I, along with my students, survived the first week of spring semester. Beginning of the semester stress, coupled with an overcommitted schedule this past week, meant that I did not have as much time to stitch as I would have liked, but I did make some progress with Belle and Boo’s “Windy Day.”

Here’s where I am at now:

The leaves are all done, and I’ve completed the backstitching around Belle’s boots and her pants. You can see I am working on her mitten and the cuff of her sweater now. That mitten has a crazy amount of backstitching for such a tiny area.

It would be fun if I could complete all but her head by next week. That’s a doable goal, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t make it. I feel like I’d be jinxing myself if I start making promises about how much stitching I’ll be able to do this week.

In other news, I’ve started saving links again to share, so here are a few stitchy, crafty, bookish things I found noteworthy this week:

• This list of the 55 most anticipated books of 2021 is growing my TBR list
• Valentine’s Day is coming up, so stitch this adorable plastic canvas heart box for someone (free pattern)
• I cannot wait to go to downtown Chicago again to see this stunning new installation by artist Olafur Eliasson
• The story behind the gorgeous hand-embroidered flowers on the coat and dress First Lady Jill Biden wore on Inauguration night

Finally, I have been telling everyone about this new song and video by Jon Batiste:

Have a great week everyone!