My Stitchery Journal

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In: July 26, 2020

7/26/2020

July's topic for discussion is:

"What new charts or designers are catching your eye this year?"

Given that is my first year back stitching after a long hiatus, a LOT of new (to me) designers have popped up on my radar.

Just scrolling through the downloads on my iPad, I find:

Online downloads from designers new to me, including:

Frau Rosa Stikt!! where I have purchased two patterns: "Strandhauser" and "Durch Das Jahr Mit Frau Rosa" (in German)*
Long Dog Samplers were I copped a freebie of "Pandemic"
Sassi Stitch Boutique where I have purchased "Say Their Names" in both a long and a square format
Seba Designs where I have obtained "Sandy's Seasons", "Chakra Master", and "It's Snowing"
Owl Forest were I obtained "Emerald City" (in Russian)*

Online downloads which predate 2020:

House of White Birches "Celtic Crosses" by Mike Vickery
Jardin Prive SAL de Noël 2019 (in French)*
X Squared "Green Butterfly Heart"
a blackwork by Banu Demirel

Patterns in my recent downloads from designers I have stitched before, including:

Glendon Place's "Hope and Strength"
Napa Needlepoint's "Five Bargello Mini Socks"
Dureen Jones' "Garden SAL"

Older downloads not kitted up include:

Ajisai's "Fuchsias in Bloom"
InkCircles - several of the "Knot My 2017" charts

And of course, I'm always in the market for a new Michael Powell!

Clearly WAY more than I'll ever stitch! Heck, "Pandemic" alone (20 pages, over 300 m of floss and a yard of fabric...) will likely occupy a whole year at least, assuming the fabric and floss I ordered ever arrive!

*Isn't it wonderful that one can stitch a chart even if one cannot read the language of the originator! And I now have saved a translator on my browser for any missives from designers!

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are slowly lifting (we're on a "mandatory mask" order right now but cautioned to "go out" only if necessary), I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

I have put in no time in on "Love Is..." but quite a lot on "Biltmore". I am moving into the third color now:

I still have not dared to try re-starting "Save the Stitches" until I have cleared the decks of these other two WIPs.

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

No progress to report on "Butterfly on Scroll".

~~~~~Completions~~~~~

None to report, unless you count finishing the monthly stages of two of the four SALs described below.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on all four SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 27 through Week 30, plus some additional borders. Week 31 comes into my mailbox on July 29.

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). July installment completed on July 6, 2020. August installment due online on August 1.

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 3 was finished June 18 (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen. Installment 4 due in the next issue of Just CrossStitch.

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 3 "Fantastic Fungi", officially started mid July. A pattern is released every other day. There have been twelve patterns so far in the Pattern (a border and eleven fungi), only eight of which have been made public on Facebook: I will post the public eight below:

The fabric is Jade lugano, 28 ct, and the floss DMC as called for in the charts (except for the border where I used DMC 310). I have added backstitching to sharpen my images

~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~

Nothing new at the moment, although fabric and floss for "Pandemic" are on order and stalled somewhere in a majorly malfunctioning postal system.

~~~~~Goals for August~~~~~

I still am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" as follows

I am still watching many more online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up as much as 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery.
I have signed up for a year-long art community where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges. The second challenge and project is scheduled for August.
I managed to get back up to 14% of my storage space on my DVR, and then backslid to 11% again. I have several recorded television programs to catch up, all of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.
I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies).

I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. And the release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation is still iffy, at best.

What I HOPE to do in August is:

a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment
b) complete "Fantastic Fungi" SAL (I believe there are four more patterns to go...)
c) try to stitch on "Love Is..."
d) continue with "Biltmore" in any open day .

The "Christmas Shadowbox" SAL installment 4 isn't due out for another month and there are no new projects on the horizon (other than the elusive "Pandemic"). "Save the Stitches" may or may not enter into my stitching rotation.

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

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WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In, June 28, 2020

6/28/2020

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This month's topic for discussion is a half-year recap: "How are you doing with your goals so far this year?"

Well, according to my January 1 check-in, my one goal for this year was " ...to start stitching again this year."! And I did just that!

But that wasn't all there was to my goals for the year. I had the following WIPs in my stash:

Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler, started in late February of 2014 and put away in April of 2015
"Biltmore", a kit I purchased at the Biltmore Estate in July of 2014 and stitched on briefly in the coffee shop at that estate. I have stitched on it once or twice since then but made little progress from my sole published photo - in fact it has regressed a little since much of the work I did in that coffee shop had to be frogged. This piece also lives in my travel bag
"Love Is.., an intended first anniversary gift for a niece which has missed that deadline and may not make the second as well at there ate I am going. Started in September 0f 2016 and was put away when I broke my wrist, brought out briefly in February of 2017 as a test run of my wrists ability to hold the frame, and put back after an hour and less than four backstitched letters - no shown here (and/or frogged letters!)
the key fob for Michael Powell's "Beach Huts Scissor Keep Kit"

I have been stitching on the "Biltmore" kit and report on that below. I have stitched on the "Love is..." kit, also reported on below. I finished the Michael Powell scissor keep. So that's one out of four finished and two in progress!

In addition to all the above WIPs, I also started a new travel needlepoint and four SALs. All reported on below!

June was also a “one stitch per day” month but I didn't stitch every day so this was a non-starter.

~~~~~WIPs~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are slowly lifting, I still have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

I have tried to put in no time on "Love Is..." but quite a lot of time on "Biltmore". I am now almost through page three (of four) in the first color, having used the skein of this color form my stash to do the majority of this new stitching:

I have not dared to try re-starting "Save the Stitches" until I have cleared the decks of these other two WIPs.

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

The Summer Meeting of Region 2 of the National Daylily Society in Easter Ohio and the National Daylily Convention in Savannah, Georgia, have been cancelled so there is not likely to be stitching on "Butterfly on Scroll".

No progress to report.

~~~~~Completions~~~~~

None to report, unless you count finishing the monthly stages of three of the four SALs described below.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on all four SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 23 through Week 26, plus some additional borders. Week 27 comes into my mailbox on July 1.

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). June installment completed on June 15, 2020. July installment due online on July 1.

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 3 was finished June 18 (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen. The three completed installments completed so far can be seen in the photo on the right, below. Installment 4 due in the next issue of Just CrossStitch.

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 3 "Fantastic Fungi", officially starts mid July. I have selected fabric and found the floss and await the first chart.

~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~

Nothing new at the moment.

~~~~~Goals for July~~~~~

I am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" as follows

I am still watching many more online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up at least 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery.
I have signed up for a year-long art community where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges. The first official project/challenge will occur in July..
I managed to get back up to 14% % of my storage space on my DVR but I have several recorded television programs to catch up on, some of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.
I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies).

a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment
b) begin "Fantastic Fungi" SAL as soon as the first pattern is released.
c) start and complete the July installment of "Friends and Family" which is due out July 1, 2020.
d) try to stitch on "Love Is..." and "Biltmore" in any open day.

The "Christmas Shadowbox" SAL installment 4 isn't due out for another month and there are no new projects on the horizon. "Save the Stitches" may or may not enter into my stitching rotation.

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

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WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - May 31, 2020

5/31/2020

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This month's topic for discussion was:

"Tell us about a piece that you absolutely loved stitching."

Well, I have to confess that am am not the kind of stitcher that finds the process relaxing, refreshing, empowering or enjoyable! I stitch to occupy my hands, and easily substitute reading or paper crafting for stitchery.

I find that stitching can be frustrating - frogging, tangled and/or frayed floss, needing magnification to see where stitches need to be placed - all lead to a lot of swearing on my part. And while I do tend to stitch only for myself, and only designs that appeal to me, and I do often like the end result, the process between buying the chart and framing the completed piece is not fraught with enjoyment.

I searched my blog archives for pieces that still appeal to me, long after the stitching is completed. I found eight that caught my eye (more details can be found in the "My xxxx Stitchery" galleries for the appropriate year in this blog) and these are pieces that I do think I would still find joy in stitching years after their completion:

Shades of Aubergine - design by Mary Hickmott in "New Stitches" magazine Issue 131, completed 2005
Autumn Leaves - design by Mary Hickmott in "New Stitches" (issue 164), completed 2009
A Quaker Christmas - designby G. R. Reinhardt for ByGone Stitches, completed 2010
Fountain Mandala - design by Elizabeth Almond, in "The Gift of Stitching" issues 53 and 54; completed 2011
Garden Stars - design by Ink Circles, completed 2011
Kimono Revisited - design by John Waddell for Shining Needle Society on-line class, completed 2012
Ladybug & Daisy - design by Valentina Sardu for Ajisai Designs, completed 2014
Roll Your Own - design by Ink Circles, completed 2016

As you can probably tell from the gallery below, blackwork places high in my preferred designs but I also gravitate toward samplers and sampler-like compilations of patterns. All but one of the eight is large (some might even say LARGE) and there are no real "cute" critters or snarky sayings or scenery in my final eight - although I have done at least one of just about every kind of needlework (crewel, needlepoint, bead-encrusted, quilt, ad knitting) ...

It should be noted that a lack of favorites for years since 2016 are not the result of stitching pieces I do not/did not like but the result of my stitching hiatus due to a broken wrist followed therapy and then, two years later, by a torn tendon same hand followed by more therapy. In the time period between 2016 and present, stitching ranged from impossible (no way I could stitch one-handed) to difficult( hand strength issues) to having lost my stitching mojo.

~~~~~WIPs~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are slowly lifting, I still have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

Since WIPocalypse is dedicated to finishing all those outstanding WIPs, I have tried to put in a (very) little time on "Love Is..."

and quite a bit more on Biltmore:

Bitmore's pattern is on four pages and I am now 2/3 of the way through page three with this, the first color of thread, and am already out of the thread provided in the kit! Luckily, DMC codes were provided and I do have a skein of that color (whew!), because there is still quite a lot of building facade to stitch! Sure hope that this was the only shortage in the kit because DMC floss is becoming VERY scarce due to the quarantines and lockdowns...

I have not dared to try re-starting "Save the Stitches" until I have cleared the decks of these other two WIPs.

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

The Summer Meeting of Region 2 of the National Daylily Society in Easter Ohio and the National Daylily Convention in Savannah, Georgia, have been cancelled so there is not likely to be stitching on "Butterfly on Scroll".

No progress to report.

~~~~~Completions~~~~~

None to report, unless you count finishing the monthly stages of three of the four SALs described below.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on all four SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 18 through Week 22, plus some additional borders. Week 23 comes into my mailbox on May 3.

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). May installment completed on May 9, 2020. June installment was online today (May 31).

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 2 is in the "box" to the left, finished April 27 (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen. Installment 3 due in the next issue (digitally on June 2, 2020, hard copy some time later) of Just CrossStitch.

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 2 "Colorful Critters", officially started April 16, finished May 19, using the "general" color scheme, DMC floss on 14 count white Aida, modified by blending filament to each critter in areas where, in nature, they might have shown some iridescence, shine or sparkle. The key to the critters is in the backstitched lettering at the bottom of the piece...

~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~

It is embarrassing to admit that I have actually downloaded (or am downloading) at least three other pattern sets for other SALs. I have also purchased at least one kit, and purchased lots of overdyed silks and some fabric cuts that might work for future projects. I still can't help seeing things that really appeal to me!!!

~~~~~Goals for June~~~~~

My gosh, do I ever have goals for June. Whether or not Ohio has totally "opened up" by the end of May or not, I am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. Meanwhile:

I am still watching many more online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up at least 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery.
I enrolled in a second "Spring Card Camp" which is a daily "lesson" in card making. Each class took up an hour of listening/watching followed by at least two hours of actual card-making. I have finally completed this course, but have signed up for a year-long art community where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges. I expect this to be somewhat time-consuming.
There is now only 8% of my storage space left on my DVR so I have several recorded television programs to catch up on, some of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.
I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies).

a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment
b) start and complete (sans beads, buttons and other embellishments) part three of "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler".
c) start and complete the June installment of "Friends and Family" which is out today (May 31).
d) try to stitch on "Love Is..." and "Biltmore" in any open day. "Save the Stitches" may or may not enter into my stitching rotation.

I don't think I'm going to start a new project, but I fear that won't stop me from buying more charts, fabric and floss for my stash! And who knows, one of these new charts might just tempt me!

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

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WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - April 26, 2020

4/15/2020

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The topic of the month is: "Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO."

Well, it all depends on what you want --- WIP? UFO? The project I will talk about has aspects of both.

My longest running WIP (I still consider it that since it resides in my work bag in my stitching area and not in the cabinet of long-unfinished pieces) is Elisabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler; I started it February 24, 2014:

and last worked on it April 9, 2015:

It is stitched in DMC 310 with touches of three or four different DMC blue and green threads in select areas, on 28ct white evenweave. Peacock blue-green beads will go in some of the more open blocks as centers of motifs. It has all the outlines done and a little more than half the filling stitches (13 blocks) done (except for beads — that was to be last).

I truly can't remember why I stopped working on it ... perhaps it was working on the "Roll Your Own" SAL project from InkCircles (which took nearly a year and which I completed in August 2016, too late to enter in the fair that year, which had been my goal), compounded by the broken left wrist in October 2016 (which meant surgery followed by two or three months of therapy). After I got the use of my left hand back, I found I would get finger/hand cramps after using that hand for any prolonged period of time. While working on hand strength exercises, I lost my mojo for stitching of any kind. While I attempted to get back to stitching in February/March of 2019, I still suffered periodic episodes of finger and hand cramping which made holding frames, hoops AND needles difficult at best. Then I reinjured that same wrist (ruptured tendon) in July 0f 2019 which meant more surgery and therapy. It wasn't until this year that I really have gotten back into stitching on a regular basis , and by that time...

This piece is a really BAP which means a large hand-held Q-Snap frame is necessary. I wasn't at all sure, when I started stitching again post-therapy, if my left hand would hold up to dealing with Q-Snap frames. So I put off working on it again, resorting to small hand-held needlepoint canvases and smaller Q-Snap frames or round hoops on medium-sized cross-stitch projects. I also wasn't sure if I could handle blackwork, so...

At the beginning of 2020, I decided to try a SAL to encourage me to keep at a larger project - and went overboard, signing for four (yes, counted FOUR) SALs, one of which is blackwork. As it is, now four months into my stitching, I find that I can handle blackwork (with magnification) and hand-held frames (although not for as long a period as I used to) without finger cramping, so I'm hoping to get "Save the Stitches" back into a rotation again...

Now, for what I have been doing this month.

~~~~~WIPs~~~~~

We are still "stay at home" orders here in Ohio, at least through May 1, so I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

Since WIPocalypse is dedicated to finishing all those outstanding WIPs, I did stitch on "Love Is...". Not much, But some.

I actually hate stitching all this back-stitching and French knots, especially on this loose linen weave. I started this back in 2016 (!) to be a first anniversary gift for my niece. Clearly, that isn't going to happen! And I'm not sure what else to do with it - I don't really like this that much and I have no-one that I know who would like it so it may be finished eventually and end up in a finish-finish pile...

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

Not likely to be travelling anytime soon (I strongly expect the National Daylily Convention in Savannah to be cancelled) so not likely to be stitching on "Butterfly on Scroll". No progress to report.

~~~~~Completions~~~~~

I do have one "completion" of sorts... Given that my husband is the "designated" shopper in the family now (he may not be aware of this, but he is! I have asthma and diabetes 2, and am NOT averse to total social isolation if it keeps me healthy!), and the new guidelines call for wearing masks where you might encounter other people, I made two masks for him to wear on his trips to town (to wear and a spare!):

A week later, my husband gave one of his masks to his brother so I made two more. After one broken sewing machine needle, three reloading of a bobbin and at least seven rethreading of the needles (AAACK, I HATE HATE HATE that sewing machine), I cobbled together two more masks and told my husband that 1) he owed me and 2) no more masks from me!

Not skillful (I have a love-hate relationship with my sewing machine) or pretty, but functional!

If I decide to "open up" soon, I will sew some for myself. After all, I don't think this virus is going away any time soon. Of course, in anther week, I may have changed my mind...

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
And I have stitched --- on four SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 14 through Week 17,plus some additional borders. Week 18 comes into my mailbox on April 29.

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). April installment completed on April 12, 2020. May installment due out May 1.

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 2 is in the "box" to the left, roughly 2/3 finished (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen. Installment 3 due in the next issue (digitally June 2020, hard copy some time later ) of Just CrossStitch.

If you are familiar with this pattern, it was meant to be stitched in pieces that fit into a divided "tray". I don't have the tray (they come in sets of six and I really don't need six...), so I decided to see if it could be stitched on one piece as a sampler. I have started marking off the installments and it looks like it might well work...

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 2 "Colorful Critters", officially started April 16, although I had joined her pattern and received four pattens in the eight days before official opening. Sadly, I stalled out and am behind even the unofficial opening! Below, from right to left, are critters 1 (Arctia caja, the garden tiger moth), 2 (Campsosternus auratus, the jeweled click beetle) and 3 (Trithemis aurora, the crimson marsh glider), using the "general" color scheme, DMC floss on 14 count white Aida, but I have added blending filament to each critter so far, in areas where, in nature, they might have shown some iridescence of sparkle.

There are mistakes in all three bugs but I discovered them well after getting most of the beastie(s) stitched, but since my stash of floss is limited (who would have guessed that a pandemic would lead to DMC floss being in sold-out status on many online stores?), I decided to fudge and live with them.

~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~

It is embarrassing to admit that I have actually downloaded (or am downloading) at least three other pattern sets for other SALs. I may or may not get to them in future, but, because I seem to be in a SAL-state-of-mind, I can't help seeing things that really appeal to me!!!

~~~~~Goals for May~~~~~

My gosh, do I ever have goals for May. Not being certain whether Ohio will "open up" in May or not, I am not at all sure if my daily life will change. Meanwhile:

I am watching many more online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up at least 8 hours a week which otherwise could be devoted to stitchery.
I am enrolled in a "Spring Card Camp" which is a daily "lesson" in card making. Each class takes up an hour of listening/wathing followed by two hours of actual card-making. I am behind in this as well!
There is only 14% of my storage space left on my DVR so I have several recorded television programs to catch up on, some of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.

So, I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. And the release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation is iffy, at best.

What I HOPE to do is complete installment 2 of "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" (without beads, ribbons and buttons), doable in roughly two more nights of stitching. Since installment three is roughly a month way, that gives me some wiggle room to...

a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small, and, along with some additional border stitching, is doable in one night of stitching per installment
b) catch up with "Colorful Critters": currently have 5 installments in hand with a new one coming out every two days, so that will be hard to accomplish
c) start and complete the May installment of "Friends and Family" which is due out on May 1.
d) try to stitch a word or two on "Love Is..." in any open days

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

1 Comment

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - March 30, 2020

3/30/2020

2 Comments

This month's WIPocalypse question is:

Have you ever adopted a piece from someone else or gave up a piece to someone else? Which piece and why?

And the answer is yes, sort of...

My husband's former secretary handed me a large carrier bag with a printed needlepoint canvas of a cheetah (and DMC needlepoint yarn) which she had started but decided, for one reason or another, that she couldn't/wouldn't finish. She knew that I did needlework and thought I might like it. She said she really didn't want me to make it for her, but t keep it. She died from a brain tumor a little while after that.

Sad to say, I haven't done a thing with it and it sits in its bag.

~~~~~
Now, for what I have been doing this month.

We have been on "stay at home" orders here in Ohio since March 17 so I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching. On the other hand, I came back from Indianapolis (husband's regional daylily meeting, where he was elected regional president!) with a nasty cold (we returned three days before Indiana announced its first COVID patient - theoretically all I had was a cold) so that put me off doing much of anything for the two weeks between Indianapolis and March 17! So I did not do the one stitch a day challenge this month.

But, like I said, I have stitched --- on SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 10 through Week 13. Week 14 comes into my mailbox April 1.

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). February and March installments completed. April installment due out on April1.

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 1 completed (except for beads and other embellishments) on 28ct white linen (also slubby!). Installment 2 due in the next issue of Just CrossStitch.

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 2 "Colorful Critters" starts April 15. I have the material kit in hand and need to match floss with the key.

I may work on the "Love Is..." piece tonight and tomorrow, but that is after our report in date so there wot be anything to see here until next month...

Stay home and be well!

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WIPocalypse 2020 - February 29 Check-In (two days late)

3/2/2020

1 Comment

The WIPocalypse question of the month is:

"In honor of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc."

I have taken several "leaps" in my stitching...

To begin:

A room-mate taught me to knit while I was senior in college (56 years ago! AAACK!!). I evolved into booties and then two disastrous sweaters. Although I loved cables, I learned my lesson from sweaters and now I do afghans and scarves! Tried crochet but failed miserably (my grandmother was a star crocheter and tried to teach me when I was a child but it just didn't take) ...
there was the Erica Wilson public television crewel course sometime in the early 70s where I signed up for the manual (still have it somewhere) and taught myself crewel embroidery. I still have a UFO of crewel work pillows to work on.
about the same time as the crewel leap, there was the jump to needlepoint when a friend had an eyeglass holder kit she wanted to make for a gift for her mother but was scared off for some reason and asked me to tackle it. I taught myself. And then took a weekend class while at University! I still needlepoint although I now do more than continental stitch (using more complex stitches on needlepoint canvas is now how I roll!)!
there was when when I was working on a project that required a lot of air travel and needlepoint was too unwieldy to tag on board (I stitched on a frame then), I found this little cross-stitch kit of a cable car in a corner card shop... and I still cross-stitch!
and blackwork --- how could I forget blackwork, which I discovered mid-cross-stitch! It was all started with a round robin which I still have to complete!
there was the bead journal project (2010 - 2013), participation in which evolved from struggling to add embellishment seed beads to cross-stitch ... I have to finish the sampler book form bead journals.
there was TAST (2013 - 2014) where a different "free-embroidery" stitch was offered each week, for two years! I have to finish making that sampler book too...
there was the crazy quilt journal project (2012 - 2015) which evolved from beading and TAST. Several UFO quilt tops in my stash... All of this resulted in me joining a quilt guild and becoming the guild's webmaster!

But my biggest leap was entering the county fair for several years running! And I won ribbons for my cross stitch, beading and ornaments! I even won an honorable mention for a quilt block!

Yes, there have been classes along the way... LOTS of online classes! And I have attended two quilting retreats and several quit work-days but I have to admit I get very little finished in such meet-ups.

Why so many leaps? Not that I'm adventurous or anything, but I guess I do get bored! So I try something new: something that I saw online or something I saw someone else doing.

~~~~~
WIPs worked on this month: "Love Is..." on 32 ct white (very loose and slubby) linen (no WONDER I hate this) using DMC variegated threads. On the left is where I left off last month; on the right is where I am right now... It's a struggle!

~~~~~
SALs... were I'm pretty sure I bit off more than I should have if I want to finish any UFS or WIPs.

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed week 9. Week 10 come into my mailbox March 4...

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). January installment completed, February and March installments in hand.

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 1 in hand and just made a start on 28ct white linen (also slubby!):

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 1: "Homely Houseplants" on 28 ct even weave. On the left is where I was last month; on the right is the completed piece. Well, almost, I need to sign and date it, press it, and get it framed but...

Part 2 of the SAL has been announced but not yet released.

~~~~~
New starts: travelling stitchery: "Butterfly and Scroll" by Dimensions

While on a visit with a friend in Nevada, I sorted threads in the kit and started stitching on the counted stitch chart.

Next up, stitching according to the painted canvas. Didn't get too far due to bad light in Nevada and in the hotel in Indianapolis but it's a start.

the counted portion of the canvas is the Chinese character; finished in Nevada, February 9.

Three bamboo leaves in top right corner of border, stitched in green in Indianapolis, February 29.

So, in summary, put i a little time on a WIP, finished one SAL, worked on three additional SALs, and started my traveling project...

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WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In, January 26, 2020

1/26/2020

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Question of the month:

What SAL’s are you participating in this year?

Well, for someone who hasn't stitched for nearly a year, I was overly ambitious. I signed up for four SALs, in addition to WIPocalypse! I thought maybe they'd keep me diverted from my BAP UFO/WIPs and allow me to get in some practice on linen/evenweave.

SAL #1 is the Stitchonomy Year of SALs. It appealed to me because it came in small installments over a two month period for each SAL, with the first one - "Homely Houseplants" - starting in earnest on February 1, although the "frame" was released in January. And I have stitched the frame!

The second SAL is "A Year of Blackwork" from Peppermint Purple. Installments on this one come faster - one a week - but they are small and it gives me a chance to get back into handling blackwork with my wonky hand. To date, there are four releases as well as four potential borders (I picked the most complex one, naturally!) and here is my progress to date:

Week One

Week Two

Week Three with a start on the border

The third one is the Linen & Threads 2020 Mystery Sampler, with installments coming monthly. I only got this far, only to find that I had miscalculated my fabric size so I have to start over! I have yet to frog the stitching and put the piece back in my stash:

New fabric is here but I'm not at all sure that the threads I have work --- despite the description of the new yard of fabric as lavender, when it sits next to purple, it turns green! VERY green!

So new thread is on order. here's hoping it works as this is getting to be a very expensive SAL!

The fourth SAL is "Christmas Shadowbox Mystery SAL with Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch". It will be released in segments starting in the April, 2020 issue of Just CrossStitch, continuing through December 2020. It is meant to be in a "tray" of sorts and the variety of threads and embellishments is humongous. I'm thinking I may simplify, substituting threads, omitting charms and the like, and stitching it as a simple sampler. I have the list of supplies and will decide when the issue arrives...

~~~~~

As for finishes this month, there actually is one! The second Michael Powell "Beach Huts Scissor Keep" from his kit of the same name:

Now that the two scissor keep pieces are done, I've decided to NOT make a scissor keep but to make two small ornaments instead. And the two smaller designs in the kit, meant to become a key fob, may or may not be stitched...

~~~~~
Other progress on WIPs:

I actually stitched on "Love Is..." --- almost completed a row of words, and found out why this is a near-UFO. I HATE stitching words! Especially when they include French knots! And there is SOOOO much left to do! On the left is where I left off in February 2017; on the right, Where I am now...

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WIPocalypse 2020 - the start of a new year!

1/5/2020

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We are supposed to introduce ourselves and our projects and list any goals for the coming year in this post.

To start an introduction. I'm Carol a recovering stitchaholic who has been sidelined for a few years by injuries to my left wrist --- first I broke it and had surgery (and a plate) to fix it about three years ago. I recovered from the break, regained the use of that hand after extensive physical therapy, and finally and recovered my stitching mojo in 2019. So I started to stitch again (in March of 2019). Then, last July, a tendon that had been rubbing on that plate (or to be more precise, one one of the screws that held the plate on the bone) and ruptured. It's remarkable how valuable that thumb is and how much trouble it is to have a non-working one! More surgery for a tendon graft and more physical therapy. The hand is almost back to normal, although that thumb will probably never be as flexible as it once was.

So for goals. One goal, really. I hope to start stitching again this year.*

As for projects, they will be as follows:

WIPs/UFOs from years past:

Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler, started in late February of 2014 and put away in April of 2015
"Biltmore", a kit I purchased at the Biltmore Estate in July of 2014 and stitched on briefly in the coffee shop at that estate. I have stitched on it once or twice since then but made little progress from my sole published photo - in fact it has regressed a little since much of the work I did in that coffee shop had to be frogged. This piece also lives in my travel bag
"Love Is.., an intended first anniversary gift for a niece which has missed that deadline and may not make the second as well at there ate I am going. Started in September 0f 2016 and was put away when I broke my wrist, brought out briefly in February of 2017 as a test run of my wrists ability to hold the frame, and put back after an hour and less than four backstitched letters - no shown here (and/or frogged letters!)

A WIP from before the tendon rupture:

the key fob for Michael Powell's "Beach Huts Scissor Keep Kit"

Of course, my stash is still littered with nearly finished needlepoint which requires only backstitching and blocking to be finished, as well as one crewel piece, at least one large blackwork round-robin and some quilt tops. Odds of me getting to those are slim to none... And I'm not even counting pieces which are ready to finish-finish. Maybe someday...
While WIPocalypse is a SAL devoted to cleaning up one's WIP/UFO stash, I think I really will need to take on some new starts, simply because! So I signed up for two freebie SALs (you have to sign up for each, and one has a private Facebook group for getting the charts). Both are stitched in relatively small chunks which, hopefully, won't stress me out and give me a break from the BAPs in my WIP listing:

the Homely Houseplants SAL from Stitchonomy's One Year of SALS which technically starts in February
The Year of Blackwork SAL from Peppermint Purple which started January 1.

In addition, I have been collecting the sampler SALs from Linen and Threads for three years now and possibly could start one of those (no deadlines since theses SALs are technically over as SALs...).

*And I have, three nights of 1.5 or more hours per night so far! Lots of hand cramping on night one; lots of needle dropping on night two and lots of nerve pain on night three. But I persevered!

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WIPocalypse 2019 Check-In, December 30, 2019

12/30/2019

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Sorry --- I'm late but I've been late with EVERYTHING this holiday season!

This check-in is supposed to be a wrap-up of the year: a recap of our accomplishments for the year! (our finishes, our final before/after photos, etc).

Well, given my near complete lack of stitchery for at least 7 months of the year, this will be a short post.

In January, I was nearly totally recovered from my broken wrist and getting motivated to start stitching. My WIPs/UFOs were listed as:

Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler, started in late February of 2014 and put away in April of 2015
"Palm Tree Elegance", a Dimensions needlework piece in my travel bag (I only stitch on this while traveling, in hotel rooms, etc.), started in November 2010 and put away after the last road trip in July of 2016
"Biltmore", a kit I purchased at the Biltmore Estate in July of 2014 and stitched on briefly in the coffee shop at that estate. I have stitched on it once or twice since then but made little progress from my sole published photo - in fact it has regressed a little since much of the work I did in that coffee shop had to be frogged. This piece also lives in my travel bag
"Love Is.., an intended first anniversary gift for a niece which has missed that deadline and may not make the second as well at there ate I am going. Started in September 0f 2016 and was put away when I broke my wrist, brought out briefly in February of 2017 as a test run of my wrists ability to hold the frame, and put back after an hour and less than four backstitched letters - no shown here (and/or frogged letters!)

I only managed to stitch on one of these - Palm Tree Elegance - which looked like this:

before the new stitches were put in on March 1, and was finished on April 26:

Now I should have pulled out one of the other three WIPS but I simply couldn't face them (two were basically all back-stitch which I found hard to control in short bursts and the third was on high count AIDA in light colors on white, so very hard to see...) so I decided to start something new, and small, and on canvas where I could get used to cross-stitches on 14 ct or greater...

I picked a Michael Powell twinchie key fob kit and finished one on July 9, 2019:

and got part-way through a second (below is where it stood on July 16):

Then, with a ruptured tendon to my left thumb and subsequent surgery and recuperation, no more stitching was done in 2019... Heck, I even missed the August check-in!

The hand is recovered but my mojo hasn't.

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WIPocalypse 2019 Check-In - November

12/1/2019

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The discussion topic for this month was:

"What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year?"

I usually learn new stitches when a) doing samplers (basically self-teaching using diagrams and the occasional online video), b) doing enhanced needlepoint. (that's what I call it, not sure it that is a real name for it), or doing free embroidery challenges/classes like TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday). I did my last TAST sampler back in 2014 and while I often applied some of these free embroidery stitches in my crazy quilting, I haven't done any of that since 2015. So I guess you'd have to say I've stagnated for the past 5 years, using plain-old cross-stitch, backstitch, and tent stitch when I have stitched at all. So, since I didn't stitch much at all this year and not at all this last month, I didn't learn any new stitches.

I did finish my physical therapy for my tendon graft surgery at the end of October and had my next-to-last surgeons' visit in early November (the 12-week period when tendon grafts tend to be totally healed). He said if the pain I had been experiencing in the thumb joint(a gift, he said, for having opposable thumbs, AKA arthritis) and the unpredictable flash of nerve pain (possible the result of adhesions to the scar). I could cancel the one scheduled for December 17. Given the steady decrease in pain over the past few weeks (I've been faithfully continuing the PT exercises at home n my own), I suspect I will be canceling that appointment and possibly even get back to stitchery after the holiday fuss and bother is done and dusted.

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WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In: July 26, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In, June 28, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - May 31, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - April 26, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - March 30, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 - February 29 Check-In (two days late)

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In, January 26, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 - the start of a new year!

WIPocalypse 2019 Check-In, December 30, 2019

WIPocalypse 2019 Check-In - November

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