WIPocalypse 2024 Check-In: March 31, 2024

 

WIPocalypse 2024 Check-In: March 31, 2024 3/30/2024 0 Comments   Today's discussion topic is: "What colors – and brands – of floss do you love using?  Do you have a particular color that you absolutely love?" I don't think I have a particular color or color set that I prefer over any other. I usually go with called-for colors except for more geometric blackwork pieces and the occasional large sampler, where I may improvise. Then, I may substitute a color that goes nicely with my fabric background, often a variegated if I have it,  for all-black patterns. As for preferred brands --- I use DMC a lot but, lately, I've been using Threadworx variegated for larger pieces.  ~~~~~Completions~~~~~ "Winter SAL 2024" by Stitchonomy, using the kit (a dark aqua Aida and a selection of DMC colors) and charms provided: There are a couple of counting errors but I left them since I discovered them each after two sessions of stitching. I don't think they hurt the pattern at all... ~~~~~WIPS~~~~~ 1. Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches", begun in 2014. I worked on blocks 87 - 90 (out of 131 total) this month: 2. "Kingdoms of Life" by Stitchonomy, begun in 2023. Using the kit provided (an oatmeal Aida and DMC colors, plus a select few skeins of grey and greens for the changes. I worked on the fungi this month, where I made a few color modifications: 3. "Royal Gardens", a mystery SAL by Fox & Rabbit, begun in 2023. On a pale green even weave (it said "sapphire" but it doesn't look blue to me!) and Threadworx variegated thread. I worked on ensuring that the left-side border would meet up with the bottom border. Almost there... 4. "Faith, Hope, Love", a mystery SAL for 2024 by Fox & Rabbit. On antique white even weave using a Threadworx variegated (Autumn Leaves) and three DMC colors that match parts of the Threadworx floss... I'm on schedule here - April's installment is due out on April 1... ~~~~~ On the non-SAL (and inactive SAL) front: The Glendon Place "Hope & Strength" piece still requires extensive beading. The Lakeside SAL "Login"  still languishes untouched. My traveling needlepoint was taken out in March and put right back in the project bag. I need to sit down with the chart and sort and label large hanks of numbered threads by color so I can actually stitch! I will set a weekend aside in April to do this. AAARGH!. And that is my March report... On to April!

WIPocalypse 2024 Check-In -February 25th, 2024

 

Today's discussion topic is: "What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year? SALs form the majority of my stitchery plans this year. Some are long-term WIPs while others began just this year: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches", begun in 2014 "Christmas SAL 2022" by Stitchonomy, begun in 2022 "Kingdoms of Life" by Stitchonomy, begun in 2023 "Temperature 2023" by Fox & Rabbit, begun in 2023 "Royal Gardens" by Fox & Rabbit, begun in 2023 "Faith, Hope, Love" by Fox & Rabbit, gun in 2024 "Winter SAL 2024" by Stitchonomy, begun in 2024 And since we are talking SALs, let's look into their progress... 1. "Save the Stitches" - stitched blocks 80-86 of 155. On the left is the full sampler today. On the right ar try six blocks worked on this month. 2. "Christmas SAL 2022". I finally added the charm and seed beads (eyes of the reindeer). Ready for final finishing. 3. "Kingdoms of Life". I completed the Protista and Archea wedges. I did some color adjustment to reflect true appearances under the microscope. ​ ​Only Fungi and Animalia wedges left... and I don't have a lot of color adjustment there so it should move along nicely. On left is progress as of January 29, 2024.  On the right is progress as of February 19, 2024. Color on the right is more accurate... 4. "Temperature 2023" - my plan is to create a temperature key. No progress since last post. 5. "Royal Gardens" - On the left is progress as of January 27, 2024. On the right is progress as of February 23, 2024. I'm working on setting borders to ensure that last two sets of motifs are properly placed. 6. "Faith, Hope, Love" - Installment 1 on the left. Installment 2 on the right. On schedule! Next band due out March 1. 7. "Winter SAL 2024" - Band #1 is shown below. Band 2 is also stitched and band 3 is underway but, because I am a pattern club member with a two week advance on patterns, I can only show bands that are now out in the general public... ~~~~~ On the non-SAL (and inactive SAL) front: The Glendon Place "Hope & Strength" piece still requires extensive beading. The Lakeside SAL "Login" still languishes untouched. ​My traveling needlepoint will likely be taken out in March. ​Now that taxes are in with the accountant, the pressure of sort receipts and forms and add up expenses is over for the tax yer so I can no concentrate on my stitchery, reading and perhaps even my papercrafting!

WIPocalypse 2024 Check-IN _ January 28, 2024

 

Today's discussion topic is: "Tell us about the oldest WIP you have in your stash." ​ OK, this one is a toughie because how do I distinguish between WIPs and UFOs? I have a stack of unfinished pieces, mainly needlepoint but also at least one crewel piece and several crazy quilts yet to be quilted. But... On my laptop desktop, I have a file folder labeled "Long-term WIPs" in which I have stored the info for five different pieces. Listed in order from most oldest to most recent starts, they are: "Save the Stitches" by Elizabeth Almond, started February 2014, went into hiatus November 2021,   and picked up again in May of 2022 and dropped into hiatus again until January 15, 2024 "Butterfly on Scroll" by Dimensions, started February 2020 and last worked on February 2023. This is my :traveling project and we rally have done little traveling in this time period (COVID, don't ya know?) "Hope & Strength" from Glendon Place, started March 2021 and last worked on November 2022. Needs beading, LOTS of beading. "Kogin" from Lakeside Needlecraft, started January 2022 and not touched since (counting issues and lots of frog visits) "Christmas SAL 2022" by Stitchonomy, started January 2022 and last worked on in January 2023. Needs beading --- only a few but I dread getting out the beading gear. So, as you can see, The one I started earliest was "Save the Stitches" and it has had an on-again, off-again life. Mainly because it is so darned BIG! There are 79 "patterned blocks" currently stitched and roughly 55 remain! The fabric is a full yard and is awkward to stitch on since I don't use a stand. My q-Snap set-up was originally an 11 by 11 square with a grime cover but even that didn't handle all the excess fabric so I have switched to my more manageable 8 x 11 q-Snap and do my best to wrangle the excess fabric. This limits what parts of the piece I can work at any one time however, and while the paper pattern is divided into 4 - 5 blocks per page, I still have issues with finding where I am in the pattern! Thank GOD I stitched the frame first! The chart calls for black-thread for the blackwork patterns, with five different colors of metallic threads for accents. There-in lies my first reason for having issues with this piece: I HATE metallic thread! SO... I decided to change the metallic threads to colored threads - and I chose the range of blues and greens I had acquired for an earlier Ink Circles BAP. Obstacle overcome.  As you can see from the photo below: I still have a long way to go. But it is on my rotation again and I hope to make a little progress this year. ​As for the other four long-term WIPS... ​For "Hope and Strength" and "Christmas 2023 SAL", I just need to overcome the panic that results when I think of all those beads with a thread-loving rambunctious kitten/cat named Li'l Sis who spends most of her time in my stitching area! For "Kogin", I need to step back, frog what little I have stitched and start over (or decide to not stitch it, which ever seems more logical at the time), Might be easier now that I have the entire pattern in hand (it was a SAL) For "Butterfly on a Scroll", I now have a decent portable light set-up to accommodate lousy hotel lighting and there are two long-weekend travel trips (husband's horticultural conventions) set up for this year so I may actually get some stitching in! And I have (in my head, not on paper) put in a plan on weekends for each WIP (long-term and current) in my stash this year in order to make some progress. This might be derailed by temptation for more new starts but I am trying to scale back there... ~~~~~SALs~~~~~ ​1. A NEW START: "Hope Faith Love" by Fox & Rabbit, a monthly SAL and probably the last free one they issue. Using 28 ct "Antique White" Lugana, Threadworx "Autumn Leaves" (1039) and DMC 436, 975 and 310, 2 over two: I am actually on schedule! Here is the January installment:  2. WIP - "Royal Gardens" by Fox & Rabbit (their 2023 SAL). I have completed five of the internal motif installments and the top border. There is a miscount in installment 1 (in the vase of flowers) so I have been placing motifs by how they relate to the border and each other, not the vase. For the most part, this is working out but, this past month, I discovered that the large circular motif to the right of the elves, while it is perfectly in line with the elves and the crown, it is off by one-half stitch and somehow ended up positioned too close that the little candelabra-like motif to its right. And I CAN"T FIND THE ERROR. This concerns me because I haven't completed the border and am not sure now of the placement of the last three internal installments of motifs. So I bit the bullet and started the right-hand border so I could set up a baseline for those last three installments and ensure plenty of room without the threat of MASSIVE frogging... This border is a bear: what you see on the right is two weeks (1.5 to 2.5 hours of stitching per day) of stitching! This sampler is stitch-dense! Here is my progress so far --- where I left off in the last post is in the left,  and the status as of last night at 10:30 PM is on the right:  3. A FINISH!  "Temperature 2023" by Fox & Rabbit, a patreon pattern. The actual piece is done. I need to finish off those last hanging threads and chart and stitch a temperature key that I think will fit to the right of the pattern...  4. Long Term WIP: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches", Blocks 78 and 79 are now complete: ~~~~~UPCOMING~~~~~ ​I find is interesting that I seem to be doing all SALs at present. And there is one more in the pipeline. The Stitchonomy "Winter 2024" has been ordered and the kit is supposedly in the email. This will be a weekly pattern scheduled to start February 9. I still don't have my kit and I'm not sure how the two-week advance for patreon members fits in with this date but I suspect there will be a start in the coming month, sometime.

WIPocalypse 2024 Kick-Off - January 7, 2024

Today's discussion topic is:

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

I really have little new to post here since I completed my December check-in so I will summarize briefly:


1. My 2023 finishes were "Happiness is Handmade", a Lakeside Needleecraft SAL designed by Durene Jones; the "Halloween Sampler 2023" by Stitchonomy; and the "Charity 2023" SAL by The Steady Thread


2. Since the last post, I have made progress on two SALs:

• "Royal Gardens", the 2023 Mystery SAL by Fox & Garden (before on top, current on bottom). I have completed the "part 8" motifs and begun on the "part 9" motifs (there are 12 installments in this SAL). The border still languishes although I made a little progress on the left-hand side this past week. 

 

• The "Temperature 2023", also by Fox & Rabbit (before on top, current on bottom). All dates are stitched. Ideally, I shouldn't count this as a finish as I hope to stitch a color key for the temperatures... 

 


3. I have one January start - the Fox & Rabbit 2024 Mystery SAL "Faith Hope Love", using Threadworx "Autumn Leaves" on 28-ct white Lugana

 

4. Goals for 2024 (in addition to finishing the above two Fox & Rabbit SALs) include:

• beading the "Christmas Banner 2023" by Stitchonomy and "Hope & Strength" by Glendale Place
• putting at least a few stitches in Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches"
• finishing "Kingdoms of Life" by Stitchonomy

I have no travel plans for 2024 so I can't say for certain that I will do any stitching on my travel needlepoint piece.

We all know how fragile New Year's Resoluions are so I'm setting no other stitching goals for 2024. Are we taking bets on how long I hold out?

WIPocalypse Check-In - December 31, 2023

 

This month's discussion topic is: "Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc)." 2023 Finishes (not FFO): Below are my  three finishes for 2023.  On the top is "Happiness is Handmade" by Durene Jones for Lakeside Needlecraft, finished August 21, 2023. In the center is the Halloween 2023 SAL from Stitchonomy, finished October 23, 2023. On the bottom is the Charity SAL from The Steady Thread, finished December 22, 2023. All were 2023 starts... Started in 2023 but not finished: Below are photos of projects started in 2023 but not yet finished. Both are Fox & Rabbit designs. On the top is The 2023 free SAL "Royal Garden". I fell so far behind on the border that I gave up on it and stated stitching the interior motifs. In Threadworx 0148 "Woodland Green",  two over two on 32 ct Lugana "pale green". I have 4.5 installments of interior motifs and then the borders to finish. On the bottom is "Temperature 2023", a pattern issue from Fox & Rabbit. I stitched the low temperature for the day in the left half of each heart, and the high temperature on the right. I sourced the temperatures from a web site https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/@5147978/historic for my ZIP as we do not have a reliable temperature indicator out here in the boonies. Stitched with DMC, two over two (one over two for the DMC 310 hangers). All dates are stitched excepting December 31, 2023. I am planing on adding a "key" chart of the temperature ranges of each color as well... Below are photos where work was not completed before being set aside... First is my long-term blackwork sampler by Elisabeth Almond "Save the Stitches". The last I touched this was March 28, 2022: Next are two projects essentially finished except for beading: On the top is a Christmas Banner SAL from Stitchonomy, which lacks attachment of a charm and a few beads. Photo taken January 29, 2023. On the bottom is "Hope and Strength" from Glendale Place, which lacks LOTS of beading. Photo taken December 21, 2022: Then there is a Stitchonomy SAL for 2023 called "Kingdoms of Life". I got deep into adjusting colors and just faded away with the third installment. I have the color conversions written down but never got back to stitching on this: Next up is "Kogin" from Lakeside Needlecrafts. This one really blocked me - I had issues with counting and frogged several times (you can make out reside from some of the frogged stitches if you look to he right of the three finished chevrons...) before giving up. This photo was taken January 28, 2022 (pathetic, I know)... And finally, my traveling needlepoint piece. scarcely touched because we really haven't traveled much this year. Photo taken February 24, 2023: GOALS for 2024: I probably should add a "yet to start" category because I have the patterns and the fabric and the floss but... this category is too big to count. I truly have been a "need all the patterns" person up to now but am trying my best to hold off on new purchases. We shall see how this works out! Watch for my goals for 2024 post on January 7...

WIPocalypse 2023 Check-In - November 26, 2023

 

This month's discussion topic is: "What is your favorite way to finish ornaments and/or smalls?" I haven't stitched or "finished" any ornaments or smalls in a LONG time --- MOST of what I stitch is medium to large and intended for a frame or some sort of hanging banner.  However, when I DID make ornaments, I usually went the way of flat-folds or pillows.  ~~~~~WIPs~~~~~ What I stitched on in November: I decoded that I wasn't making a lot of progress in rotational stitching where I alternating projects daily. Instead, I decided to settle on a project week, more or less. I don't know if this resulted in more progress but it made me feel a little more positive about my stitching. 1. Fox & Rabbit's Patreon "Temperature Chart" for the year 2023. Stitched on 28 ct. "Star Sapphire" Gobelin (although it looks more pale green than "sapphire" to me) using DMC floss. I'm stitching the day's low on the left side of the hearts and the high on the right side. All temperatures are based on the recorded highs and lows from an online "past weather" temperature chart for near-by Bowling Green, Ohio (we don't have a reliable outdoor temperature thermometer for our home so I'm assuming same ZIP code, similar temperature, although that isn't totally accurate). I am pretty much keeping up with the days, waiting until I have at least five days of temperatures charted to stitch each session. I spend the rest of the time on the border and the hangers. The picture below shows temperatures through November 20 and the border finally stitched out... 2. Fox & Rabbit Mystery SAL for 2023, "Royal Gardens". Stitching on 32ct Lugana "pale green" (this isn't an accurate color in this photo) using Threadworx Overdyed Floss 1048 "Woodland Green".  I have finished the January installment (sans border outlines and two areas of backstitching) with two major stitching errors that I will have to fudge around (because I didn't notice them until several rows of stitching and was NOT going to frog weeks worth of work to "fix" ).  I have started on the borders, parts of which were in the January,  March, and June pattern releases. Since I have so much of the pattern in hand (through November with the final December installment due this coming week), I am setting the borders on each side and then trying to finish the stitching in the center of the pattern, from left to right, top to bottom. I hope that this approach will result in better progress and allow me to account for the stitching error in installment one. As a result, I have the majority of the April installment (on the right) and about one third of the February installment (on the left) complete. That medallion on the left is giving me major headaches and I was frogging more than stitching last night, but I think I've got it sussed out now... Fingers crossed! 3. A Charity SAL from A Steady Thread.  Stitched on 28-ct even weave, antique white, using Sulky 12 wt threads. ​Don't ask me why but I really liked the look of this one and so I started a new piece! AAARGH! ​All blackwork, but I decided to play with color here. I have done parts of the wreath so that I can place the ornaments, and done the stitching on three of the four ornaments released so far. This is a bear to stitch because the fabric I chose is a very tightly woven 28-count even-weave and I'm having a terrible time counting! So there is a lot of fudging going on here and I sure hope that the ends of the wreath connect at the bottom! 4. Stitchonomy SAL for 2023 "Kingdom's of Life". All I have finished so far (the frame, the bacteria and the plants) were shown in previous posts. I am  doing some color editing on two installments before I proceed. No progress this month. ~~~~~ A COMPLETION!~~~~~ I finished the Stitchonomy Halloween 2023 SAL!  Stitched in DMC (two strands) on the kit 14-ct AIDA (a sort of brownish olive green), with charms from the kit added. All it needs now is to be hemmed and hung as a banner... Need to search my stash to see if I have a suitable hanger... ~~~~~ To sum up my November stitchery progress:  I have made no progress on my long-term WIPS (Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches", Glendon Place's "Hope & Strength" which needs beads, Stitchonomy's 2022 "Christmas Banner" which needs beads) I made significant progress on "2023 Temperature" and some progress on "Royal Garden, with Fox & Rabbit pieces I completed The Stitchonomy Halloween SAL I start4ed a Christmas SAL I may have one more completion in 2023, with another piece close to completion as well,  assuming the holidays don't put a hitch in my stitching plans.  Keeping my stitching fingers limber --- and crossed!