A Loss for Words - Well, Sort Of

I know of at least one reader who gets angry if I don't post often enough. So I felt I needed to post tonight, just to appease her. However, I find I have nothing to say.

Perhaps Chris' writer's block is contagious or perhaps the whole circumcision discussion has just drained me... but I really feel a bit empty and devoid of any useful information or even humorous stories. And this is very odd for me. After all, my favorite hobby is talking about myself!

Speaking of hobbies, perhaps that is something I can talk about. I have picked up my cross stitch again and I am very happy about this. I think my brain is finally settled well enough into my job and motherhood that I have a little creative energy when I get home.

Unfortunately, I started so many projects back when I was a religious cross stitcher back in 2000 through 2003 that I've sort of lost track of which baggies of floss go with which project. However, I'm figuring it out. Currently, I'm focusing on one large piece and one small one. The large one is downstairs and I work on it when I'm watching DVDs (lately mostly Sex and the City). It's called Stroke of Midnight by Teresa Wentzler. If you are not familiar with her work, it's VERY complex, with MANY different colors (often over 100). The end result is quite stunning however. Here is a pic of a finished piece... obviously not mine. I am a little less than half finished with it, which means you can see the top left doorway avec the Prince and the bottom left floral arrangements, plus the left side of Cinderella's dress. The dress is a total bitch to sew due to the massive detail work. (For those of you who stitch, all those bands in her dress are done over one. Fortunately, my eyesight is still with me, but I'm not sure it will be when I'm done!)

Upstairs, I have May's Emerald Fairy by Mirabilia. I started this one because I thought I would stitch it for a friend who was born in May. But I never finished it before we drifted apart. So now I'm torn between giving it to one of the millions of other people in my life who were born in May. Lately, I have been thinking I'd like to give it to little Jubilee, my friend's daughter whom I have never met but who I feel is like my neice. Anyway, no promises (especially to Staci)... I have to finish the thing first. It's stitched on linen and has lots of beads and sparkly things. It's daintier than what I usually like, but it is quite pretty. I am actually almost done with this. I just have the two right-most flowers on the bottom and all the beadwork to do. If I stitch an hour each night, I imagine it will be done by the end of the month if not earlier.

So I suppose I came up with something to talk about after all. Not so exciting for those of you who don't stitch, although I always find it interesting to see what people's hobbies are. I like stitching because it looks much more impressive than it is. Honestly, as long as you pick a nice pattern, it's going to come out looking impressive. And all I have to do is basically color by number. If I put the right colors where the artist tells me to... voila! I have a masterpiece. It's very rewarding for those of us who have no sense of color and no ability to actually draw or paint. I stitch therefore I am creative.