Slowing down

I can tell the year is coming to an end because things are slowing way down at work.  Lots and lots of people have time off they have to take and many have started taking it so many fewer phone calls from the states and the halls of my building are quieter than usual.  I don't mind it.  I think the slowing down is what I love most about winter.  It forces you to slow down and make some time for yourself and things you enjoy. 

All that being said, I've been busy with holiday preparations.  I still haven't decorated the house and think I will take the low-key approach this year and just pull out the stockings and small tree.  I mailed out the cards and all but one package so I can take a deep breath and slow down myself now.

My mind is busy with plans for next year.  I bought the #24HOCS 2020 planner that Jen Lee of Quirks and Stitches is selling in her Etsy store. It has way more than I'll ever use but maybe having all the extra tracking and challenges will be what I need to keep myself going next year.  I plan to include non-stitching things too as I won't be doing the challenges and events officially.

I have worked out a way for me to work on some of the pieces I started in the "let's start everything you see" period of my vacation.  I've picked three that I want to see progress on and have set aside one hour each on Sunday mornings to work on them.  I was pleased with how much I got done last Sunday and am looking forward to seeing if I can match it this week.

My first hour was By the Bays Time for Seasons.  I worked on the corner block some more.  It went from here:

to here:

I think I mentioned that I'm doing one of the alternate corners.  If you draw a line from the bottom stitches on the right, touch the point and continue the arc to the left and fill it all in, you'll have an idea of the original corner. 

Next I worked on the Temperature Tree by Stitching Mommy.   It went from looking like a mud puddle:

To a tree stump:

I worked on J from Nora Corbett the last hour and went from here:

to here:

I started doing the skin, but as I'm doing it over-1 I was having a hard time deciding on stitch location along the dress, so started the dress and will fill in the legs once it's done.  I love how the skin looks stitched over-1 but it does take a long time.

My focus piece is Forever and Ever by Cottage Garden Samplings.  It went from:

to this:

The fabric and threads are completely washed out.  I should finish the leaves on the left this weekend and will probably get a start on the male cardinal. 

I had a major redo of The Hubs' throw.  I was merrily crocheting along and realized that because the yarn was so chunky (it's a super bulky size 6) the pretty ripple part of the pattern wasn't showing so I pulled it all out and started over.  I'm now doing a pattern of (in US terms) one row of double crochet, one row of half-double and one row of single repeated until he says it's long enough.  You really can't differentiate the different rows but you can see a pattern forming.

Here's a really nice freebie with a Christmas conversion:

The pattern is a freebie from Brooke's Books and the conversion to traditional Christmas colors can be found on The Copper Fox blog.  I'm usually not too much for this style, but I really like this one.  I also like the finish she did.  I may have to go on a hunt for the "evergreen" trim for others of my Christmas ornaments - for those of you in the states, she said she got it at Hobby Lobby.

Some Christmas crafting this evening as I bought the "stuff" to do a new door decoration and need to get busy and finish it.  I also want to finish wrapping the last two gifts and get them boxed so I can take them to the post office tomorrow.  Then stitching, stitching and a little more stitching.