The half-way girl

The trend for me these days is to do a project twice, and stall out half-way through the second…

I stitched one set of pillowcases in less than a week. So excited, so obsessive with the work.

I began the next set of pillowcases strong, but finishing the first of two took nearly as long as both the originals. And the second? Still not done.

Something shiny and bright caught my attention. I switched gears and picked up needles.

Oh, new Noro yarn and a pretty wristlet pattern, my new exiting. As usual the first pair flew off the sticks in two days. Excitement!

But, as my trend goes that second pair only warms one wrist. The thrill of the new wrist warmers wained… Now, I want to make socks!

It seems I stall out somewhere around the third object…so I might get one pair of socks made (yay, warm feet!) and have another rolling around here for days and days. Maybe months and months! Making friends with a lonely pillowcase, and a lonely wristlet.

Oh, I shouldn’t forget I’ve got a set of four tote bags on my to-do list also. Two done, one laid out…

And there’s that block of the month quilt that should’ve been finished last year? I think. ..Half-way seems like a good place to be for me I guess. Almost. Not quite. Nearly there. Close to being.

These objects wait for my distraction to come full circle. It always does. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but eventually. Because as much as I am a half-way stall kind of girl, I’m also a finisher. I really do love that feeling; the very last stitch. It’s bittersweet and beautiful. It’s a wrap up and a new beginning. I really, really love it. It’s why binding a quilt is my favorite part of the process. Why I weave in ends right away instead of the after-blocking most people recommend.

So, while I languish in my half-way place right now I’m dreaming of those last stitches and finished objects. I’ll eventually have a bunch of them…and that’s the most exciting thing of all!

Stitches with Grace

There’s been all kinds of stitches happening around here this week. Knit stitches like this hat…

And this in progress one too…

I also listed a couple handknits over at the shop today. I like shop variety as much as I like crafty variety. How about you?

One of the items in the shop is this scarf…

..of which I’m pretty proud. I didn’t follow a pattern, just made it up as I went along. It’s the first knit anything I’ve dove that with. Everything else if it wasn’t directly from a pattern it was one I’d memorized enough to change. It feels good to make something wholly your own, you know? Even something as simple as a scarf.

The other kind of stitches showing up big time around here are embroidery stitches.

I came across some pillowcases in my stash with embroidery patterns printed on them. I can’t remember if I bought them or got them as a gift, but I finally decided to stitch them.

I was obsessed with them for four days! Once I got going and I was completing those little boxes I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed it so much, and think they’ll be well received as gifts, that I ordered another set to stitch for another gift.

I am pretty excited to mark the first gift -It’s even wrapped!- off my Handmade Holiday list this year. I have lots of other things in the works but this one is complete, and oh gosh that feels good!

When you like to give handmade gifts you gotta start early! I run out of time often and then it’s a last minute scramble for gift cards. Which, while I’m sure the people who get them don’t mind, makes me sad. I like to give gifts with thought, time, and effort behind them. Gift cards are awesome when needed but aren’t my first choice.

So, I’m stitching towards that big Christmas deadline again. I have a love/hate relationship with having a timeline. I love love making gifts and having a big happy reason for gifts-for-everyone! is awesome. I hate that I sometimes make my self crazy with have-to-somethings and not-good-enoughs.

Am I the only one that does that? Surely not. I’m trying to gift myself a little grace this year and not do that. We’ll see how that works out! Wish me luck! If you’d like to join me in giving yourself grace too I wholeheartedly wish you luck as well! Maybe we can remind each other when the negatives creep in. Our first gift priority this year is grace; for ourselves and everyone else. After all, everyone can use a little grace, don’t you think?

::: right now :::

:: right now It’s 7:23 a.m., my guy has been gone to work for nearly an hour.

:: right now I’m still in bed, reluctant to leave the warm and cozy.

:: right now I did a little Christmas shopping from my Amazon app already this morning. It’s that time of year!

:: right now I’m having a love/hate relationship with autumn. Love cooler weather; hate waking up to dark mornings.

:: right now I’m feeling thankful for my circle of friends. I want to do something special for them but don’t know what.

:: right now I’m already thinking about what to make for dinner and what crafty something I want to get done today.

:: right now I’m guessing that crafty something might be finishing the second half to a pair of embroidered pillow cases. A handmade holiday gift! I finished the first one (above) yesterday.
:: right now I’m realizing today is the last day for my September photo challenge over on Instagram. It’s the last day of September! Where has the time gone?

:: right now I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving. The guy and I don’t celebrate Halloween. Partly because we don’t have kids, partly because it just doesn’t excite us.

:: right now I’m trying to decide (yes, already!) on a Christmas tree. Put one up? Don’t put one up? Our fake one? A real one? Traditional ornaments? My beloved red birds? Ah, decisions!

:: right now I’m loving keeping my gift list in my phone. (That Cozi calendar/shopping/to-do app is my fave.) Slowly checking them off, already wanting to wrap them up.

:: right now I’m anticipating needing a nap later. Still tired due to restless animals keeping us up, but can’t sleep with happy thoughts of the next few months rolling around in my head.