Question of the month:
What SAL’s are you participating in this year?
Well, for someone who hasn't stitched for nearly a year, I was overly ambitious. I signed up for four SALs, in addition to WIPocalypse! I thought maybe they'd keep me diverted from my BAP UFO/WIPs and allow me to get in some practice on linen/evenweave.
SAL #1 is the Stitchonomy Year of SALs. It appealed to me because it came in small installments over a two month period for each SAL, with the first one - "Homely Houseplants" - starting in earnest on February 1, although the "frame" was released in January. And I have stitched the frame! 
The second SAL is "A Year of Blackwork" from Peppermint Purple. Installments on this one come faster - one a week - but they are small and it gives me a chance to get back into handling blackwork with my wonky hand. To date, there are four releases as well as four potential borders (I picked the most complex one, naturally!) and here is my progress to date:
The third one is the Linen & Threads 2020 Mystery Sampler, with installments coming monthly. I only got this far, only to find that I had miscalculated my fabric size so I have to start over! I have yet to frog the stitching and put the piece back in my stash:
New fabric is here but I'm not at all sure that the threads I have work --- despite the description of the new yard of fabric as lavender, when it sits next to purple, it turns green! VERY green!
So new thread is on order. here's hoping it works as this is getting to be a very expensive SAL!
The fourth SAL is "Christmas Shadowbox Mystery SAL with Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch". It will be released in segments starting in the April, 2020 issue of Just CrossStitch, continuing through December 2020. It is meant to be in a "tray" of sorts and the variety of threads and embellishments is humongous. I'm thinking I may simplify, substituting threads, omitting charms and the like, and stitching it as a simple sampler. I have the list of supplies and will decide when the issue arrives... ~~~~~ As for finishes this month, there actually is one! The second Michael Powell "Beach Huts Scissor Keep" from his kit of the same name: 
Now that the two scissor keep pieces are done, I've decided to NOT make a scissor keep but to make two small ornaments instead. And the two smaller designs in the kit, meant to become a key fob, may or may not be stitched...
~~~~~ Other progress on WIPs: I actually stitched on "Love Is..." --- almost completed a row of words, and found out why this is a near-UFO. I HATE stitching words! Especially when they include French knots! And there is SOOOO much left to do! On the left is where I left off in February 2017; on the right, Where I am now... |
Sunday, January 26, 2020
WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In, January 26, 2020
Sunday, January 5, 2020
WIPocalypse 2020 - the start of a new year!
We are supposed to introduce ourselves and our projects and list any goals for the coming year in this post.
To start an introduction. I'm Carol a recovering stitchaholic who has been sidelined for a few years by injuries to my left wrist --- first I broke it and had surgery (and a plate) to fix it about three years ago. I recovered from the break, regained the use of that hand after extensive physical therapy, and finally and recovered my stitching mojo in 2019. So I started to stitch again (in March of 2019). Then, last July, a tendon that had been rubbing on that plate (or to be more precise, one one of the screws that held the plate on the bone) and ruptured. It's remarkable how valuable that thumb is and how much trouble it is to have a non-working one! More surgery for a tendon graft and more physical therapy. The hand is almost back to normal, although that thumb will probably never be as flexible as it once was.
So for goals. One goal, really. I hope to start stitching again this year.*
As for projects, they will be as follows:
WIPs/UFOs from years past:
A WIP from before the tendon rupture:
Of course, my stash is still littered with nearly finished needlepoint which requires only backstitching and blocking to be finished, as well as one crewel piece, at least one large blackwork round-robin and some quilt tops. Odds of me getting to those are slim to none... And I'm not even counting pieces which are ready to finish-finish. Maybe someday...
While WIPocalypse is a SAL devoted to cleaning up one's WIP/UFO stash, I think I really will need to take on some new starts, simply because! So I signed up for two freebie SALs (you have to sign up for each, and one has a private Facebook group for getting the charts). Both are stitched in relatively small chunks which, hopefully, won't stress me out and give me a break from the BAPs in my WIP listing:
*And I have, three nights of 1.5 or more hours per night so far! Lots of hand cramping on night one; lots of needle dropping on night two and lots of nerve pain on night three. But I persevered!
To start an introduction. I'm Carol a recovering stitchaholic who has been sidelined for a few years by injuries to my left wrist --- first I broke it and had surgery (and a plate) to fix it about three years ago. I recovered from the break, regained the use of that hand after extensive physical therapy, and finally and recovered my stitching mojo in 2019. So I started to stitch again (in March of 2019). Then, last July, a tendon that had been rubbing on that plate (or to be more precise, one one of the screws that held the plate on the bone) and ruptured. It's remarkable how valuable that thumb is and how much trouble it is to have a non-working one! More surgery for a tendon graft and more physical therapy. The hand is almost back to normal, although that thumb will probably never be as flexible as it once was.
So for goals. One goal, really. I hope to start stitching again this year.*
As for projects, they will be as follows:
WIPs/UFOs from years past:
- Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler, started in late February of 2014 and put away in April of 2015
- "Biltmore", a kit I purchased at the Biltmore Estate in July of 2014 and stitched on briefly in the coffee shop at that estate. I have stitched on it once or twice since then but made little progress from my sole published photo - in fact it has regressed a little since much of the work I did in that coffee shop had to be frogged. This piece also lives in my travel bag
- "Love Is.., an intended first anniversary gift for a niece which has missed that deadline and may not make the second as well at there ate I am going. Started in September 0f 2016 and was put away when I broke my wrist, brought out briefly in February of 2017 as a test run of my wrists ability to hold the frame, and put back after an hour and less than four backstitched letters - no shown here (and/or frogged letters!)
A WIP from before the tendon rupture:
- the key fob for Michael Powell's "Beach Huts Scissor Keep Kit"
Of course, my stash is still littered with nearly finished needlepoint which requires only backstitching and blocking to be finished, as well as one crewel piece, at least one large blackwork round-robin and some quilt tops. Odds of me getting to those are slim to none... And I'm not even counting pieces which are ready to finish-finish. Maybe someday...
While WIPocalypse is a SAL devoted to cleaning up one's WIP/UFO stash, I think I really will need to take on some new starts, simply because! So I signed up for two freebie SALs (you have to sign up for each, and one has a private Facebook group for getting the charts). Both are stitched in relatively small chunks which, hopefully, won't stress me out and give me a break from the BAPs in my WIP listing:
- the Homely Houseplants SAL from Stitchonomy's One Year of SALS which technically starts in February
- The Year of Blackwork SAL from Peppermint Purple which started January 1.
*And I have, three nights of 1.5 or more hours per night so far! Lots of hand cramping on night one; lots of needle dropping on night two and lots of nerve pain on night three. But I persevered!
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