WIPocalypse Check-in, March 30, 2018

Carol here, fighting a late - and nasty - case of the flu. Not only has it wiped me out physically, resulting in a total halt to my attempts at reorganization, but it has also done me in mentally. I never know, from day to day, if it will be a cough, a headache or (yesterday) serious vertigo that hits... Needless to say, that means I have little to nothing to report on this month. Let's start with the question of the month: "What newer designers and product creators (fabric or floss dyeing, etc) out there have you discovered and recommend?" Well, I have to say, I haven't really been looking at anything new this past year, be it designers, fabrics or colors. My last purchases were three needlepoint canvases/kits from Needle Delights Originals, just before I broke my wrist in October 2016. They were part of the "Destination" series and the three I bought were called "Tropic Seas", "Tahiti" and "Bora Bora". They reminded me of our cruise there a year earlier. I was also attracted to the variety of stitches used as well as the bright colors. Tropic Seas Tahiti Bora Bora It happened that all three are of a similar size but I didn't have stretchers that would work with them so I had to special order stretcher bars of the proper length. By the time these bars and arrived, I was no longer in stitching mode and these three pieces are still unopened in their project bags. I suppose that I would recommend these kits --- or others (there were many in different series) --- for anyone interesting in upping their needlepoint game! Now, as for what I did this month, or what there was of it when I haven't been sick. I started sorting threads and putting them away. My first step was sorting speciality threads from various kits. They were a tangled mess, consisting of skeins, bobbins, and loose threads of various makers: I began by pulling out the threads by Rainbow Gallery, some of which were already bobbinated and others of which were loose and tangled: I located my bobbins and began winding loose threads... Filling the ArtBin case that I had earlier designated for Rainbow Gallery threads: Clearly, this ArtBin isn't really set up to handle the large Rainbow Gallery Cards but all the loose threads are now wound and stored away... With the exception of the cards there on the right, there isn't enough of any one color/type of thread to do much more than accent a needlepoint piece. That is what this final sort is destined for --- the proper bit of glitz or texture to make a needlepoint piece pop! I need to do something similar for makers like WDW, GAST, Dinky Dues, By the Sea, Waterlilies and others, many of which have larger cards like these Rainbow Gallery cards. Luckily, they aren't in as much disarray as the Rainbow Gallery threads and so sorting should be easier, once I feel up to it again. At the moment, however, they reside in the lower of the two baskets you see in the photo above. And once these are put away, it's the daunting DMC/Anchor mess that is left. Did I stitch this month? No. Didn't even think of doing so. Sorry. I need to go take some cough meds now and get some rest.