Here we are just a little over a month in of almost daily stitching, and while my progress is somewhat slow, it has at least been steady and I feel like things are beginning to take shape. I had wanted to finish the house and the smoke plume above it, but I didn't get quite as much finished as I had wanted. I shall keep chipping away at the design. By the weekend I am going to try and get the top half finished. It's now beyond the halfway mark of winter (yay), and there is just over six weeks until Spring. Optimistically--that Spring is coming, I will then get to move on to a new design--if I have finished this one. A motivator on both counts as I am ready for Spring and it is always exciting to start a new needlework project.
Perhaps a little something special for February is in order then? It is a compromise--not a new project and not a large one, but something bright and cheery and just right for the holiday. I have stitched this Quaker heart before--all in red, and I had wanted to make another, though with a slightly different way of doing the finishing. I've got a good start on it. No need to actually complete it by Valentine's Day since it is less than two weeks off, but a nice diversion for the month of February. My Winter house is still my focus for now. But, as with books, variety is always a good thing when it comes to needlework.
And this week's book stack? I seem to always have a new book stack to share at the end of the weekend, so why break the pattern now. I have a couple of nonfiction reads I will be telling you about this week, so I am ready to choose a new book from my piles of memoirs and history and other fun nonfiction reads. Not sure what I am in the mood for. I really should choose something other than a book set during/about the war years, though I always seem to find myself migrating in that direction. A few books to ponder, though in the end I might pick up something else entirely.