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:

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

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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!

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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.  :)

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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.

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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.  :)

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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.  :)

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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!

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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!

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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!

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I’m planning to post the check-in a couple days before the full moon every month, partially so it’s available for our Aussie and Kiwi stitchers who start the posting date several hours ahead of me, and partially because I’m aware that not everyone has the picture-perfect schedule where they can post *exactly* on January 9th.

Important SAL announcements

Deadline to sign up – if you’re someone who hasn’t signed up for the WIPocalypse and you want to be “officially” involved or you have friends who you know are waffling on participating, the last date to sign up for the active participant list is January 15, 2012.  If you miss this date, you’re absolutely welcome to share your progress and check in on these official posts.  Please do not feel like you’re excluded.  The only difference is that you won’t be eligible for the stash drawing after the “end of the world” (aka the WIPocalypse final check-in post), and your blog won’t be on the official participant list posted via the links in the next paragraph.  Signups for this SAL have been open since late August, and I need to be able to focus time on my own stitching, so I just needed to have a cut-off point.

WIPocalypse Info – If you signed up months ago and haven’t been back by my blog in a while… I created an official group of SAL pages since they were starting to get broken up across posts in my blog.  There’s  a forum for chatting with your fellow stitchers (via Yuku), a button linky for your blog if you’d like to add it, signups for email reminders for check-ins, and various other information gathered from questions I’ve received over the past four months.

Cut-off date for this Full Moon – to have your post count toward THIS full-moon’s stash drawing credit, you must have it posted no later than January 31st.

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Please remember that this stitch-a-long is intended to be fun – so if you’re too busy to post, too busy/ill/etc. to stitch – no worries.  Post when you can and share what you have going, even if you’ve only been able to toss a single stitch into it.  It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.  :)

I know some stitchers were having some difficulty with my blog commenting system when signing up, so I want to try to make this a bit easier/more accessible for everyone.  You can check in in one of three ways:

• Auto linky form (you’ll see that below)
• Via comments (make sure you include your blog address!)
• Via email – to measiwitch(at)gmail.com, only if the other two options do not work.  Again- make sure you include your blog address.  I’ll add your post to the auto-linky if I receive it this way to confirm I received it.

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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>

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