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 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.

Late, a Bit Early and Really Early

After mowing the lawn today I have decided that I'm going to let it get long and overgrown.  We have been invaded by deer flies!  I noticed them swarming the car the other day when I stopped to pick up the mail, but I didn't equate that to being swarmed while riding the lawn mower.  I have 3 bites that are absolutely driving me crazy with the itching. Living in the middle of not a lot, we've always had them. but this summer is a banner year.  I don't know if it's because we've been so wet or warm or what, but I do hope that whatever is causing it stops soon.  I read that dragonflies are predators, but I haven't noticed an uptick in them (but would be willing to import a few)   I suppose if I can't be outside, I should be able to focus on my stitching and blogging a bit more, so a good trade off.

So, my blog title.  I'm sooooo late for my June  post, like 9 days late!  ACK!! Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts Gifted Gorgeousness as a way to say "thank you" to those that have gifted us with stitching items or to show things we're stitching as gifts or anything else we can shoehorn into the definition.  I have progress on three pieces this month that fit (or I can make fit) into the terms of the SAL.  The first is A Glimpse of Santa by The Stoney Creek Collection.  It's a gift for my Niece-to-be (she'll be my niece one week from today)

You can see the glimpse of Santa that gives the stocking it's name.  I've started the back stitching.  That on the left is wallpaper.  There will be yellowish "dots" added later.  I may have a dig through my bead stash to see if I have something that will work rather than the random xs that are called for.

The next piece is Santa and the Mouse ornament by Scott Gustafson and adapted by Heaven and Earth Designs. This was a freebie on the website a number of years ago, so I am counting it as a gift from the designer/adapter.  He hasn't seen too much progress in the last few months, so it was nice to pull him out for a few hours.

And the final piece is Carnation by Cross Stitch It.  Rather than make you go looking for the picture I'll post it again.

This was another designer freebie, so a gift.

I am a day early for the June  post.  Melissa at Measi's Musings hosts this SAL as a little extra incentive to finish off some of those WIPs many of us have languishing.  The pieces above are all on my WIPocalypse list, so that part is taken care of, but Melissa gives us questions each month in the event we have writer's block and this month's is:  Show us your stitching space!  Where do you sit, and what is going on around you while you stitch (TV, audiobooks, etc)?  We have converted the third bedroom into a computer, crafting, and stitching room so I spend my stitching time in there.  Usually I'm listening to audio books while I stitch but lately have been catching up on some television shows on Amazon's Prime Video and Acorn TV.  I"m thinking of subscribing to The Great Courses channel and maybe Britbox (replacing Acorn TV) but I haven't decided on that yet.  If I do subscribe to either one, I'll be watching much more TV than I do now.   As far as what it looks like here are some old pictures - other than a new chair it looks much the same.  The bookshelf is an IKEA Expidit and it holds the majority of my crafting books, magazines and paper crafting and sewing supplies.

Here's a full frontal:

The samplers above it are all Just Nan class pieces (I didn't attend them, I was able to purchase them from a needlework shop that did cyber classes)  The pieces on top of the unit are from the Silver Needle's Secret Needle Night.  On the right is my yarn storage and mending pile.

The smaller set of cubbies has my DVDs (oh yeah, I watch those when I'm stitching too), kitted up projects, The Hubs' WoW books and a bunch of stuff in baskets that I couldn't figure where else to put.  But the real mess is behind the burgundy curtain: 

This is where I keep everything else - quilting, beading, jewelry making, card making and stamping supplies, there are WIP thread boxes, cross stitch patterns, and on the right you can see my fabric stash.   This is an older picture and some of the items have been donated or rehomed.  The threads you see to the right of the red box (I love those 12X12 boxes) are non-DMC threads.  I have them on split rings (one per company with the threads in alphabetical order) and hang them from the wire shelves.  The closet works pretty well, but I am constantly reworking it as my interests change.  I'm doing a lot of card making/papercrafting right now, so those items have moved to the front.  There is 30+ years accumulation of supplies/stash, so I suppose it is going to take a while to get it all just right, but I dream of the day when I have a craft room with cabinets and shelves and counter space and, and, and...

The final bit of my title - I"m quite early for the  check-in but I leave for Michigan on Thursday and won't be back until Monday (the above mentioned wedding) and I am really tired of being late on check-ins.  Heather at The Stitching Lotus hosts this SAL and it is, as you probably figured out, focused on smalls.  You define what a small is, so the only pressure is what you put on yourself.  I do have a finish this month.  Look back up to the Carnation block in the WIPocalypse section of the post for a picture.  I have started July's but forgot to take a picture and really need to wrap this up before it wins an award for longest blog post ever, so it will have to wait. 

A start, a finish and other stuff

Another finish!  I am as shocked as you!  Sentimental Heart is now hanging on the "Admire Me" curtain and will be off to the framer sometime this week. 

It took a while to get the beads figured out on the modified areas, but I am happy with how it turned out.

With that finish, I have one commitment piece to go.  A Glimpse of Santa is one the frame now and looks like this:

Someday this will be a Christmas stocking.  The pattern is from the Stoney Creek Collection and is done on antique white 28-count Monaco with DMC.  There will be a few modifications for this one also as the pattern is so old (I just found it but the copyright is 2001) that most of the called for bits and bobs are no longer available.  I see some time at the jewelry/bead sections of the big box stores in my future and am looking forward to seeing what I can find.

I also got some time in on Santa and the Mouse and Shakespearean Fantasy this week.

Started his glove and did a bit of a curtain.

More black here, but I should be back into the greens when I pull it back out Friday evening.

And last for this week:

Gold and Purple Corner by Scarlet Suen for The Sampler Life SAL.  I have a couple more gold motifs to add and then onto the purple.  I am fairly confident I will finish this one this month. I do need to unroll this so I can get a photo of the whole thing and remind myself what it looks like.

I should pull It's About Time out and get a few stitches into it this evening, but I am beat.  I had some minor surgery last Wednesday.  Few days off work and, because of my killer commute, a couple weeks of telework just to be sure everything stays together and where it's supposed to be.  I had no trouble getting up and getting going this morning, but around 2:30 this afternoon my energy level fell through the floor and I almost fell asleep on my computer.  Granted the project I'm working on isn't the most exciting thing ever dreamed up, but it isn't something that normally puts me to sleep.  All that round about to say, I don't think I will be doing any stitching tonight.  But as I have two weeks of evenings ahead of me, I'm not going to be too upset about losing tonight.

March's Gifted Gorgeousness

I'm sure I mentioned that we recently had 80 F temperatures here in central Virginia.  WELL, we are paying for it in spades.  If you're on the East Coast of the US you know what I am talking about, if you're not, there is a major storm moving up the coast with lots of snow, ridiculously cold temperatures and strong winds.  In other words, it's a good ol' Nor'easter and we should have had it in January or February, not the middle of March. We missed the snow at my house, but when I got up this morning, there was a coating of ice on everything.  They called a 3-hour delay into work or unscheduled telework.  As that kind of delay doesn't fit in the train schedules even on a good day, I teleworked again today.  It was nice to be inside and warm (except for that 10 minutes at lunch when I went out to fill the bird feeders).

DSon lives in Vermont and his last text to me was that he can't remember a storm like this one. At the time it had been snowing several hours and he had 7" with up to 20" predicted (just got another text and there is just under 12" right now). Before it got too bad, he went out and made

Yep, snow angles.  He figured this was so much better than getting snow down the back of his jacket and besides as you can probably tell, there wasn't that much snow at the time, so falling into it would have meant a painful thunk on the frozen ground.  

Any way, onto stitching and March's .  Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts this SAL to give us a way to say thank you to everyone that has gifted us stitching goodness or to show off pieces that we are doing as gifts or anything you can shoehorn into the term "gift".  The link will take you to the Gifted Gorgeousness page where you can find all the information you need to participate.  While you're there, click around Jo has a wonderful blog and lots of beautiful stitching.

I actually have quite a lot to show so this will be picture heavy.  First up is Santa and the Mouse.  This is a retired freebie from Heaven and Earth Designs.  It's taken from a Scott Gustafson work.

I finished two columns and another 300 or so stitches into the new one.  As this was a freebie, I count it as a gift from the company/designer.

Also from Heaven and Earth Designs is Shakespearean Fantasy.  This one is an adaptation of a James C. Christensen work.  

I have almost finished another column.  I should be able to finish the last couple of blocks and maybe start a new column on Friday.  The pattern for this piece was a gift from Pull the Other Thread.

And my last HaED is It's About Time by Ciro Marchetti.  

I got another 100 stitch block done.  Don't know what is going on with the lines, they don't show on the piece. Oh well.  The pattern for this one was gifted to me by Kate at Needles and Haystacks.  If you haven't seen any of her stitching you need to check out her blog.  She does the most amazing redesigns and her stitching is gorgeous.  Oh and she's started designing too.

This piece is a gift to DNiece and her husband (well he will be when they open the gift).  It's Sentimental Hearts from The Sweetheart Tree with one modification so far:

It's a craptastic photo as usual.  The area where the saying is was lengthened a bit and the saying replaced an alphabet.  I am going to replace a section a little further down with their names and the date of the wedding. Lots of beads, paillettes and heart beads finish it.  Mostly DMC, but some perle coton and one Needle Necessities that was converted to a ThreadworX color.

And finally another piece that was a freebie:

This is the block from Golden Circle Designs for The Sampler Life SAL.  22 designers donated squares to the SAL, so like the HaED's freebie, I am counting it as a gift.  I am aiming for a finish this month, but it seems to have taken forever to get it just this far.

More than a bit late this time

Once again, I had post ideas running through my head and photos downloaded and all I had to do was sit down and put it all here.  It just didn't happen (obviously).  No reason other than time got away from me again.  So without further ado, here is:

,  Heather at Stitching Lotus hosts this SAL.  No strange rules or special patterns to purchase for this SAL.  Just stitch a small  and post your finishes on the last Friday of each month.  Simple right?  The rules are simple, actually finishing something has been the challenge for me, but I finally had a finish in February. You've seen it before but as it took me sooooo long to finish it I am showing it off again.

The more I look at it, the more it looks like it's been sucking lemons or forgot to put its dentures back but something just looks off about the mouth.  I think I'll stop looking at it too hard and just move onto the next small. 

Not close to a finish, but a little more progress.  You can really see where I frogged in this picture.  I need to invest in a lint roller to get all those bits of frog fuzz off the piece.

The second SAL I am late for is .  Melissa at Measi's Musings hosts this SAL.  Not only does this SAL help me focus on finishing up those pesky WIPs, but Melissa provides prompts for us in the event we can't figure out what to blog about.  This month's is:  What is your favorite stitch other than the standard cross stitch?  That is easy.  I love doing Rhodes stitch in all its variations.  Squares, circles, rectangles, hearts - the more the merrier.  This http://www.needlework-tips-and-techniques.com/rhodes-stitch.html will take you to a site that has instructions on square, heart and a few variations on the Rhodes stitch.  I like it because it adds a bit of texture to a piece without being too bulky that and I LOVED doing string art pieces when I was a kid and it seems to have stuck.

I had progress on three of the projects on my WIPocalypse list this month.

First It's About Time went from here:

to here:

It's only 200 stitches, but it was a hard won 200 stitches.

Shakespearean Fantasy was here  at last month's check in.  Today, it's here:    I had more progress on this one than I thought as there is a column finish and about 400 stitches into a new one.

Santa and the Mouse went from here  to here 

I finished two columns and got a bit of a start on the next one.  I'm still not completely settled in with this one.  I am not used to starting in the center and I feel all discombobulated.  

And Sentimental Heart looked like this in January  and today it looks like this  While I like doing Rhodes stitch, those little spiderweb roses are a very close second.  I finally, finally, finally, have the wording changes all figured out and drafted.  I should get to them this weekend. So all that muttering and swearing you hear on the wind is me.

I am not sure how much stitching I will get done in the foreseeable future like so much stitching has been getting done anyway as my telework schedule was changed from Thursday and Friday to Friday and Monday.  Same number of days but not the same amount of time.  I can stay up later on Thursday knowing I don't have to get up at 4:00 Friday morning.  Unfortunately, I do have to get up at 4:00 on Tuesday morning, so it's an early night on Monday.  I think I'm going to lose two or three hours of stitching time while this is going on.  I'm very happy to pass along my knowledge but ugh. Oh well, at least they didn't take the telework day away.

A Finish

This finish gets...

Yes, I finally finished

Tiny Tiger by Artecy Cross Stitch counts as the longest it has taken me to stitch something this small. The piece is 50X50 stitches and I started it in June 2016 and just dragged and dragged. I decided that it had sat around long enough and was determined to finish it. I finished the majority of the stitching yesterday and spent a good chunk of today filling in missing stitches.  

I have progress on a few of my other WIPs too.

It's About Time was pulled out after a few month's hiatus:

It has 100 new stitches and I was able to get a little bit of a rhythm going.  That rhythm passed over to Shakespearean Fantasy

I finished one column and started another.  Lots of black for the next few stitching rounds, but I am getting close to a page finish.

After I finished Tiny Tiger, I put Sentimental Hearts back on the frame and got it to here:

The little spider web rose was fun to do.  After looking at the picture, I think I need to redo the eyelet on the left as the center hole isn't the same size as the one on the right.  I still haven't made any progress on the name/saying decision, but need to do it soon as the vine on the right is close to the beginning of the alphabet section that I want to replace.