WIPOcalypse Check-In, July 28, 2019

The question for the month is:

“How do you get yourself out of a stitching drought?”

Good question. Since I was in such a drought for nearly two years because fo try aftermath of a broken left wrist, I’m not really a good source for a solution. I managed to “force” myself into a finish back in April and even that didn’t have a permanent effect. I tried to use the second stitch-a-day challenge with new pieces and it seemed to be working until…

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July 16 (I missed a day because of a late night after two days of house guests following an exhausting road trip to and from Wisconsin)  and then July 24, when I ruptured the extensor tendon to my left thumb (yes, the same hand I broke!) and ended up in surgery on July 26. The cast makes stitching, or any other two-handed activity, impossible.

And it will continue to be impossible until well after cast removal on August 12, 2019, because Physical Therapy will be require to get function back. This is practically a replay of the wrist break events and I expect it will result in similar stitchery impacts.

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​I did accomplish some stitchery this month, however. There was the finish on July 7 of a Michael Powell "twinchie", floss on 18ct canvas:

There was the stitching on a road trip on a kit, "Leopord Purse" by Design Works (Marilyn Robertson), floss on 14ct Aida, between July 10 and 13:

And the stitching on a second Michael Powell twinchie between July 8 and July 23:

Two frogging attacks in the second twinchie and a massive mistake in color choice in the aida piece (which I decided to live with as I didn't discover the mistake until three days in) did not help with the motivation.

All in all, the month started out good and fell apart at the end.

A Compleion!

I finished a little 2x2 square designed by Michael Powell. It's meant to be one side of a scissor keep but I think I'll make it into an ornament instead and stitch the other side as another ornament.

OK, I shouldn't brag but it's been so LONG!

Two strands of Anchor floss over one --- in an 18 ct (I think) canvas. A bear to frog so there is one mistake I simply fudged around. Luckily, Powell designs are wonky enough to make fudging invisible!

​On to the other side --- this is where it is as of today:

It would have been further but after stitching three rows in white, I realized it was SUPPOSED to be a blended white/blue thread and that could NOT be fudged around! So... I carefully frogged for half an hour, trying to save as much of the flow as possible.! ARRGH! Here's hoping I can substitute DMC on the other two charts in the kit because I suspect I will run out of what was supplied VERY soon!

WIPocalypse Check-In, June 30, 2019

This month's topic for discussion is:

"Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far this year?"

Well, I'm stitching and that is definitely an improvement after two years hiatus! I finished one WIP ("Palm Tree Elegance") in April and dithered about for a month Finally, I decided to get my hand in practice for smaller stitches than called for on that needlepoint canvas so I took out a Michael Powell kit of key fobs and scissor keeps (Beach Huts Scissor Keep X131). It is four patterns (back and front of a scissor keep and back and front of a key fob), charted for double stranded floss on a very fine canvas, so I thought it would be a good test of whether I could handle cross-stitch on linen and other even weaves. Also, it is pretty small (I chose the 2" x 2" scissor keep) so should have been a quick finish.

I started mid-month and discovered that two strands of floss on canvas is a pain, and when it's two strands of different colors, even a bigger pain --- more for the keeping my threads organized than the stitching but the length kept catching on the edges of the canvas. Irritating to say the least.
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​I didn't get as far as I would have back in the day --- in three calendar weeks, I probably stitched only 7 days. This is the result:

Lots of confetti stitching left. It doesn't look like much here (it's supposed to be  - no it WILL be - a wonky beach hut), but there is backstitching to come.

​I'd like to say that my hands and fingers cramping were the main reason I did so little on this piece. They did cramp, but... it was more the fussing with the single strands of floss and all the confetti stitching that was putting me off. I'm not giving up, though!