"Which of your project finishes made you the most proud? The most relieved?" To be honest, I have no idea what the answer would be to either of these questions. I'm guessing it would have been one of the many BAPs through the years Two that come to mind are the "Roll Your Own Mandala" series that I stitched on one BAPiece of fabric as a single project:  This was begun in February, 2014 and completed August, 2016. Since this took two years, it surely was a relief, but I was also quite proud of how my arrangement of the nine individual patterns worked out. I did get it framed but 2017, the year it would have been eligible for entry in the fair, is the year I decided "no more competition!"!!! Much too stressful... Another was "Kimono - Revisited" which won first place at the 2013 county fair in the "Needlepoint framed sampler" category, although I'm not sure it counts as a sampler, per se.  It was a relief because of all the speciality threads - metallic, rayons, and the like - that were heck to work with on the 16ct congress cloth background. To say nothing of all the different patterns... and the mistake I discovered midway through the piece and never found! This was also a large piece, with the fabric tacked on a large wooden frame which I hand-held! I started it in December 2011 and finished in November 2012. I didn't have a stand for these pieces (and still don't, because I never could get used to having to turn the frame over to end threads while the frame/hoop was screwed tight on a stand!)! Maybe that's why BAPs are always a relief for me! My Elizabeth Almond blackwork sampler "Save the Stitches" (a long-term WIP/UFO - see below) will definitely be a relief, once done (if ever), and one I certainly will be found of. ~~~~~WIPS~~~~~ I still haven't stitched at all on Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" ; it's been "dormant" since November, 2020. I have made progress on the Glendon Place sampler "Hope & Strength". I have been fitting this into the down times of the SALs I have committed to and so I usually only get in about three days in the month for this piece. It isn't really my usual style or color scheme but I really am enjoying stitching with the silks.  The border is working out just great. Whew - that means no more counting! Wahoo! Just a little stretch of the inner border, five more of the "pink" stars and a green lion to go, and then it's all border before I have to start beading! ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ Besides this WIPocalypse, I worked on three (mystery) SALs this month: 1. The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Christmas Quaker, which now has five parts complete (less beads and charms) since the last WIPocalypse check-in. The next installment is due out in the December 2021 issue of Just Cross Stitch, just over a month from now  The octagon on the left is for the stitcher's initials a chart for which is in th 6th part. 2. A paid Stitchonomy SAL, "Colorworks", which started this month. It is a seven-part blackwork SAL, with a new part issued every week. I stitched it on 14ct antique white Aida using DMC variegated threads. This is now completed:  3. The Stitchonomy "Halloween 2021" SAL, which starts in mid-September. The frame has been issued to Pattern Club members (I am one), but we don't share until the piece is available to all participating in the SAL, so I will have nothing to show for this SAL until the next check-in. ~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~ No activity ~~~~~~ In the Pipeline ~~~~~ While my stitching mojo remains a little low, my interest in new charts is not. Two Elizabeth Almond blackwork pieces in the February ("Frosted Windows") and April ("Spring Celebration") issues of Just Cross Stitch, the latest Linen and Things and Peppermint Purple annual SALs, the LongDog monster "Pandemic" , kits for two Lakeside Needlecraft SALs ("Time to Stitch", of which all 12 installments are released, and "Steampunk Musical Instruments, four installments so far), a kit for a sampler called "American Houses" from the German company Werkstatt für Historische Stickmuster (I just need to translate all the instructions!), two London Abstracts charts by Artecy from Lakeside Needlecraft in England and two Bothy Threads kits (Love Paris and Love London) from Stoney Creek.com are in hand, as is Durene Jones' "Speciality Stitches Butterfly Design" designed for Lakeside Needlecraft. A recent purchase from Lakeside Needlecraft this month: the Charting Creations' "Palace (at Westminster)" printed cross stitch chart. I guess, based on all my "English" purchases of late, I am a bit homesick for our five years living in London! Another recent purchase is the "Sternstunden" Sal from Frau Rosa. Again, I will have to get out my German dictionary as my college German is not up to translating instructions in German. Still I like her charts a lot and hope to put in significant time on what looks to be another BAP! I am also now enrolled in Lakeside Needlecrafts' Classic Colorworks Thread Club and Weeks Dye Works Thread Club. The first month installment has arrived and the second is paid for... ~~~~~ If you are vaccinated, congratulations, enjoy the "new normal", and avoid that nasty Delta variant. If not vaccinated, follow the guidelines set out by public health and stay safe and healthy out there... Oh, and get that flu vaccination in the next two months and make sure there is enough time between that and your booster shot for Covid - I believe we were told to leave six weeks between the flu shot and the first Covid shot for maximum effectiveness. (you will get the booster, right?). |
