A Finish on the 12th Day of Christmas!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my own self gave to me: 

Stitched from Christmas card cover - Designer Unknown

Any ideas anyone?

Although it is very small, I have to tell you that stitching this little piece has brought me tremendous happiness as it marks a turning point.  I'm stitching again.  :-)))

 It's been far too long and I must admit that I'm feeling more than a touch of the "I'm goin' to stitch everything I own in the next 24 hours" madness.

Oh the plans I have for 2011!!! 

Shall I ramble a few off the top of my head?

The Biggies:

• Birds and Bamboo tea tray
• Giulia Punti Antichi's Italian Peacocks purse
• Marion Scoular's Assisi GCC
• Lois Kershner's Sashiko GCC
• Sheila Hudson's "Monet's Parliament at Sunset"
• BBD "Joyeux Noel"
• VS's Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh (three separate designs)
• Cherry Stitches Sampler
• Jim Shore's 12 Days of Christmas
• Lavender and Lace "AUTUMN" (to accompany Celtic Christmas)

and everything else way down there (in the left sidebar) under "Biggies, on Deck"


Little Seasonal Projects:

• Valentine box of chocolates (February) scaled down for small tin

Remember this cover from Better Homes and Gardens Cross Stitch & Country Crafts?
A box of chocolates to the first commenter who correctly guesses the issue.
• Bent Creek "Blarney" (super cute Leprechaun sitting on a sheep) for March
• The Trilogy "Secret Flower Bed" (super cute square with bunnies, bees and flowers) for May
• LHN "The Rain Fell" for April
• LHN "With Liberty and Justice for All" for July
• CC & LHN "September", "October", "November" and "December"

In honor of this Revival, I picked up a 'few' threads to celebrate:

Belle Soie:  Mudpie, Sandy Beach, Rouge, Peacock, Noir

many various overdyed

So, now it's 8:30p and my new self-imposed computer curfew siren is sounding.

Happy stitching friends!  Remember Little Christmas tomorrow, 1/6.

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

And just when you thought it was over! Since I seem to be the only person I know who has even ever heard of "Little Christmas", I wanted to share this old tradition which might be new to you. Little Christmas, or January 6th, is the day after the 12th day of Christmas, marking the end of the Christmas season. Oh, I know what you are thinking, the twelve days lead up to Christmas, right? Wrong. The twelve days of Christmas come after the big day. Some of us are old enough to remember when the Christmas season did not start the day after Halloween and people used to carry the spirit of Christmas into the New Year. We used to even exchange one last especially precious present on the twelfth night, or January 5th.

According to Wikipedia (and my Irish Catholic mother), Little Christmas, or Nollaig Bheag in Irish, is one of the traditional names in Ireland for January 6, more commonly known in the rest of the world as the Epiphany. It is so called because it was the day on which Christmas Day was celebrated under the Roman calendar, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. And, according to my mother, we could take all the ornaments off the tree but the star topper had to stay until January 6th because the Wise Men were still traveling by it's light to Bethlehem. This was also the day we could add the wise men figurines with the rest of the Nativity.

Little Christmas is also referred to as Women's Christmas or sometimes even Women's Little Christmas. It is so called because of the tradition, of Irish men taking on all the household duties for the day and giving their spouses a day off. Most women will either hold parties or go out to celebrate the day with their friends, sisters, mothers, aunts etc. Bars and restaurants usually have a majority female clientele on this night. Children often buy presents for their mothers and grandmothers, and it resembles Mother's Day in this respect.

So maybe next year, you'll remember Little Christmas, leave the light on for the Magi, and have a little get together with your gal pals. Sounds to me like an excellent excuse for a stitch-over!