Happy New Year, 2019

I wrote only two posts in 2018 and neither mentioned embroidery!

The past couple of years have thrown up a few challenges and have not been all together conducive to embroidery but, gradually, if somewhat patchily, my mojo has returned. In recent weeks, I find the desire to stitch has returned strongly and, while life still sometimes denies me the time to do so, I am more inclined to make time for stitching than I have been for two or three years.

During the past year or two, I have attended some wonderful courses and workshops; have learned some interesting things and begun some projects that, for now, have been put into hibernation. I hope to write about those on here so that I have a record of them for future reference. For now, I want to take a little look forward with what I hope to do in the coming months.

I have several projects in progress and many more that I would like to begin. I am trying to focus my attention on Sake Boxes as my main project. After stalling for a while, I find that I am enjoying it again and have made steady progress over the past few weeks. I attribute this, in part, to taking a break from it and, perhaps more so, to the support and encouragement I received from my friends in the Japanese Embroidery community.

I am a little less settled on my evening project and flit between two or three without advancing any of them by much. I brought one of those with me to Amsterdam.

Ring o' Roses
© Jacqui Carey/Carol-Anne Conway

For the past 18 years we have spent the New Year in A’dam with my sister- and brother-in-law. As we normally only see them once or twice a year, we have much to catch up on, but it is also a time for relaxing and I usually bring some stitching with me. We have been rather busy since arriving doing some of the things that have become traditional for us, and something unexpected (until a couple of weeks ago) but very pleasurable. Last night we saw in the New Year twice, as has become our custom. First, we toast the new year in Holland and watch the extraordinary firework spectacle across the Amsterdam sky line. Then at one o’clock, local time, we toast the new year arriving in England. New Year’s Day, we spend quietly. We take a little walk to blow away the cobwebs, we chat and rest, Susan knits and I stitch.

I did not do much, only one more round, but I am pleased to have done some stitching on the first day of the year and hope that I will do some, if only a little, on more days than not in 2019.

Happy New Year and Happy Stitching