WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - December 27, 2020

 The topic for this month is:

             "Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc)."

Finishes: 

​A number of cross stitch pieces were started this year so there are no before pictures. they were: 

​Michael Powell Scissor Keep, completed January 18, 2020:

Stitchonomy "Homely Houseplants SAL", completed February 25, 2020:

"Colorful Critters SAL', design by Stitchonomy, completed May 19, 2020:

Fantastic Fungi SAL, design by Stitchonomy, completed August 12, 2020:

Christmas Shadowbox SAL, Faithwurks and Just Cross Stitch Magazine; finished October 14, 2020:

---

Halloween 2020 SAL by Stitchonomy, finished October 30, 2020:

Friends & Family SAL by Linen & Threads, completed December 8, 2020:

Peppermint Purple "52 Weeks of BlackworK" SAL, finished December 25, 2020:

There were two long-term WIPs that were finished this year as well:

"Historic Biltmore" by The Posy Collection, PC-776, originally started in July 2014, restarted on May 23, 2020(left photo) and finished September 13, 2020

"Love is..." by X's and Ohs, originally started in September of 2016, restarted on January 23, 2020 (left photo) and finished November 26, 2020

And finally, finally two sewing projects, begun and finished in March 2020: face masks for myself and my husband. Really pretty pathetic attempts but they made due until real face asks were available to buy.

Now, as for what I am stitching  in December...

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are have mostly lifted, Covid is on the rise again in Ohio and (we're still on a "mandatory mask" order right now and cautioned to "go out" only if necessary), I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

I re-started "Save the Stitches" last month. This WIP was started in February 0f 2014 and stopped at the end of block 69 in April of 2015 (Photo #1). This blackwork sampler by Elizabeth Almond is my last, and largest, WIP. I haven't progressed far (only three nights of stitching in November and December) (photo#2, close-up in photo #3), but restarting wasn't as onerous as I had anticipated. 

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~


No progress to report on "Butterfly on Scroll".


~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on 4 SALs this past month, and completed two - the Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070)! For photo, see above in the year-end report.

 "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 49 through 52. For photo, see above in the year-end report.  

Two new SALs were started in December.

1. Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Magazine's "Christmas Quaker", on 28ct Sage Jobelin, Anchor floss as called for in the chart. The first installment, with one mistake and subsequent fudging:

The second installment is due out in the next issue (April, 2021) of the magazine.

2. The second SAL is the fifth and final SAL in Stitchonomy's Year os SALs: "Winter 2020", stitched on 16 ct  Riviera Aqua Aida, using DMC threads as called for in the chart. The first installment is now public:

​~~~~~Goals for the New Year~~~~~
 

I still am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" a except when "necessary" (haircuts, doctor's appointments, financial consultant, and the like)...

• I will continue watching online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up as much as 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery. 
• I will continue to participate in the on-line art community, where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges. The december challenge and project are...
• I gave up on the television episodes in my storage space on my DVR, purchased the series in iTunes, and restored my available storage to 90%+.  
• I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure (crime fiction and science fiction) and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies). 

I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. The release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation has been iffy, at best.


What I HOPE to do in January is: 

• a) work on the Faithwurx "Christmas Quaker" SAL (although I doubt the next installment will be out until February
• b) complete the Stitchonomy "Winter 2020" SAL
• c) work on "Save the Stitches" 

I may, or may not, start SALs with Peppermint Purple (a companion piece to the 2020 SAL) and Linen & Threads (Talavera SAL for 2021). I haven't decided yet. Also, I'm thinking that I owe myself a new start that isn't an SAL... I've been eyeing the fabric and floss for Long Dog's "Pandemic"  which sit atop my sewing basket in my bedroom, but it might be wiser to try something smaller... like the five chart Michael Powell "Place du Marché" (IF I have fabric and floss in my stash that will work)...


Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

WIPocalypse 2020 Check In, November 29, 2020

 The topic for this month is:

"What new discoveries did you have in the stitching world this year?"

Well, I'm not exactly sure I actually did make any "new" discoveries. I pretty much stuck to my usual techniques and designers; I didn't learn any new techniques; and I didn't discover any new tools. Possibly not surprising given how long I have been stitching and now many stitching techniques I have taken up over these decades (crewel, needlepoint, cross-stitch, free embroidery, encrusted embroidery, blackwork, knitting, quilting, crazy quilting, beading... to name a "few".).

New designers? Well, first there were the designers whose SALs I've been working on all year: Peppermint Purple, Stitchonomy. and Faithwurx.  There were the designers that I knew the names of (Long Dog Samplers; Linen & Threads) that I had never tackled before but whose designs I now look at with great desire... And then there were those whose designs I have been accumulating but haven't stitched yet: Frau Rosa, Stitchingly, and Seba. Do these count as new discoveries?

That is about it...

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are have mostly lifted, Covid is on the rise again in Ohio and (we're still on a "mandatory mask" order right now and cautioned to "go out" only if necessary), I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

 "Love Is..."  is complete! Chart from X's & Oh's, design by Jo Gatenby. Started in September 0f 2016 and left off in February 26, 2017, restarted on January 23, 2020 (photo #1), and completed on November 26, 2020 (photo #2)! 

I have re-started "Save the Stitches". Started in February 0f 2014 and stopped at the end of block 69 in April of 2015 (photo #1), this blackwork sampler by Elizabeth Almond is my last, and largest, WIP. I haven't progressed far in two nights of stitching (photo #2), but restarting wasn't as onerous as I had anticipated. 

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

No progress to report on "Butterfly on Scroll".

~~~~~Completions~~~~~

The long-standing WIP "Love Is..." (started in September 0f 2016) was completed on November 26, 2020! See also SAL #3 below

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on 3 SALs this past month, and completed one!

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 44 through Week 48, plus  completed the border. Week 49 comes into my mailbox on December 2, 2020.   

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). The November installment was completed on November 14, 2020. The final (December) installment is due online on December 1.

3. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, "Halloween 2020", was started in late September, with subscribers getting some advance information early in the month. The fabric and floss kit didn't arrived two days after the first pattern piece (the frame) was issued so I started using the recommended DMC colors on a lavender 14ct linen.
I made some substitutions in pattern (several cats instead of the icons provided, using an alternative set and a previous SAL pattern to create my cats; a substitute spell book for day 4); and substituted designs of my own (movie "Psycho" and "Jaws") for horror films in the last row;and used DMC4245 variegated thread for the letters and date in the frame, silver blending thread in day 2; and backstitching to pop some images...
I  used beads for animal eyes in the border and  a charm was added to the pumpkin in the middle. 

I finished this SAL on October 30, 2020, just in time for Halloween!

The fifth Stitchonomy SAL, Winter 2020, will begin mid-December... Kit is on order but I have a back-up from stash in the event mail from the Netherlands is held up somewhere along the way.

~~~~~Goals for December~~~~~

I still am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" a except when "necessary" (haircuts, doctor's appointments, financial consultant, and the like)...

• I am still watching online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up as much as 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery. 
• In the year-long art community, where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges, I have competed the fifth challenge and project. The sixth challenge and project is scheduled for November, and I have already seen a sneak peak...
• I gave up on the television episodes in my storage space on my DVR, purchased the series in iTunes, and restored my available storage to 90%+.  
• I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure (crime fiction and science fiction) and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies). 

I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. The release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation has been iffy, at best.


What I HOPE to do in December is: 

• a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment. I just need to motivate on the border stitching...
• b) begin the Stitchonomy "Winter 2020" SAL
• c) complete the December installment of "Friends & Family" by Linen & Threads
• d) work on "Save the Stitches" 

I'm thinking that I owe myself a new start... I've been eyeing the fabric and floss for Long Dog's "Pandemic"  which sit atop my sewing basket in my bedroom, but it might be wiser to try something smaller...

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - October 25 , 2020

 

"How do you choose The topic for this month is: "what you’re going to stitch on next?" I'm not sure how to answer this, to be honest. This year, I have been working on eliminating WIPs (managed two of the five so far and well into a third) and I tend to choose the WIP that is least onerous to me when I have time to fit it into my stitching schedule.  I say "stitching schedule" because this year, I also am participating in four (yes, count 'em, FOUR) Stitchalongs (SALs) which all have different timing. One issues an installment once a month; a second once every two months; a third daily, and the fourth weekly (on Wednesdays) ! So I set up a rotation where I tried to fit the first three in around that fourth weekly SAL. I try to stitch the daily installment SAL every other day (letting installments pile up if necessary) and the weekly SAL on the day of issue. I tackle the monthly SAL on any free days that result in the above pattern, until the monthly installment is completed. Then I tackle the bimonthly SAL until it is completed. If it all works out this means my WIP stitching is slow to non-existent for two weeks out of every month Needless to say, this means my WIP stitching is slow to non-existent for two weeks out of every month, sometimes even more. And there is NO WAY I am going to start a new piece in the midst of all this schedule/rotation chaos! As I have said, two WIPS have been completed this year and one SAL was completed this month (see below), leaving me with more stitching time on the other three SALs and any outstanding WIP I might wish to take up. That means my eye has been turning to new pieces I might work on in the new year. Some patterns  have already been purchased:  another SAL, sight unseen, by the same designer of this year's weekly SAL  - I already have the thread in hand and at least two of her standalone blackwork patterns fabric and potential threads have been accumulated for a that humongous "Pandemic" pattern from Long Dog that I have yet to start (I have pretty much settled on the fabric and the threads but haven't decided if I'm going monotone or will be adding accents in complimentary colors). I have purchased a grime guard for my two largest Snap frames and clips to hold the extra fabric under control while stitching (I have been practicing using these clips on my current SALs).  This piece is so big and complex that I am almost afraid to start it.  a Christmas ornament from Linen & Threads is on order and said to have shipped My stash is packed with charts and kits that I have purchase over the years, and and various charts have been collected in my computer files. If and when I decide to add a new piece to my rotation, it will all be on what takes my fancy at the time and it is entirely possible that none of these will qualify. It all depends on my mood at the moment.  But I can promise that there will be no more 4 SALs at the same time again (probably --- never say never)! Too stressful! ​This month had a challenge to do at least one stitch a day. I didn't manage that - there were some days I took off due to schedule overload and general malaise, but I did manage three hours or more most days, so  my average over the month was much more than one stitch a day. How's that for an excuse! pretty lame, yes? ~~~~~WIPS~~~~~ While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are have mostly lifted (we're still on a "mandatory mask" order right now and cautioned to "go out" only if necessary), I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.  "Love Is..." hasn't been touched since September 22...  and I still have not re-started "Save the Stitches". ~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~ No progress to report on "Butterfly on Scroll". ~~~~~Completions~~~~~ See SAL #4 below! ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ I have stitched on four SALs... 1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 40 through Week 43, plus  completed the border. Week 404 comes into my mailbox on October 28, 2020.    2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). October installment completed on October 14, 2020. The November installment is due online on November 1. 3. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, "Halloween 2020", was started in late September, with subscribers getting some advance information early in the month. The fabric and floss kit doesn't arrived two days after the first pattern piece (the frame) was issued so I started using the recommended DMC colors on a lavender 14ct linen. I made some substitutions in pattern (several cats instead of the icons provided, using an alternative set and a previous SAL pattern to create my cats; a substitute spell book for day 4); and used DMC4245 variegated thread for the letters and date in the frame, silver blending thread in day 2; and backstitching to pop some images... I plan on using beads for animal eyes in the border in future and there is a charm to be added to the pumpkin in the middle.  4. Christmas Shadowbox SAL for Faithwurks and Just Cross Stitch Magazine. A COMPLETION! Installment 5 (the final installment) was finished on October 17. I had miscalculated how large the center square should be so had to improvise by adding a string of Christmas lights below the wording.  Beads, buttons and ribbon bows were added at the very end.. ~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~ Nothing new at the moment, although, as stated in the beginning of this blog, fabric and floss (two sets - what I get for double ordering - including several cones of candidate colors!) for "Pandemic" by Long Dog Samplers have long been in my possession. Still made no choices as to which sets of thread/fabric to use. This is a HUGE project and I may chicken out long before I get started.  I also have in hand an order of threads from the ETSY shop of the designer of "52 Weeks of Blackwork" for her 2021 SAL. And my computer files and real-life stash are PACKED with potential charts/kits to chose from, if I ever get around to that! ~~~~~Goals for November ~~~~~ I still am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" a except when "necessary" (haircuts, doctor's appointments, financial consultant, and the like)... I am still watching online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up as much as 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery.  In the year-long art community, where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges, I have competed the fourth challenge and project. The fifth challenge and project is scheduled for November, and I have already seen a sneak peak... I am stagnating at 11% remaining of my storage space on my DVR.  I still have the same four recorded television series to catch up, all of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time. With new series coming online in November, this could be a real issue. I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure (crime fiction and science fiction) and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies).  I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. The release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation has been iffy, at best. What I HOPE to do in November is:  a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment. I just need to motivate on the border stitching... b) complete the Stitchonomy "Halloween 2020 SAL c) continue to stitch on "Love Is..." . There is a chance that I can finish this! d) complete the November installment of "Friends & Family" by Linen & Threads "Save the Stitches" may or may not enter into my stitching rotation.  Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

WIPOcalypse 2020 Check-In - September 27, 2020

The topic for this month is:

"Are you a seasonal stitcher, or can you stitch on any holiday/seasonal stitch at any time of year?"​

​I don't consider myself a "seasonal stitcher" in that I stitch whatever appeals to me at the time. However, there are seasonal items which get started (and sometimes finished) ahead of the season when the magazines and charts start appearing on the market for Halloween and Christmas. Both seem to start in September of each year although there are some hints earlier in the summer (the dreaded Christmas in July issues of British stitchery magazines and Just Cross Stitch's "Christmas Ornament Sneak Peaks around the same time), most of which do not get me started!

Lately, when decorating for the holidays, I have determined the i have MORE than enough stitched ornaments for both Halloween and Christmas and so now the only seasonal attractions for me are the occasional larger piece. Not sure why --- no place to hang them and they take up so much room if framed so they tend to languish in a "finished stitching/finish it off" bag in my craft room once the stitching is completed.

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are slowly lifting (we're still on a "mandatory mask" order right now and cautioned to "go out" only if necessary), I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

 "Love Is..." was actually tackled this month! It's not done yet but a long shot, but I'm past all those nasty French knots!

 
I still have not re-started "Save the Stitches".
~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

No progress to report on "Butterfly on Scroll".
​
~~~~~Completions~~~~~
I have a completion! "Historic Biltmore" by The Posy Collection, PC-776. Started July 2014, finished September 12, 2020. Finished size 15" x 10" on 14ct Charles Craft Aida, using DMC threads.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on three SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 36 through Week 39, plus some additional border. Week 40 comes into my mailbox on September 30.   

I'm thinking of signing and dating this along the both border so once I turn the corners on both sides, I will have to plan out the pacing for this before completing the border.

​2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). September installment completed on September 4, 2020. The October installment is due online on October 1.

3. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, "Halloween 2020", was started in late September, with subscribers getting some advance information early in the month. The fabric and floss kit doesn't arrived two days after the first pattern piece (the frame) was issued (the postal service is definitely slow these days) so I started using the recommended DMC colors on a lavender 14ct linen. I made some substitutions in pattern (several cats instead of the icons provided, using an alternative set and a previous SAL pattern to create my cats) and used DMC4245 variegated thread for the letters and date in the frame... I plan on using beads for scattered "sparkles" in future. ​

The fourth SAL is "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" SAL by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 4 was finished August 11 (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen, using DMC, Weeks, Kreinik and Rainbow Gallery threads. Installment 5 is not due until the next issue of Just CrossStitch magazine, so I didn't stitch on this at all this month.

~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~

Nothing new at the moment, although fabric and floss (two sets - what I get for double ordering!) for "Pandemic" by Long Dog Samplers have long been in my possession. Still made no choices as to which sets of thread/fabric to use. I have ordered some new cones and skeins of thread in hopes that they will make the selection easier... This is a HUGE project and I may chicken out long before I get started.

~~~~~Goals for October ~~~~~

I still am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" a except when "necessary" (haircuts, doctor's appointments, financial consultant, and the like)...

• I am still watching online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up as much as 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery. 
• In the year-long art community, where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges, I have competed the third challenge and project. The fourth challenge and project is scheduled for October.
• I am stagnating at 11% remaining of my storage space on my DVR.  I have four recorded television series to catch up, all of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.
• I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure (crime fiction and science fiction) and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies). A recent favorite is The Girl on the Wall, One LIfe's Rich Tapestry by Jean Baggott, 2009, Icon Books, LTD. London. An expert needleworker, she illustrated her life in a large tapestry/tablecloth and was encouraged by her history tutor at university (she was an adult student, getting her degree in history in her 60s!) to use it to illustrate her life growing up in England from the 1940s on. I read it on my iPad and really wish I could justify the huge price to purchase the book in hardcover because there is supposed to be a foldout print of the tapestry in color in the back of the book. The online version only shows small bits in each chapter, all in black-and-white. 

I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. The release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation is still iffy, at best.


What I HOPE to do in October is: 

• a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment. I just need to motivate on the border stitching...
• b) keep up with the daily installments on Stitchonomy "Halloween 2020) SAL
• c) continue to stitch on "Love Is..." . There is a chance that I can finish this!
• d) complete the October installment of "Friends & Family" by Linen & Threads

I will start work on "Christmas Shadowbox" SAL installment 5 if it comes out digitally in October.

​"Save the Stitches" may or may not enter into my stitching rotation.

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In: August 30, 2020

August's topic for discussion is:

"Have you participated in any of the mystery SALs on Facebook (or other social media)? What do you think makes a successful mystery SAL?"

​I am participating in four mystery SALs at present, all of which are supported by facebook groups:

• "52 weeks of Blackwork" by Peppermint Purple, which has weekly installments throughout the year
• "A Year of SALs" by Stitchonomy. There are five separate SALs (three now complete), with installments released at 2 day intervals
• "Christmas Shadowbox SAL" by Nancy Wahler (and featured in Just CrossStitch Magazine") with a new installment in each of five issues (digital as well as magazine versions)
• "Friends & Family" by Linen & Threads, with installments released each month on their web site

All four SALs are free, although there are fees for advance notifications in the Stitchonomy SALs.

​What makes them successful? Well, that depends on the participant, I suppose. Of course, the style and subject matter of the project is paramount (if you don't like samplers, for example, you probably wouldn't want to try a mystery sampler), and successful completion of an SAL may hinge on how complex, how difficult, how complex it is.  If the subject matter doesn't appeal; if it the chart is so complex that it is difficult to keep up (and if there is pressure to keep up); if the project turns out to be to long and the stitcher tires of it half-way though...then it won't be a success, in my opinion. I see a lot of them started and then abandoned midway in these groups, usually because the participant is new to SALs (sometimes even to stitchery!) and takes on a really really BIG and complex one as their first. It doesn't take too many visits by the frog before one is strongly motivated to give up and try something else.

I really like the ones where the designer appreciates alterations to his/her pattern. Some don't mind color alterations but would like to keep the pattern intact and actually forbid posting on their group(s) if such alterations occur.  Others don't mind stitchers fiddling with the pattern, and some even encourage personalization. So long as the minimal rules are followed and the group remains supportive (and not argumentative), the latter kind of SALs are usually a success, largely because they allow the participant to "put their own stamp" on the piece,  thereby keeping up interest for the SAL duration..

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

While "stay at home" orders here in Ohio are slowly lifting (we're still on a "mandatory mask" order right now and cautioned to "go out" only if necessary), I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.

I have put in no time in on "Love Is..." but quite a lot on "Biltmore".  I have nearly completed the backstitching (which was a bear: the partial stitches on AIDA were horrid), and there is still a "title" to stitch below the image:

I still have not dared to try re-starting "Save the Stitches" until I have cleared the decks of these other two WIPs.

~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~

No progress to report on "Butterfly on Scroll".

~~~~~Completions~~~~~

None to report, unless you count finishing the monthly stages of three SALs and completion of one SAL described below.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~
I have stitched on all four SALs...

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 31 through Week 35, plus some additional borders. Week 36 comes into my mailbox on September 2

2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). August installment completed on August 3rd. The September installment is due online on  September 1.

3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by  Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 4 (on the left) was finished August 11 (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen Using DMC, Weeks, Kreinik and Rainbow Gallery threads, as called for in the pattern. I have changed out the colors in the bedroom, however.  Installment 5 is due in the next issue of Just CrossStitch.

4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 3 "Fantastic Fungi", officially started mid July. A pattern was released every other day. The SAL was complete (!) on August 12. 

The fabric is Jade lugano, 28 ct, and the floss is DMC as called for in the charts (except for the border where I used DMC 310). Other changes include backstitching to sharpen my images and beads for the small background motifs.

I think the next SAL, "Halloween 2020", is due sometime in late September, with subscribers getting some advance information early in the month. The floss requirements have been released and I have ordered the floss kit; but have kitted up a substitute set of fabric and floss in the event the kit doesn't arrive in time (the postal service is definitely slow these days).

~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~

Nothing new at the moment, although fabric and floss (two sets - what I get for double ordering!) for "Pandemic" by Long Dog Samplers have finally arrived. Now to make choices as to which colors of threads to go with which color of fabric. This is a HUGE project and I may chicken out long before I get started.

And  Halloween chart in four parts "Spook Town Square" by Glendon Place) has arrived but hasn't been kitted up yet.

~~~~~Goals for September~~~~~

I still am not at all inclined to get out there and play, travel or otherwise risk my health. So I will continue to "stay home" as follows

• I am still watching online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up as much as 8 hours a week that otherwise could be devoted to stitchery. 
• I  have signed up for a year-long art community where members engage in facilitated learning through monthly mixed media art projects and challenges. I competed the second challenge and project and a short class in Art Journaling. The third challenge and project is scheduled for September.
• I managed to get back up to 14% of my storage space on my DVR, and then backslid to 11% again.   I have several recorded television programs to catch up, all of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.
• I am sticking to my goal of at least 30 minutes a day of reading, both for pleasure and for enlightenment (I love histories and biographies).

I have been rationing my stitching time to two or three hours a day, for about five days a week. And the release of SAL installments varies from project to project so planning a rotation is still iffy, at best.


What I HOPE to do in September is: 

• a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small and, along with some additional border stitching, are doable in one night of stitching per installment. I just need to motivate on the border stitching...
• b) try to stitch on "Love Is..." 
• c) Finish "Biltmore".

I may start work on "Christmas Shadowbox" SAL installment 5 if it comes out digitally in Septmeber. Similarly, I may start the Stitchonomy "Halloween Sampler 2020" if it comes out at the end of September. "Save the Stitches" may or may not enter into my stitching rotation.

Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!