Stitch 9 Challenge

Since I recently joined the 21st century by getting a smart phone, I decided to check out that instagram thing everyone's talking about. It's fun! And Farmgirlstitcher (I think she has an account on Flosstube) has created a challenge for the new year, to finish stitching nine projects, whether they are brand-new starts or long-standing works in progress. I'm hoping it will motivate me to finish a few lingering projects I have.

And I've actually finished the first one! It's a tiny design, made even tinier by me (to fit a 3-inch hoop), but still!

The design is a freebie from Plum Street Samplers, by Paulette Stewart. I stitched it on a scrap of 40-count fabric, using variegated threads in five colors rather than the two called for by the pattern (one can never have too much color).

Next up is the Sagittarius pattern by Satsuma Designs, which I've been dying to stitch.

Lots of Loomwork

I've been on a beading kick lately, so at the start of the long weekend I took out my beadloom for two beadweaving projects I had been meaning to do for a while.

The loom was made by my father decades ago, when the only looms available were cheap little ones; the specifications were in a beading magazine and intended to provide a large working space. That length came in handy when making the wrap bracelet, but there was a large enough section of warp threads after making the second project (earrings) that I added a third.

The wrap bracelet in question, from Bead and Button's August 2018 issue (by Jane Danley Cruz):

Secret Heart

The earrings were from a Beadaholique kit:

A baroque crystal was supposed to dangle from each one, but the kit I received came with only one. I did eventually get the second crystal from them, but that's when I realized the color of the first was wrong, and the correct color is no longer available. So for now I added two jet drops from my stash. Beadaholique has some great kits and patterns, but every order I've made has had at least one error.

Since I wanted to make as much use as possible of the warp threads, I improvised a loomwork pattern based on a project in The New Beadweaving by Ann Benson, which itself is based on kilim rugs:

I will make this into a pendant at some point. If I can find a metal bezel that fits it that would be perfect, but if not I can back it with felt.

Back into the storage the loom goes, until the next weaving kick!

Christmas Cross Stitch

More partridges! More pear trees!

Stitchyfish's design in the 2018 Ornaments magazine caught my eye right away; I adore the bright colors.

I tried so hard to finish this freebie by Paulette Stewart by the end of Christmas (today), but alas.

I also fully finished the Primitive Needle's Yule Sampler. By moving it from one hoop to a smaller one, heh.

Christmas Crochet

My friend finally wrote up the pattern for the pink pussy hat ornament she crocheted, and I leaped at the chance to make one for myself:

I embellished the Christmas tree I made a couple of years ago:

I crocheted crowns for Three Kings Day (should have done it ages ago):

I plan on reclaiming them soon, so I can save them for next year.

Book Round-Up: Christmas Edition

 A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis: This was an unusual but fun collection of Christmas stories, involving spirits, aliens, futuristic technology, magic, global blizzards, and androids. There was a certain narrative sameness to many of the stories, specifically a Grinchy attitude towards the unwashed masses who celebrate Christmas the wrong way, but there were some standout stories, too. "In Coppelius's Toyshop" was creepy, "Adaptation" was lovely and touching, "Cat's Paw" was a nice little subversion of the brilliant detective trope, and "Epiphany" was a wonderful meditation on belief and the Second Coming.

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz: I was hoping this would be a fun, frothy read, but it was disappointing. The book had barely any connection to Pride and Prejudice other than the names (of course there was none of the satire and social commentary of the original), plot points were so crammed into the narrative that the timeline made no sense, and the adult characters behaved like teenagers. The overall impression was that of a story too hastily written. (For those of you curious about the movie version: Hallmark sanitized the heck out of it, getting rid of the gay couple, the drinking, the kissing, and the character conflicts.)

The Mistletoe Murder and other Stories by P.D. James: James's first four Christmas-themed mysteries, written annually for a newspaper I think, were exactly the kind of cozy, wintry stories I was in the mood for. My only complaint was that they were too short.

Hiddensee by Gregory Maguire: Maguire's latest novel purports to be an origin story for Herr Drosselmeier and the Nutcracker, but it was so much more than that. Maguire weaved together 18th century German life, fairy tales and folklore, and even a little Greek mythology into the story of Dirk, a foundling who has a fatal yet magical encounter in a sacred forest. Because of that, or perhaps his childhood or his nature, Dirk grows up caught between two worlds, not quite able to fit in to Bavarian society yet also not quite able to acknowledge the magic that clings to him. Maguire's voice is timeless yet wry, and the result is thoroughly lovely and sad.