Incoherent Scribblings

It’s a Mystery

Wednesday is nearly over on this side of the Atlantic but I think that I still have time to squeak the SBQ in before midnight, so without further ado here is this week’s question as suggested by Carol:

Have you ever participated in a needlework mystery (i.e., a design that you started before knowing how it will look in the end and by which you receive parts of the design via the internet, magazines, or leaflets at spaced intervals)? If so, why did you decide to do the mystery? What appealed to you about it? Did you enjoy it? If you have not done a mystery, would you ever do one?

I am afraid I don’t have a very much to say concerning this week’s SBQ as I have never participated in a needlework mystery. I can’t say that in the future I will never do one, but I seriously doubt it. I don’t really know why, but they just don’t appeal to me very much.

Stitched on today: “Catch the Wind”

On Citizenship

citizen: noun a legally recognized subject or national of a state of commonwealth, either native or naturalized

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been following a story here in Germany that centers on the introduction of citizenship tests.

The main controversy concerns whether or not these tests unfairly target Muslims and their compatibility with local (aka “German”) values, but that isn’t why I have been following the story: I have been following the story because as a result of my marriage to A., I am more than likely a permanent resident of Germany and after I have lived here for a few more years I could technically apply for German citizenship.

Honestly, though I have thought about it from time to time, abandoning my American citizenship for German citizenship is something that I am not sure if I could do. If dual citizenship were option for me I might consider it, but according to both American and German law, it isn’t.

A. claims that citizenship is just another “piece of paper” and honestly doesn’t understand my reluctance to abandon my American passport. Because A. is technically an Austrian citizen who has never lived in his “home” country, I believe that the reason he doesn’t understand my perspective is because he doesn’t have a real sense of what a person’s citizenship can mean to his or her identity.

I don’t fault him for his view, but I just feel that no matter how long I live in Germany, how well I speak the language, or how much I know about German history and culture, it will never make me solely German. If I were to become a German citizen I would feel like a fraud because no matter where my destiny takes me, I was born and raised in the United States and those experiences mark me as forever American.

That is not to say that I don’t believe that as an expatriate I don’t have a responsibility to attempt to integrate myself into German society: I think I do merely out of respect for the place where I am living and the people that I am interacting with. However, on the other hand, I don’t believe that during the process I can’t also be an American.

Some days I wonder at how successful my attempts to integrate into Germany really are: After all, A. and I still speak English together and if you walk into my house it looks like a little slice of America. However, though I might not be tempted to become an official German citizen any time soon even if I can successfully pass a completely unauthorized German citizenship quiz, the idea of becoming the equivalent of a “permanent resident” seems just a little more feasible than it did four years ago.

Stitch-A-Thon Progress

I noticed the other day that even though it was cold, I could smell spring in the air.

However, this morning I woke up to a loud konk that in my dreamy state sounded like a snow plow. I was quite distraught to think it might have snowed over night and that is how I would welcome the first day of spring, but to my delight when I opened the shade I saw that there was no new snow, the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature is predicted to be about 12 degrees Celsius (53 Fahrenheit) today. Fantastic! That left-over snow should be melting away soon because spring is definitely on its way! (And that konk I heard… the cats knocked the shampoo bottle off the bathtub ledge.)

And what better way to celebrate the first day of spring than with progress pictures of my March Stitch-a-Thon entry “Celtic Spring?” I am posting both a before and after picture so you can see how much I got done during my nine and half hour marathon. (Yes, I said 9 ½ hours!) Talk about smokin’!
As you can see, I opted to stitch Mae’s bouquet yesterday instead of her hair. I did this because I was slightly concerned that I hadn’t cut my fabric wide enough: There is still some stitching to do to the left of the bouquet, but I am pretty confident that there will be enough room now.

Before I stitched the bouquet, I considered giving her pink flowers instead of yellow. However, I decided against it because there is no other pink in the piece and I wasn’t sure I would be happy with the results. Personally I don’t care too much for yellow roses, but I think they work well with the piece as a whole.

I must say, every time I have a piece that I have to do a flower bouquet like this one I hate the way my back turns out! There are so many little blocks of color and confetti stitches that no matter how I go about it my back turns out messier than I like. Oh well, at least the back is neat on the other sections.

I won’t be working on Mae again until next weekend, so it gives me some time to think about her face: Specifically, I was thinking of stitching it over one. Has anyone stitched the face of the Celtic Ladies over one? Would you recommend it?

So I guess that is about it for the weekend report. Originally I planned to do the finishing on my Spring Exchange and then work some on “Catch the Wind” today, but with this weather I may end up going up to the flower shop and buying some pansies to plant in my window box instead!

Cathy’s Bday Present

I got an email from Cathy yesterday letting me know that she received her present for the SBEBB Birthday Exchange, so I can go ahead and post a picture now. In fact, I couldn’t have posted one until now anyway, because for some unknown reason I managed to get her present packed up and sent off to her without taking a picture of the finished product.
I found this needlebook pattern in a book called 100 Weekend Cross-Stitch Gifts that I checked out of the library while I was back in the US. Most of the patterns in this book were fairly simple, but it had some great finishing ideas and that is why I checked it out! As usual, I didn’t follow the pattern or finishing instructions 100%, but instead used it as a guide. For example, I added our names using an alphabet from The Victoria Sampler and stitched the small hearts on the back over one. Anyway, I am glad that it reached Cathy in plenty of time for her birthday. Happy (early) birthday Cathy!
Quick Stitch-A-Thon Update: I stitched for four hours today on “Celtic Spring” and am aiming for three or four more tomorrow too. At this rate, I should get Mae’s (FYI: That is what I am calling my lady.) shawl finished and maybe even get a chance to start on her hair.

Two Wee Happy Dances

I have had a very productive start to the weekend with two wee happy dances today.

First up was pansy number six on “Stiefmütterchen.” This pretty little pinkish-purple pansy stitched up super quickly in three and a half hours. When I was finished with it I thought about starting another one, but instead decided to finish up Cathy’s round robin.

Technically I didn’t need to have Cathy’s robin finished until May 1, but since this is the last round and everyone is anxiously waiting to get her robin returned, I wanted to get it done as soon as possible. I have actually had it for a while (Dawn gave it to me in person when I was in the US), but didn’t have time to start on it until this week.

Cathy’s theme is “Autumnology” by The Trilogy: These patterns are small and stitch up quickly. I stitched the scarecrow as it was the last square left on the robin. In her letter Cathy mentioned that since I would stitch last I would get “the short stick” in terms of choices, but the funny part is even if I would have had first choice I still would have stitched the scarecrow. Because I think he is cute and a little bit funny looking, he is definitely my favorite pattern on this chart.

Tomorrow I will break out “Celtic Spring” and jump feet first into this month’s Stitch-A-Thon, so I probably won’t be around with any progress until Sunday evening. Have a great weekend everyone!