HANG. OVER.

But...not in the way you would think.

Four days of non-stop needlework happiness and good news partying later, and I am in the Happy Chair feeling like the guys in The Hangover.

(Without the Mike Tyson cameo and tiger in the bathroom, thank goodness!)

Wednesday night's dinner...Thursday's doc appointment...Friday's class, dinner, and visit with Miss Becky...Saturday's class...holey schmoley!  More activity than I've had since that time I tried to read an entire semester's syllabus in one night.

I came home, got the makeup and bra off, grabbed my sippy cup, and hit the Happy Chair for a three-hour pass out before finally hauling myself to bed.  Today, I am bleary eyed and actually sore from what I assume is the tense state of muscles I must have had while trying not to be me for an extended length of time.

Oey.

A hot soak and some quiet time and silent apologies for any buffoonery, though, and all will soon be well, I'm sure.

So, enough about me and my inability to function as a normal human person in polite company...on to the important stuff!

Our first class taught by Kurdy was her piece entitled "Solitare".  You cannot tell this from my craptastic photo, but this is stitched on dark green 18ct mono canvas with white and gold sparkly threads and beads.  The finished model is just gorgeous, and I am determined to finish mine in much the same way.

Although the stitches themselves might seem fiddly and complicated, Kurdy walks you through them step by step and even stitches them for you live and on camera so that you can follow along.  And in a stroke of real genius, she gives you a piece of plastic practice canvas and brightly colored thread to use as your audition board.  Theoretically, you could just sit and practice the stitches on the plastic and still come away with something beautiful.  

I had about half of the stitching completed in class and then came home and finished up the last few inner motifs pretty quickly.  Now I'm working on the border Jessicas.  

Once the stitching is complete, I'll move on to beading...all of which was demonstrated, and is excellently explained on the chart.

Let's face it, kids...we all know that a good chart, patience, and the ability to count is really all it takes to feel like a stitchy rock star, right? I had to remind myself of that when I got frustrated or put something in the wrong place about seven times.  Breathe...count...stitch.  Simple.

Our Saturday class was a pilot piece, which means it is a project that will be offered in the future and we were the "test" subjects to help proof and practice.  I don't think I am supposed to share that one, but I will tell you that it was equally as gorgeous and fun to stitch and will definitely be a project that Iwill finish  and enjoy!

So there you have it.  The only thing that put this entire experience right over the top for me was the fact that the kits for the classes came complete...in a poly envelope with a pouch on the front.  A pouch!  Right there on the front of the envelope!

(You all know how much I simply adore a good storage solution, don't you?)

OK, my dearies.  Time for my bagel and then a hot bath and a nap.  I think today is going to be a recovery and not much else day, but if anybody asks, will you tell them that I'm recovering from an Ironman or something instead of a two day needlework class?

You know...just between us chickens.