Archaeology

Here's one I have unearthed after-what, 8, 9 years? My son, Ian, was probably in 4th or 5th grade, when there was no school because of the 1st snow day of the year. I stayed home from work, and of course, the children frolicked in the snow several times that day. We had a fire in the fire place and set up the clothes-drying rack to dry sodden hats and mittens. There was hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows, and probably tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, I taught Ian and his little friend Caroline a little embroidery. I hooped up some simple ironed-on transfers with their initials. To this day, they remain UFOs, but they are perfect souvenirs of the lovely day, just as they are.

Later that week, I bought the little cross-stitch project above, intending for Ian and I to work on it together for a teacher Christmas present. It didn't happen and suffered the fate of many of my well-intended, but abandoned projects. It wound up with The Others. (You know what I am talking about.)

I un-earthed it, recently. Such an activity is really like an archaelogical dig. Each layer has a story to tell, each new UFO reaching further back in my history of unrealized dreams. Some projects are more pathetic than others. The ones that were way too ambitious for the time before they were needed as a gift or a commemoration. The ones that were just too uninteresting to inspire any loyalty. But others aren't worthy of pity, but instead, stir our interest anew. These are the projects whose relevance was suddenly eclipsed by the pull of some other life event. After all, they are all leisure time activities, and when we are earning a living and raising a family, they occupy a back seat to...well, everything!

Well, so now I've finished the little cross-stitch above, in an evening. (It had to wait years for an hour and a half of attention?)Is it an FO now? Not really, it needs to be incorporated into something now - a pencil case? an eyeglass case? a sachet, a pincushion, an ornament? I don't know where the little frame is, but, not interesting anyway....

So, it is and it isn't yet a FO. The Mary Engelbreit fat quarters lend themselves to a little patchwork project. I'm leaning toward a pencil case (for which I have no real use) or an eyeglass case. So I guess, it is now an element for an as-yet-undefined new project, and not yet even part of a WIP!

How about you? Can you conduct a little archaeology and convert a UFO into a WIP into a FO? Pencil it in for January, when the cold, dark winter lends itself to stitching time, and you itch to start a project, but your budget is still bloodied and bruised from the Christmas ransacking. Or if you have the time and creativity, perhaps your archives will yield some Christmas gifts and save you the hassle and expense of shopping.

Updates on previous posts:

I have pulled 6 more inchworms off the sage (and parsley, turns out they will eat parsley when the sage is almost gone). Where were they hiding?

I take the crochet edging with me wherever I go. The plus: You can take advantage of otherwise wasted moments to progress on the project. The minus: You risk losing the crochet hook. Result: I made some progress, but I lost the crochet hook. It is a size 9. Note: Michael's carries steel crochet hooks in sizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Sigh.