that's a start.

Skip and I are looking forward to our little trip to Niagara Falls for his birthday in December. I sure hope our COVID numbers stay low enough for us to feel safe enough to go. I'll be really disappointed if we have to cancel again because of a surge in COVID cases.  I so enjoyed staying in the hotel at Elim and hope we can start taking more little trips - I LOVE staying in hotels.

We've even discussed flying down to TX for the spring bird migration. I told Skip it had to be between April 4 and 27 so we could fit it in between two stitching retreats I'm planning to attend. Again, much will depend on if we still have to get PCR tests to re-enter Canada and what the COVID numbers are in the Rio Grande Valley. I most certainly don't want to get sick down there.

There certainly is lots to look forward to.