New month. Time for a status report on works in progress. Officially, there are eight of them, but I'm taking a couple of them off the active list.

The Double Wedding Ring is coming along. Whether it will be done in time to take with me when I head north for Christmas is becoming doubtful. But the blocks are more than half finished, and there are pieces to make more.

Christmas Applique is my current hand-quilting project. Three of 15 blocks are quilted. I have no particular time line in mind for this, so any forward movement is okay.

The same is true of Appliqued Kitties. This is a hand applique project that gives me something small and manageable to work on when I don't feel like knitting. I'm working on block #6 of a projected 20 blocks.

Turning Twenty Again is ready to be basted and prepared for quilting. I want to use this piece to try out a method of basting that Sharon Schambers uses that seems to hold promise for large pieces (like the Double Wedding Ring). I've used a modified version of the method on a smaller piece and I liked it very much, even if I did give myself a blister.

The project that I basted is the Pieced Christmas wall hanging. It is now ready for machine quilting when I need a break from the DWR. I've tested out some thread combinations, and I'm not really happy with any of them, so that will be the next thing to explore. I want to use a somewhat heavier thread than regular sewing thread, and none of the stores around here have anything suitable. I guess I'll have to order some samples the next time I place an online fabric order.

The projects that I'm removing from the list for the time being are the Spring wallhanging, the Stack 'n Whack Fans, and the Swap Blocks. I'm not motivated to work on any of these right now, so I'll just set them aside and work on other things.

As for knitting, this is peak season for Knitting for Noggins, the project for Arkansas Children's Hospital. I will be away all next week attending various meetings, and my bag is already packed with yarns for a variety of hats. And I'm planning ahead to Christmas, and have an assortment of gift items planned and in progress; but of course I'm not going to share details of those.

Time to get back to work. Stitches don't grow on trees.