Christmas Banners Stitch-a-Long, part 10

Hi everybody! So sorry for the late post -- I forgot about our check in, and it's a holiday weekend so I was out of town this weekend. More on that later!

Last time I had started this weird, new, "felt and sequins" GNOME kit. 

Here's where I got to last time: 

As many mentioned, it's "challenging" to stitch with new kittens in the house. It's hard enough just with floss, but add in little trays of beads and sequins, and, well, you can see it might be extra challenging. 

But we had some nice days so I sat in the garden and, well, IT'S HAPPY DANCE TIME!!!

For everyone else who, like me, wondered how this fella would end up "3D", well, he's more "2+D" -- just sorta stuffed and weighted, but really pretty flat. 

Still, I love all the detail of him, like these beautiful embroidered gloves!

I'm really happy how he turned out, and I'm thrilled to have him join our gnome family. 

Of course, the real question now is "what's next?"

I decided that something a little less involved is probably a good idea while the boys are so INTERESTED in everything. (I also know that this phase may last quite a while...)

So I found a pattern I purchased a long time ago and decided that a simple cross stitch project would be perfect. 

In theory "Redwork Noel" is worked in red floss on a white background. But as I have a bunch of white floss and some red Aida in my stash, I decided I would work on it "backwards" -- so where the pattern has a stitch, I leave it blank, and vice versa. 

It also has the benefit of being easy to transport -- which was useful for my weekend trip to the eastern half of my state. An iconic structure in the Pacific Northwest is the firewatch tower -- these towers built in the middle of nowhere and manned all summer long by solo "fire lookouts" -- people whose job is to, well, watch for fires in the surrounding forests, and, if spotted, radio them in. Jack Kerouac spent a couple of months at one, hoping to write, but didn't accomplish much. 

I had wanted to stay in a fire lookout tower for years, and finally managed to get a reservation for the Quartz Mountain Lookout near Spokane, Washington, over Labor Day weekend this year. It was glorious. A steep uphill hike carrying food and gear but so, so worth it: 

finally arriving at the lookout

the lookout tower

sunset from the lookout

sunrise from the lookout

My friend Jenny Hadfield calls things like this "earned views" -- you spend time hiking up, you have earned the view. So it was great to have a quiet weekend in this cozy tower and just watch the skies and read and relax. Perfect. 

By our next check-in I hope to have gotten more than a few stitches in my next piece -- kittens permitting, of course!

The other stitchers in this stitch-a-long are always working on amazingly beautiful and diverse projects. Go check out their blogs and get inspired: Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Mary Margaret, Cindy, and Helen.

See you in three weeks!