A (20-Year) Finish!

I am feeling so great right now -- yesterday, I shipped Jordan's stocking. Jordan is my brother-in-law of around (yikes!) 20 years. I had promised him a stocking, around the time he and my sister had their first son. Then they had three more, spaced two years apart each. By the time we got around to Noah, I had grown (admittedly) tired of making stockings. It's not that they're not fun, it's just that each time there was such a definitive deadline. And I put of making Jordan's again, and again, and again. And every year, just after Christmas, I would say, "I'll make him one THIS year." And then I wouldn't.

For those of you who are interested, it is "Slater's Stocking" by Shepherd's Bush. It's done on 19 count Cork (Natural) linen by Zweigart, which is really nice to work on. The bit stitches, in #5 Perle Cotton, make it feel like you're making huge gains every time you sit down.

I hope the rest of you are still getting some stitching done. It seems like December's schedule just fills up, and there is little time for stitching. Parties, baking, gift purchasing, decorating, Christmas cards, cleaning and traveling take up a lot of the extra time we might normally set aside for making X's on fabric. My schedule has been a bear so far this month. I had a Cyber Monday sale, expecting to get quite a few orders. Eight days later, I am STILL packing those orders. I'm back under 550 orders in the queue, so I am making headway. Lucky for me, Britney (my lone employee) finished her finals, and I've got her for all of this week and next, so we should get caught up in no time.

I am going to move my blog posts for the duration to Tuesday/Thursday. Mondays have ended up being a tricky day for me to get a post done, as I'm dealing with weekend e-mails, order receiving, and printing invoices that came in Saturday and Sunday. Please continue to share your progress on Margaret Doyle, or feel free to send pictures of whatever holiday projects you may be finishing up (cookie pics are also appreciated!) Love - T