The Snowmen Return

Two years ago I decided to make some stuffed snowman ornaments.  I cut them out, stuffed them, stitched them together, & that's as far as I got.  I've heard their sobs a time or two when I've ventured upstairs & passed by the shopping bag I put them in.  As each Christmas/winter season gets closer, their sobs are more frequent.

This morning I went upstairs to do a bit of straightening up.  It would be a great day to sit at the sewing machine & finish a few pinkeeps &/or ornaments but I'm feeling rather happy today ... why spoil it?  It would also be a nice day to snuggle in my recliner & work on my stitching.  I'm currently stitching an exchange piece.  I feel that I can speak somewhat freely here about this exchange piece because the person I'm sending it to is not a follower of my blog.  I will, however, remain guarded in my description just in case she lands over here by some chance.

She likes things different from what I like so I thought this would be a fun stitch for me ... something to briefly take me away from my usual stitching themes.  The chart that someone helped me find looked like a perfect choice! No specialty stitches.  No french knots.  There was, however, stitching that needed to be done with metallic floss.  I thought I remembered stitching with metallic floss in the past & not liking it very much but I decided that I was probably too inexperienced back then.  The deadline to send the exchange is a few weeks away so I did not feel pressured in any way.  I would just take my time & enjoy stitching something a bit different.

Well, kill me now.  I have been stitching on this exchange piece for exactly one week today ... 7 days of stitching nothing else but this exchange piece.  I only stitch in the evenings for 2 or 3 or maybe 4 hours & surely you would think I'd have this piece done by now.  I certainly thought I would. It's not an intricate piece.  It's not a large piece. It's just the stupid, stupid metallic floss that is causing me grief.  I can't tell you the number of times I've had to frog this thing!  I pray to God & ask His forgiveness for my thoughts regarding not only the designer & her sadistic tendencies in creating something with metallic floss, but my thoughts regarding the makers of the metallic floss as well.  Before you tell me I could have used a substitute for the metallic floss, well yes, I could have, but it wouldn't have looked as nice (it would have looked very blah actually) & I thought I could handle it.  Well, add using metallic floss to my list of things I'm no good at.  This is getting to be a pretty long list.  I may need to join some kind of cross stitch self esteem support group.

Incidentally, we aren't talking about a little star or some other little something for which this metallic floss is suggested/required.  Oh no ... it's at least 1/3 of the design!

Since the second night of stitching this design I have had to force myself ... literally force myself ... to sit in my recliner & stitch the blasted thing.  Even during the daytime when I simply walk by my recliner, I feel my anxiety increase.  I have difficulty breathing. I start to shake.  It's not pretty.

So, even though it would be a great day to stitch, I just can't do it.  Instead, when I was upstairs & heard the muffled sobs of the snowmen this morning, I decided to work at finally finishing them.  Heaven only knows what became of the pattern so I'm going to do my own thing with them.  Whatever I do, I'm sure they'll be very pleased ... unless I try to give them french knots or embellish them with metallic floss.