After the lousy day at work, she relished the peace of her home. She spent the morning ignoring Francine's snide remarks. Without Mr. Melrose or Lee to run interference, the tetchy blonde's barbs were sharper than normal.
Since her sons were still in school and her mother out for the afternoon with her FRIEND Ethel, she had the house to herself and instead of doing some chore or other; she decided she take the opportunity and work on her project.
After a quick dash upstairs, to change out of her work clothes and into a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt, she headed into the kitchen. Passing through the living room, she spied the candy dish on the end table, and snagged a chocolate KISS, popping the treat into her mouth as she settled onto the bench in the sunny breakfast nook.
In preparation for this latest endeavor, she had already organized her yarn into their individual hues, and cut her canvas into the desired shapes. Before starting, she read the directions once more. Since Amanda had been doing needlework since the age of 10, when her Aunt Jo presented her with her first canvas, reading the directions was more out of habit than necessity.
She picked up the first piece, and quickly set it aside. Her fingers always cramped when she stitched the small pieces. Saving the SHAMROCK for last left either the RAINBOW or the pot of gold.
Threading the black yarn through the eyehole, careful not to fray the ends, she then checked the color graph for the proper placement before she started. In no time at all, she laid down the half-dozen rows that made up the pot, next came the gold. Normally, she hated to work with metallic thread, the ends always unraveled, but a thin coat of clear nail polish solved that problem.
After overcasting the edges, she tucked the end of the thread under the last few stitches, before starting on the rainbow. Amanda thought about using a different needle for each color, rather then changing colors, since she only needed one line with each color, but decided against it. It was more trouble than it was worth.
Red, orange, and yellow, row-by-row she stiched. Omitting the next row-GREEN, she moved on to blue, indigo and finally violet completing the rainbow.
Two-thirds of the venture accomplished, it was time for her to work the shamrock. Using her thumbnail to hold the yarn, she stitched over the end anchoring the yarn in place. Around each petal and finally the stem, her fingers flew.
In a little under an hour and a half, Amanda completed the needlepoint by placing the green in the rainbow. A few well placed drops of craft glue, and viola she'd finished another refrigerator magnet for St. Patrick's Day.
Leaning against the counter, she took a moment to admire her handiwork. She loved the uniqueness of homemade decorations. Even her windows stood out from the rest of the neighborhood.
Satisfied with a job well done, she cleaned up her supplies, made a bit of lunch and settled into the family room to wait for the boys to get home from school.
End