January WIPocalypse

It it's  it must be the end of the month.  WOW!  A weird month - one minute it feels like it flew by and the next it feels like it's been forever. 

No you're not seeing things there were two WIPocalypse posts this month.  Yesterday as the last Sunday of the month was the official check-in, the one the beginning of the month was a warm up and introduction.  If you haven't heard of it, WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and is a nice reminder to focus on those pieces we've already started rather than all those siren calls from the stash pile.  Each month Melissa gives us questions in case we can't think of anything to write about and also to get to know everyone.  This month's is: What SALs are you participating in this year? and if you are participating in the Olympic Stitching Challenge, what challenge are you accepting?  What are your goals? 

I can answer the second part of that question quickly - No. I am not participating in the Olympic Stitching Challenge.  I am doing obligation pieces this year again and I don't want to put extra pressure on myself.  I will be cheering all the participants on though.  As for SALs, I am not participating in any that are "release a part a month" although I am very tempted with the Guardians of Notre Dame SAL by Ingleside Imaginarium and will probably cave in a few months.  I am participating in several "let's stitch and post our progress" SALs.  WIPocalypse obviously but also:

• Gifted Gorgeousness hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching
• TUSAL hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat
• IHSW hosted Joysze at Random Ramblings and Jo on Facebook
• Smalls hosted by Heather at Lotus Stitching and
• Stitch from Stash on Facebook

You can get to all the groups, except Stitch from Stash, by clicking one of the badges on the left hand side at the top the page.  I've been doing all of these, more or less, successfully for years.  I tend to pick SALs that reinforce my stitching goals for that year.  Basically my stitching goals for the last six or seven years has been to reduce my WIPs.  I started with 28 and am down to 17.  I know that doesn't sound like much of a reduction but I have very limited stitching time, and there have been a few starts in there, so I am very pleased.

Now that I've thoroughly answered that question - progress photos! As I mentioned, I am only working on three pieces this year:

Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine.  On January 1st it was here:

and today it's here:

It is stitched on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with Martina's DMC conversion.  The package containing my PTB is still "on it's way to destination" I could have driven to Michigan and back faster than it's being delivered so no sparkle for another week.

Goldie Christmas Stocking charted by Heaven and Earth Designs:

January 1st:

And when it went on the frame this evening

This one is stitched on 25-county Antique White Lugana with DMC.  I am stitching 1 over 1.  It is also the most progress I have ever had on HaED in a month's time.  Hoping I can keep up the pace.

And finally, The Sampler Life SAL piece despite the name I didn't count this in my SAL list as the actual SAL was finished almost two years ago:

January Smalls

I am thrilled that I have kept up with my SAL check-ins this year.  Yes, I know it's only January, but given my last week or so, I am all for celebrating anything I can! So today, I am celebrating the January .

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather over at the Stitching Lotus.  This one, like all the others I participate in, is very low stress.  Pop on over to Heather's blog and sign up, you can join in at anytime, stitch a small (you define what's small) and post a picture on the last Friday of the month.  Simple right?  The SAL is designed to encourage us to love those small designs too and for me it's a chance to actually say I've finished something.  For the next few months, I will be working on The Sampler Life's SAL from a few years ago.  I have five or six more blocks from that and then I will start the Joyful World SAL.

This month's finish is Fountains from Lori Laughlin of Rainbow's Daughter

Not my favorite piece because, well, backstitch!  But I do like the color combination.  If I did it again, I would probably use beads instead of French knots in those diamonds.  As I mentioned, I have a few more blocks to stitch; however, only a couple are 50X50 like all the rest, so a bit of fiddling and math to figure out how to make them fit best.

Zen is on the frame for the rest of the weekend and I just got a notice that my order of PTB is on its way so I may actually be able to fill in some of the blank bits soon.

January IHSW

You all have heard more than you probably care to about my two guests, but just a little more.  In an effort to help them settle in I've been spending a lot of time with them.  I've also been spending a little more time with my three so they don't feel left out.  Of course, being cats, they really only want to accept the attention on their terms.  What's that got to do with ?  Well both Saturday and Sunday evenings, Salem decided that he wanted his attention NOW and I spent a good chunk of both evenings like this:

While it is very sweet, it also cut into my IHSW time in a big way.  My goal was to finish Goldie's ear.  It went from here:

to here:

I made good progress just not what I had hoped but Salem is happy and content and that's more important right now.

TUSAL and IHSW

A twofer post today.  I'm a couple days late with my  but right on time with .

Looks like I'm on another period of unpaid time off until Congress can get its act together.  Here's hoping it doesn't last as long as the 2013 one did.  Fortunately, none of my customers will be impacted until Monday as I don't normally work on Saturday or Sunday.

On a happier note, the guest cats are well settled into the guest room and seem to be enjoying their new found freedom (they had been kept in large cages - they did have vertical space so they were able to jump and move around a bit).  Working on how best, or if, to introduce them to my herd but it's being taken slowly.  I say "if" because I know if I let them out they'll just merge into the group and before we know it we'll be saying we have five cats.  I read an adoption form for a dog that said it had been in the foster home for 7 years!  Ummmmm, after 7 years you really can't say you're fostering it anymore.

I'm a little late on my TUSAL posting.  You've never heard of TUSAL?  Well, it's the easiest SAL you will ever participate in.  All those little snips and bits of thread and what-have-you from your stitching/sewing/knitting/crocheting that you'd normally throw away?  Put them in a container, take a photo and post it every new moon and you're "doing" TUSAL! Hope on over to It's Daffycat to sign up and get the longer version of the directions.

I am using an old Yankee Candle medium jar candle jar for my ORTS.  It's not the prettiest and I don't take the most artistic photos but fortunately this isn't a contest just fun.

This is also the start of .  IHSW is a chance to tell everyone to leave you alone because you're hermitting and stitching with folks from around the world. Don't question it too much, just go with it.  I was all set to start at noon, but got distracted when I sat down at the computer to do this update and ended up finishing my taxes (well to the point of submitting, the IRS won't begin processing until January 29th), and cleaning out my emails and reading a few blogs and, and, and it is now 20 to 2 and here I still am.  I have one load of laundry to throw in the washer and I'm pretty much done with the housework for the weekend, so plenty of time for stitching.  I will be focusing on Goldie.  Here's where it is today:

I would like to finish or at least make good progress on that ear. Back tomorrow night or Monday to update IHSW.

January Gifted Gorgeousness

I held off a little doing this one as I wanted THIS one to be seen by the central Atlantic folks.  Anyway, today is the first  post for 2018.  If you haven't heard of Gifted Gorgeousness, it's hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way for us to thank the people who have gifted us stitching wonderfulness or to show things that we are gifting someone or whatever you can shoehorn into "gift".  If you're interested in stitching along, click on over and join.

I am only working on three pieces this year and they all fit Gifted Gorgeousness' parameters.

The first is a gift to my MIL and her husband (or will be). 

This is Goldie Christmas stocking as charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  It is stitched on 25-count Antique White lugana with DMC threads. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I don't need a magnifier with this one, even though it is over-1.  Yes, I still need my glasses but not the extra help that I need with my 28-count, over-1 HaEDs.  She's back on the frame but I have yet to put a stitch in her tonight - see "Plans", "best laid" and see the results and you'll understand. :-)

My second piece is Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine and it is a gift for my son:

Not a lot more done since my last photo, but progress.  I am stitching this on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with Martina's DMC conversion except for a couple of variegated silks that had no conversion number and the Petite Treasure Braids.  Despite my lack of progress I am loving working on a Chatelaine again.

My third piece is a gift to me, The Sampler Life SAL from a couple years ago:

The hosts at The Sampler Life contacted designers and asked them to donate a 50X50 design to the SAL  As these were donated, I am calling them a gift to me and shoehorning them into the SAL.  This is stitched on Vintage Autumn Gold from Lakeside Linens (yes really!) with the called for fibers - usually DMC.  This particular block is Fountains by Rainbow's Daughter.

And those are the three pieces I am stitching this year and the three pieces that you will see, hopefully with lots of progress, on February 15th for next month's check in.

Plans

What is it they say about the best laid plans?  Yeah, my weekend has been just like that.  MIL and her husband sold their home and are moving (well are moved) into a senior housing community so I took Thursday off to help them with cleaning, all that last minute stuff and to be another set of eyes and hands while the movers were there.  I figured one day was fine as I had FOUR more for my weekend - yes four.  Friday was my scheduled Friday off I think I've said before I work an alternative work schedule that compresses 10 days of time into 9 so I have every other Friday off and today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a federal holiday so four more days for stitching and relaxing.  Now you've heard the plan, the reality...

I get to my in-laws.  The movers are there.  My in-laws are still packing things into boxes and haven't even started on the kitchen and there are clothes in most of the closets and we won't even start on the garage.  So pick a room and start working.  MIL and FIL are both stressed and are not concentrating well so they're flitting around like hummingbirds. Go into the garage and notice one of the dogs isn't doing well (the garage was converted into a kennel for their dogs and birds), so deal with that (he did die over the weekend - he was 15 and had a long, happy life so while sad, not traumatic).  While in the garage, MIL mentions that they don't know what they're going to do with their cats. Wait - WHAT?!?!?!  My mind is well and truly blown at this point.  The moving truck is in the driveway and you don't have a place for your cats (they couldn't take the cats and their dogs they have 3 dogs (well 2 now) and they are elderly and would not be able to be placed easily).  Turns out the rehome they arranged fell through.  So, I spend chunks of time for the rest of the day trying to find any help for the cats none of the normal rescue places are taking cats right now - apparently a large group was just brought up from another state due to a hoarding situation and everyone is trying to home them.  Did find a group that could put the word out on their network but they don't have a physical place to keep them.  So, with the hope that it's a shot-term visit before they can be rehomed, I have two cats in my guest room.  I love cats, I have three of them but that's just it, I have three of them and we're just not ready for five.  So....  If you're in the Virginia/Maryland/northern North Carolina area and are looking for or know someone that is looking for an older cat or cats let me know. 

They are both, as far as I know, around 10 years old and are spayed.  The brown one (we're calling her Molly but she's been "Brown Kittie" for years) is declawed in the front only.  Other than purrs I haven't heard her make a sound yet. She was a little reserved at first but is quite a personality once she warms up to you.  The yellow one (yes, she was called "Yellow Kittie" - we're calling her Emma) is a little more vocal but not a lot.  She is a bit more standoffish than Molly but loves to be pet and played with. Both girls were kept in catteries - they were in the same room but in separate cages.  They are free roaming in my guest room and while they've found their own places for sleeping there haven't been any territorial issues and no fights.  They have been exposed to dogs but have not been around them full-time or in a free roaming environment, so I don't know how well they would do with them.  My in-laws have had health issues the last few years and neither cat was cared for as well as they should have been.  Emma was recently partially shaved due to matting, but she still needs a good grooming and dematting (I've been hesitant to do it as she's been through a lot the last 3 days). 
They don't have to be placed in the same home.

Hello 2018

In addition to trying to keep The Hubs comfortable after his shoulder surgery, 2018 started with snow and cold.  I figured having to deal with those 100+ degree days in the summer was a fair trade off for moderate winter temperatures - 16 F is not moderate.  We're not having to deal with it for weeks or months on end, but just the time we are is plenty for me.  When I moved from New Hampshire one of the things I was looking forward to was thinking 32F was cold - I have reached that point!!.

With the start of a new year, it's time for the first 2018  posting.  Melissa at Measi's Musings is hosting WIPocalypse again this year.  If you click on the badge it should take you to the information page.  If it doesn't try clicking on the badge up top on the left. The nice thing about this SAL is that it is just that a SAL and not a contest except maybe with yourself.   You pick the pieces you want to finish or see progress on and post about them on the last Sunday of each month.  This posting is early just so everyone can introduce themselves.  Melissa also gives us blog prompts or questions each month so we have something to talk about.  This month's is:  Introduce yourself, your projects and any goals you have for this year.

I'm Susan.  I live in northern central Virginia those you that know the area or just want to look on a map, I am almost exactly half way between Richmond and Fredericksburg and about 6 miles north of Kings Dominion amusement park  in the middle of not a lot.  It's just The Hubs, me and three cats here.  I have one son that lives in Michigan along with just about all of the rest of my extended family.  I work for the US Department of Agriculture as a senior loan officer assisting small, rural communities by financing water and sewer systems.  It's not glamorous work, but it is fulfilling especially when you realize that someone will have safe water in their home and won't have to haul water from miles away yes, that still happens in the US.  My office is in Washington DC so I have a bit of a crazy commute about 2-1/2 hours each way counting all the driving, walking, waiting and riding.  I take the train most of the way so it's not as horrible as it might sound.  I used to stitch on the train, but it's become a very popular form of commuting and the trains have gotten crowded so I mostly read now.  Because of the commute, my stitching time is very limited and I don't stitch as fast as I think I do so I have a lot of WIPs. I am a rotation stitcher although I have been known to go OAAT (one at a time) when something needs to be finished.  This year, I am rotating between two pieces Goldie (a gift for my MIL and her husband) charted by Heaven and Earth Designs and Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine (a gift for my son).  I would love to finish both of these to give for this Christmas.  I plan to spend Sunday mornings stitching on smalls so that I have some finishes through the year.  For my smalls I am planning on finishing up The Sampler Life SAL from a couple years ago, start and hopefully finish the four The Drawn Thread patterns my parents gave me for Christmas and then start the Joyful World's SAL from a year or so ago.   To help with my stitching goals, I am participating in Gifted Gorgeousness, Smalls SAL, Stitch from Stash and International Hermit and Stitch Weekend in addition to WIPocalypse.  If you're interested in any of these, click on the badges on the left at the top and you should get taken right to the info pages.

I didn't get any more stitches into Zen my family got together and bought me a Cricuit Explore Air 2 for Christmas and I spent a lot of last weekend reading, You Tubing and playing with it so my stitching was waylaid a bit so here's where it was on January 1st.

The fabric is really a light blue it's showing splotchy white on my monitor and is my go to fabric - Summer Sky Jobelan.

I worked from home this last week didn't want to go back to the office until after The Hubs' first post-op check up so had much more time for stitching than usual.  Goldie was on the frame and went from here:

To here:

I have the rest of today and tomorrow on her and then Zen goes back on the frame.  I am thrilled with my progress so far.  I have had to keep reminding myself that this was not a normal stitching week and past performance is not indicative of future progress.