At last - my first Christmas ornament for 2014

also my first cross stitch 'finish for 2014.  In all the years I have been stitching (25+), this is my slowest ever start.  It just won"t do!

This ornament is for a young friend whom I have always nicknamed 'Pussy'.  I have stitched a ornament for her every Christmas for the past 18 years, and this year I decided to feature a cat (inspired by my cat, Ruby).  The cat design is loosely based on one of the cats in BH&G's cat sampler from an issue in the late 1990s - possibly 1996.

Front

 Back

I do have another three ornaments stitched (for three young sisters who love a little bling on their ornaments) but I need to add some beads (which are at present still in the bead shop) before I finish them up.  They are adapted from the 'Peace' ornament design in the 2012 BH&G Christmas issue. Despite appearances to the contrary, they are all the same size (7.5 cm or 3" wide).

I hope to get to the bead shop soon!

I have just (rather belatedly - but that seems to be my pattern for this year) joined Measi's WIPOCALYPSE for 2014.  Fortunately she didn't specify a cut-off date for sign-ups this year, which is very heplful for slow-coaches like me. Measi's question for February is about stitching styles.  I am a boring old OOAT (one project at a time) stitcher - always have been, and always will be.  I know my limitations - I'm a tad obsessive about finishing a project once I start it.  Rotations are not for me!  The closest I came to a rotation was when I was stitching my HAED Jolly Old Fellow (2009 - 2012).  I compromised by stitching solely on JOF for several months each year, then packed it away and stitched my way through the other projects on my list - one at a time.  I do admire people who can handle rotations.  I wish I could.