Swimming with the fishes, part III

The evening newscaster just proclaimed "Today is the beginning of the Romney/Obama political campaign."  And here I thought the talking heads started that 7 months ago!  One of my Canadian customers said Monday that she didn't want to appear rude, but it did seem to be dragging on quite a bit.  All I think about is the money that is being spent on campaign ads that could be spent on feeding the poor or installing new programs in schools.  Of course, if the wife of just one of the candidates had been photographed doing needlepoint, I might be more tolerant!  

As evidence that the season is speeding past, Needle Nicely had its yearly employees luncheon at the Ocean Grill again today.  Poor Adele, who lives an hour South, got lost on her way from the shop and got to tour the greater suburban Vero Beach area.  As I was walking into the restaurant, I thought about pictures.  Then my cellphone rang and I had to try to lead Adele back in the right direction.  Our waitress was not amused!  We all had a wonderfully chatty time, though, and the food was delicious.

I managed quite a bit of stitching this week because of the Masters'.  I was so interested in Bubba's shots and performance that I could hardly take a stitch. 

I almost finished "greenie" during all that golf viewing.  I'm still looking at the seaweed.  I think I have the stitch I'll use, but I'm putting it off until after I finish the fish.  I rarely do the continental stitch and I've been surprised at how slowly it stitches on the fins. 

I guesstimate that I'm about 50% done.  I'm impatient to finish because I have already selected my next 3 projects! 

Swimming with the fishes

First, I want to show a few of the Strictly Christmas stockings I received today.  

These angels are, well, angelic-looking and offer lots of opportunities to use different stitches with different fibers.  

This is a great "adult" stocking,  Not everyone wants Santa on the mantle.  However, for those who do, I have these two examples.

As usual, blogger refuses to put them side-by-side, but you get the idea.  Karen really does a superb job on conveying the spirit of Christmas in her designs.

My new stitching project is another great idea that didn't succeed commercially.  Trubey designed these fish for a 2-sided tote on 13-mesh canvas.  The cost of finishing purses is a huge factor in the success or failure of canvases expressly designed as purses.  However, my fish will look just as good as a pillow, says Mary Agnes optimistically.

This is the canvas as painted and below, you can see the progress I have made this week.  I'm stitching the canvas in a combination of silk 'n ivory and DMC perle cotton.  The background is done in the Giant diagonal mosaic.  The fish are all going to be done in the same stitches, with continental for the fins, basketweave for the "faces" and satin stitch for the scales.  I'm still pondering what stitch I will use for the seaweed.  Maybe I'll have decided by next Wednesday.