A little behind my time

Rather than a leisurely lie-in on Friday (my day off), I had to get up earlier than I normally do for work, take my car to the garage and wait while they repaired the windshielf wiper motor.  To be fair, the motor worked just fine it just turned itself on and off at inappropriate times.  After getting that all sorted, I made a quick trip (if there is such a thing) to Trader Joe's and then home.  By then, my weekend schedule was thrown completely off kilter and here I am blogging on a Sunday.  Not just a Sunday, but the first Sunday in May!!!  

I think this one's going to be long, so grab a cuppa your favorite:

The bird sightings for this blog are very colorful.  A pair of rose-breasted grosbeak.  Here's a picture of a male and female from the Birds & Blooms website:

We are in their migratory area so they'll only be around for a few days to maybe a week but always nice to have them stop by.

We also had a brief stop by of four or five ruby-throated hummingbirds last week.  Here's a picture of  a male from The Spokesman-Review: (not my local paper, but a very good picture)

As best as I could tell, there were three males and two females.  We usually have two or three pairs that stay through the summer, butI haven't seen any that look like they're settling in yet.

And while I was typing, a male indigo bunting  joined the group at the feeders.  We're in their breeding area, but I only see them occasionally.  The photo is from The Cornell Lab.

But you're not here for birds are you?  How about:

No, that's not the latest picture of Baby W, that is a picture of the newest Baby L!  Jack and Cassie will have a sibling come October!  Another new one to meet!  And aren't the holidays going to be fun with five littles?

That news changes my crafting plans for the rest of the year.  As I need to do another blanket, birth notice/sampler and stocking, so April was probably the last month for my regular rotation.  I'll need to work out a new one as I don't want to lose the momentum I've built up on Goldie and Zen.

With that, here's a broad recap for April - I stitched for some amount of time on 27 days, I knit on 29 and took one day off from both.  

I'll start with the knitting.  The majority of my knitting time has been for Baby W's blanket.  

The pattern is Puffed Baby Blanket from Plymouth Yarn in Lion Brand Baby Soft in the Twinkle Print colorway.  I am well into the second ball of yarn.  This is a "knit until you're happy with the length" pattern so not sure how much more I have to do.  

On the 19th, the first clue for the Knights Who Say Knit mystery MAL dropped.  Clue 2 has dropped and Clue 3 will come out tomorrow, I still have two sections of Clue 1 to finish but I am very pleased with how it's coming along.  I have done a LOT of unknitting, ripping back and have even learned to ladder down but I'm counting those as gains as they are all things I will need to know in future projects.  There are still lots of mistakes but they are ones that I can live with.  Here's where I was through section 5 of part 1:

Knights Who Say Knit by Lyrical Knits.  Yarn from Miss Babs in Hamster and Elderberries 

And yes, that is an oldie but goodie Knights is sitting on - will get to that in a minute.

But, I just remembered   was last Sunday and my next project falls under it.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings.  It's an encouraging SAL to remind us to give a little love to the pieces we've already started even though that or that or that new start is calling.  When I posted last I had four days left on my Japanese Zen Moss Garden by Chatelaine.  You can see previous progress pictures from April here.  In the days that were remaining in its rotation it went from here:   to here:   Here's a closer look:  

You can also see my progress on Goldie in the previous post.  She's the other project on my WIPocalypse list this year.  Melissa gives us prompts each month and April's was:  Have you found yourself to be more or less productive in your stitching during the Covid-19 pandemic?  This is an easy one for me - MUCH more productive.  As I've mentioned, I used to get up at 3:45 AM, leave my house by 4:45AM, return about 7:45 PM and was in bed by 9:00 PM so not a lot of time for much of anything.  My stitching/crafting time was limited to a few hours on the weekends and whatever I could manage on the train (although the train had become so crowded that it was difficult to do any stitching).  Since I've been working from home, I've not only gained the commuting time but several additioal hours as I don't have to go to bed with the sun (well that saying only works in the summer but...).  My biggest issue was getting myself out of the mindset of "I don't want to get settled as I don't know when this will end".  I still feel that way, but we have been told we will be given at least 30 days notice before we have to come back into the office and once back in the office, we'll still be on, as best as I can tell, a very telework heavy schedule.  I believe I'll be teleworking four days a week.  They haven't given any guidance on our schedule if we're on an alternate work schedule like I am.  It is possible, I may only have to go in one day every other week.

Once I finished my 10 days on Zen, I pulled out Temperature Tree and added the rest of March's and through April 22nd's leaves.  

It is still a much cooler tree than last year, although there are a few warm days in there.  At some point I will post a comparison with last year's.

Once Temperature Tree was caught up, the Wheel of What's Next? was consulted and decided that Elegant Doily deserved some time.  The best I can tell, the last time this piece was on the frame was for a week in August of 2015.  This is one of my oldest WIPs.  I started it during my son's senior year in high school. His 20-year reunion is this year.  Here's where it was when I started   and when I finished up on Friday     and here's a closer look   Not a lot done. I finished cutting the diamond on the left and the squares in the diamond and started wrapping. This one takes me forever to get going on.  I will find anything to do but work on it.  Once I get started, it is enjoyable, but it takes SO much to get me started.  Hopefully, the Wheel of What's Next? will pick it again soon and I'll remember how relaxing it is to wrap those bars and sit down and start right away.

Phew! I think that's it.  Next time I hope to have my new rotation figured out.  

As I still haven't decided between two pieces for Baby W's announcement, I'm going to start one today to see if it sparks anything.  If not, maybe it will work for Baby L.  If not, I had it in my stash so I must have liked it and will have it done.

December WIPocalypse

It's a few days late, but as the topic for this  check-in is to recap our 2015 stitching accomplishments, it gave me a few extra days to stitch - which didn't happen but it was a good thought.

2015 was a good stitching year.  I had 18 finishes, mostly smalls, but given the limited stitching time I have, it is quite a lot.  All of my finishes can be seen in the tab above titled Finishes (catchy isn't it?).  I put a list of WIPocalypse projects together about this time last year, unfortunately, there will not be much difference in my 2016 list. From the list, I had two finishes:

Holly and Hearts Sampler by Lizzie*Kate

and Spring in the Air by Just Nan

I had some progress on all the others on my list:

Mirabilia's Santa's Magic went from here:



 to here: 

Elegant Doily by Kayann's Kreations was here on January 1st:



and here when I put it up last: 

Secret Victorian Garden started the year here:

 and ended it here:



Shakespearean Fantasy and Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs were blank pieces of fabric the beginning of the year and are here today:

 

I kept up with my rotation fairly well this year.  The last couple of months have been "stitch what I want when I want" and very relaxing, but I can feel the rotation calling again, so will most likely start it up after the first of the year.  I also did better than expected with my SALs and checking in - well I did until the end of August when they started to get away from me.  I have pared back the SALs for 2016 to a much more manageable three (if you are interested in participating in any of them, the badges at the top of the page should be clickable and will take you to the respective pages). 

I have this week off from work and have a stitching plan worked out (which I have already deviated from) which could have me finishing one or two more smalls and making some progress on Secret Victorian Garden; however, I will not be too upset if I don't. I do have a new start planned for January 1st, Just Nan's Christmas Soldiers stocking, and have several other pieces that I will be starting throughout the year, or I may start them all in January and create a rotation around them, or something else will come to me in the next couple of days and throw this all out the window.  This is the first year in a long time that I have not had a solid stitching plan in place this close to the new year and I am not sure if that is good or bad.  I suppose as long as I am stitching it doesn't really matter. 

I hope you all had an enjoyable and productive stitching year and that 2016 will bring more of the same.

Half a page

Half a page, half a page,

Half a page onward,

 

With apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but I have finished half of page one of Shakespearean Fantasy.

 

In total, there are enough stitches to probably say there are a couple of pages done, but the great black blob, with one very dark navy stitch, is easy to count. Those hanging threads at the bottom are my first attempt at parking! I know, it doesn't really count with solid stitching but you have to start somewhere right?  I also just saw that you can see all of the travelling threads in this photo.  Fortunately, the black will cover them.

And that one photo takes care of my YOTA, HAP and part of   WIPcoalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings, YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread and the HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches.  All three aim to help us focus on finishing what we have started rather than just adding to that stack of WIPs. 

 

In addition to Shakespearean Fantasy, Elegant Doily and Christmas Presence are on my WIPocalypse and YOTA list.  Elegant Doily ended here:

 

 

Each month, Melissa provides a topic to discuss with our post. August's was to pick a piece we stitched on this month and discuss our stitching journey. I am going to use Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs.  I received Shakespearean Fantasy as a RAK and was planning to start it on January 1st.  As I was new to the solid stitched type piece, I went looking for all the hints and tips I could and ran across the HAED YUKU board. As I was looking through all the forums, I ran across a topic line to sign up for the 2015 Freebie SAL.  A part would be released on January 1st and the next three during various times through June. As the pieces were small parts from larger charts, they would be detailed but would be possible to finish in a year. I also thought it would be a great chance to try out various styles of HAED stitching - gridding, cross-country, parking, etc.  I signed up and went digging for fabric.  I found a piece of 28 count Cashel and set about gridding.  All the threads were pulled and I was ready for my January start.  As I stitched, I could feel myself becoming very irritated.  I was concerned as I had also just started Shakespearean Fantasy and if my irritation was with the style of stitching rather than something else, I was going to be very unhappy for a very long time.  After a bit I decided it was the unevenness of the Cashel that was the problem, so back to the stash I went and found a piece of 28 count Jobelan (the same fabric I had pulled for Shakespearean Fantasy). That change made all the difference and everything fell into place.  I have learned a lot on this piece, but most importantly, it's all just one X at a time. I am no speed demon but am making steady progress.  I have almost finished the first page and did it cross-country.  I am going to try parking on the second page as I think it will help with Shakespearean Fantasy once I get past the pages of black and really get into the confetti stitching.  I really do like the detail that is achieved and could very easily see myself getting hooked on these pieces.  Here's a collage of my progress:

 

 

I started September's square for The Sampler Life's SAL but will save that for a later post.

 

A rare non-SAL check-in post

For the first time in ages, I am not posting about a SAL check-in. 

Elegant Doily from Kayann's Kreations was on the frame this week.  The last time it was in the rotation, I found every excuse I could to not work on it. This piece is the only WIP I have that is a chore to work on.  I know, if it's not fun, why do it? Shear stubbornness.  I am so far along on it that I can't bring myself to throw it away and I know if I take it out of the rotation, it will never be seen again. 

Here's where it was when I pulled it out:













I finished the wrapping in those nine blocks and did a lot more cutting. I also decided that I didn't like the spider webs and took them out. I think I am going to leave the border open, but as always, it's subject to change.



In my last post, I talked about the Chatelaines I had finished. Jo from Serendipitous Stitching suggested I show them all. So, this collage is for you Jo...

The picture is clickable

The six smaller ones in the first two rows are the Mini Mystery Mandalas. I don't remember which one is which, but I do remember they are stitched on Silkweaver fabrics - the third one from the left in the top row was a finalist in their stitching contest one year (I don't remember that either).  The one on black fabric is Roses and Violets, it was Sampler Mystery IV when I did it. The Christmas one is Christmas Mystery IV. There are two photos of Egyptian Garden, the first shows it at the framers (Jill Rensel) and the second was taken at the fair.  Caribbean Mandala was Mystery XII when I stitched it. I did the framing, and it is hanging in my office.

I started the new The Sampler Life block this morning.  It's called Spring Hearts and was designed by Olde Willow Stitchery. 

This one was smaller, 47X47 then the others, 50X50, so I backstitched an additional border to make it the same size.  Shakespearean Fantasy is on the frame right now and I will probably be stitching black, black and more black this afternoon.

December WIPocalypse and YOTA - 2014 Recap

Before I get started on my recap, Happy Birthday to DSister! I was digging through pictures but couldn't find any of the two of us when she was a baby.  The closest I got was this one:

It was taken Easter 19-something-something when she was 2 and I was 4 or 5 depending on when Easter was that year.  That foliage behind us?  I think it's honeysuckle that got a bit out of control.  The year after this picture was taken, a chicken took up roost in it.  No we didn't live in the country, we were only a few miles from the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman - we figured she was someone's Easter chick that got away (or was allowed to get away as it wasn't cute any longer). We fed her graham crackers and named her Chicken Licken.  Unfortunately, chickens are not good house pets so when we moved to Michigan, we couldn't take her with us.  So one weekend, we caught her, and found a nice farm that took her in.  I am sure she spent many long, happy years wandering around the farm yard doing whatever chickens do and died peacefully in her sleep of extreme old age.

So besides my sister's and DBIL's birthdays and their anniversary and Christmas, December means - recaps!!  As it's the first Saturday of the month and a full moon, there are two recaps, WIPocalypse and YOTA.  Fortunately they are both WIP focused SALs so it is great that the final post for 2014 for both of them falls on the same day.

I had five pieces on my WIPocalypse/YOTA list this year.  I am really pleased with the progress that I made on all of them.

Santa's Magic by Mirabilia went from here:

To here:

Enchanted Swans by Just Nan started here:

And was finished on January 3rd:

Elegant Doily by Kayann's Kreations went from this:

To this:

The section shown in the before photo is on the left in this photo

I had a bit of a switch up with my Chatelaine piece.  I started with Serengeti and went from here:

To here:

Before it was put away in favor of Secret Victorian Garden.  SVG went from this:

To this:

The lower right section in the before photo is the upper left in this one.

And finally, Three Tulips by With Thy Needle and Thread went from here:

To a finish on April 10th:

So two finishes from my list and good progress on the other three. I don't know if either of these SALs will continue into 2015, but I will continue with my WIP reduction plan. 

Speaking of 2015 SALs, Gifted Gorgeousness, DESIGN and A New Stitchy Start 2015 are still taking sign-ups.  Heather at Stitching Lotus has announced that she will continue with the Smalls SAL for 2015 and is taking sign-ups and Mel at Epic Stitch has a page up, although sign-ups are not open yet, for Stitch from Stash 2015A. Clicking on the SAL's name should take you to the sign up/information pages for each one.

Secret Victorian Garden went on the frame today and I may take a break from the rotation, honestly I have been rubbish at doing any stitching the last couple of weeks so I don't think it will make too much difference, and just leave it on the frame for the rest of the year. I am also gridding fabric for three, yes three, HAED starts (two fairly smalls ones for HAEDs and Shakespearean Fantasy) and am finding it rather relaxing so will throw that in every so often also.  I do hope to have one more small finish this year, but am not really pushing too hard as I have a ton of holiday crafting and baking to finish up over the next couple of weeks.

November Stitch From Stash and other things

For all you folks in the US:

A big welcome to my new followers.  I really appreciate you stopping by and reading about the craziness that is my stitching life.

Besides the start of holiday stressing, November means the beginning of announcements for 2015 SALs.  I always say I am going to cut back on them, but never do. I was waiting on the official sign ups for a couple of mine from this year that will continue into next when Jo at Serendipitous Stitching announced the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  The SAL is a way to show people that have gifted us stitching items, how much we appreciate their gift.  I have two charts, Snow White Santa by Mirabilia and Shakespearean Fantasy from HAED, that fit the SAL theme perfectly, so Gifted Gorgeousness became my first official SAL of 2015.  Snow White Santa is slated to go into the Santa slot in my rotation but won't be started anytime soon as there are a couple ahead of him, but Shakespearean Fantasy is slated as my New Year's start - I am working on rotation revisions but believe that instead of both my off Fridays being set aside for smalls, one will be for smalls and one for SF.  Anyway, if you're interested in participating, the SAL name should take you to the sign up page.  If it doesn't work, the blog name should take you to Jo's blog and you can navigate from there.  In the spirit of the SAL, Gillie at Random Thoughts from Abroad is having a give-away for those of you living outside the US - 15 skeins (your color choices) of DMC floss.  I forget that DMC is a loss leader in the big box stores so not everyone has access to the $.39 to $.44 prices.  And in line with Gifted Gorgeousness, my mom stitched this pretty towel for me:

Speaking of Shakespearean Fantasy I have all the threads, except black (even being the thread stasher that I am, do not have 41 skeins of black) pulled and need to bobbin them (yes, I know that is not everyone's favorite way of storing their threads, it's not mine either but it is the easiest way for me to store all the threads for this project and no I will not be bobbinating the black.  I am planning to purchase a cone of thread and will keep it in the project bag) and will be buying the fabric around the beginning of the year.

Why am I waiting until the beginning of the year? Well, I have, so far not spent anything on stitching stash this year and just because I can, I plan to finish out the year that way.  What a perfect segue into my Stitch from Stash report.   Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel at Epic Stitch and is a way to get the stash spending under control and reduce that stash a bit.  We get a budget of $25 (or the equivalent in your currency) each month for "must haves" and are allowed to carry over the unspent amount to the next month.  For November I had:

Carried over:  $250
November Budget:  $25 + $50 exception
Available:  $275 + exception
Spent:  $
Balance forward:  $300.

I had two new starts from stash Garden Fair:

and He Tends:

Since my last report, I stitched on each project in my rotation!! Yea me!!! 

Santa's Magic has been on the frame this week and went from here:

to here:

I have started filling in the beard with Wisper and am not enjoying it, so I stitch an area of beard and then go to something different (I finished the glove and a bit of the cuff shadow) so that I don't get overly frustrated.  Santa  is on the frame through tonight, so I hope to have a bit more progress on him.  Lizze*Kate's Holly and Hearts Sampler goes on the frame tomorrow.  As I have next week off and no plans I hope to finish part 2 and a good bit of part 1 - because I'm stitching it upside down (to fit my stitching style) I did part 3 first.