WIPocalypse Check-In - February 28, 2018

Another month has passed and it's time to report in. We had two questions to answer this month. Questions 1. Gadgets!  Show us your favorite stitching gadgets! ​Well, I'm not really sure what constitutes a gadget in stitchery but I have photos of the tools I use . ​To start with, I have a wooden "box" with magnets inside to keep my needles, pins, needle threader and embroidery scissors in. It even catches the occasional (who am I kidding - often) stray beads fo eventual re-packaging! I have had this for ages; can't remember WHERE I got it (or from whom); and I really can't do anything needle-and-thread related without it! I use Q-snaps for MOST of my medium to large embroidery. I have them in three sizes and, because the pieces are mostly interchangeable, I can pretty much make a frame for anything but the very smallest and the very largest pieces, although making something with more than two extensions on a side results in a pretty wobbly frame to hold steady so I tend to roll excess fabric and make due with the ones shown here... ​Occasionally I will use a hoop. I ALWAYS use the hoops for crazy quilting and sometimes one will be used when stitching on something small, like an ornament, or when I am traveling.  That's a 12" ruler for scale... And my absolutely MUST have tool - my Ott floor lamp with a magnifying arm. At my age, magnification is a necessity and there is no one place in my house with enough light to stitch by unless I have something like this lamp that can go over my work (I don't stitch outdoors for various reasons, like dust and dirt and wind --- it's always windy here --- but also sunlight glare bothers me.). It's old and I don't think they make them like this anymore. But the bulbs last forever (or nearly so - this is only the second I have used since I bought this over a decade ago) and are still available in the event one goes out. I have two - this one in my bedroom and the one (no magnifier) my husband is now using in the dining room to light the dining room table while he works on his jigsaw puzzles! Question 2: How did you do with Olympic Stitching, and what goals did you achieve?  Sadly, I was a no-show at the Olympic Stitching event (and at the Olympics as well --- somehow, I couldn't get excited about ether). So my intent to work on my blackwork fell by the wayside. Disqualified and sent home by the team! ​What DID I do stitchery-wise this past month? Well, Not a lot but I did finally file away a lot of random loose charts that had been piling up over the past few years. In the photo below, you can see how my charts were being "stored": Note the stacks of individual charts on top of the notebooks, piled on the top shelf, etc.  I sat redon on the floor on February 11 and spent three hours sorting, alphabetizing and putting charts into page protectors and the into the appropriate notebook. Not a fun task as they are well stuffed notebooks and the three rings don't allow for opening just anywhere to insert a new page. I really need to move that card storage and probably should get some new notebooks as well. There are some charts that would not fit  - notably those printed off fro the internet which are to the left of teh stitchery journals. The manila envelope is all my Kats by Kelly and the spiral bound books by that are two very large patterns; the two items at the fair right are class notebooks from a PBS Erica Wilson crewel class. ​Interestingly, in doing this sort, I only found one (yes, ONE) duplicate chart. THAT is either a reflection on my memory (I doubt that) or a reflection on the fact that I haven't ordered much recently and/or my stitching tastes have changes. ​Next step - do something similar for the kits and chart packs in my stitchery cabinet - Clearly, there are more kits here and more charts in the bookcase that Will eVer be able to stitch, assuming that I would even want to! A weeding out is in order and, once they have some logic to the filing, that will be possible. Perhaps a sale? We shall see --- it took three hours to sort charts when I already had MOST charts filed in notebooks. Gosh knows what kind of mess these kits are in.  And, unlike the charts, this means ALL FOUR bins and ALL those smaller bits and bobs about them will need to be on the floor, me along with them... A daunting task for sure. As for my goals in March, who knows... maybe I will begin to stitch again. Note the stacks of individual charts on top of the notebooks, piled on the top shelf, etc.  I sat redon on the floor on February 11 and spent three hours sorting, alphabetizing and putting charts into page protectors and the into the appropriate notebook. Not a fun task as they are well stuffed notebooks and the three rings don't allow for opening just anywhere to insert a new page. I really need to move that card storage and probably should get some new notebooks as well. There are some charts that would not fit  - notably those printed off fro the internet which are to the left of teh stitchery journals. The manila envelope is all my Kats by Kelly and the spiral bound books by that are two very large patterns; the two items at the fair right are class notebooks from a PBS Erica Wilson crewel class. ​Interestingly, in doing this sort, I only found one (yes, ONE) duplicate chart. THAT is either a reflection on my memory (I doubt that) or a reflection on the fact that I haven't ordered much recently and/or my stitching tastes have changes. ​Next step - do something similar for the kits and chart packs in my stitchery cabinet - Clearly, there are more kits here and more charts in the bookcase that Will eVer be able to stitch, assuming that I would even want to! A weeding out is in order and, once they have some logic to the filing, that will be possible. Perhaps a sale? We shall see --- it took three hours to sort charts when I already had MOST charts filed in notebooks. Gosh knows what kind of mess these kits are in.  And, unlike the charts, this means ALL FOUR bins and ALL those smaller bits and bobs about them will need to be on the floor, me along with them... A daunting task for sure. As for my goals in March, who knows... maybe I will begin to stitch again