WIPocalypse 2017 check-in - December 31, 2017

We are supposed to "Recap [our] accomplishments for the year!  ([our] finishes, [our] final before/after photos, etc.)" What Can I say? ​So let's start with finished: Zero, nada, zilch, none. Since I started the New Year with a non-functioning left hand and only managed to make it back to nearly-full function in February, I only stitched for a small bit when finding that my had strength wasn't sufficient for prolonged stitching (since I hand-hold everything --- frames or no --- and gripping a hoop, Q-snap or frame with the left hand while stitching with the left meant my left hand began to tire, she adn then cramp within an hour So...NO FINISHES Final before and after photos: Before for "Love Is...", designer Xs and Os After for "Love-Is...", reported on February 26, 2017 Pathetic, right? SO that's where I stand going into 2018. See you in a week!

WIPocalypse 2017 check-in - November 26, 2017

It's that time again --- time to check in and confess that it's been ages since I last stitched on anything. I did try on a soon-to-be UFO back in February - all of 50 stitches before my hand, and patience with the backstitched letters, gave out. And all my good intentions have been stymied by lack of motivation. I really don't LIKE that WIP and the other BIG one I have in "progress" is all blackwork which I can't face right now (I KNOW my hand won't stand up to that frame...). I have been contemplating some smaller (11 x 14) needlepoint --- if I can get my hand to not cramp while holding the frames. We shall see. Maybe a New Year's resolution? I have considered doing what Melissa did and declutter my stash. Not an easy task as there are threads that need sorting and that is my major downfall --- putting threads back when I finish a project! Also, my stitchery stash is only two cupboards (and a table top) in a space with two more cupboards of quilting supplies and two more cupboards ( and two table tops, to say nothing of a gazillion Iris carts) of mixed media supplies, all of which need a good sort-through as well. And given my age, all three categories of crafting mean I really shouldn't just sort and put away, I should DE-stash. After all, there is more there than I will EVER be able to complete in my remaining span of years.  Again, a New Year's resolution? As for this month's question: "What finishing style have you never tried but would love to do?"  To be honest I can't think of one.  ​If you mean actual FINISH-finishing, I've done ornaments, banners, pillows, bookmarks, framed "pictures"... No afghans (not likely to either because of cats who are havoc on stitchery with their claws (for some reason, we have three related who were never told that claws were retractable - maybe it's genetic? -and so they velcro on EVERYTHING fabric!). SO I can't really think of a single technique that I haven't done and if there are those I haven't mentioned, it's because I haven't heard of them! So, on to December and here's hoping I have better news then!

WIPocalypse Check-in, October 28, 2017

And of course, I'm a day late!

Not that I have much to report on... this was another month without stitching, And it didn't help that my Husband had cervial surgery this past week, followed by an ER visit for a serum and subsequent three day hospital stay. He's home now, but my "free time" is pretty much broken up with medication distribution, meal prep, etc. At least he's more or less mobile now, although not for extended periods of time.

Question of the Month – How did you begin stitching?

​I truly do not remember what came first. I learned to knit in college (1958-9 or so) --- a roommate and I were taught by her friend. But knitting didn't last long.

We moved to Florida in 1967 for our PhD studies. I think my next attempt at needlework of any kind was needlepoint. A friend had purchase an eyeglass kit for a gift for her mother but didn't have time to finish it, and she asked me to attempt it. I taught myself and, not long after, someone taught a week-long needlepoint class at the university and I took it. Was a needlepoint (tent stitch)  from then on, until...

We moved to California in 1972, bought our first television set and, at that time, on PBS, Erica Wilson taught a crewel embroidery class. I bought the class books and followed along and added crewel to my repertoire.

​I was working at the time, and traveling quit a bit and neither needlepoint nor crewel were well adapted for stitching on an airplane so I bought a little card-sized kit from the Hallmark store near our office to stitch on the plane. It was a San Francisco Cable Car and I have no idea what happened to it but that was my first cross-stitch... self-taught from the little "instructions sheet" in the kit but it really wasn't a major step from needlepoint tent-stitch to cross-stitch. And at this time, I added some specialty crewel stitches to my needlepoint as well.

​Blackwork was a natural follow-on, with my first pieces being two small kits I bought in Wales when we lived in London (1992-96)...

​Back in the US (2003), I started taking online classes and developed my needlepoint a little, using specialty stitches and finer meshes. And I took up knitting again, sporadically and only flat rectangular things like scarves and afghans...

And there you have my stitching history.

​Now, as for my stitching, I do have the right size stretchers now and am working on hand strength so I can hold a frame to stitch. Maybe this next month?

WIPocalypse check-in - September, 24 2017

This month's question is Which floss (or color of floss) do you absolutely adore and want to stash constantly?

I'm not sure how to answer this one as I don't really stash floss for color reasons. I BUY floss for color reasons --- that is, I NEED that color for a project and it isn't in my stash.

​OK, I said I had a stash of floss and that is true but it does come back to my reason for buying. I do have a habit of wanting EVERY color in a floss type (e.g Anchor, Gentle Arts, Dinkie Dyes, etc.) but have failed miserably on that EXCEPT for DMC, where I am pretty close to having every color in most every floss type (cotton, linen, rayon, metallic, etc.) - I bought a complete range (from Herrschners) back when we lived in China (the 1990s), mainly because there was no place one could buy embroidery floss there (odd given the tradition of embroidery there but it appears not to be a hobby so there are no craft stores, needlework shops, etc --- or at least there weren't when we lived there), and I have added to it (and replenished it when needed) ever since.  I do have a potential "surplus" of black (310) because it is the most often used for backstitch, and  it is ALWAYS used for Blackwork and I was, at one time, doing two or three blackwork projects at a time! 

Now, as for a color I absolutely adore... I never actually think of that in terms of floss. My favorite color is orange but I don't think I have associated that with stitchery in any way. 

​So, I guess my true answer to this question is there is no color that I absolutely adore and was to stash constantly!

And while I did find a source for the stretcher frames I need for three needlepoint kits I bought last October (would you believe, Hobby Lobby is no longer selling them?), I have yet to get out my needle and fabric and floss and start those new kits, or work on my WIPs...  Lack of motivation (and possibly inertia) is the main problem here...

WIPocalypse 2017 - August Check-in

This month's question is "How do you get yourself out of a stitching drought?" and  I really wish I had an answer!

​I have been in a stitching drought since October 2016 --- initially becsaue of a broken wrist (that was roughly 4 months stitchery-free during healing and therapy) and then because my hand wasn't strong enough to hold my Q-snaps for any extended period of time without cramping or shaking. I think I am better now but... getting the motivation to pick up those two WIPS/wannabee UFOs is really, really hard. The "Love Is..." sampler is simply way to late for my niece's first anniversary and I don't like it enough to keep for myself. The Elizabeth Arnold blackwork sampler is way to big to attempt right now: even with my wrist totally healed, I hesitate to try blackwork on such a large handheld piece. I am tempted by three small needlepoint canvases I purchased a year or two ago but it is a matter of actually picking them up and starting one of them, know what I mean?

Anyway, I think you can guess from the above paragraph that I didn't stitch at all again this month. Sorry...

WIPocalypse 2017 - July check-in

It's that time again, and I still haven't a thing to report on the stitchery front. My wrist is better but the hand cramps if I try to hold on to my Snaps for any length of time. Still I will preservere!

This month's discussion topic is: "What are your oldest and your newest WIPs?"

Well the answer to that all depends on what you call a WIP! I'm going to arbitrarily define WIPs as what I was working on when I had to stop stitching and here are the photos:

​Oldest: Plan Tree Elegance, my needlepoint traveling project which was started on a cruise (I think in the fall of 2011 but I'm not really sure). My earliest photo online is July 2014 and the last stitches were taken on a road trip in July, 2016.

My most recent WIP was started in October, 2016, intended as a first anniversary gift for my niece but, broken wrist got in the way and it was last reported on in February, 2017.
As to whether these will maintain their status as WIPS or revert to UFOs, that is anyone's guess. 

WIPocalypse 2017 - June Check-In

A little late here --- we were working the admissions table at Crosby Festival of the Arts yesterday and were exhausted after our four-hour shift!

This month's question is "Show us your stitching space!  Where do you sit, and what is going on around you while you stitch (TV, audiobooks, etc)?"

​My stitching space is my bed, I'm embarrassed to admit. I have my basic supplies in two storage cupboards in my crafting area (these photos are four years old and they are a lot more messy now):

But when I am working on a project, I take project bags with all supplies up to my bedroom (you see my project bag on the floor there next to my dresser in the photo on the left), move my Ott light over to the bedside and sit there while I stitch:

I wing the magnifier are of the lamp around so it is between me face and the fabric in my q-snaps or hoop and focus the light on the fabric.   And I stitch...and rip... and swear sometimes!

As for what is going on around me when I stitch... at the foot of the bed is my television with the satellite hook-up and DVR and I tend to have it on while I stitch. 

Sometimes, one or more cats are also on the bed... so I suspect that the odd cat hair ends up incorporated in my stitching, but I try to keep them at some distance from the floss (which one loves to chew on) and charts (which another loves to sit on)!

This area hasn't had a whole lot of stitching, however, since I broke my wrist last October. It is getting better and every once in a while I tell myself I'm going to get out a WIP and work on it but... my mojo isn't awake yet and I don't. Maybe this month?

WIPocalypse 2017 - May Check-In

Another WIPocalypse check-in where I can't report a single stitch placed in fabric. This wrist is taking longer to strengthen that i had expected!

The question of the month is: "Which designer’s projects do you absolutely love, but are too intimidated to try?"

​Not sure I'd call it intimidated. More like reluctant. I have the complete series of charts for the cats by Kats by Kelly (no longer being produced in cross-stitch; despite the promise for more in 2016 on the website, there weren't any issued to my knowledge) and I haven't stitched a single one because I can't decide which one(s) I want to do, and to do them all is a VERY impractical idea (for one thing, I have no place to display them!). How's that for a run-on sentence? 

See y'all next month, hopefully with better stitching news.

WIPOcalypse 017 - April Check-in

Another month without stitching. My wrist is getting better but I still have flexibility and strength issues in my left had so holding a frame steady for any length of time is dodgy at best. I live in hope!
Meanwhile, the topic for the month is “What projects are in your UFO pile?”
Sadly — a lot. 

Back in 2012, I itemized the UFOs in my cupboard. They were 

• "Angel of Love" - started before we moved to England in 1992!
• "Celestial Angel"  - started before we moved to England in 1992!
• "Map of England and Wales" - started in Saudi
• "Nature's Song" (excerpted from a larger chart) - started in Saudi 

Not itemized, but hiding out in a bin were a crewel-work pillow and six or seven needlepoint pieces needing backstitching and other “top work”,  all predating 1992! And there were a slew of piece-worked tops from quilting classes in Saudi that required backing and binding... And then there is the Round Robin stitchery piece from 2006, were all the participants finished their parts but I have yet to finish it off...

Currently ALL of these pieces are still unfinished, stitching-wise.

And this doesn’t begin to count the two major pieces languishing in my project bag: the Elizabeth Almond “Save the Stitches” sampler and the “Love Is..” wedding sampler. Also, back in 2012, a WIP was Palm Tree Elegance, my traveling needlepoint piece and that is still active! And also in my traveling back is a "small" piece from a trip to North Carolina back in August 2014 ... 

OMG, that wrist has to heal faster, or… because I’m not getting any younger!

There are also projects finished since then that lack the finishing touches, all itemized in early 2017: at least four quilt tops need to be backed and bound and one needs to be pieced (it’s roughly 3/4 put-together right now), backed and bound; my first Bead Journal Project needs assembly as does my Take a Stitch Tuesday sampler, and there is a “slew” of bargello and Learn-a-stitch needlepoint exercise pieces (freebies from Napa Needlepoint - she has pasted many more but I am resisting starting any until I clear my cutting table of the finished ones!) that should be sewn into ornaments! These don’t really require wrist strength — just the courage to turn on my machine or get out my sewing kit, rethread the needle(s) (and the bobbin on the machine -my LEAST favorite thing of all time), and sit down to work. But that means I need to motivate!

Any tips?

WIPocalypse check-in: March 26, 2017

This month's question is: "What stitchy blogs, groups, or flosstubes do you follow and why?"

​OK, The only stitch blogs I really follow (if getting digests each week or month is the same as following) are:

• ​Pin Tangle - because I used to participate in the TAST challenge (but no longer after creating a pile of shapers nearly six inches thick over 2.5 years) and because I really really like the art blog by Sharon B and the photography blog by her partner Jerry Everard (which lately covered their Camino experiences)
• Nuts About Needlepoint - because Janet always has such interesting tips, news and interviews
• On Beads and Needles - simply because I am in awe of Karen's stitching!
• Needle in a Haystack - although, in reality, what I follow is a newsletter, not a blog. I simply LOVE this shop...

​The one "group" I belong to is a closed Facebook group called Cross Stitch Crazy which is limited to members of Yuku's (pretty inactive at present) Cross Stitch Crazy Board which, in turn is a descendant of the old iVillage forum "Cross Stitch Crazy" (now totally lost in the ether thanks to NBC-Universal's mismanagement). I am registered as a follower of the "WIPocalypse SAL" Facebook group although I don't really "follow" it that closely.  I do "follow" (very loosely) a couple of other Facebook groups, like "Take a Stitch Tuesday" and "Ink Circles Mandala Stitchers", but only in that the occasional notification from them appears on my newsfeed.

And to be honest, I had no clue what a "flosstube" was until I just looked it up! No, I don't follow any flosstubes!

Now, as for my WIPocalypse progress in March --- nil, none, zero. I didn't even pick it up today when I decided to see if I had indeed done nothing since my last check-in! I don't WANT to stitch while my hand still aches when holding the Q-snaps (and no, I WILL NOT use a frame --- I HATE frames). And the piece I am working on, "Love Is..." really isn't calling to me, nor are any other pieces in my WIP/UFO pile. My stitching mojo was practically done in by that arm break and I don't know if it will ever recover.

But we live in hope... there is a trip or two in my near future where I may take my traveling needlepoint. No frame, no Q-snaps --- it's being stitched in hand. We shall see if that rekindles the stitching flame.

WIPocalypse check-in - February 26, 2017

The question for this month is: "What is your favorite stitch other than the standard cross stitch?" Well, I'm not sure I have a favorite stitch other than the cross stitch. In fact, I'm not even sure any more that the cross stitch is my "favorite" but... the stitch I use as often as the cross stitch is backstitch, although I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it correctly when I do blackwork. As for how-to, here is the best link I can provide for regular backstitching and here is how to do it (aka the Holbein) in blackwork.

This was another stitch-free month, except for 50 minutes last night trying again to work on "Love is..." I managed to get six letters in backstitch and French knots stitched when I found out that I had stitched the last two one stitch off! AAACK! Frogging backstitch with French knots is NOT fun, I wasted an entire strand of floss in doing this, and now I have some restitching to do to cover the stitched-out linen where the old stitches were.

Still, the left wrist held up better than the last time I tried and I think I will be stitching some more, although taxes take priority this afternoon.

WIPocalypse check-in, January 29, 2017

First check-in for 2017 and not a very happy one, I fear. I tried to stitch on "Love Is..." an Xs and Os design, in mid-January after being given the "all clear" from my orthodpod and my occupational therapist that I could continue on doing my hand exercises on my own. But I failed miserably in being able to hold my q-snap frame for more than a few minutes at a time. Maybe it didn't help that the word I chose to stitch was chock full of French knots (which I hate, especially on linen) but then...

All I got done in one hour was the one word: "record" and I gave up:

I haven't stitched since. My hand is still stiff and I can barely make a fist with it in the morning. And if I use it TOO much, the thumb and wrist start to ache something fierce. I am getting stronger (I can curl a two-pound weight now) but I still am having issues. I hope to get back to stitching soon because, if nothing else, I MISS IT!

This month's question for discussion: What SAL’s are you participating in this year?

As for SALs I am participating in, I am committed to WIPocalypse as a SAL and have promised a stitching buddy to do a private SAL with her on "Cardinal Points" (A Long Dog Sampler). I've also downloaded the first band in a monthly mystery sampler from Linen and Threads. And of course, one of my long-term WIPs is the Elizabeth Almond blackwork SAL "Save the Stitches".

SALS won't be my primary focus, however. Because I have this list (from the first WIPocalypse post this year) of 12 WIPs to work on. Maybe I can tackle some of the machine sewing on that list to whittle that list down.

SALS may also take a hit from new starts. Assuming my hand returns to near normal before the year is out, that is... I have a serious case of "start-itis" lurking in the wings. There are a chart and two mini-kits arrived this week from Michael Powell (more of his Greek scenes). Add to that three needlepoint kits that I ordered last summer before the wrist fiasco... All six have color, LOTS of BRIGHT tropical color, and I really need some of that after this winter and all the monochromatic reds, blues, blacks and neutrals in the embroidery pieces in my WIP pile.

WIPocalypse 2017 - January 1: The Start of a new Year

WIPoccalypse 2017Today we are to “ Introduce [ourselves], [our] projects, and any goals [we] have for the year!”

OK, well, I’m Carol, a retired environmental scientist and community college instructor, who took up stitching in graduate school (in Florida). I started with crewel, began needlepoint when a friend asked me to complete an eyeglass case she had bought, and moved on to cross-stitch while living and working in San Francisco (needlepoint and crewel were too awkward to work on when traveling and I was flying a lot back then; cross-stitch kits were MUCH more portable, at least until I started on BAPs!). I’ve been a cross-stitcher ever since, pretty much limited to white or antique white evenweave and DMC but occasionally branching out to overdyeds (in both fabric and threads).  I have taken online needlepoint and freehand stitching classes, and participated in “Take A Stitch Tuesday” for three years. I also do blackwork, which I really love (odd considering how much I dislike backstitching in cross-stitch!). 

Other needlecraft that I do are quilting (or at least piecing) and knitting. I joined a quilt guild about 6 years ago and soon became their webmaster… but I haven’t progressed much in the quilting realm, although I did participate in several years of the online Crazy Quilt Journal Project. As a sideline to that, I also participated in several years of the Bead Journal Project, playing with adding beads to fabric, especially to the crazy quilt blocks I was making. I started knitting as an undergraduate (was taught by a roommate my Senior year!) and have knitted off and on (mostly off of late - there is one afghan UFO on my needles that I really need to consider a WIP... ooops) ever since. 

Last year was not a successful year for me in stitchery. we were on the road in the south for five weeks in the first three months of the year and when returning, it was hard to get back in the stitchery swing-of-things. Then I broke my wrist in mid-October and have been one-handed ever since. So I’d guess that 2016 was my worst completion year ever! I want to remedy that in 2017 so I decalre this year to be  a starting-over, "Get It Done" year.

I have a number of unfinished project: some UFOs, two projects interrupted by the broken wrist, two traveling pieces, and some crazy quilts and beaded pieces that need to be “finish-finished” (I’m not even going to count all the needlepoint and cross-stitch pieces - or that afghan - that have accumulated over the past three decades and need to be framed or turned into pillows or ornaments or…. ). Here is a list of the pieces (and links to where you can see their last progress report only Weebly blog) that I think I will work on getting done this year:

1. “Love Is” by X’s & Ohs (by Jo Gatenby). It was meant to be a Christmas gift to a niece who was married last April and was only half done when I broke my wrist. I would LOVE to have it finished before their first aniversary...

2. “Save the Stitches” by Elizabeth Almond, a blackwork piece that I was half-way through at the beginning of 2016 and haven’t touched since… 

3. “Palm Tree Elegance”, a needlepoint kit that is my traveling piece. I last touched it in Louisville, KY in July and it is probably 1/3 done. No road trips planned for this year, though, so it may well sit in it’s bag for all of 2017,  untouched.

4. A small cross-stitched piece of Biltmore House that I bought when we were in Asheville, NC back in 2014. It has stalled out since a major frogging back in July of 2014. 

5. My 2015 Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal blocks which need to be assembled into a top, backed and bound.

6. My “Take a Stitch Tuesday” journal of stitches (2012, 2013 and 2014) which needs to be assembled into a book…

7. My 2014 Crazy Quilt Journal Project, nine blocks of which are assembled. The remaining three need to be attached and the quilt backed, tied and bound. 

8. My 2013 Crazy Quilt Journal Project which needs to be backed, tied and bound.

9. My 2013 Bead Journal Project which needs to be backed, tied and bound (and maybe have the sashing redone as it is a tad wonky!…)

10. A “Chinese Coins” quilt top which needs to be backed, quilted (AAARGH!)  and bound…

11. My 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal Project which needs a hanging sleeve and label

12. My 2011 Bead Journal Project which needs to be assembled into a small book (I have the cover started...).

And, as if this weren't enough (remember, I left out a lot of the longstanding UFOS in my stash), there is the most overwhelming project of all — my craft space! It is a DISASTER! It needs to be totally reorganized and (gasp!) purged. There are threads that need to go back into their respective storage containers; beads, buttons and ribbons likewise. And this doesn’t even begin to account for the growing pile of papercrafting supplies that are over-running my space. I fear that this could mean I won’t get started stitching until well into 2017 but if I don’t start NOW, it won’t get done. I know me… I hate organizing (as my chaotic office can testify — it’s been in disorder since we moved in here in 2003!) and I really have issues with purging! But it has to be done, sooner rather than later, and it is something I can do one-handed… I know, one step at a time, or in this case, one cabinet or table or pile at a time…

So there you have it. My projects and my (probably unattainable) goals for the year…

P.S. I forgot! I have one kitted up Long Dog sampler on order and I have started downloading the patterns for a 12-part mystery band sampler. Both are SALs on a Facebook group I belong to. WHAT was I thinking?

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