I’ve got the new puzzle pattern (the one from when–February?) set up on the floor stand so that I can sit down and stitch whenever the mood strikes me, or whenever I have a free moment. I worked on it last night. I love having a big project at the ready.

Today we’re picking colors for the second bookmark. Part II of our Tribute to Librarians. It took me longer than ever before to select symbols for the pattern. It’s 38 x 44 of solid stitching and almost no backstitching (solely because so many stitchers hate backstitching–we’ll see how much I add when I stitch–I love backstitching!). That means the symbols are packed in there, side-by-side, with no backstitch lines separating them. That’s tough to read!

It’s a matter of strategically placing light-, medium-, and heavy-weight symbols so that the design and color changes stand out. I had to work it, work it, work it to get something that didn’t make my eyes cross. Now I’ll stitch from the symbol layout to see if I really like it.