Phew! All summer long with needles flying, breaking all proper crosstitching procedure by dragging this all over the place with me, including outdoors (Scandalous! The dirt! The mess!), hours and hours of Battlestar Galactica and Burn Notice later, I’ve got all the stitching done.
I spent Tuesday night embroidering Atti’s name on the wool cuff and then sewed it all together yesterday. I can see all kinds of nagging little imperfections that hurt my feelings after all the time I spent on this, but I’m just going to close my eyes and plug my ears and sing myself a little song. La la la la, it came out right, la la la la, all is well….
From far enough away it really does look like it came out right.
I think that by pursuing this project so singlemindedly all summer, I’ve shot any chance at finishing most of my crafty goals for the year. It’s a chronic failing of mine – I always shoot too high – but at least it keeps me motivated.
Once June rolled around and I realized with a start that the year was half over…saying that still makes me want to sit down and catch my breath…I had to look critically at what I wanted to accomplish, and especially what I wanted to accomplish for our family celebrations this year. Atti didn’t have a stocking for his first Christmas, and I really didn’t beat myself up about that too much, what with the almost dying and the hospital stay that kind of commandeered 2008 away from me, but I just couldn’t allow it to happen again.
I’m almost glad I didn’t push too hard for it last year. This year gave me the chance to do it right and make an heirloom quality stocking for him instead of just slapping something together because I felt guilty. But it’s also been such an immense joy to watch Atticus emerge from babyhood into a great little member of our team. The Rookie is now a utility player, and it just seems symbolic that his stocking is ready to join ours now that he’s old enough to grasp what it all means.
My MiL crocheted her entire family stockings like that. They're very impressive. I think you're crazy on the flaws–it looks fantastic!
That is so beautiful. I wish my hands could tolerate that amount of work to make my own but they don't. Cerebral Palsy is a huge pain-in-the-butt sometimes. I'm like you where I go nuts over the imperfections but at some point, I just have to give up and say, "It's DONE. That's all that matters. Quit nit-picking!" I'm sure Atti will love it!
Tresa it came out beautifully! Don't be so hard on yourself, I don't see any imperfections and Atti is lucky to have such a wonderful, handcrafted item! I think it's perfect!
Lucky me that I'm not an experienced stitcher, I think it looks gorgeous! Well done, mama!
You just scored bonus points with me. Battlestar Galactica rocks! Lookin' forward to Caprica this fall.
Oh. My. Gosh. That is so beautiful! I found your site through Sew Mama Sew (your quilled snowflake ornament – which is also amazing!).