Cross-Stitching

Right now I'm working on a very complex cross-stitch pattern.  The design itself is only 5x7 inches, so not massive, but literally every single space is filled with a crossed stitch.  No white space at all.  And there were FOUR bundles of different colored threads to parse through.  It's a Thomas Kinkade "Beauty and the Beast" design, but not the full huge one that no one in their right mind could finish, but the inset of Belle, Beast, the dog footstool, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Cogsworth.  I'm sad the inset doesn't have Lumiere, but really, I was not going to attempt the huge one.  I've already worked for hours and hours on what I have and am no where near finished.  That's the bane and beauty of cross-stitch: it takes so long to make even the smallest pattern come together.  But I love watching figures emerge from the thread-- when you can spot the curve of an arm or the shape of a profile.  There's something about it that feels so productive and at the same time so calming.  Listening to Jane Eyre as I stitch has been a real treat, too.  Sometimes I wish that all I really had to do in life was listen to audiobooks and cross-stitch.  These have been beautiful hours.