WIPocalypse 2021 Check-In - June 27, 2021

 

The topic for this month's discussion is:  "How are you doing with your goals so far this year?" I believe I said I was going to "go with the flow", whatever that meant.  I had one major WIP/potential UFO in January - Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler. I haven't stitched on it at all this year and it is stalled at block 74... I had two mystery SALs in progress: The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch "Quaker Christmas Sampler", with new parts issued at roughly two month intervals. I have completed part four (see SALs, below) The 2021 Stitchonomy series of SALs, the first of which was " Winter 2020" which I completed in March. The second was "Homely Houseplants II", which I completed last month. A new SAL was introduced this month and I have completed 2 of seven parts so far (see below). I said that I was considering two additional SALs - one by Peppermint Purple, a blackwork sampler intended as a companion for the one I completed in 2020, and the other a mystery sampler by Linen & Threads. I was also contemplating starting the Long Dog "Pandemic" which was released in 2020. I have done neither. So if that is "going with the flow" I guess I have. I must say, my stitching mojo isn't up to my 2020 standard.  I do find, once I force myself to start, I do "go with the flow". But there can be as many as three days between stitching of late. ~~~~~WIPS~~~~~ As I said above, I haven't stitched at all on Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" 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. ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ Besides this WIPocalypse, I  have two (mystery) SALs in progress: 1. The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Christmas Quaker, which now has four parts complet (less beads and charms). The next installment is due out in the next issue of Just Cross Stitch, a little over a month and a half from now. ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ 2. A paid Stitchonomy SAL, "Colorworks", which started this month. It is a seven-part blackworkn SAL, with a new part issued every week. I am stitching on 14ct antique white Aida using DMC variegated threads. SO far, two parts are complete: ~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~ Not having travelled since the pandemic, I have not been motivated to stitch on "Butterfly on Scroll" since  February 2020.  No progress to report. However, there will be a road trip to Illinois in July, and I plan to get in a few stitches in while my husband is doing his daily "thing"! ~~~~~~  In the Pipeline ~~~~~ While my stitching mojo seems a little low, my interest in new charts is not. In addition to the 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, and the LongDog monster "Pandemic" , all of which I have more-or-less kitted up, I ordered the kits for two Lakeside Needlecraft SALs ("Time to Stitch", of which all 12 installments are released, and "Steampunk Musical Instruments, four installments so far) and a kit for a sampler called "American Houses" from the German company Werkstatt für Historische Stickmuster (I just need to translate all the instructions!), all of which are now in hand. Also in hand are 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. I just can't stop ordering! AAARGH! Meanwhile, if you are vaccinated, congratulations and enjoy the "new normal". If not, stay safe and healthy out there...

WIPOcalypse 2021 Check-In - May 30, 2021

 

The topic for this month's discussion is: "What was the first project you ever stitched? (whether you finished or not)" My answer depends on what kind of stitching you mean! I was in graduate school at University of Florida and was into crewel embroidery at the time. I don't know how I got started on this and I can't remember my first stitched crewel. Meanwhile, a friend had purchased a kit for an eyeglass case with purple pansies in the design to make as a gift for her mother but decided it was too much for her and could I do it? I taught myself to needlepoint with that kit. No idea whether or not it was ever given to her mother! ​I switched to needlepoint after that and never went back to crewel until we were in San Francisco, nearly a decade later, when I was traveling by air a lot for work and my needlepoint and crewel projects were too fiddly/bulky to do on the plane so I went to the little card shop on the ground floor of our office where they had little "card kit" size cross stitch kits. I purchased one of a cable car and stitch it on the plane to Atlanta. No idea where this one is, but this one converted me from needlepoint to cross stitch. Needless to say, no photos of any of these pieces! ~~~~~WIPS~~~~~ I haven't stitched at all on Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" 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. I really am enjoying stitching with the silks, however. ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ Besides this WIPocalypse, I  have two (mystery) SALs in progress: 1. The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Christmas Quaker, which now has three parts complete. Ne fort installment is due out in the next issue of Just Cross Stitch. 2. The Stitchonomy 2021 Sal series, part one of which is "Homely Houseplants II", a partner to the "Homely Houseplants" sampler completed in 2020. First installment was April 16 although I signed up for early access (April 9th). It is now complete: Below is Homely Houseplants V2 next to the Homely Houseplants V1 from last year. I'm thinking that, in order to make the two a true pair (despite the fact that the fabric color isn't the same, is to re-backstitch the yellow pots to match. ~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~ Not having travelled since the pandemic, I have not been motivated to stitch on "Butterfly on Scroll" since  February 2020.  No progress to report. However, there will be a road trip to Illinois in July, pandemic willing, and I may get in a few stitches in while my husband is doing his daily "thing"! ~~~~~~  In the Pipeline ~~~~~ While my stitching mojo seems a little low, my interest in new charts is not. In addition to the two Elizabeth Almond blackwork pieces in the February ("Frosted Windows") and April ("Spring Celebration") issues of Just Cross Stitch, the latest Linen and Things annual SAL, and the LongDog monster "Pandemic" which I have more-or-less kitted up, I ordered the kits for two Lakeside Needlecraft SALs ("Time to Stitch", 11 of 12 installments are released, and "Steampunk Musical Instruments (three installments so far) and a kit for a sampler called "American Houses" from the German company Werkstatt für Historische Stickmuster (I just need to translate all he instructions!), all of which are now i hand. Also on order are 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. I just can't stop ordering! AAARGH! Meanwhile, if you are vaccinated, congratulations and enjoy the "new normal". If not, stay safe and healthy out there...

WIPocalypse April 2021 Check-In - April 25, 2021

The topic for this month's discussion is:

"Have you found yourself to be more or less productive in your stitching during the Covid-19 pandemic?"

Well, to be honest, since I hadn't stitched much at all between 2016 and 2020 (only one traveling needlepoint and one twinchie in 2019), ANYTHING would have been an improvement! I started stitching again in January 2020 and our state went into stay-at-home orders in mid-March of that year. From that time until the end of the year, I completed 10 pieces: seven stitch-alongs and three long-term WIPs. If we are only counting 2020, for March through December, then yes, I was more productive.

In 2021 (we are still under mandatory mask orders and social distancing recommendations so I basically am still acting as if we are under stay-at-home orders), I have slowed down bit, only finishing one stitch-along this year (and this had been started in 2020), working on two new stitch-alongs, and beginning one new. piece. A few stitches have been placed into my last long-term WIP but not enough to trumpet any kind of progress on that front. I am not doing any free-hand embroidery, beading or crazy quilting, all of which which dominated my stitching time between 2011 and 2014, so my total stitching output looks significantly smaller, even though the cross-stitching may actually be similar or more productive.   

Currently, I am finding stitching time limited by other activities (mainly mixed media). I also have motivation issues with the charts and kitted up potential new starts that are in my project bag (I am still drawn to BAPs but really an hesitating on starting even one of my kitted up pieces with that old BAP still outstanding...). So in 2021, I seem to have backslid a little...

Overall, however, I have to say that, measured against my stitching activity pre-Covid (and pre-hand injury), my over-all productivity is probably similar to the pre-pandemic "era".

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

I haven't stitched at all on Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" since November, 2020.

I have made limited 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. I really am enjoying stitching with the silks, however.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~

Besides this WIPocalypse, I  have two (mystery) SALs in progress:

1. The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Christmas Quaker, which now has three parts complete:

There are charms on parts two and three but I am holding off on these until the entire six parts are stitched. 

Part four is due out in early June in the next issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

2. The Stitchonomy 2021 Sal series, part one of which is "Homely Houseplants II" a partner to the "Homely Houseplants" sampler completed in 2020. First installment was April 16 although I signed up for early access (April 9th). So far, the shelving and three plant patterns have been issued to the general public:

New plant patterns are issued every three days, with the next due out on April 25 (today!).

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

Not having travelled since the pandemic, I have not been motivated to stitch on "Butterfly on Scroll" since  February 2020.  No progress to report. However, there will be a road trip to Illinois in July, pandemic willing, and I may get in a few stitches in while my husband is doing his daily "thing"!

~~~~~~  In the Pipeline ~~~~~

While my stitching mojo seems a little low, my interest in new charts is not. In addition to the two Elizabeth Almond blackwork pieces in the February ("Frosted Windows") and April ("Spring Celebration") issues of Just Cross Stitch, the latest Linen and Things annual SAL, and the LongDog monster "Pandemic" which I have more-or-less kitted up; I ordered the kits for two Lakeside Needlecraft SALs ("Time to Stitch", 10 of 12 installments, and "Steampunk Musical Instruments, one installment so far) which arrived yesterday. Fitting any of these in in the coming months is unlikely but one never knows...

Stay safe and healthy out there...

WIPocalypse March 2021 Check-In - March 28, 2021

 The topic for this month's discussion is:

"What is your process for working on WIPs? Are you a one-at-a-time stitcher, a rotation stitcher, or something else?"

I guess I would have to admit to being a rotation stitcher, although I can't pinpoint the exact time when I switched from being a one-at-a-time stitcher. It may have happened around 2012 when I embarked on a number of on-line challenges like TAST, the Crazy Quilt Journal project and the Bead Journal Project. Cross-stitching became a part of a cycle filling the time between these three different stitchery methods.  

At the beginning of 2020, I had just gotten back into stitching after a four-year hiatus due to two different wrist surgeries and the accompanying physical therapy, so I have to say that ration became mandatory for me. I had three BAPs and one small long-term WIP that had languished in that four-year period and when I started stitching again, it was with the pure intention of clearing those pieces from my list.  But... I got bit busy the SAL bug and found myself involved a five different SALs, one of which was a five-in-one challenge! Rotation became routine, even mandatory if I wanted to keep up, let alone make progress on the WIPs!

In 2021, with the completion of those five SALs and the elimination of three of the long-term WIPs, things have changed. I am only enlisted in two SALs this year, one of which has long intervals between installments and I have found that this month, while waiting for the third installment of one of the SALs and the first patterns for the second, I have slowed down a lot and found it hard to motivate on the remaining long-term WIP. I can't even find the motivation to start on any of the non-SALs that I have kitted up! In fact, during this slow period, I have only stitched three days on a new start (see below). 

​Basically, I have scaled WAY back on my stitchery in favor of the Mixed Media class I am enrolled in. My taxes are wrapped up and filed and so I have no excuse ofter than a lack of ambition.

~~~~~WIPS~~~~~

I re-started Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" in November 2020 and made a little progress on blocks 70 - 74. However, I haven't stitched on it at all since then.

~~~~~SALs~~~~~

Besides this WIPocalypse, I have scaled back this year and only have two (mystery) SALs in progress:
1. The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Christmas Quaker, which now has two parts complete (see last month's post). Part three is due out in the June 2021 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine, the digital version of which should be available  April 6, 2021.

2. The Stitchonomy 2021 Sal series, part one of which is "Homely Houseplants II" a partner to the "Homely Houseplants" sample completed in 2020. First installment is April 16 although I have signed up for early access (April 9th).

~~~~~New Beginnings~~~~~
​
Back in  May of 2020, on a whim, I ordered the full kit (32-ct Jade Lugana, Dinky-Dies silks, Mill Hill Beads,  and Petit Lame Braid) for a sampler from Glendon Place called "Hope and Strength". I pulled it out this past week and stitched three days on it...

I am loving stitching with the silks and am surprised how easy stitching on 32 count Lugana, 2 over 2, after struggling al last year with 28 count linens!

Stay safe and healthy out there...

WIPocalypse February 2021 Check-In and I'm late again...

The topic for discussion this month is:

"What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?"

Well, besides this WIPocalypse, I have scaled back this year and only have two (mystery) SALs in progress:

1. The Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Christmas Quaker, which now has two parts complete:

Part three is due out in the June 2021 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine, the digital version of which should be available in late April, early May, 2021.
​
2. The fifth and final SAL in Stitchonomy's Year of SALs: "Winter 2020", stitched on 16 ct Riviera Aqua Aida, using DMC threads as called for in the chart, now finished and awaiting finish-finishing:

I have enrolled in the next Stitchonomy SAL, Version Two of "Homely Houseplants" and have ordered the floss/fabric kit.

​That pretty much completes my current SAL participation although I have fabric and thread up the wazoo for  potential BAP/SAL projects but have yet to decided on which, if any, will get stitched: 

• a blackwork sampler SAL by Peppermint Purple which is a blackwork sampler intended as a companion for the one I completed in 2020
• the 2021 mystery sampler SAL by Linen & Threads, called "Talavera"

In the non-SAL arena, The Long Dog "Pandemic" pattern is also "kitted up" with oodles of thread choices and at least two fabric possibilities lined up but not sure I will actually stitch it or not. In addition, I have my eye on two Elizabeth Almond blackwork pieces which appeared in the February 2021 and April 2021 issues of Just Cross Stitch. Ironic since my BAP Elizabeth Almond "Save the Stitches" piece languishes again...

​Basically, I have scaled WAY back on my stitchery in favor of the Mixed Media class I am enrolled in. Once my taxes are wrapped up and in the hands of the accountant, I may scale back up again in March, but it may require a lot of ambition which I currently lack.

Stay safe and healthy out there...

WIPocalypse 2021 Check-In - January 31, 2021

And I'm late, as usual. Still... I don't have that much to report so this will be short and sweet(-ish)! The topic for discussion this month was: "Tell us about a WIP on which you’ve really struggled to make progress. Explain its history. What appears to be the reason you’re struggling?" Here it is... "Save the Stitches" by Elizabeth Almond. I'm on blocks 70 - 74 0f a 125+ block piece. I started this back in February of 2014 and made pretty good progress until I had basically four years of physical therapy (which resulted from a broken left wrist followed two years later by a left thumb tendon rupture caused by the tendon rubbing across the plate in that same broken wrist). During that time, I had limited  and limited use of my left hand. In 2020, I started stitching again and inserted this piece into a rotation of four long-term WIPS/potential UFOs and a set of 5 SALs. I finally picked it up after all the other WIPS were completed and began stitching again in November/December 2020. So my struggle was physical. This is a BAP and the full yard of fabric is heavy so holding the QSnap frame is tiring, to say nothing of the fact that after an hour or so, my hand start cramping and I have issues with holding onto the needle! Needless to say, my left hand isn't ever going to be as dextrous (is it an oxymoron to apply dexterity to the left hand of a right-handed person?) as it once was and so picking up this piece to stitch doesn't compete with smaller pieces in my rotation.  Nonetheless, I will persevere! Now, as for what I am stitching  in February... ~~~~~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"  (see above photo) in November 2020 and made a little progress on blocks 70 - 74. However, I didn't stitch on it at all in January 2021. ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ I have two SALs in progress at present: 1. Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Magazine's "Christmas Quaker", on 28ct Sage Jobelin, Anchor floss as called for in the chart. The first installment of six was completed in January. I await installment 2 with the April issue of Just Cross Stitch (although the digital version pattern will likely arrive in March). 2. 2. 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 13 installments are now public: Because I belong to the SALs pattern club, I have completed the final two installments and am ready to finish it as a bell pull, as soon as the hardware arrives. It will be counted as a completion in next months WIPocalypse report. I admit that, after the frenzy of stitching I participated in last year, my urge to take up new stitching has waned a bit. I am considering three additional SALs - one by Peppermint Purple which is a blackwork sampler intended as a companion for the one I completed in 2020 (the first four installments and the "frame" are out now but I haven't decided whether or not to stitch it and, if so, what colors I will use. ​The second is the 2021 mystery sampler by Linen & Threads, called "Talavera".  I am collecting threads at the moment and trying to decide what fabric to use. I'm also contemplating starting the Long Dog "Pandemic" which was released last year - I have thread and fabric, just not courage (that is one HUGE piece).  ​Finally, there is a blackwork piece by Elizabeth Almond in the February issue of Just Cross Stitch that I have kitted up. I may, or may not, start that this month while waiting fo the April Issue of the magazine. And of course, my stash isn't just overflowing with WIPS and UFOs (and finished pieces waiting to be "finished") but also with charts (some kitted up, some not) and kits accumulated over the years.  My stash is truly a SABLE and I am spoiled for choice... Oh, as I reported in December 2020,  stitching isn't my only "craft". I dabble in Mixed Media and am heavily into paper crafting. I maintain a blog for my paper crafting and also maintain a website (and two back-ups) for a quilt guild I belong to. Add to that a life-long addiction to reading (primarily crime fiction, but also history, biography and a little science fiction). Finally, it's tax time and I have to get my records in order for the accountant so I have to budget my time!  In all, I'm just going to go with the flow!

WIPocalypse 2021 Check-In

 

Hi, everyone. I'm Carol Harper, AKA thatyank, and I've been stitching since graduate school "way back in the middle ages" as my old high school Latin teacher Miss Reed used to say! I started by helping a friend complete an eyeglass case as a gift for her mother (until then, I had only done crewel and needlepoint) and was immediately hooked. And for the longest time, I was pretty good about keeping up and finishing what I had started before taking on a new project.

However, due to the fact that we moved from Houston, TX to London in 1992, and from there to Beijing in 1996, and then to Saudi Arabia in 1998, before returning to to Ohio in 2002, our personal belongings (including my stitchery supplies) had been, in stages, packed and put into storage with each move until we  finally settled down in 2003! I believe I started WIPoccalypse in 2011 (although the first post on my blog that references WIPoccalypse  was in January 2012 so I can't be sure...) with an attempt to rectify the huge collection of WIPs/UFOs that has resulted from these intervals of packing/storing away between moves. Wipocalypse was partially successful in rectifying this backlog. However, I still have a number of needlepoint canvases (most requiring backstitch although one is in need of cleaning, and another, a painted canvas of a leopard that was a bequest from a deceased friend, is barely started), and one set of crewel pillow covers left over from that accumulation. In addition, I have one major blackwork piece by Elizabeth Almond ("Save the Stitches", roughly 60% complete, which was started in February of 2014 and languished through periods of physical therapy ( resulted from a broken left wrist followed two years later by a ruptured left thumb tendon) . Odds are, the blackwork is the only piece I will take out this year as a long-term WIP.  Here is where "Save the Stitches: is now: I have two SALs in progress at present: 1. Faithwurks/Just Cross Stitch Magazine's "Christmas Quaker", on 28ct Sage Jobelin, Anchor floss as called for in the chart. The first installment of six is complete: and the second is due out with the April issue of Just Cross Stitch (although the digital version pattern will likely arrive in March). 2. 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 four installments are now public: with additional installments being released every three days. I am considering two additional SALs - one by Peppermint Purple which is a blackwork sampler intended as a companion for the one I completed in 2020 and the other a mystery sampler by Linen & Threads. I'm also contemplating starting the Long Dog "Pandemic" which was released last year - I have thread and fabric, just not courage (that is one HUGE piece). And of course, my stash isn't just overflowing with WIPS and UFOs (and finished pieced waiting to be "finished") but also with charts (some kitted up, some not) and kits accumulated over the years.   Oh, and stitching isn't my only "craft". I dabble in Mixed Media and am heavily into paper crafting and I maintain a blog for this as well as a blog for a quilt guild I belong to. Add to that an addiction to reading (primarily crime fiction but also history, biography and a little science fiction), and I sometimes have to budget my time!  In all, I'm just going to go with the flow!