WIPOcalypse 017 - April Check-in

Another month without stitching. My wrist is getting better but I still have flexibility and strength issues in my left had so holding a frame steady for any length of time is dodgy at best. I live in hope!
Meanwhile, the topic for the month is “What projects are in your UFO pile?”
Sadly — a lot. 

Back in 2012, I itemized the UFOs in my cupboard. They were 

• "Angel of Love" - started before we moved to England in 1992!
• "Celestial Angel"  - started before we moved to England in 1992!
• "Map of England and Wales" - started in Saudi
• "Nature's Song" (excerpted from a larger chart) - started in Saudi 

Not itemized, but hiding out in a bin were a crewel-work pillow and six or seven needlepoint pieces needing backstitching and other “top work”,  all predating 1992! And there were a slew of piece-worked tops from quilting classes in Saudi that required backing and binding... And then there is the Round Robin stitchery piece from 2006, were all the participants finished their parts but I have yet to finish it off...

Currently ALL of these pieces are still unfinished, stitching-wise.

And this doesn’t begin to count the two major pieces languishing in my project bag: the Elizabeth Almond “Save the Stitches” sampler and the “Love Is..” wedding sampler. Also, back in 2012, a WIP was Palm Tree Elegance, my traveling needlepoint piece and that is still active! And also in my traveling back is a "small" piece from a trip to North Carolina back in August 2014 ... 

OMG, that wrist has to heal faster, or… because I’m not getting any younger!

There are also projects finished since then that lack the finishing touches, all itemized in early 2017: at least four quilt tops need to be backed and bound and one needs to be pieced (it’s roughly 3/4 put-together right now), backed and bound; my first Bead Journal Project needs assembly as does my Take a Stitch Tuesday sampler, and there is a “slew” of bargello and Learn-a-stitch needlepoint exercise pieces (freebies from Napa Needlepoint - she has pasted many more but I am resisting starting any until I clear my cutting table of the finished ones!) that should be sewn into ornaments! These don’t really require wrist strength — just the courage to turn on my machine or get out my sewing kit, rethread the needle(s) (and the bobbin on the machine -my LEAST favorite thing of all time), and sit down to work. But that means I need to motivate!

Any tips?

WIPocalypse check-in: March 26, 2017

This month's question is: "What stitchy blogs, groups, or flosstubes do you follow and why?"

​OK, The only stitch blogs I really follow (if getting digests each week or month is the same as following) are:

• ​Pin Tangle - because I used to participate in the TAST challenge (but no longer after creating a pile of shapers nearly six inches thick over 2.5 years) and because I really really like the art blog by Sharon B and the photography blog by her partner Jerry Everard (which lately covered their Camino experiences)
• Nuts About Needlepoint - because Janet always has such interesting tips, news and interviews
• On Beads and Needles - simply because I am in awe of Karen's stitching!
• Needle in a Haystack - although, in reality, what I follow is a newsletter, not a blog. I simply LOVE this shop...

​The one "group" I belong to is a closed Facebook group called Cross Stitch Crazy which is limited to members of Yuku's (pretty inactive at present) Cross Stitch Crazy Board which, in turn is a descendant of the old iVillage forum "Cross Stitch Crazy" (now totally lost in the ether thanks to NBC-Universal's mismanagement). I am registered as a follower of the "WIPocalypse SAL" Facebook group although I don't really "follow" it that closely.  I do "follow" (very loosely) a couple of other Facebook groups, like "Take a Stitch Tuesday" and "Ink Circles Mandala Stitchers", but only in that the occasional notification from them appears on my newsfeed.

And to be honest, I had no clue what a "flosstube" was until I just looked it up! No, I don't follow any flosstubes!

Now, as for my WIPocalypse progress in March --- nil, none, zero. I didn't even pick it up today when I decided to see if I had indeed done nothing since my last check-in! I don't WANT to stitch while my hand still aches when holding the Q-snaps (and no, I WILL NOT use a frame --- I HATE frames). And the piece I am working on, "Love Is..." really isn't calling to me, nor are any other pieces in my WIP/UFO pile. My stitching mojo was practically done in by that arm break and I don't know if it will ever recover.

But we live in hope... there is a trip or two in my near future where I may take my traveling needlepoint. No frame, no Q-snaps --- it's being stitched in hand. We shall see if that rekindles the stitching flame.

WIPocalypse check-in - February 26, 2017

The question for this month is: "What is your favorite stitch other than the standard cross stitch?" Well, I'm not sure I have a favorite stitch other than the cross stitch. In fact, I'm not even sure any more that the cross stitch is my "favorite" but... the stitch I use as often as the cross stitch is backstitch, although I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it correctly when I do blackwork. As for how-to, here is the best link I can provide for regular backstitching and here is how to do it (aka the Holbein) in blackwork.

This was another stitch-free month, except for 50 minutes last night trying again to work on "Love is..." I managed to get six letters in backstitch and French knots stitched when I found out that I had stitched the last two one stitch off! AAACK! Frogging backstitch with French knots is NOT fun, I wasted an entire strand of floss in doing this, and now I have some restitching to do to cover the stitched-out linen where the old stitches were.

Still, the left wrist held up better than the last time I tried and I think I will be stitching some more, although taxes take priority this afternoon.

WIPocalypse check-in, January 29, 2017

First check-in for 2017 and not a very happy one, I fear. I tried to stitch on "Love Is..." an Xs and Os design, in mid-January after being given the "all clear" from my orthodpod and my occupational therapist that I could continue on doing my hand exercises on my own. But I failed miserably in being able to hold my q-snap frame for more than a few minutes at a time. Maybe it didn't help that the word I chose to stitch was chock full of French knots (which I hate, especially on linen) but then...

All I got done in one hour was the one word: "record" and I gave up:

I haven't stitched since. My hand is still stiff and I can barely make a fist with it in the morning. And if I use it TOO much, the thumb and wrist start to ache something fierce. I am getting stronger (I can curl a two-pound weight now) but I still am having issues. I hope to get back to stitching soon because, if nothing else, I MISS IT!

This month's question for discussion: What SAL’s are you participating in this year?

As for SALs I am participating in, I am committed to WIPocalypse as a SAL and have promised a stitching buddy to do a private SAL with her on "Cardinal Points" (A Long Dog Sampler). I've also downloaded the first band in a monthly mystery sampler from Linen and Threads. And of course, one of my long-term WIPs is the Elizabeth Almond blackwork SAL "Save the Stitches".

SALS won't be my primary focus, however. Because I have this list (from the first WIPocalypse post this year) of 12 WIPs to work on. Maybe I can tackle some of the machine sewing on that list to whittle that list down.

SALS may also take a hit from new starts. Assuming my hand returns to near normal before the year is out, that is... I have a serious case of "start-itis" lurking in the wings. There are a chart and two mini-kits arrived this week from Michael Powell (more of his Greek scenes). Add to that three needlepoint kits that I ordered last summer before the wrist fiasco... All six have color, LOTS of BRIGHT tropical color, and I really need some of that after this winter and all the monochromatic reds, blues, blacks and neutrals in the embroidery pieces in my WIP pile.

WIPocalypse 2017 - January 1: The Start of a new Year

WIPoccalypse 2017Today we are to “ Introduce [ourselves], [our] projects, and any goals [we] have for the year!”

OK, well, I’m Carol, a retired environmental scientist and community college instructor, who took up stitching in graduate school (in Florida). I started with crewel, began needlepoint when a friend asked me to complete an eyeglass case she had bought, and moved on to cross-stitch while living and working in San Francisco (needlepoint and crewel were too awkward to work on when traveling and I was flying a lot back then; cross-stitch kits were MUCH more portable, at least until I started on BAPs!). I’ve been a cross-stitcher ever since, pretty much limited to white or antique white evenweave and DMC but occasionally branching out to overdyeds (in both fabric and threads).  I have taken online needlepoint and freehand stitching classes, and participated in “Take A Stitch Tuesday” for three years. I also do blackwork, which I really love (odd considering how much I dislike backstitching in cross-stitch!). 

Other needlecraft that I do are quilting (or at least piecing) and knitting. I joined a quilt guild about 6 years ago and soon became their webmaster… but I haven’t progressed much in the quilting realm, although I did participate in several years of the online Crazy Quilt Journal Project. As a sideline to that, I also participated in several years of the Bead Journal Project, playing with adding beads to fabric, especially to the crazy quilt blocks I was making. I started knitting as an undergraduate (was taught by a roommate my Senior year!) and have knitted off and on (mostly off of late - there is one afghan UFO on my needles that I really need to consider a WIP... ooops) ever since. 

Last year was not a successful year for me in stitchery. we were on the road in the south for five weeks in the first three months of the year and when returning, it was hard to get back in the stitchery swing-of-things. Then I broke my wrist in mid-October and have been one-handed ever since. So I’d guess that 2016 was my worst completion year ever! I want to remedy that in 2017 so I decalre this year to be  a starting-over, "Get It Done" year.

I have a number of unfinished project: some UFOs, two projects interrupted by the broken wrist, two traveling pieces, and some crazy quilts and beaded pieces that need to be “finish-finished” (I’m not even going to count all the needlepoint and cross-stitch pieces - or that afghan - that have accumulated over the past three decades and need to be framed or turned into pillows or ornaments or…. ). Here is a list of the pieces (and links to where you can see their last progress report only Weebly blog) that I think I will work on getting done this year:

1. “Love Is” by X’s & Ohs (by Jo Gatenby). It was meant to be a Christmas gift to a niece who was married last April and was only half done when I broke my wrist. I would LOVE to have it finished before their first aniversary...

2. “Save the Stitches” by Elizabeth Almond, a blackwork piece that I was half-way through at the beginning of 2016 and haven’t touched since… 

3. “Palm Tree Elegance”, a needlepoint kit that is my traveling piece. I last touched it in Louisville, KY in July and it is probably 1/3 done. No road trips planned for this year, though, so it may well sit in it’s bag for all of 2017,  untouched.

4. A small cross-stitched piece of Biltmore House that I bought when we were in Asheville, NC back in 2014. It has stalled out since a major frogging back in July of 2014. 

5. My 2015 Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal blocks which need to be assembled into a top, backed and bound.

6. My “Take a Stitch Tuesday” journal of stitches (2012, 2013 and 2014) which needs to be assembled into a book…

7. My 2014 Crazy Quilt Journal Project, nine blocks of which are assembled. The remaining three need to be attached and the quilt backed, tied and bound. 

8. My 2013 Crazy Quilt Journal Project which needs to be backed, tied and bound.

9. My 2013 Bead Journal Project which needs to be backed, tied and bound (and maybe have the sashing redone as it is a tad wonky!…)

10. A “Chinese Coins” quilt top which needs to be backed, quilted (AAARGH!)  and bound…

11. My 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal Project which needs a hanging sleeve and label

12. My 2011 Bead Journal Project which needs to be assembled into a small book (I have the cover started...).

And, as if this weren't enough (remember, I left out a lot of the longstanding UFOS in my stash), there is the most overwhelming project of all — my craft space! It is a DISASTER! It needs to be totally reorganized and (gasp!) purged. There are threads that need to go back into their respective storage containers; beads, buttons and ribbons likewise. And this doesn’t even begin to account for the growing pile of papercrafting supplies that are over-running my space. I fear that this could mean I won’t get started stitching until well into 2017 but if I don’t start NOW, it won’t get done. I know me… I hate organizing (as my chaotic office can testify — it’s been in disorder since we moved in here in 2003!) and I really have issues with purging! But it has to be done, sooner rather than later, and it is something I can do one-handed… I know, one step at a time, or in this case, one cabinet or table or pile at a time…

So there you have it. My projects and my (probably unattainable) goals for the year…

P.S. I forgot! I have one kitted up Long Dog sampler on order and I have started downloading the patterns for a 12-part mystery band sampler. Both are SALs on a Facebook group I belong to. WHAT was I thinking?

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WIPocalypse 2016 - December 14

Checking in here WAY late, but I forgot to check on the full moon date!

Anyway, the final question for 2016 in WIPocalypse is: "Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc)."

So here goes. No photos ...

My finishes in 2016 were scant becasue I was working toward finishing two massively BAP/WIPS.

• One got finished: the "Tropical Seas" colorway of "Roll Your Own Mandalas", which was completed in August...
• The other BAP didn't even get touched: "Save the Stitches" by Elizabeth Arnold, which languishes in the state it was on the January 2015 Wipocalypse!
• Another piece I stitched on during 2016 was my tavel needlepoint, Palm Tree Elegance", which was left with finished borders in July...
• In August, I started a birth sampler ("All Creatures") for a grand-nephew and it was completed and sent off in September...
• In September, I started a belated wedding sampler "Love Is" and left it half finsihed in October when I broke my wrist...

So, all i all, not a very outstanding year for stitchery!

My wrist is recovering, slowly, but I don't think I'm up to hand stitching or holding my Q-Snaps with my left hand quite yet. Still, I have hopes that that wedding sampler will make it to my niece before her first anniversary... "Palm Tree Elegance" may not have much opportunity for stitching since we don't have any road trips planned for this coming year. As for "Save the Stitches" - well, it may languish a bit more because I am being tempted by others to do a SAL on the Long Dog sample "Cardinal Points". The chart, 18ct fabric and threads are on order so we shall see if I am up to it...

WIPocalypse 2016 - November 14 (SuperMoon)

This moon's topic is "What pattern (or designer) is on your must-try-to-stitch bucket list?" I can't say that I actually HAVE a stitching bucket list. I have stitched at least one pattern from each designer that has caught my eye, sometimes more,  and I have stopped buying patterns as my stash is definitely a SABLE.

Another WIPocalypse has come and gone and, since the last, I have not stitched at all. Basically, I am typing here one-handed so I apologize for any and all typos (one-handed typing is NOT accurate, especially as that broken arm keeps wanting to  help)

I fell (slipped on a hardwood floor) on the 18th of October, landed on mt left wrist and broke the distal end of my radius. I had surgery for an open reduction of the fracture and insertion of a plate on the 25th (OUCH!), had the dressing, stitches and cast removed on November 4 (cast was replaced with a brace), and started occupational therapy on November 9.  Clearly, I have not been able to stitch since my last post. I have no clue as to when I will be stitching again... therapy is a demon and I tend to crash and sleep the afternoon after; exercises are boring and slow and I basically hurt in places I didn't know one could hurt. 

It looks like my belated wedding sampler will be even MORE belated.