Archive for the Category ◊ Stitching ◊

Author: Measi

• Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Since today’s the last day of January, it’s time to recap my progress for Theme-a-licious’s January “Jardin January” theme. I didn’t get anything done beyond what I did last week for IHSW, but still… I made good progress on Floral Bellpull. I’m happy, although the backstitching is still looming at me. But hey, it’s a Wentzler piece. There will ALWAYS be backstitching to do!

I loosely could include my start of Fox Run Mill and Why I Love New England as Jardin January starts too, I suppose, as I was working on borders that incorporated flowers/acorns/etc. But WILNE isn’t at a floral point… yet.

But still – a good month, particularly since I didn’t set any concrete goals beyond stitching!

So of course, with January coming to a close, it’s time for me to plan the next month.

On Saturday, I mentally went through the events on my calendar for the next four weeks and realizing it may be one of the wackiest, busiest set schedules I’ve had in quite some time where there isn’t a wedding of some sort involved. I spent part of the weekend organizing my Google calendar, and I think I have everything in order. Thank goodness for Google calendar, BTW – sharing calendars between Erich and myself is a godsend, even if he probably doesn’t want to see every farking stitching event I have going. :)

Anyway, part of that organization is figuring out what I’ll be stitching this month. I have a long weekend with Presidents’ Day, two days (minimum) of jury duty, a stitch-in at my LNS, a Superbowl involving the home team, the Beanpot hockey tournament with my collegiate alma mater, a dungeons & dragons game, and oh – another stitchy retreat at the end of it to celebrate the first weekend in March.

And it’s a short month. o.O

The theme for Theme-a-Licious is “Fangirl February,” where you stitch on at least one piece by your favorite designer (if you can’t send a Valentine). That will be influencing my rotation and goals for the month. Once again, Floral Bellpull will make an appearance since it’s the one TW I really, REALLY want to get done this year. I’m also going to pull out Legends of the Dragons for a little while.

Here are my goals for February:

Finish part one of Deep Blue Sea (exception: any missing colors still on backorder)
Finish border for next square of Floral Bellpull
Scissor fob for Stitchers Hideaway exchange
Work on BoInk
Work on Legends of the Dragons
Put stitches in on one other WIP (any piece)

The only thing on this list that has any sort of time constraint is the scissor fob. I don’t imagine it will be too difficult since it’s a small piece. Deciding *what* I want to stitch will be the hardest part. I’ll likely do some browsing while I’m at Bush Mountain Stitchery on Sunday for the Superbowl stitch-in and then work on it on my train rides and/or my jury duty days next week.

I’ve been playing around with different ideas for my rotations. Several of the groups I’m in via Yuku or Facebook have stitch-a-long weeks themed to different designers. I definitely will jump in and out of those if my stitching works with them. Although I have put some ideas to paper for a set rotation schedule, I don’t think I’ll do that this month. I’m definitely in the mood for indulging in the “whatever piece is screaming loudest” style rotating with my stitching.

I may, however, do an organized rotation for March Madness next month. To think of me working on a separate WIP every single day could be HIGHLY amusing. (it may have to be one of those “post every day of the month” bloggy events, too!)

We shall see.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Category: Rotations & Goals, SALs/Challenges, Stitching | Tags: getting organized | 12 Comments

My first finish of 2012 – the Traveling Pattern

Author: Measi

• Monday, January 30th, 2012

Early in January, I learned that I was the next stop for the current Lizzie*Kate traveling pattern. I’ve seen quite a few stops of Stitcherhood projects on blogs, and was thrilled that I finally had the opportunity be part of one. I’ve just finished my version today in a mix of DMC and Sullivans threads. I felt like doing bright colors. They probably don’t all match, but that’s fine with me – it’s bright and cheery and completely different from anything else I have going. :)

It’s also my first Lizzie*Kate pattern. How the heck did I go this long without stitching one?

My version joins the nine lovely variants that came before me:

Since this is a Traveling Pattern, it now needs to wander onward to another stitcher. And so it’s time for a drawing.

If you would like to be a part of the Stitcherhood for this Traveling Pattern, here are the rules:

1. Comment on this post, saying you would like to be part of the Stitcherhood.

2. You agree (if you are chosen) to stitch the design and send it along to the next person in a timely manner. If this means dropping everything in your rotation to concentrate on this project…so be it. If you can’t bring yourself to do this ~ don’t sign up.

3. You must have an active blog to participate. If you have a blog but never post to it ~ you won’t be chosen to be the next stitcher.

4. This is a giveaway-type Travelling Pattern. That means you must follow it from blogger to blogger to enter each time it is ready to send along. Commenting on this post doesn’t make you a guaranteed part of the Stitcherhood.

Just for fun – also tell me the *one* pattern, by any designer, that you would love to stitch if time, money, and (for some of us) intimidation were not a factor.

If you want to be considered, act fast – I’ll only take names until Friday, February 3rd. I’ll do the drawing on Saturday, and hopefully have the piece en route to its next location early next week!

Category: Finishes, Stitching | Tags: lizzie*kate, ornaments, stitcherhood, traveling pattern | 20 Comments

Review: Yiotas XStitch

Author: Measi

• Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Over the holidays, I was contacted by Yiota, the owner of Yiota’s Cross Stitch Kits, and was asked if I’d be interested in reviewing one of her cross stitch kits. With the world of online stitch stores increasing as the local shops seem to be decreasing, I can’t blame her for wanting to get the word out. I’d been curious about her products for a while, truth be told, and was definitely eager to take a peek… so I of course said yes. :)

The quick, quick version – I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing, and definitely will be picking up a couple of the other kits I debated reviewing once I clear through a bit of my current WIP pile.

Yiota has a large number of cross stitch kits on her website, covering a wide variety of themes and stitching sizes. To break into a style a bit different than my normal projects, I selected her adaptation of Tree of Life by Gustav Klimt. The kit retails for £24.50 (approx US $38.00) and includes the chart, all floss, Aida fabric, and a needle all tidily packaged up in a resealable plastic envelope. Options are available for just the chart to be delivered either in hard copy or digitally if you prefer to kit on your own.

The package was shipped to me on January 12th – within two days after I confirmed my selection. It arrived within the week to my home in Rhode Island (the weekend and MLK Day postal holiday inclusive). Packaging is good and protective for normal shipping conditions – a firmly backboarded envelope to keep things from bending.

I really, REALLY liked that the kit comes with all of the floss neatly pre-wound on bobbins that are very clearly labeled. This alone will save loads of time for someone like me, who is a religious bobbin user. I’m unsure of the brand of floss used in the kits, as the numbers aren’t DMC, but the floss feels of similar quality and sheen. DMC conversions are given on the color key for those who opt for the chart-only option I mentioned above. Multiple bobbins are included for colors that are required in a larger volume, so bobbins aren’t overly fat and therefore more prone to wear/fraying. All of the bobbins are hole-punched for those who prefer to keep bobbins on a ring. I’m a bobbin box user personally and when I first saw the kit’s bobbins, I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t fit in my generic big box craft store boxes. Yiota’s bobbins are signifiantly longer than the generic ones American stitchers are used to finding at craft stores. But no worries – they fit just fine. Just put them in the individual cubbies the opposite of what you would American-sized bobbins.

The Aida fabric included soft and finer-feeling than the starchy Aida normally found in U.S. stitching kits. I know a lot of stitchers are turned off by Aida, but I have no problem with it, and unlike the U.S. kits, I won’t need to wash this fabric before I start.

The pattern is printed in black and white in large, clear symbols. The symbols used are very different, making it very easy to follow. My only critique would be that rather than using multiple pages of A4 paper, the pattern is printed on two pieces of what we know here in the U.S. as tabloid size (approximately 11×17 inches). For me personally, that’s a bit big to be handling with my stitching since I normally don’t stitch at a table. I am a little concerned that the pages are going to fray where I need to fold it over, and since there’s no shaded “repeating columns” from page to page like you see in many patterns, I’m going to have to be super careful not to crease the paper too badly or I may lose a column of stitches down the fold line. I confess that this concern comes from my very bad habit of being a bit rough on patterns as I stitch. Your mileage may vary depending on your habits.

Overall, I definitely recommend the kits based on what I see here. If you’re looking for a new stitch project, pop over to her site and take a browse!

And yes, this project will be showing up as a new start in the near future, so stay tuned. :)

Category: Stitching | Tags: klimt, reviews, tree of life, yiotas xstitch | 16 Comments

TUSAL and IHSW recap…

Author: Measi

• Monday, January 23rd, 2012

It’s the new moon – and it’s the first of the year, so it’s time to empty the jar and start fresh for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long. I’d been filling my jar for two years, so to see it this empty is a bit… weird. My orts from the last two years have been put into a baggie – I’ll spread some of them in the yard for the birds in the spring, and others I may use to stuff ornaments or something similar.

My orts this month come from a wide variety of projects. I attempted (and failed) Crazy January. I started my first Chatelaine. I did some work on a couple of my long-neglected WIPs. The pile of orts will only grow from here!

This past weekend was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, and I decided to focus entirely on Floral Bellpull for the January rendition of IHSW. I had two goals – finish the cross stitches on the Morning Glory square, and get it entirely backstitched.

I completed goal #1 easily. I’m about half-way done with the backstitching. I forgot that the inside of the frame is backstitched, and wound up having to do it twice thanks to a quietly building knot of string that built as I went along (whoops).

In any case, I’m happy with what I got accomplished. Once Castle is done tonight, I’ll get a bit more done tonight before bedtime.

For the rest of this week, I’ll likely split my time between an adorable little Lizzie Kate that wandered into my mailbox from Jo a few days ago (great for my commute) and either Book of Ink Circles or Seasons of Mystic.

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: floral bellpull, ihsw, stitcherhood, teresa wentzler, tusal | 20 Comments

The weekend where ALL of my SALs converge

Author: Measi

• Thursday, January 19th, 2012

This weekend is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend! Grab a project (or two… or four), curl up, get some stitching done, and share with the world.

It’s kind of like WIPocalypse, but much shorter and even more freeform. :)

BUT WAIT – It’s also Jardin January for Theme-a-licious, which means that my selection for this weekend fits all of my ongoing SALS at the same time.

I know – right? It’s epic stitching convergence time. And at the end of the weekend, it’s time for TUSAL to finish it all off.

What piece is so epic in my stash that it can fulfill all of these SAL’s? It’s none other than…

Floral Bellpull!

Yes, the ongoing WIP that has been ongoing for years, gone out on a UFO Round Robin cruise, and still remains an unfinished piece. It’s the one Teresa Wentzler I truly want to complete this year – and completing it is actually possible if I sit my butt down, get the needle going, and get to work.

While yes, it’s only Thursday, I’m getting a start on it tonight for the weekend. My goal is to finish the square you see – which is the 4th of 6 in the bellpull. I don’t have that much actual cross-stitching left to do in the square, so it’s quite possible I can get it and all of the backstitching completed by Sunday night.

*crossing fingers*

Want to join up in one of the non-WIPocalypse SALs this weekend? Click on the appropriate button below to follow to their hosts. :)

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: floral bellpull, ihsw, teresa wentzler, theme-a-licious, wipocalypse | 16 Comments

TAST Updates – Weeks 2 and 3

Author: Measi

• Thursday, January 19th, 2012

I have two weeks of Take a Stitch Tuesday updates to show. Last week’s stitch was the Buttonhole Stitch, and this week’s was Feather Stitch. Both are related, but I like how they look side by side where you can see the slight difference in technique.

I confess – I did NOT do well with buttonhole stitching last week. I spent half the time ripping it out because the tension was a disaster. I couldn’t get things to place where I wanted them to go. And frankly… it’s a very boring stitch. As you can see, I gave up on my slow, controlled pattern because I was so bored with it and just started making squiggly lines across my space to fill it and be done with it.

I enjoyed feather stitches a lot more – it felt more comfortable, and despite being set up in a similar way as the buttonhole, I didn’t feel like I was fighting with the floss to get it to sit on the fabric. It was fun, it took shape quickly, and I was able to just relax and play, allowing the stitches to fall where they fell naturally.

Since the stitch forms twiggy shapes, I wanted to try for a floral bud row and do some French Knot practicing… yeah, that didn’t go well. I got worse as I went along. French Knots and me? Don’t get along well. Every once in a while I manage to do one right (the i above the row is actually dead on), but most of the time they’re sloppy.

I want to add a couple more practice scribbles to this one, but I feel like browsing some of the other participants’ projects and see what they’re doing… and if something really attracts my eye, I may play with it. :)

Category: SALs/Challenges | Tags: tast | 11 Comments

Deep breath after a long week

Author: Measi

• Sunday, January 15th, 2012

For some reason, life has been absolutely non-stop since about mid-November. I’m thankful I haven’t had any five-day work weeks since Christmas week because honestly, I desperately need the longer weekends right now purely for recovery.

This week was no different in the insanity, although it took a different twist. Erich’s job was transferred to a new hospital as of this past Monday, so both of our commute schedules have changed again. In his case, it’s much, MUCH better. He’s gone from a 1 hour and 20 minute drive to Dorchester, MA to approximately 20 minutes over to Fall River, MA – much, much more tolerable.

In my case, it’s a mixed bag. Technically it’s a bit of a shorter commute for me, but unlike with driving, I now have a very firm schedule as to when I need to leave the house because I’m back on the commuter train. For me it’s about 90 minutes each way to and from Boston. The train is much easier than driving, and once I get used to the train schedule, I’ll be back stitching on my commutes. This week, though, was a bit painful with the adjustment. Hopefully my brain will make the switch soon.

Wednesday was my birthday. Erich and I went out to dinner after work and had a relaxing night. I took Thursday off – I had a scheduled dentist appointment, and decided I’d just take the entire day so I could have some “me” time – I got my nails done and went milling about Thistle Needleworks over in Glastonbury, Connecticut for a couple hours. I didn’t buy much, but did pick up a couple of the colors I still needed for Deep Blue Sea. That evening, Erich and I gathered with friends for a laid-back dinner at one of the centralized hangouts we like to go to.

Yesterday morning I went to my monthly stitchy gathering at the Warwick Public Library – the Rhode Island stitchers gather there every month on the second Saturday morning. It was a quiet month – only four of us this time.

And then last night was the Patriots game – I was relieved they won. Hopefully that will quiet down the Tebow mania for a while!

+++++++++++++

I’ve been doing well on stitching this weekend – I’ve become a bit burnt out on new starts, so I’m putting my Crazy January on pause. My current projects are just screaming a bit too loudly for attention! I’ve been focusing on Deep Blue Sea so far this weekend, correcting my miscounts from my January 1st progress and pushing forward on the next two colors. Once that’s done (hopefully this afternoon), I’ll be picking up Floral Bellpull, since it’s the Wentzler I want to complete this year above all others.

Remember that WIPocalypse signups end tonight at midnight my time – so if you’re reading and waffling, jump in and join us!

Category: Birthdays/Anniversaries, Celebrations & Holidays, Erich, Family & Friends, Life, Work, and all the Rest, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: chatelaine, crazy january, deep blue sea, floral bellpull, teresa wentzler, wipocalypse | 11 Comments

WIPocalypse Update #1

Author: Measi

• Monday, January 09th, 2012

I can’t tell you how amazed, fascinated, and excited I am that so many people are stopping by to check in stitching progress. I admit to being a bit like a little kid, stealing peeks at the check-in entry to see how large the number of posts is now – and my goodness, this is happening on my blog!

Blown away. Absolutely blown away.

I can’t wait until this weekend when I’ll have the time to sit back with a cuppa and read what everyone’s been doing. :)

I’ve been immersing myself in new starts via Crazy January, which may seem a bit counter productive when I have all of my WIPs that need work… BUT… there is a reason for this madness. The first is that a lot of my pre-existing projects are a bit tricky to stitch on my commute, and I wanted to have some easier (and smaller) pieces to stitch during my 90 minute train rides. The other is that I just needed to throw some diversity into my WIPs because I have an over-abundance of Wentzlers to work on, and while I love them… I also need a break from them from time to time!

I’m a couple days behind due to some work hours last week, but I’ve still managed to get some nice starts underway… (all of these photos pop larger if you click them) They’re not quite in the order I originally planned due to some misplaced projects, but now I’m back on track… I think. :)

Day One – Chatelaine Mystery XV – Deep Blue Sea. I’m stitching this on 28 ct Phantom by Picture This Plus. Looking forward to some more in-depth time with this over the upcoming holiday weekend. It’s my first Chatelaine, and I’m both nervous and really excited to dive into the insanity of gorgeousness of Chatelaine designs. (thankfully my husband bought himself a new computer, so I could justify the expense on this!) It’s definitely the largest and most complex project I’ve ever started.

Day Two – Why I Love New England by the Sampler Needlework. I’m stitching this on 32 ct white linen. I’ve put a little more time into it since this photo. It’s stitching quickly so far. It’s a large piece but is primarily whole crosses, so it should stitch up pretty quickly. This is one of those pieces I’ve put on my to-start list for YEARS, and just never had gotten around to. It was time to just jump in and get it underway. I’ve never seen another copy of it stitched, other than the sample in the store in Plymouth, Mass where I bought it.

Day Three – TAST (aka Take a Stitch Tuesday) is a year-long weekly specialty stitch project being hosted by PinTangle. I’ll be adding one stitch per week throughout this year onto a practice sampler. I wanted to have at least one thing that was an “educational” piece where I could just do some freestyle doodling, and this project was perfect. This is last week’s stitch. This week’s stitch has now been posted, and I’ll be focusing on the buttonhole stitch this week.

Day Four – Cowboy Cats by Dimensions, stitched on 14 ct Aida (provided in the kit). I don’t generally stitch from Dimensions kits anymore – I’m not a fan of how their chart keys are designed and find them a bit difficult to follow, plus I like to go stash hunting in the store and kit things out myself… BUT… I’ve had this kit in my stash for ages and still think it’s cute. It’s a good, easy piece for the train. What you’re seeing here is a bandana and the ruff of the center cat.

Day Five – Nantucket Sampler by Medeiros Needlecraft. I’m stitching this on 36 ct Legacy from Picture This Plus using Sullivans floss. Not much to see so far (as I’ve just been stitching sky), but I’ll have a gorgeous rigged sailboat on there soon. Nantucket’s not that far from me – only a 20 minute drive followed by a 90-minute fast ferry, and I like seaside scenes, particularly of places local to me. I liked this one so much I bought it twice… so my spare is going into the WIPocalypse stash box.

Day Six – The Inn at Fox Run Mill by Little House Needleworks, stitched on 36 count Shale from Picture This Plus with Sullivans floss. No particular reason why I’m stitching this one first… I adore Little House projects, but only have a few in my stash so far. I did a blind draw for the next one I’d stitch. This stitched up incredibly fast – I did all of this during the last half of the Steelers-Broncos game last night (had to see who will be playing my Patriots on Saturday!)

Day Seven – Pocketful of Peppermint by Blue Ribbon Designs, stitched on 36 count Legacy from Picture This Plus. In October 2010, I had the pleasure of having Belinda of Blue Ribbon Designs teach this piece as a class for Stitcher’s Hideaway (before she released it as a public design). We worked on a complementing ornament in the class, and now I’m hoping to get the full sampler completed for the holidays this coming year.

So that’s my progress so far this year. Once Crazy January is over, I’m going to put some focus work onto the first Wentzler I really want to push towards a finish… Floral Bellpull.

Happy stitching everyone!

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: blue ribbon designs, chatelaine, cowboy cats, crazy january, deep blue sea, dimensions, fox run mill, little house needleworks, medeiros needlecraft, nantucket sampler, pocketful of peppermint, sampler needlework, tast, why i love new england, wipocalypse | 34 Comments

WIPocalypse Linking Graphics!

Author: Measi

• Thursday, January 05th, 2012

Thanks to the amazingly talented Rahenna, we have linky buttons! (If you’re not familiar with the piece featured in the buttons, it’s Dragon Rampart from Teresa Wentzler). You’re not required to have one of these on your blog, but please feel free to grab one of them for either your sidebar or your check-in posts!

Edit: It seems like people are having difficulty with the code so far. I need to head to bed, but will fix in the morning if the new links below don’t work.

Edit #2: I’ve just tested it in my old blogger account, and it’s now working. It appears that the issue is the quotation marks – go back once you paste and delete each one (there’s a total of four) and manually retype, and it should work.

To use the button to the left (88 wide x 31 high), copy and paste the following code:
 <a href="http://measi.net/measiblog/2012-wipocalypse/"><img src="http://www.measi.net/images/wip_button2.png" border="0"></a>

To use the button to the left (100 wide x 35 high), copy and paste the following code:
 <a href="http://measi.net/measiblog/2012-wipocalypse/"><img src="http://www.measi.net/images/wip_button1.png" border="0"></a>

To use the button to the left (100 wide x 100 high), copy and paste the following code:

<a href="http://measi.net/measiblog/2012-wipocalypse/"><img src="http://www.measi.net/images/wip_button3.png" border="0"></a>

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching | Tags: wipocalypse | 24 Comments

TAST – Week One

Author: Measi

• Wednesday, January 04th, 2012

I decided that since I was taking time this year to work on my own pieces that doing some knowledge expansion was probably also a good idea. I’d run across a few blogs that had interesting little doodle samplers, followed the linky trail, and found myself at Pin Tangle, which hosts a perfect little educational stitch-a-long called Take a Stitch Tuesday (aka TAST). Each week, Sharon will post a different stitch, and the participants in the SAL can either practice the stitch if they’re beginners, or try to push the stitch further if they’re more experienced with it.

I decided that TAST would be my Crazy January start #3, and that as I worked the different stitches, I’d do one row of the simple stitch, then try working it in a couple of different ways. I’ll just pull random colors from my stash, so this thing’s going to get pretty clashy at times. It’ll be a great way to use up some of those mostly empty bobbins, though!

So to start off – this week features the Fan Stitch:

I’ll be adding a header to the top in a week or two – I want to sketch out something freehand.

Sharon suggested using fan stitch to create leaves, so I tinkered with creating rosemary stalks with two colors of DMC. I like the snowflake a lot and want to play around a little more with them before I cross off this week’s mini-sampler. And of course, doing some geometrics with the stitch is a must.

It’s a fun, easy stitch that I think I’ll want to tinker with more.

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: crazy january, tast | 16 Comments

Crazy January Days 1 and 2

Author: Measi

• Tuesday, January 03rd, 2012

Before I get to my stitching… thank you to all who sent kind words to me on my end of year blog post. I really do appreciate it. I’m hoping 2012 will be much better. *crossing fingers*

My first two days of Crazy January are now complete, and I have two projects underway:

Deep Blue Sea (Mystery XV) by Chatelaine
stitched on 28 ct. Phantom by Picture This Plus
Started: January 1, 2012

I know the blue is blending in right now – it won’t once I get the colors surrounding it done. Of course, I already have frogging to do because I fail to count to four. But at this point, it won’t be too bad.

I’m using conversions to Vicky Clayton silks as opposed to the called-for Glorianas and Dinky Dyes.

I’ll be doing some more work on this over the weekend, but I need to get it on bars. The fabric is just too heavy for me to work in a q-snap in hand. It’s actually giving me sore forearms. So I need to find my lap frame supports and get this on my scroll frame.

Today I spent the afternoon at my friend Tricia’s house stitching with her and Amanda, one of her friends via work, and I finally got a long-time-screaming start underway:

Why I Love New England by The Sampler Needlework
Stitched on 32 ct white linen (unknown brand)
Started: January 2, 2012

So it’s been a productive couple of days. But yes – I need to get my bars out. Heavy fabric = sore arms for me!

Tomorrow I start TAST, which should be a fun little learning project for me – it’s a freeform sampler of specialty stitches, once per week. I’m planning on using various remainder threads, so the color combination might be a bit epic – but it will be a fun doodle piece to relax with once per week.

Back to work tomorrow… so off to bed. Happy stitching all!

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: chatelaine, crazy january, deep blue sea, sampler needlework, why i love new england | 14 Comments

Oldest UFO – December Update

Author: Measi

• Saturday, December 31st, 2011

Thanks to a long delay on Amtrak last week, I made a good amount of progress on my oldest UFO – Cats on a Staircase. Everything in blue and the beginning of that cat tail with the hanging thread was completed this month. It’s probably my largest block of solid progress on the piece in, well, years. Next month I’ll finish the cat that’s attached to said tail and hopefully fill in the gaps between the blue and the browns, most of which will be white on white stitching.

It was good to do some stitching on this again – it really hadn’t seen my needle for about a year and a half. It’s one of the pieces I really hope to finish in 2012.

*****

That said – bring 2012 on. 2011 was quite possibly the hardest year of my life emotionally, and I will not be sorry to see this year end. Both personally and professionally, this year has been challenging and exhausting. The personal issues are ones a bit *too* personal to discuss online, but they were serious ones – ones I knew I had to deal with head on and essentially alone. A few friends do know about everything, but after a couple of missteps in confiding to friends who I thought would be supportive as the situation unfolded, I decided instead to shut down and just work through everything on my own.

The good thing on the personal front is that I know things are healing and getting better, even though from time to time, I’ll get a wash of overwhelming emotion and just need to acknowledge it, release it, and continue on. The professional issues sorted themselves out, for the most part, as the year progressed and I’m hoping that they’ll continue toease with some recent news at work. The problem is that I got smacked with both major problems within a two week span at the beginning of the year, and I truly spent the entire year in survival mode for the most part as I just tried to keep myself righted (and sane).

But yeah – I don’t want to ever relive a year like 2011. And I don’t wish anything similar on anyone.

I’ve also learned to put on a VERY convincing “things are fine” face, when no… they haven’t been. But they’re getting better.

And ultimately, I think that’s all that matters.

Happy New Year everyone – may the next one bring all of us better times.

Category: Celebrations & Holidays, Family & Friends, Life, Work, and all the Rest, SALs/Challenges, Stitching, WIP Progress | Tags: cats on a staircase, donna kooler, oldest ufo sal | 25 Comments

And my lists for next year are finally finalized…

Author: Measi

• Friday, December 30th, 2011

I took over our bed last night with stash – spread everywhere. WIPs, unopened kits, new charts I want to start. Our king sized bed was PILED. All so I could sort through everything, see what I needed to purchase to get started or to fix my WIPs that had been raided for bobbins for Mirabilia RRs this past year, and get myself in some sort of headspace that said yes, I’m ready for stitching in 2012.

My original list of projects needed to be reconsidered, though. I’m really itching to start a couple of the charts I’ve acquired (*cough* Cirque des Cercles *cough*), but I have so many projects that are partially or mostly kitted up that I do want to stitch, so I should take advantage of them, save the money, and stitch what I have first. Thanks to my fabric of the month stashing all year via Picture This Plus, I have a bunch of lovely neutrals to start projects on, and won’t have to buy too much fabric (which was the stalling factor in the first place).

So here are my master lists for 2012. The Crazy January one won’t be changed. WIPocalypse will morph as the year goes on.

Crazy January 2012

(I’m in two different groups, but will be using the same pieces for both SALs)

Jan 1 – Deep Blue Sea – Mystery XV (Chatelaine)
Jan 2 – I Love New England (Sampler Needlework)
Jan 3 – Take a Stitch Tuesday (year long freestyle sampler SAL via Pin Tangles)
Jan 4 – Cowboy Cats (Dimensions)
Jan 5 – Nantucket Sampler (Medeiros Needlecraft)
Jan 6 – Hearts of America: Montana (Victoria Sampler)
Jan 7 – Everyone Brings Joy (Waxing Moon)
Jan 8 – Inn at Fox River Mill (Little House Needleworks)
Jan 9 – Dance of the Summer Solstice (Mari MacDonald/Whispered by the Wind)
Jan 10 - Pocketful of Peppermint (Blue Ribbon Designs)
Jan 11 – Leaping Cat (La-D-Da)
Jan 12 – Welsh Bookmark (Heritage Textiles)
Jan 13 – Mirror, Mirror (Abby Lane Designs)
Jan 14 – Stars of Winter (Charland Designs)
Jan 15 – Dragonflies, Ladybugs and Bees (M Designs)

WIPocalypse

(Yeah… I have a lot going on. And I’m aware I have a Wentzler problem!)

First, I’m adding everything above. Then the rest of the list:

Cats on a Staircase (Kooler/Bucilla) – also part of The Oldest UFO SAL
Smoky Mountain Cats (Pegasus)
Apache Wedding Blessing (Kooler Design)
Walk in the Woods (Cricket Collection)
2011 Mirabilia RR – finish my square & the piece
Astrology Sampler (Witches Stitches)
Witchy Washy (Raise the Roof)
Book of Ink Circles, aka BoInk (Ink Circles)
Muse of the Midnight Sun (Heaven and Earth Designs)
Four Seasons of Mystic (Jeannette Douglas)
Floral Bellpull (Teresa Wentzler)
Egyptian Sampler (Teresa Wentzler)
Legends of the Dragons (Teresa Wentzler, Dragon Dreams, Black Swan)
Noah’s Ark (Teresa Wentzler)
Fantasy Triptych (Teresa Wentzler)
Millennium (Teresa Wentzler)
Magical Night (Teresa Wentzler)
Snowball Fight (Dragon Dreams)
Witches Wheel (Glendon Place)
Elemental Dragons (Dragon Dreams)
Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe (Little House Needleworks)
2007 Floral RR - finish my square and the piece
Peace Angel (Lavender & Lace)
Castle 2.0 (Teresa Wentzler) – doubtful I’ll do anything with this in 2012

It’s a lot, but I’m very hopeful I’ll make some great progress! *crossing fingers*

***

I have several new participants to add to the WIPocalypse participant list tonight after work, as well as a couple of blog address updates that have been sent to me. A few people have been worried about the signups closing tomorrow, but that’s not the case. As of right now, I’m planning on closing signups for the WIPocalypse at the end of the day on January 15th. Anyone who finds us after that is most welcome to “stitch in spirit” with us through the year, post their progress, etc, but the actual participant list is rapidly approaching 300 people now, and I think after 4+ months of open signups and mentions all over the blogosphere (thank you all!!!), those who are actively blogging will have found us.

After all, I need to focus on my stitching, too! :)

I’m pretty certain I’ll be making another post sometime tomorrow – but just in case I get too busy, I wish you and your loved ones a safe, healthy and happy New Year!

Category: Celebrations & Holidays, Chrismahanyulkwanzakah, SALs/Challenges, Stitching | Tags: crazy january, wipocalypse | 21 Comments

Final TUSAL of 2011

Author: Measi

• Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

I doubt I’m the only one late this month… I completely blanked on posting this before leaving for my mom’s, and then realized when I was browsing blogs this morning that I’d missed the date!

So here’s my final TUSAL jar for 2011. It’s officially full to the rim (only took two years)! This month’s contributions included some ornament stitching, final Mirabilia RR stitching, the Oldest UFO SAL (Cats on a Staircase, specifically) and a little work on Seasons of Mystic. A big mix of colors this time, including lots of sparklies and silks.

I’ll be emptying it on New Year’s Day and starting fresh for 2012!

In other news… I have progress on my own pieces to share – but I’m going to do that on either Friday evening or sometime late Saturday as I get my final prep work done for the WIPocalypse and Crazy January.

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching | Tags: tusal | 6 Comments

WIPocalypse Info has been updated

Author: Measi

• Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

It’s looking to be a particularly crazy week at work (around the holidays? That never happens to anyone, right?), so I wanted to make a quick post now while I had the chance…

The WIPocalypse Basic Info page has been updated – you’ll find links to our forum, to the signup for the reminder message list, and a placeholder for an eventual sidebar graphic. :)

We’re less than three weeks away from the start, everyone! Do you have your projects ready?

(if not, don’t worry… I’m not organized yet either)

Category: SALs/Challenges, Stitching | Tags: wipocalypse | 6 Comments

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