So this weekend was a bit of an oops on my part. I had the initial kick-off post up on the blog and then went to do some cleaning up of the rest of my website, fix the SSL issue (grumble… still not fixed), and then… I deleted my entire blog. All 20 years of it. Completely nerfed in the blink of an eye. Cue a bit of a freak-out on my part and a HUGE amount of mental forehead thumping on the wall in frustration with myself. (don’t worry… my actual house walls are fine, and so is my head).
Thankfully Erich was able to find me one of my backups from 2018, so I just need to get things re-installed. A lot of the check-in posts are not included there, but all of the check-ins that folks have done since then are saved safely at In-Linkz. I just need to create new pages for them when some of the other stuff is back together.
But with the self-induced implosion of my website, I decided it was time to do a little reconfiguration that I’ve honestly needed to do for a few years. I’ve moved my blog to the main website address, rather than keep it in a subfolder. When I started my blog, I had plans… different sections, different topics, etc. And well… life happened. And none of those plans have really ever happened. Time to move the blog to the forefront. If any of those other plans – or anything as of yet undecided – ever do come to fruition, they can go in the subfolders! 🙂 So going forward, please make sure to link up to https://www.measi.net (no /measiblog after it).
While I keep working on getting things back up and running around here – have a lovely January stitching, and I’ll see you at the end of the month.
Keeping it real :), Melissa
*~~*~~*~~*~~
Important SAL Announcements…
Upcoming Event: Olympics Stitching, February 4th – February 20th. Details about the events are up in the Facebook group under “Events,” but details will be added on my blog before the January 30th check-in.
Question of the Month: Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!
Next posting date: January 30, 2022
Topic(s) for next time: Describe your stitching style – are you a one-at-a-time stitcher? Do you stitch on rotation? Are you a chaos wrangler? Are you comfortable in your current stitching style, or are you still searching for that stitching zen?
Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for all details for 2022!
*~~*~~*~~*~~
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. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.
This will be a Stitch-a-Long (SAL) for fun, not a contest. Everyone stitches at a different pace, on different sized projects, with different goals and concepts of accomplishment, so a standard set of one-size-fits-all rules simply won’t work. So whether you’re a one-at-a-time stitcher or an insane rotationer like me, gather up the UFOs and WIPs on which you’d love to make good progress (or finish) and join us!
What will be happening in 2022?
Posting Schedule: WIPocalypse will be running for its 11th year in 2022! We will have a kick-off post on Sunday, January 2nd, and then the check-ins will go back to their normal schedule for the remainder of the year on the final Sunday of the month with the exception of the final check-in of the year. Since Christmas Day will be the final Sunday, we’ll push that month’s check-in to December 31st.
One Month Challenge: In March, June, July, and October, there will be an optional “one month challenge.” Take one of your WIPs, and do a minimum of one stitch per day, every day for that month. This challenge is inspired by a 100 Day HAED Challenge via Facebook that Melissa did in 2018. It worked amazingly well to make great progress. It’s simple, takes only a few minutes, and will help push along that project you keep avoiding or just need a little extra focus to move forward.
Finishing Frenzy: In August, we’ll host a month-long goal to complete final finishing for any objects you’ve stitched, but just need to get framed, completed into an ornament, etc. Get your list together and let’s finish some projects!
Olympics Stitching: The Winter Olympics will happen in Beijing February 4 – February 20th. As we have in previous Olympics years, there will be a stitch-a-long for the duration with separate “events” you can pick and choose from to add some spice to your stitching. More details to follow in the December 2021 and January 2022 check-ins.
Question of the Month: For several years, there were various bloggers who had incarnations of the “Stitcher Blogger Questions.” Since 2015, we provide a monthly question to get to know our fellow stitchers. As always – this is optional. If you prefer to just share your progress, that’s just fine. 🙂 If you want to go further and suggest some additional topics to me, please do! Every question received will be used, and the person who suggests it will get a linkback credit.
Facebook: The WIPocalypse has a Facebook group! We want you to share your blog posts as you always have, of course, but community over on Facebook is now a huge thing, and it’s long past time we started a group there for those interested who no longer (or never did) have a blog. All are welcome! (and yes, that includes those who prefer to crochet, knit, quilt, etc. The more the merrier!)
Here are the “rules” for the 2022 WIPocalypse:
1) To sign up, simply blog about your WIPs and add your post about your WIP projects to the most recent check-in post here at measi(dot)net or create a post in our Facebook group. There will be no yearly sign-up registration for 2022. Jump in whenever you find us!
2) Whenever you join us, make a list of the projects on which you wish to make progress. Add to and adjust this list throughout the year as you desire. There are no restrictions regarding new starts for this SAL. If you feel the desire to start a piece in 2022, add it to your list! The list is recommended so you can set goals for yourself (and celebrate your accomplishments – and let us celebrate with you).
3) On the final Sunday of every month (or thereabouts), post your progress photos to your site – even if your progress was slower than you hoped. Label that post with “WIPocalypse” to make it easy for readers to find – whether in the title, or however you categorize or tag entries. If you skip a month, just jump back in when your life and schedule allows.
4) Once you’ve posted, come over to my blog and find the check-in post and comment that you’ve updated. There will be an auto-link provided so you can add your entry, which will be open for three weeks after the entry is initially posted. The comment section is open for 60 days, so there’s more than plenty of time each month. If, for some reason, you cannot add your post – either add it to the comments or send me an email. There is no such thing as a “late” post. Post when you can. Stress-free here, folks!
5) Anything that you use for other group or blog challenges counts here for the WIPocalypse. Double-dipping is not only welcome, it’s encouraged! 🙂
Posting dates and Topics for 2022:
January 2 – Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!
January 30 – Describe your stitching style – are you a one-at-a-time stitcher? Do you stitch on rotation? Are you a chaos wrangler? Are you comfortable in your current stitching style, or are you still searching for that stitching zen?
February 27 – What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?
March 27 – Tell us about a technique, designer, pattern, or anything else in stitching that you’ve been nervous or afraid to try.
April 24 – What is your favorite store (either online or brick and mortar) to purchase your supplies?
May 29 – Retreats and seminars – have you ever been to any stitching events? If so, tell us about them!
June 26 – Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?
July 31 – What five patterns do you really want to purchase (or start) right now?
August 28 – Have you been participating in gatherings via online chats (Zoom, Google Meet, etc) during the COVID pandemic? If so, what have been the best formats in your opinion?
September 25 – Are you a seasonal stitcher? If so, which seasons do you find yourself more productive or less productive?
October 30 – Do you prefer Halloween or Christmas stitching?
November 27 – When do you begin planning your stitching goals for the next year?
December 31 – Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).
Other Helpful Things...
Sidebar Buttons: You may create a button for yourself from any of your personal WIPs if you choose. If you don’t know how to create a button and would prefer one from your own projects, feel free to email me. I can put together a simple button for you as soon as I have a few free moments.
You’re also welcome to grab the one I use below. Simply download this image to your own image host and link it back to the following URL:
measi.net/measiblog/
2022 Testing Thread…
If you don’t have experience with InLinkz or want to practice selecting specific photos, feel free to relink to this thread as often as you need to. This link will remain open from November 28, 2021 to the end of November 2022.
It’s been an absolutely beautiful early autumn weekend here in Rhode Island – comfortable, low-humidity temperatures with a mix of sun and clouds and a gentle breeze. The leaves are just starting to turn color now, but nowhere near the gorgeous peak color that you see in travel photos. Most things are still very, very green here. I love this time of year and try to soak in as much time as possible outside.
It’s been another productive stitchy month on my end. I’m not exactly where I’d like to be on a couple projects, but that’s okay. I’m very happy with my progress on so many pieces this year. 🙂 My brain is already itching to start on planning for 2022, and I’m trying to keep it quiet! Still lots of time to stitch in 2021.
As we go into the final quarter of 2021, though – I would love to hear your thoughts. What kinds of things would you like to change for the WIPocalypse in 2022? Do you like the format as-is? Let me know your feedback so I can plan some adjustments if the SAL needs a bit of a refresh.
October Focus Month
October will be our final focus month of the year. Pick one of your WIPs and set a goal to place at least one stitch per day into it. (or a larger goal, if that works better for you). The idea is that you won’t be able to stop at just one stitch, so you’ll be able to get a nice amount of progress on it! Make sure to take before and after photos of your project for the month.
I’ll leave you here for now. Happy October stitching!
Best, Melissa
Important SAL Announcements…
Question of the Month: List five projects you have unstarted in your stash that you’d like to start in the (relatively) near future.
Next posting date: October 31, 2021
Topic(s) for next time: Do you prefer Halloween or Christmas stitching?
Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for the details for 2021!
*~~*~~*~~*~~
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. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.
Taking a little time during my lunch break to catch up on some general writing, blogging, mini-project updates. I hope if you’re reading this that you’re doing well, and that your loved ones are doing well too.
Things here are pretty good. We have a few friends we’re worried about, who are dealing with positive test results, but I obviously will not mention their names here out of privacy. My immediate and extended family is also heavily active in medical care – nurses, PAs, workers at assisted living facilities, hospitals, etc. So while everyone in that circle is still okay, there are daily worries and prayers for everyone involved.
I’m now at the beginning of week eight of working from home. Max is on week 7 of remote school. He will officially be finishing his first grade year remotely. That makes me both relieved and sad at the same time, for obvious reasons, just as it does for one of my cousins who is graduating from high school this year – and sorority sisters graduating from college. It’s just so hard to see kids lose out on all of the rhythms of school that I took for granted as part of just what happened.
Max is doing pretty well with school so far. Each week it gets a little easier as he gets used to the system – and his teacher gets used to it, too. I know the teachers are having meetings, and I’m sure they’re sharing ideas of what they’ve found that works. I continue to be incredibly impressed with how adaptive his teacher has been, even as I can hear the exhaustion during her zoom meetings because it really just is an impossible thing. Trying to have a full class of 20 1st graders on a zoom meeting with various technology capability is just… rough. But she’s doing the best she can, and the kids are, too. I have learned that Max, unlike me, does NOT like to write. He tries to resist every writing project he’s given. But on the other hand, he loves doing math and is already at the stage where he doesn’t need to show his work – but after he answers a question, I have him go back and show how it would be done.
Work for me is going a bit better, too. It’s still very hard to balance the time demands of school, my usual job, and training others to help take some of my workload from me. I hope I’m doing okay and just keep plugging along. So far no work needs have gone unfilled, so I guess that’s something. I won’t lie – I don’t mind avoiding my commute! For the first time in fifteen years, I’ve had a sane commute. When we eventually go back to Boston, it’s going to be hard for me to get back into the swing of things. I wonder, though, if this will change things permanently as far as remote working goes. Will companies (including mine) start to think differently about needing people to be present in the office? Maybe we start sharing space a bit more?
Erich and I are making slow, steady progress through some house purging projects we’ve wanted to do. One whole room is now done, and bits of two others are, too. I figure if we focus on one room per week, we’ll have almost the entire house worked through by the 4th of July. The basement will likely take a while, though – there’s a lot down there. It’ll feel good to get it done, though. The only problem right now is that all of the locations we’d normally donate through are closed for both pickups and drop-offs. For now, we’ll just have to keep donations sorted on one side of the garage so we can get it all ready to move later.
Stitching has been a definite social relief. I’ve continued connecting weekly with friends on Zoom. I look forward to it every week, and actually make some good stitching progress! Nothing finished recently, but I have a couple pieces close.
If you didn’t see my last post, I’ve finally jumped into the “FlossTube” pool and made my first video. You can find my channel here. For now, I’m going to plan to update on Friday afternoons, and once I’m back at work that’ll likely shift to Saturdays.
And that’s about all going on here. We’re doing fine, keeping on keeping on. I hope the same is happening for you and yours.
I’m dealing with an obnoxiously slow webhost connection today. It’s definitely not a problem on my end… other websites are loading just fine. (sigh) So if things aren’t loading well, I do apologize. Hopefully it gets fixed soon.
I hope you had a good month of stitching. Are you spending any of the extra day we have today with a needle? I’m hoping to get a little bit done tonight, but haven’t decided yet what I’ll pick up. A lot depends on how tired I am by the time I’m able to turn on the stitching light.
March – first One Month Challenge
I neglected last month to mention that March is the first of our one stitch per day challenges. If you’d like to join this optional challenge for the WIPocalypse, pick one of your pieces and commit to putting at least one stitch per day in it for the month of March. The idea is that, like potato chips, you often can’t just have one – so one stitch will lead to more. (and unlike the potato chips – these stitches won’t have calories!). Every stitch counts – so if you can only do one, that’s okay. If you can do more, great! I find this challenge is especially helpful for those projects that you seem to be stuck in a rut with – the ones you like, but can’t seem to get moving… or those obligation pieces that you’re not particularly fond of but need attention.
If you can’t join us for March, no worries! The next scheduled one is in June. Alternatively, you can schedule your own at any time this year that works for your stitching plans.
Off to get a bit of work done around the house. Best wishes for a successful March to everyone – and see you next month!
Happy Stitching, Mel.
Important SAL Announcements…
Question of the Month: In honor of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc.
Next posting date: March 29, 2020
Topic(s) for next time: Have you ever adopted a piece from someone else or gave up a piece to someone else? Which piece and why?
Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for all details!
*~~*~~*~~*~~
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. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.
