Sleepy

I'm sick, and just about at breaking point healthwise, but I'm not sure what to do about it. So I'll wait it out and God-willing it will all settle down!

SBQ for this week:

What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?

Hahaha...anyone that knows me knows how ironic this is. I swap 'stitching bags' and tote bags often, so it's really a case of whatever I packed. I have a good stitching bag, but it's a bit big and bulky to take on busses and trains so I usually just tuck everything in a spare tote bag, or in the one I'm taking wherever! Usually though I will pack:
embroidery snips, my fabric (usually, i have been known to leave this behind!!), chart, highlighters, display folder that holds my working copy, floss. That's it. I don't have many fancy gadgets, I just take that. Oh, and a packet of spare needles tucked in the bag with my floss and embroidery snips. People that are really careful about always wrapping up their stitching and keeping it totally separate would have a heart attack looking at my tote bags, but I've yet to have anything damaged.

Also generally in my bag is:
wallet, phone when i remember it, at least one hairbrush often two because i forgot i'd packed on, at least two books (usually one is classic lit/theology and the other something light), a prayer rope (like a rosary, but a little different), random antidoron (blessed bread from Church, NOT communion) that I forgot to take out (please noone hurt me, it's usually still wrapped up), at least one pen, a pencil with an eraser on the end, and a hardcover notebook. I live for notebooks, I always have one around to write things down in!

Today has been reasonably slow. I worked on my Cross and got the kloster blocks and motifs at the ends finished, now just to fill it in and add the lettering. Pretty! I usually don't stitch small designs, so this is fun. We picked up Dad from the airport, got coffee, came home, received sweatshirt-presents (mine is sooo warm, yum - it's blue, with the oxford logo embroidered), and hung around the house. Nana and I attacked my dressmaking WIP pile, and the blouse I started in Nov/Dec somewhere is now starting to take serious shape - I'd messed up the collar, so it was acting weird. In between working on that, I hemmed my green dress, so that's done now, and I got out all the pieces I'd cut for Bindi's medieval-esque dress, and started sewing that together. The ties at the back are sewn now (made out of black satin, very slippery and very fancy), and one side of the back is sewn together. I forgot how quickly this dress came together once everything was cut! Tomorrow I hope to cut and stitch the cord loops for the bodice, and see how much of the rest I can stitch together. Getting this dress out of the WIP pile would be good - sister would be happy, and it wouldn't be a very expensive pile of damask gathering dust in the corner! I have 4.7m of black shiny bias binding to sew on as trim, too. What am I, nuts? I do know that the dress will look good though, this is my godsister wearing an identical one (I borrowed my sister as a dressmaker's dummy for this one, which is why I got conned into making another one!):



Please forgive the hem, we hadn't stitched it yet, her not smiling (she refused to) and the messy house!

So that was work towards decreasing the WIP pile. On the other hand, I also bought two new patterns for dressmaking - but I actually need these. One is for a gored edwardian skirt, which I have gorgeous black wool with autumn toned embroidery for - DON'T ask how much a metre it cost, I got it on sale and it still cost an arm and a leg, and the other is for an edwardian style apron - full in front and back, covering full skirts more or less, which is important for me - I live in full skirts! Often with jeans under, but I wear skirts a lot. But, they're not here yet. So before they get here, I want to try and get these dressmaking WIPs killed. Also languishing in the pile are a polyester version of the purple/green-dress which I don't really like but just need to hem, and a full skirt in the same fabric as bindi/caitlin's dresses.

We had the Akathist, which was beautiful - the chanting WASN'T, but these things happen... I still have one of the refrains from Compline last night stuck in my head though - this is chanted in between verses from Psalm 149 (150):

Oh Lord of Hosts be with us, for we have no other
Help in times of sorrow but You...
Lord God of Hosts have mercy on us.

Chanted arabic style it's very catchy, but the first few notes sound a lot like hava nagila, and my sister sings that every time she catches me humming it!

I've worked on Peaceful Paradise a little too - more sky, and some more lettering. All of the word "with", half of "gates", and a few coloured letters. Fun. I'll try and get some decent work done on it tomorrow in between dressmaking.

Now though I am so tired...I need my sleep. Goodnight.