Merry Christmas + Catching Up

I wish you all the merriest of Christmases surrounded by friends, family and fun. I had hoped to come back to my little blog space earlier but as you can imagine, life just does not slow down no matter how much I think it might. It has been mostly fun and I cannot believe tomorrow is Christmas Day. It's finally here!

In case anyone was curious, I did not end up going to SantaCon the weekend before last. The weather here was terrible...40's and rainy. Ugh...terrible weather to be traipsing all about San Francisco dressed up in a cheap red felt Santa costume. So I bailed and am kind of relieved I did. Instead, I hung out with my stitching group at a friend's house, eating yummy food and drinking red wine in the warmth and comfort of a glorious home while stitching my little heart out and chitchatting. I had an amazing time and even made progress on my Pumpkins. So much so that I finally finished it yesterday afternoon. About time!!

I think it came out really cute. Stitched as directed on 32 count Antique Ivory Belfast. But wow, was it a lot of stitching!

So IHSW was stitching on Pumpkins at stitch group on Saturday. Sunday was a blur of dim sum, coffee plans and socialness in the city that by the time I got home, all I could do was lie down and stare at the tv. Being so social is tiring! I'm exhausted. :)

But I did take a snap of my TUSAL...here with my Christmas tree snowglobe.

All the threads at the top are from Pumpkins with some frogging I had to do. Thankfully it wasn't much. I am so happy that Daffycat is continuing TUSAL next year. I can only hope I am better about posting on time. I just love seeing the colors change in my jar and it's validation that I did manage to stitch even if it's not as much as I would have liked. I did realize this year that I don't have as many Christmas decorations as Halloween ones so my goal next year is to stitch Christmas smalls in between BAPs so I can put out a few more stitchy things. Looks slim pickings this year since I have no tree so hence, my ornies are packed away.
Since I finished Pumpkins, I pulled Jane Pattison out of my wips basket and slapped her on the stitching stand. I hope to stitch faster this year. I didn't take a photo since it's just more green border but that pine border sure is fun to stitch at Christmastime!

I was a lucky girl last week as I won Melanie's giveaway and she sent me some Christmas goodies!

How fabulous! A BBD stocking pattern, cute little ort container and a snowman bead. Love it all...especially the card. Thank Melanie. I love it all!

And to those who sent me cards, thank you so much! It has really lifted my spirits to receive cards and be able to post them on my door and look upon them from my stitching nest.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank you for your visits and friendship over the years. I am forever grateful to this blogging community for its kindness and support. Much love and hugs.