After a short break...

Winter is truly here.  The temperatures have dropped, snow is falling in the South and rain is falling in the North.   Great weather to sit inside with my stitching.   Even so, I haven't produced much.
Currently the little crosses of my stitching are producing Christmas goodies:

Advent Candles for a friend -  these have yet to be made into candles.  My original idea was to make four trapezoid shapes that when placed together on the Sundays of Advent would make a tree shaped decoration.   As usual desire outran performance and I couldn't summon sufficient energy for the mental gymnastics necessary for that one.   So with the aid of buckram, felt, dacron filling and a few other bits and pieces from stash these will become four stitched Advent Candles. The topmost star will become a round tree ornament and the band at the bottom a bookmark.
However I wanted an Advent tree for me so am stitching the same chart but in DMC115 monotone.

And in a lapse of my usual commonsense I started on this.

A finely woven warm scarf onto/into which I plan to stitch a drawn thread band.   The narrow band is the first of what will become more complex series of bands and proved to me that it will be possible.   Some years ago I stitched a similar scarf (Merino) for a friend with a broad 10cm band of Myreschka embroidery. It was successful and well received so that since then I have looked for a similar scarf to repeat the exercise however no such Merino scarves are now available and I settled for this winter warmth viscose one and it seems to be working.   I do need to visit the needlework store for some black DMC perle.   What are the odds that I come out having purchased more than just a ball of that thread??
Work is going well and I'm kept very busy.   Like funeral directors will always have clients, so too will Probation Services.   Next week we have the Minister of Corrections coming from Wellington to officially open our newly refurbished offices, so there has been a scurry of cleaning and tidying.   Apparently my desk is the tidiest in the office!   We have been practicing a Waiata (Maori song) - He Honore, which I am told, is often sung at official functions as part of the welcome to honoured guests. So I will don my uniform, a bright smile and hope to fade into the background on Tuesday when all the honourable big-wigs come to inspect our premises;-)
Six weeks ago I decided to change the supermarket I use and to change to doing a fortnightly shop and amazingly I have saved myself $30 a week!   Of course that cannot all be price and some of the savings are attributable to the logistics of bulk purchase and longer term menu planning.   However I am very pleased with myself:-)   And on the strength of such frugality have decided to book in for an embroidery class next March.   Do visit this link to see what I hope to stitch (scroll to the second to last) - the Alison Snepp Linen Stitch Hussif.
Well that's enough from me.   I'm off to bed with a hot water bottle.   Sleep well everyone.