Welcome November?

I declare, I thought things would get better when the smoke from the wildfires cleared. That hasn't been the case. There have been a few days of good air quality but every time I step outside it seems to be toxic. Our mailbox is just across the street with half a dozen others. I can't even go get the mail - with my mask on - without being negatively affected. The physical reactions are not as severe as they used to be, at least not usually, but they are still disabling. The worst part of it now seems to be the emotional toll. When I have two good days and then a string of four or more bad days it gets depressing. On top of that I'm having to curtail my quilt making activities in order to facilitate healing in my left elbow. There's been progress on that front but it's not enough that I feel I can start back up again yet. {sigh} The last thing I worked on was auditioning focal elements for the Queens of 'Ween quilt-to-be.

This was the first potential layout I tried. There are others but I'll share them in a dedicated post. I haven't been in the mood to play with any of the blocks I've already made. That would require emotional/creative energy I just don't have at the moment.

Fortunately there was a small needlepoint case I started some time ago I was able to pick up and work on. It's a duplicate of a kit I stitched up last year. Well, nearly. I changed the colors to better fit the taste of the intended recipient.

This is the original:

This is a teal fox on a gray background. I really didn't want to stitch another gray background. And I wanted to use some of the hand dyed flosses I've been collecting. I chose a purple for the fox, lavender and a neon green for the plaid and chevron stripes. I stitched quite a bit of those colors before turning my attention to the background. Not a smart decision as it turned out.

Every color I tried for the background was either too dark and would blend into the fox's head or too close in value to the lavender floss and become visually mushy. I was concerned that the lighter value hues would blend in with the fox's white whiskers. This light orange seemed to be the best choice from what I had available to me. I'm not happy with it but I wasn't prepared to take out all the lavender stitches to try another shade. It is what it is. Now the question is, what next? (I ask that question a lot!) Holding these small cases with my left hand doesn't seem to aggravate the elbow, as long as I don't stitch for too long a stretch at a time. I have a couple more blank cases on hand, I just have to come up with a pattern and then the color palette. It's these decisions I struggle with when I'm not feeling up to snuff.

Another aspect of the emotional toll of chemical sensitivities is that I don't have the energy to visit other blogs. I have to be careful not to get overwhelmed by the activities and energy that other creatives appear to have. That would only serve to deepen any depression I might be experiencing. The one lesson I'm learning from this affliction is the art of self preservation!