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Monday, October 17, 2011

Planning, yeah, that's what I'll call it

It seems like I'm running half a season ahead of schedule.  Halfway through summer, I was ready for Autumn.  Now Autumn just barely started, and I'm thinking winter.  No idea why, its been in the upper 80s with near-record high temperatures.  You'll almost think it was still summer, other than its actually been getting cool at night.  Maybe I'll blame it on the JCS ornament issue, or Brenda, with her sneak peak at the next Sampler of the Season - Winter.

I'm going to write it off as planning.  Stitching isn't a hobby that gets finished at the snap of the fingers (unless you're one of those turbo stitchers, yeah, you know who you are), so we need to think ahead and not start stitching our Halloween ornaments on Oct 15, or wait to start on Christmas ornaments/gifts until after Thanksgiving.

What's driving this is I started playing with my design software again and came up with a couple of small pieces, and have the research and plans for a third.  I've always been fascinated by mythology, folklore and alternative religions.  I'm extremely tolerant and open-minded, up until someone tries to convert me or tell me my soul is damned for all eternity because I don't follow their particular brand of religion.  Yes, that actually has happened to me.  The common theme of these designs are how other cultures celebrate the Winter Solstice.  Not every culture focuses on Dec 25, and not everyone calls the winter gift-giver Santa Claus.  As the world becomes smaller due to the internet and mass media, a lot of the regional beliefs are forgotten, or just not followed.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll post the designs for people to do with as they please.  There's a bit of paganism, a splash of folklore, and a dollop of prim in all of them.  I'm not sure what I enjoyed more, playing with colored dots on the software, or doing the research for the background information.

Enjoy Feast of St. Nicholas!


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6 comments:

  1. ChristineOctober 18, 2011 at 3:38 AM

    That is so sweet, thank you for sharing it

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  2. CATHIOctober 18, 2011 at 5:05 AM

    Yes, you are right, in Germany for instance, we get our presents not on 25, but on 24 December (in the evening). And on 6 December (at night), the "Nikolaus" comes to the houses and puts some sweets in the boots which were cleaned and polished by the children before... Next morning, the children run to their boots and look what Nikolaus brought them... :o) Those children who don't polish their shoes, do not get any sweets, but only a piece of brushwood (so the tradition says). I like this costum very much! ;o)

    Thanks for the freebie! :o)

    Best wishes

    Cathi

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  3. SallyOctober 18, 2011 at 6:14 AM

    That is lovely Mindi. Thank you so much.

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  4. Jo who can't think of a clever nicknameOctober 18, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    What a cute freebie. I love Cathi's story of how she celebrates the 6th.
    Religion-wise I guess I'd say I'm the opposite of an atheist - I believe in ALL the Gods, whatever name you give Him/Her/Them, it's having the belief itself that actually helps you through life. But that's just my personal philosophy!

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  5. LoisOctober 19, 2011 at 1:22 AM

    What a nice chart! I'm finding myself jumping ahead of the seasons this year too. I'm even starting to think about 2012 and what I'd like to stitch!!!!!

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  6. MeasiOctober 19, 2011 at 6:48 AM

    Thanks for joining the WIPocalypse for 2012! I've been browsing your entries... your stitching is absolutely gorgeous. I'm excited to see what you have in store for next year. Happy stitching!

    ReplyDelete