Early for some, late for others

 The one thing I didn't take into account when I came up with my brilliant blogging plan was SAL check-ins.  In an effort to get back into regular blogging, I decided to keep my schedule and just be okay with being late for some check-ins and early for others.  Once I get myself back into a blogging routine, I'll think about working in the check-ins on, or at least close to, their actual dates.

We had another small Christmas celebration yesterday - the box from my mom reached it's destination safe and sound (and it only took a month - those ponies are getting faster every year!).  It was actually rather nice to open the gifts outside of the hustle and bustle that seems to define Christmas anymore.  As usual I was spoiled - thanks Mom!! - with a cute shirt and necklace, yummy candy, a very generous gift card and two very nice additions to my stash:

These are For Ewe from Teresa Kogut (isn't that sheep adorable?) and Stained Glass Christmas from Ink Circles.  And yes, those are the threads and fabric (there is enough fabric to do all four ornaments in addition to the sheep).  Looking at the picture makes me want to start them all.

The first SAL check-in that I'm late for is 

TUSAL is hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat (clicking there should take you to January's post).  If you want a no stress event, this one's for you.  If you craft there are always little bits of leftovers that you normally just bin, well, save them up in a container - it doesn't have to be pretty I use a repurposed Yankee Candle jar - and every month on the full moon, post a picture and then link over to the check-in post.  Here's my jar on December 31st:

and here's where it was last night:

Not a bad start, unfortunately, the majority is frog fuzz from a really silly counting error.

The other two check-ins I'm late for are:     and 

I didn't officially participate in IHSW, so am just mentioning this one in case you're interested in participating.  Clicking Hermie up top there will take you to description of the SAL, but essentially on the third full weekend of the month, clear your calendar of everything else and stitch! or clear a few minutes and stitch or stitch while you're doing something else.  Basically take a little me time and enjoy your favorite hobby and post about either on Facebook or on your blog and then link up on the IHSW post at Serendipitous Stitching.

My two focus  pieces fit perfectly into and are also on my    list so a two-fer check-in.  Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way to thank people that have given us stitching goodness by using the things they have given, show stitchy things that we're giving as gifts, or anything else you can shoehorn, no matter how loosely, into the theme.  Stitch and post on the 15th or thereabouts of each month.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and is a reminder that no matter how bright and shiny the new things are, your WIPs are just as bright and shiny and deserve attention too. Another stitch and post, but this time on the last Sunday of each month.

As I mentioned, I have two focus pieces and they fit into both of these SALs perfectly:

The first is Goldie.  It is charted by Heaven and Earth Designs from a photograph taken by my SIL and will be a gift for my in-laws.  She was here at the start of my rotation time:

and at the end of her ten days, she was here:

I don't anticipate this much progress in future rotations, but there were holidays and days off so lots of extra stitching time.  She's stitched on 28-count Antique White Monaco, 1 over 1 in DMC.

The next piece is Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine.  I was just looking back through my posts and the last time I posted an update on this was July of 2018!  Fortunately, my son is a patient person...  Which is right at the midst of wedding stitching and right before baby stitching.  I had a very hard time getting back into the rhythm of Chatelaine stitching, so not as much progress as I'd hoped but now that I've got it again, hopefully next month will be smoother and more productive.  It was here when I picked it up again:  

and here at the end of its ten days:

I started the specialty stitches in the center - I'd forgotten how much she loved her Jessica stitches - and worked on the water in the lower right corner.  While I seldom question Martina's directions, the stone colored Rhodes stitches in the center are supposed to be backstitched "to provide definition", as they are stitched in a perle weight thread, it was just not an attractive look to me, so I left that out. This is on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan using Martina's DMC conversion except for a couple of threads that didn't convert well and the called for beads and petite treasure braids.

Melissa always provides writing cues for WIPocalypse posts and this month's is:  Tell us about a WIP on which you’ve really struggled to make progress. Explain its history. What appears to be the reason you’re struggling?

That's an easy question, I struggle with all my WIPs.  I still love every single one of them and will finish every single one of them.  The main reasons for struggling are:  I LOVE big projects, the bigger the better: I do NOT stitch as fast as I think I do so I always underestimate how long something is going to take; this last year excepted, I don't have as much stitching time as I used to; and designers have really stepped their games up the last few years and I want all the new things and I want to start them all when I get them. Can you tell I've thought about this before? :-)  I don't see any of these things changing soon so while I am focusing on finishing things, I've decided to be okay with having lots of WIPs right now.  They will all be finished in their time and I am enjoying the journey with each of them.

I hope you are all well.  Now I'm off to start something new....

Trying something new

Two posts in less than a week?  Who does this blog belong to?  In an effort to settle myself and maybe feel just a little bit in control of something, anything,  I am trying some new things.  First is the blog, I have every other Friday off, so I am going to make that my blog day - hopefully earlier than I'm getting to it today, but things got in the way.  So, fingers crossed, I will be posting twice a month.

The second is my rotation.  I had a crazy rotation set up and I wasn't following it - at all.  It worked a bit for the commuting me, but it wasn't working so well for the working-from-home me. I'd been mulling over a change, but couldn't come up with anything, so while listening to Just Keep Stitching over on YouTube, I heard Stephanie discuss her rotation and my ears perked right up and my brain yelled "THAT'S IT!!!" and then I thought, "That's not a revolutionary rotation, why haven't you thought of it before" but anyway...  So instead of the crazily convoluted rotation I had, I am now going to work on Goldie for 10 days, Zen Garden for 10 days and a randomly chosen WIP or whatever I'm feeling at the time for the rest of the month.  Simple and easy to remember.  My wheel is all set up in Decision Roulette for the random WIP pick and even though I didn't put any knitting or crocheting on the wheel, I do try to get a few rows in each night.

Two simple changes and I am feeling energized about my making again and a little settled.  The changes pull me away from "then" and put me in a mindset of now and now has got to be better.  It's not going to make for real exciting blogs as I'll only have one or maybe a few days of a second project, but everything is flexible and maybe this will get me back into weekly blog postings.

I can FINALLY show the making I did for Christmas this year.  I think everyone has received their card and the last of the boxes arrived at my sister's Tuesday.  

Here's my 2020 Christmas card:

The stamp is the Hydranea/Poinsetta PUNCH-INS stamp from Make an Impression.  I did a search for the company but it looks like they are out of business (my papercrafting stash is only about 10 years younger than my stitching stash).  Lots of punching, cutting and some watercoloring but I like how it turned out. 

And here are all the things I made for Christmas:

The four bags on the left were used instead of wrapping paper (I really don't like wrapping so being able to put the gift in the bag and zip it shut more than made up for the additional time it took to make them).  There are also a couple there in the background in different sizes.

There were two more hats (this is before blocking and prettying up) finished after the main picture the hats are knit in SplashOfColorYarnsUS's colorway Smoke on the Water:

And here is a close up of the finishing of the ornaments I showed a while ago:

The little bit of Spam fabric you can see is a mask for DSon.

and here's a closer look at the shawls.  It was one of the few VERY sunny days we've had so the colors are blown out.  The front one is deep greens and blues, the middles is teal and berry and the back one is rich, fall colors.

Now on to more recent making.

Before I started my new rotation, I worked on By the Bay Needleart's Time for Seasons.  It was here when I put it away last:

and it's here now:

This is a full-coverage piece - well, in the areas that are stitched - so it's going to be a long while before it's done.

Goldie (as a reminder since it's been ages since this was out - Goldie is my in-law's dog and I had HaED convert a picture into this Christmas stocking pattern that I hope to give to them this Christmas) was the first of my focus pieces in my new rotation.  She started here:

and today she's here:

I am still working on how to tone down that blue in her nose - I'll finish stitching before I do it just to see if it suddenly just works which happens a lot with HaED charting.  If it doesn't, I do have dyes that I can dilute and strategically place.  I'm very happy with my progress and will be working on her through Sunday.

I also started a throw and a shawl.

This is my version of the Habitation Throw by Helen Stewart (the pattern is available on Ravelry).  I say my version as I have already used a fair bit of "artistic license" especially on the edge as it's an i-cord edge and it is, at times, getting the best of me.  I'm using the Tour de Tolkien 2020 Advent calendar (although it's really a countdown to Christmas not an Advent) yarns from Bumblebee Acres Farm & Fiber Shop.  I was fortunate enough to snag one at their "we have a few left sale" in November.  This year's colors were based on the The Two Towers.  This is the colorway Smeagol.  I waited until they were all unwrapped and then made three yarn cakes with 8 days on each (my baller wouldn't handle all of them).  This is their Squishy Sock base (75% SW Merino/25% nylon).  They didn't have any on their Coquette base (75% SW Corridale/25% nylon) which is what I usually buy from them but this is a nice yarn and I'm enjoying trying something different.

Next up is my version Heavy Metal shawl by Shireen Nadir.  The pattern is available on Ravelry and from The Blue Brick shop.  

Again, my interpretation as I could not get the "slip with yarn in front, yarn over, knit" to look right, so I changed it (and you can see where on that left edge) to "with yarn in back" so I didn't drive myself crazy. I'm using the Winter Berry colorway -

- from WendysWonders127LLC on Etsy - gotta love Christmas money.  She does amazing gradients and offers large skeins - the one I bought is 600 yards and that's a medium.  The yarn is a wool/silk blend and hopefully I can do it justice.  

I also had an issue, with both of these projects, with the circular needles.  I'm used to a 9" circular for socks but not the 24" and 40" these use, so had cables in the way, yarn tangled around cables, etc.  I finally decided to start them on double pointed needles and once they're too long for them, transfer to the circulars. That seems to be working, but I am still having an issue with the yarn tangling.  I suppose some of it just comes with experience.

Speaking of yarn - I placed an order with Ravenswood Fibre Co and was expecting to wait forever as they are in Nova Scotia, Canada.  The other day I received a 9" x 13"manila envelope in the mail.  I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what it is as I hadn't ordered any patterns or books from Canada.  I open the envelope and it's my yarn!!!  To reduce shipping costs, they vacuum pack it!

That's a full 100g skein!!

I don't know how long I can keep it in the bag, but I am tempted to do this with the rest of my yarn.  Keeps it clean and sure makes storage easy.  This also shows how much air yarn fibers trap.

Thanks for reading this longer than anticipated post.  Hope everyone is well and see you in a couple weeks.

A new year, a new WIPocalypse

 A new year with all its possibilities and a new WIPocalypse with all its possibilities.  Before I get into the WIPocalypse posting, a catch-up on what I've been doing the last week or so.

I have my first finish for 2021!!  This is Temperature Tree by Stitchin' Mommy on Etsy:

This is done on 18-count Light Oatmeal Fiddlers - the color is blown out for some reason - with the called for DMCs.  I'm planning to do one for 2021, but need to get floss for the trunk.  I used 3882 for this one, but you can't get it anymore and I don't have two skeins of any browns in my stash (??? how did that happen) so a quick pick-up order to Michaels when I have some more things to get.  

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to start Heirloom Christmas Sampler by The Victoria Sampler. 

 I started at the center top and as you can see from the cover photo, that means The Tree!

I'm stitching this on 28-count Platinum Cashel in the Victorian Rose (roses and teals) colorway.  I bought the silk and beads accessory pack so it's the called for fibers. I could not get the perle accessory pack so will be using DMC perle #8 in white.  Other than being backstitch, once I got past the top five or so branches the stitching was rather enjoyable.  There are more presents and some backstitching to do to finish this band but that should go fairly quickly.

My New Year's Eve start was Amy Cann 1831 from Hands Across the Sea Samplers.  

This is so not my normal style (although I'm not sure what my normal style really is), but the color palette caught my eye and there are no people (people on samplers are a real turn-off for me).   I'm stitching her on 40-count Vanilla Latte from Fabrics by Stephanie with the called for NPIs.  I had planned to stop stitching at midnight but I had a rhythm going on the border and when I finally stopped stitching it was 1:45 AM, so first stitches of 2021.  I didn't finish the border but decided I would on New Year's day.  I had a major PHEW!! moment when the ends matched up:

And here's the closed border:

The actual fabric color is closer to what is showing in the model picture.  The called for fabric is Vintage Strawflower from Lakeside Linens which has a pinkish tint on my monitor and my fabric definitely leans cream/tan.

After I finished the border, I put Virginia - A Cumberland County Inspiration by Heart's Ease Examplar Workes on the frame: 

Despite having a person on it, EVERYTHING about this sampler appeals to me.  I'm stitching her on 40-count Biscotti from Colour and Cotton (the called for is Vintage Meadow Rue from Lakeside Linens) with (mostly) the DMC conversion.  I say "mostly" because there were several colors that converted to the same DMC.  As I wanted the more subtle color shading, I bought the NPIs for them.  There was another hold-my-breath moment on this:

but it matched up and I got all three layers done and a little bit of the dogwood branch.  I normally start in the upper left corner and while I'm usually very confident in my counting/measuring, I wanted to make sure it fit my fabric.  I bought a fat half but the edges are a bit wonky so I didn't want to just measure in 2" and start - so I started at the top middle.  There is a main vine that defines the entire border, but I'm afraid if I stitch it first I'll get discouraged seeing how big it is (441x535) and how little I have done.   

Well, so far, this has been as long as a normal blog post and I still need to do my WIPocalypse introduction.  

was started 10 years ago by Melissa at Measi's Musings.  If you click on the icon above, it should take you to the 2021 page and from there you can get to her blog (or check her out on FlossTube).  The idea was to stitch all those WIPs before the world ended - little did we know it wouldn't be in 2011....  Well, the world didn't end and my WIPs weren't finished and I just added another six, so another year of WIPocalypse works just perfectly for me.  The idea is to put some time into those pieces that aren't so bright, shiny and new (darn those designers - they do seem to be upping their games) and then post on the last Sunday - or there 'bouts - of each month.  No weekly or monthly challenges, no time requirements, no tracking, just stitching or knitting or crochet or whatever your crafts are.  And, if you're at a loss for words, Melissa gives us writing ques each month.  This is our introductory post, so it's to introduce ourselves and our 2021 plans, so....

I'm Susan, I live in northern, central Virginia - almost exactly halfway between Richmond and Fredericksburg.  I am a writer/editor for the US Department of Agriculture and usually work in Washington, DC although I have been blissfully working from home since March.  I share the house with The Hubs and three cats.  I am a solitary stitcher more by of circumstance (When I'm in the office, I have a rather long commute 2-1/2 hours each way - that doesn't leave any time for outside activities during the week and pushes all the stuff that normally gets done during the week into the weekend) than choice.  I have been doing some form of needlework since I was 4 or 5 - anyone remember stitching cards?  My mom taught me to do stamped cross stitch (I did a set of tea towels for my Grandmother when I was in 1st grade) and then embroidery.  I remember the phone call 35 or so years ago when Mom said she'd picked up a kit and had I ever tried counted cross stitch?  Thanks Mom...:-)  I have tried lots of other crafts over the years, yarn is trying to take over right now, I taught myself to crochet two years ago and dusted off my near non-existent knitting skills the beginning of 2020, but there is always a cross stitch piece on the frame (I am a scroll rod/frame stitcher - I have a Needlework System 4 stand that I absolutely love).  I suspect crochet and knitting will become commute crafts once I'm back in the office - right now they are sharing the time with my cross stitch.  As you can see above, I tend to stitch BAPs (if you're new those are big a$$ed projects) so don't have a lot of finishes in any given year.  I put together my 2021 stitching plan a few weeks ago - you can see it up in the WIPocalypse Projects and 2021 Stitching Plan tab at the top of the page AND THEN!! Wednesday, I got a text from my niece saying their adding a little to the family in August!!  Yep, Grady's going to be a big brother.  Such great news and so excited.  So, my stitching plans are changing or they will once we find out what this little is as I'll need to get a Christmas stocking stitched.  

If you read through all of this - thank you.  My normal posts aren't this long, although I don't think I've done a normal post in several years.  Hope to see you all in the WIPocalypse check-ins and looking forward to seeing all your progress this year.