Thirty days, thirty boxes, one box a day. Counting the days, observing the minutes, watching time as it hurtles past.
As always, I’ve only used very simple embroidery stitches – mostly variations on running stitch and straight stitch, with a little blanket stitch here and there. Life is complicated enough without trying to figure out double braided Hungarian dragon stitch, whatever that might be. I may have just made that up.
It looks more complex than it is probably because of the variations in colour and thread weight. Some threads are very fine; some are thicker. There is probably meaning in the colour and thread weight I choose for a given day, but if there is then it’s unconscious.
You can only see the patterns in your life when you’re far enough away to be able to look back on them. Close up, it’s hard to see a difference. But stand back and squint, and you can usually make sense of the threads.
There is still no date for our house move. Today’s square is the shadowy ghost of a house. I know (I hope) our new home is waiting for us, but without a date I can’t connect with it. And frustratingly, I can’t (daren’t) start any packing.
I will have to temporarily close the shop for a week or two when we do get a date because at some point I will have to pack everything away. In the meantime, if you’d like to help me have less to pack, there are quite a few threads left and some of the fabric scraps packs are reduced. I’ll post updates here when I know more about when the shop will close, but keep in mind that we may not get much notice. My last international posting date is 6th December.
Also, while we’re on housekeeping, my stitch journal PDF templates are now available in my Teachable school as well as in my online shop. They’re exactly the same templates, just in two places at once. This is in response to requests from those of you who signed up for my Intuitive Daily Stitching class (thank you) and wanted easier access to the templates. If you’ve already bought the templates from the shop (and thank you, if you have) then please don’t buy them again from Teachable. If you have problems downloading any templates, or if you’ve lost access to them, please let me know so that I can email them to you.
I think that brings us all up to date – and here we are, poised on the doorstep of December, wondering what the last thirty-one days of the year will bring.
Next month, stars:
Discover more from Karen Turner Stitching Life
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Ghost house awwww. You are articulate in both word and stitch. Hang in there.
Thank you – it’s getting more stressful by the day, just waiting… Something will happen eventually. It’s certainly a lesson in patience 🙂
Just gorgeous work-as always. Looking forward to beginning again in January.
Waiting is excruciating. I hear you.
thank you, Kathy – excruciating, it is – or it may just be that I am no good at waiting…
It’s such a beautiful piece, your stitches are lovely. I look forward to seeing the stars come out in December.
same! looking forward to seeing how they turn out.
When you go back and look at old months, do you clearly remember the day?
Occasionally I do remember the day, but usually it’s the feeling I remember. I’m not too concerned with recording events; it’s more a witness to the passage of time.
Once again Karen I am in awe of your beautiful work. It moves me to tears….the colours, texture, patterns and cohesiveness. You are so talented and I can see how much you enjoy stitching by the beauty of your work. Thank you for sharing your art…it gives me so much inspiration.
I hope you find your new home soon but in the meantime, have faith and trust. I was in a similar situation a few years ago with less than one month to find a new apartment. I was working full time, looking at listings every day before and after work and feeling so stressed with the pressure of uncertainty. I knew what I was looking for and wanted to stay in the same area but was feeling so discouraged by the apartments I was seeing. They were either too small, too large, out of my budget, too far from transportation or just didn’t feel safe. Then one day I randomly called the building manager of a building in my neighbourhood that I had never seen before to see if there were any units available. The manager told me that one of her tenants had just given her notice that morning and the unit was not even listed on the market yet. I made arrangements to look at the unit the following day and it was perfect. It was larger, well maintained, clean, had additional amenities, quiet and was cat friendly (I had 2 at the time). I filled out an application which was approved and with less than 2 weeks in my old apartment, I was now packing and making arrangements to move. I am still in the same apartment and very thankful to be here. So my advice to you is to believe that your new home is waiting for you…you just haven’t found each other yet…but you will. Have faith and trust that the universe is working very hard “behind the scenes” on your behalf to create the perfect opportunity and synchronicity to show you your new home Karen!!
thank you, Jo-Anne, what a wonderful story. We have actually bought the house and sold ours, we’re just waiting for the solicitors to come back to us with our moving date. The sale isn’t legally binding until exchange of contracts, so we have to wait for that to happen until we can feel secure enough to start packing. We will probably only get a week between exchange and completion (moving day) so we will probably have to pack up the whole house in a few days. Our new home is lovely, in a quiet area but still close to the post office and local shops. I’ll feel a lot more relaxed once we get the dates confirmed. Until then, it’s needle and thread holding everything together 🙂
I am sorry that I misunderstood and am so happy that you found your new home Karen…that is very exciting! Things must work differently in the U.K. versus Canada. Here in Canada, when you buy a home, part of the negotiation is not only the price but when you take possession of the home. This allows for both parties to get “their affairs in order” so there is enough time to move out of the old home and into the new home. I hope you receive the contracts from the solicitors soon so you can start the next chapter. Hang in there!!
ah no, that’s me not making it clear enough but thanks so much – it’s a ridiculously complicated system; unnecessarily stressful because of the legal process and the amount of time it takes for the solicitors to do all the land searches etc. I feel something might happen next week but will have to wait and see 🤞🏻
I’m crossing my fingers for you also Karen!! Good luck and keep us posted!
It does look more complex than those two simple stitches, but I think it’s the difference in colours and weights and how they flow together. I agree with your perspective of looking back. I did a haiku poem each day for 2 years and it was so interesting to see it from a distance. Good luck with the move.
thanks so much, Bernie – hopefully we will see some progress on the move soon 🤞🏻 A daily haiku sounds like a fascinating exercise. And yes, some distance makes all the difference sometimes in how we see our experiences.
I hope the move goes well when it happens!
And in the meantime, if someone could just invent “Double braided Hungarian Dragon Stitch”, now you’ve coined the term, I’d be chuffed to bits!
thanks so much Rachel. I confess I was thinking of you with the Hungarian thing, you’d master it no problem 😄