Finished for Friday: Santa Needlepoint Pillow

I finished this pillow earlier this year and have been waiting until December to share it.   It's from a vintage needlepoint kit and it was a joy to stitch.

I've always joked that Santa looks best with his green mittens.  I don't know why I find that look so appealing to me.  A lot of vintage pictures and figurines of Santa show him with green mittens.  Here are my winking salt and pepper shakers:

Several of the Santas on my tree have green mittens too.  I think I need to make some more.

Needlework Tuesday: Autumn Wreath Needlepoint

I've been making very slow progress on this one.  I love needlepoint, but I keep picking up other projects first.  I have no hope that this will be done this year, but maybe next year.  Every stitch gets me closer, and the reality is that I enjoy the journey more than the finished product.  I'm ashamed to say I have some lovely needlepoint pieces that are finished but haven't been framed or made into pillows.

This one will have a lot of backstitch to make the details pop.  I usually do that all at the end. For now you can see the leaves and berries, bow and birds and a couple of pumpkins.  It really is lovely Fall colors.  If nothing else, it's fun to work on it during this time of year.

Do you rotate projects seasonally?  It's one thing I do to keep big projects going without burning out.  It's always fun to open up my Fall box and see what projects are waiting for me.

Linking up today with Heather at Books and Quilts.

Books and Quilts

Needlepoint Santa Progress

It's not snowing here but it's dull weather nevertheless.  The kind of weather that makes me appreciate tea and slipper socks and curling up with needlepoint.  This project is still in rotation and I've picked it up again.  It's nice to work with wool - it feels so good and is very different from working with floss or quilting. 

Needlepoint is just ridiculously slow.  I still need to do all the details on Santa's face and the directions are tiny and a bit confusing.  So I'm saving that for later.  I'll make this into a pillow when I'm done. 

All the kids are at school, even though it's late afternoon.  Drama Girl and a friend have written the school play for this year and today is callbacks.  In a surprising move, both Jungle Boy and Wasabi Girl auditioned for parts.  This may lead to an interesting family dynamic since Drama Girl is also the director.

I've been reading a book about introverts.  I've always known that I  am one, but there's really a lot about it that I never understood before.  Wish I'd known all this years ago.  Would have saved me a lot of self-doubt and misery.  It's an extrovert world out there, and some of us really struggle to live in it.

Slow Sunday Stitching: Fall Needlepoint

We finally have some rain!  Such a wonderful event that each of the sleepy teenagers commented on it when they got up this morning.  So it's a perfect day to kick back with some hand work and enjoy the drippy view out the window.

I've been working on this piece off and on for quite a while.  I know I'll love it when I'm done, but I'm really slow. Needlepoint seems to require even more patience than cross stitch.  So many color changes!

Thanks to Kathy for hosting Slow Sunday Stitching!