Happy Merry Christmas Needlepoint Year End

Today is the official year end to turn in needlepoint Christmas ornaments at my Local Needlepoint Shop (LNS), Chapel Hill Needlepoint so stitched canvases can get fabricated into actual ornaments in time for Christmas. I only stitch Christmas ornaments so today is like my year-end, my April 15, my New Year’s Eve.

I first learned to needlepoint as a child, but had not picked up a canvas since boarding school until two and a half years ago. I had gone to a friend’s house that had the most beautiful ornaments and quickly got hooked making my own. Last year I stitched 34 ornaments in one year and thought that seemed a little obsessive.

At my LNS there is a community table where any customer is welcomed to sit down and stitch and talk and learn from each other. At first I was a little intimidated by the years of experience and the quality of the group’s work, but I sat down anyway. I was quick to find out that regardless of your skill level it was the most welcoming and fun group of ever changing women and some very friendly regulars.

One stand out stitcher is Elizabeth Hurd. She worked on projects that are museum quality. If I had a question I knew she had a great answer. Last year on this year-end turn in date she asked me how many ornaments I had completed since it was my first full year of needlepointing. I can’t remember how many she had done, but it seemed to be fairly equal to my number.

“How about we have a contest this year to see who can do the most?” Elizabeth asked me. There was no talk about size or level of difficulty, just number. Since I clearly was already addicted to needle pointing I quickly agreed to this competition. It was my hope that I could equal that year’s number of 34, so off we started.

As we would sit around the “stitchers’ table” other friends would ask about the competition. No one else officially said, “I’m in it with you,” but people’s interest was peaked. Questions would arise, “Is the contest just Christmas ornaments or do other small things like Easter and Halloween ornaments count? What about two sided or 3-d ornaments, do they count as one or two?”

I started the year off a little slow, not quite keeping pace with my goal of three a month. My original challenger, Elizabeth was working on a number of giant projects, like a kneeler for her church, so I was fairly certain that I had a chance against her. But I had no idea who else was silently in the contest.

In the friendly way the whole thing started we said, “Any ornament, regardless of size or complication counts as one and all are welcome to compete.” Eventually my friend Christy who I got hooked on needlepoint last year and Kate a long time stitcher and practically pro-needle pointer both announced they were also in the race. This meant I had to pick up the pace. In the last two weeks I finished seven projects.   The calluses on my pointer fingers are proof.

At Mah Jongg today I finished one last little initial ornament and asked Christy what her number was. Forty! She had finished forty – quite a feat for her second year. I went to Chapel Hill to turn in my last five canvases. There at the stitching table sat Elizabeth Hurd and Kate. “How many?” they asked. “Forty-three,” I proudly announced.

Elizabeth said, “Congratulations, you easily beat my twenty, but sit down.” I looked at Kate, “How many?” I asked the dark horse at the table. “Fifty!” I was easily beaten, but I did not lose.

There was no prize for this contest. I won with the forty-three new Christmas ornaments I will have on my needlepoint garland this year. Kate quietly put out the most with 50, but she generously said, “The contest was originally Christmas ornaments, if you had kept it just that you would have won since about 12 of mine were Easter ornaments.” It was a kind thing to say, but unnecessary. The camaraderie, fun, and fellowship of the stitchers table is the best part of the whole contest.

So now it starts all over again. The new needlepoint year is today and Kate already finished one while we sat at the table. All are welcome to join. Some friends are joining by setting a personal goal rather than trying for the most. I want to learn new and more complicated stitches this year. But you can bet damn sure I’m also going to try and beat my this year’s number of forty three. For now there is laundry to do, a garden to replant and photo books from summer trips to complete. I think I need to get into a scrapbook contest to get those done.