Still no Stitching

I have not been stitching a lot this week. The weather has been so dark that I think I'm getting my mid-winter depression early this year. I heard on the news this morning that we have had 19 days with measurable rain this month, and it hasn't been sunny even on days without rain. So I apologize in advance for my blue mood.

I have been reading about this Monday meme here and on a friend's blog, so I though I would participate. Anna suggested a stitching bag, but I cleaned mine out a couple of weeks ago, and there is not much interesting in there. This is the little box I keep next to my stitching chair, and it is full of interesting stuff.

I didn't pull everything out, as you can see. There is still a complete package of knitting markers, a couple of binder rings to hold thread baggies, several business cards, floss labels, several foreign coins, a stone, and an embroidered patch. There's all my scissors that I shared earlier this month, plus one or two I had missed; a tape measure; a small calculator; 4 books of needles; 4 or 5 doll needles (that come in the package with the temari needles I've been buying, but are too big for temari); a knitting needle cable holder, a needle case decorated with wood-burning designs; 2 small and one larger crochet hook, 2 nail clippers and 3 files; a pair of tweezers; a rotary cutter; 2 packages of beads; 2 spools; 2 thimbles, one utility and one decorative (I think it's the Empire State Building); a little blue box with a sponge to wet floss, which I've never used; a baggie with bees-wax; lip gloss; an art eraser (works on fabric as well as on paper); and a head-phone cord. Oh, there's a small piece of crocheted lace mounted on a velvet ribbon, and a beaded and silk embroidery pin that is falling apart.



I do have 2 temari in progress. One is for my JTA work, a pattern I've done twice before. It is turning out nice. The second is an all-over design through Temari Talk that I am going to have to start over. I started, and lost one of the floss colors, replaced it, and lost the replacement! I'm going to have to pull all the stitching out and start over again, which will be a good chance to change the rest of the colors. I think I will go home this afternoon, curl up in my stitching chair, and do that (if I don't have to vacuum up too much water in the basement).

The gas company insisted on inspecting our home for leaks yesterday, and found one behind the paneling in the finished basement. We asked them not to cut a hole in the paneling, so they turned off the gas last night so DH could remove the panel, and came back today to finish the project. No stove, oven, or broiler, no hot water or furnace! but we made it. When they went to turn off the gas in the house they discovered the valve was not working because of tree roots, so we got a 4 to 5 foot hole in the front yard for that to get replaced. They put the dirt back, but not the grass.