WIPocalypse 2025 Check-in - January 5, 2025

 My current WIPS are:

​
1. Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches", begun in 2014, on white lugana in mostly DMC 310 (with some scattering of two DMC blues and two DMC greens where metallic threads had been called for.). 

2. Stitchonomy "Christmas Market" 2024 SAL. Stitched using kit fabric and DMC floss. Part 1 of 8 is shown. Part 2  requires backstitching. Part 3 has been issued but not started. Part 4 is due out on the 8th of January., but not to the general stitching public so I can't show it.

3. Fox & Rabbit 2025 SAL "Cloister Garden". Part 1 has been released and I have the fabric and threads I plan on using. I have yet other start...

On the non-SAL (and inactive SAL) front:

• The Glendon Place "Hope & Strength" piece which still requires extensive beading.
• The Lakeside SAL "Kogin" which still languishes untouched.
• Traveling needlepoint is awaiting a road trip (possibly in February) to justify taking it out again.

~~~~~
Due to installation of solar panels at our home which required access to our attic (between New Yer's Eve and this weekend) , my closet (where attic access is located) was emptied into my bedroom, obstructing all my stitching gear. Stitching has been on hold and will only resume when all the closet contents are sorted and replaced.

~~~~~
My goal this year is to finish the three WIPs listed above and hopefully work on at least one of the currently inactive pieces. Therefore, I will attempt to restrict addition of new pieces into my rotation. No telling how successful I will be at that but I will try!

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 - January 8, 2023

 

A new year, and time to: "Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!" Who am I? My name is Carol Harper, although I have used the handle "that yank" more often the past. I am a "Jill" of all crafts and master of none: I paper craft (my papercrafting blog is currently neglected) and embroider (ranging from needlepoint and crewel in the distant past to cross-stitch and blackwork currently) and sometimes quilt (crazy quilting), knit and even bead a little, all of which have been posted on this blog. I have been participating in WIPoccalypse since 2012, hoping that that would add some structure to what had become an increasing number of long term WIPs that never seems to finish. Although I have made a little progress in reducing the potential UFO backlog as well as the number of concurrent parade of simultaneous stitching projects, I am not now, not likely ever will be, a "monogamous" stitcher. While ornaments were a "thing" for me back in the early days, nowadays I do very few smalls, Big projects attract my attention but I often stall out on them and, of late, mystery SALs have become my go-to. I tend to have at least two on the go, alternating as new installments drop. In this way, I seem to finish a lot of pieces "on schedule", leaving only those long-term larger pieces languishing in my project bag... ~~~~~ Let's start with works in progress, in order of age: ​I am not even going to include the very old true UFOs here. 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. It is highly unlikely that I will ever return to them. ​1. A long term WIP, almost a UFO: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" sampler. Started back in February of 2014! It is currently about 60% complete: 2. ​ Traveling Needlepoint: Not having travelled since the pandemic, I have not been motivated to stitch on "Butterfly on Scroll" by Dimensions since February 2020. 3.  A WIP in progress - "Hope & Strength" by Glendon Pace. Purchased in 2020 and started in March, 2021,  the stitching is finally complete. It awaits the attachment of 1988 beads! AAACK! 4. A Lakeside Needlecraft SAL, "Kogin", designed by Elizabeth Almond. I began in February 2022, after four installments had been issued. The entire pattern is now in hand. I had issues - and the frog was a frequent visitor. It has been put away until I can deal with my obvious inablility to follow a pattern here! 5. A Mystery SAL in progress - "Christmas Banner" by Stitchonomy. Started in mid-December 2022, I currently have 11 bands stitched but, given that I belong to a pattern club where we get advance notice of installments, I can only show the seven currently made public: I am using the 14ct grey AIDA and the specified DMC threads (all from a kit) and intend to add beads to the reindeer eyes and the bell clappers, and a charm to the middle snow globe; I have corrected the missed stitches in the second-from right snow globe and, in addition to "personalizations" based on my inability to count correctly (in Santa's sleigh and the gingerbread man on the right), I blinged up the snow globe bases with DMC Diamanté gold thread. Other "personalizations are in the works... and backstitching may also be required. ~~~~~ 2023 goals will include: a 2023 temperature chart from Fox & Rabbit, which is kitted up and ready to go (daily installments are small so they can easily be fitted in between SAL installments). I have on backorder (!) threads and fabric for the 2023 Mystery SAL "Royal Garden" by Fox & Rabbit and whether or not it gets stitched will depend on how long it takes those threads to appear in my mailbox. As for other projects in the queue, whether or to they actually get started in 2023 is in question. They include  a cooperative venture between Nancy Wahler ("Faithwurks") and Sue Hillis Designs called "A Stitcher's Shadowbox and Smalls" (as per usual, I ordered two by mistake! Oh well---) and I have the kit(s) in hand. two SALs by Cliffside Stitches. One is a variation on medieval Egyptian blackwork and the other is a set of cross-stitched tiles based on variety of motifs that are reminiscent of traditional folk designs from around the world. I have not started either although I have ordered the floss for the blackwork piece and am collecting the weekly installments a blackwork SAL by Clare Bradshaw of The Steady Thread - weekly installments of two versions. I have collected the installments but have not decided on which version, if any I would stitch. I won't even go into the large number of charts I have downloaded or kits I have ordered in the past year... It's just embarrassing! ​~~~~~ Anyway, this is my sign-up report for 2023. Here's hoping I manage to accomplish a majority of the goals I have set up above.