WIPocalypse – Page 4

June 2023 WIPocalypse Check-In

June 25, 2023 No Comments

Hello everyone!

Summer has definitely arrived here in Rhode Island. It’s quite warm and muggy, and we’re in the middle of an unsettled weather pattern where it’s either blazing sun or pouring rain, and not much in between.

Max’s last day of school was Friday, so he’s making Big Plans for the summer to fit around his day camp schedule. I’m trying to tell him not to make too many and just enjoy being a kid… but kids don’t understand the glory of unscheduled summers since they’ve never known anything else.

My stitching continues to go well this month. I’ve been stitching on I Love New England as my daily focus and reached my goal for the month of getting all of the small letter text into the piece. Now I can relax and work on some border for a bit while I catch up on some other stitching I wanted to accomplish. I’m still uncertain how I’m going to work next month – I may not do a daily focus as planned on one piece, and focus instead on pushing a few pieces forward that honestly I could get done before the end of the summer.

Upcoming One-Month Challenges

July will be another one-month challenge month. As always it is optional, and as always, remember – it’s just one stitch a day. One often leads to more… and you’ll make great progress! Every. stitch. counts. If you can’t join us for this month’s one-month challenge, the next one will be in October.

I want to get a couple of small house chores done so I can slack off and stitch all afternoon… so time to get moving. Have a lovely rest of the Memorial Day weekend if you’re in the US, and enjoy your June stitching!

Until next time,
Mel.

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Next posting date: July 30, 2023

Topic(s) for next time: Which are your favorite and least favorite fabrics to stitch on?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for all details for 2023!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

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.

Stitching, WIPocalypse

May 2023 WIPocalypse Check-In

May 28, 2023 No Comments

Hello everyone!

It’s a beautiful Sunday here in New England – one of those days where you know you NEED to spend as much time outdoors as possible because it doesn’t get much better. I’m hoping to spend a good portion of this afternoon on my patio, a drink and stitching by my side, just soaking it all in.

If you’re crazy like I am and are participating in Stitch Maynia this month, I hope that your progress is going along as you’d hoped! I’m doing well. A few days behind on the daily project calls, but nothing that I can’t catch up on before the end of the month. 🙂 I won’t lie, though – I’m looking forward to the more relaxed stitching again after this challenge. Settling into the June/July One Month challenges will be a refreshing change. I’ll be focusing on I Love New England for both months, and will be doing it as a strand-per-night challenge (one 12-inch length). That should get me moving nicely toward a very rewarding finish!

Upcoming One-Month Challenges

June and July are our two back-to-back monthly challenge months. As always they are optional, and you can design that challenge however it fits your life – as two separate months, as one two-month block of focus, or just fitting in a month in the middle as your life allows. As always, remember – it’s just one stitch a day. One often leads to more… and you’ll make great progress! Every. stitch. counts.

I want to get a couple of small house chores done so I can slack off and stitch all afternoon… so time to get moving. Have a lovely rest of the Memorial Day weekend if you’re in the US, and enjoy your June stitching!

Until next time,
Mel.

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: What project brings you the most joy and why?

Next posting date: June 25, 2023

Topic(s) for next time: Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for all details for 2023!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

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.

Stitching, WIPocalypse

April 2023 WIPocalypse Check-In

April 30, 2023 No Comments

Hello everyone!

I apparently do not understand that if the 23rd falls on a Sunday, that there’s another Sunday in the month unless that month happens to be February. Yikes! So sorry if that caused any confusion. Hopefully you just rolled along with it as I did.

Spring has exploded here in New England – we had nothing on the trees, and then two exceptionally warm days in the week after Easter just made the entire world pop with greens and pinks and whites. I’ve been trying to embrace the world renewing itself to help buffer some serious work stress going on in my life. Stabbing fabric 10,000 times is also helping diffuse a bit of it! Cross stitch is nothing if it isn’t cathartic at times!

May brings us to Stitch Maynia, named after the now defunct Facebook group. Even though the group is gone, the stitch-a-long lives on among many, many stitchers. My personal tradition is to line up my projects, number them, and then let my Facebook Friends pick random numbers from the range given to select my pieces for me. The first year I erred in having ALL kitted projects on that list, and I somehow wound up with eight different Wentzlers for May. That was a bit extreme. So future years were narrowed down to the stuff I actually consider among active WIPs. That still gives more than plenty for them to choose from. This year was “23 in 2023,” so I had 23 projects chosen. The other eight days of May will be reserved for WIPGO work. I’m planning on finally filming a FlossTube later this week to feature the pieces chosen. Stay tuned!

Upcoming One-Month Challenges

June and July are our two back-to-back monthly challenge months. As always they are optional, and you can design that challenge however it fits your life – as two separate months, as one two-month block of focus, or just fitting in a month in the middle as your life allows. As always, remember – it’s just one stitch a day. One often leads to more… and you’ll make great progress! Every. stitch. counts.

Off to get my Sunday moving along. Have a lovely rest of the weekend, and happy stitching!

Until next time,
Mel.

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: Give us five projects in your stash right now that you’d really love to start – and why you haven’t yet.

Next posting date: May 28, 2023

Topic(s) for next time: What project brings you the most joy and why?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for all details for 2023!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

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.

Stitching, WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

March Stitching Wrap-Up

April 7, 2023 1 Comment

The past month is a bit of a blur for me. The super busy season that I normally have at work in the spring arrived a month early in early March, rather than mid-April, and it took me by surprise. It’s not a bad thing – it means that I should be able to enjoy the warmer weather a little more and settle into summer project work a bit earlier than normal. And I will definitely look forward to that!

Because of the unexpected work load combined with the expected break for PaxEast, my stitching went a little slower in March. I still got a decent amount done, though – and I’m happy with my progress. Still steadily working toward some yearly goal accomplishments.

*I Love New England by Sampler Needlework as of April 1, 2023 – stitched 2 threads over 2 on 32 ct antique white linen with charted DMC.*

I Love New England was my focus piece for March for the WIPocalypse. While I didn’t manage to stitch on it every day, I definitely completed more than the “one stitch minimum per day” on it, so I’m pleased at the progress. My goal had been to complete the inner “small” lettering. I have about… ten words left? What slows it down a bit are the sneaky one-off color changes in the words. But still – I’m getting there. I don’t know that I’ll have this piece ready for the fair this year as I’d originally hoped, but it will definitely be ready for next year.

My goal for this in April is to get that small lettering done.

*Celestial Medley by Sudberry House as of April 1, 2023 – stitched 2 threads over 2 on 28 ct antique white evenweave with charted DMC*

I only spent a couple days on Celestial Medley this month, and it was spent in confetti stitching of the blue cloud on the top right. Really happy with my progress on this one. The chart isn’t the clearest, due to its age. It’s a hand-drawn one with very small symbols. Next time I stitch on it, I’ll finish that fill-in and then move back over to the yellow moon on the upper right. Eventually I’ll have to figure out what I’m going to mount it on when I finish it. I don’t know if it will be large enough for a standard metal cookie tin, but that’s the idea I’m going with for right now.

*Snowball Fight by Dragon Dreams as of April 1, 2023 – stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct unknown evenweave with charted DMC.*

I figured out why I stopped stitching on Snowball Fight last time I’d worked on it – I was off by a row with that dragon’s wing on the right. So aside from starting a little bit of the snow they’re standing on, most of my two days of WIPGO were spent frogging and correcting that wing. Thankfully not that many stitches, but it took me a bit to figure out why things weren’t matching up! (I apparently failed at counting to two… seriously.) I wasn’t really feeling this one since it’s getting to springtime, so back into its project bag it goes for a while. I’ll give this one another whirl in autumn.

I didn’t stitch at all on my fourth WIPGO piece, Halloween Candlestick SAL. Like Snowball Fight, there’s frogging to do. My tiny start wasn’t even correct (UGH!). And after frogging Snowball Fight, I decided to just get back to that one later. I’ll get it done this month at some point!

And that’s all I did in March. Hopefully April will be a little more productive!

Until next time,
Mel.

Stitching, WIPocalypse

March 2023 WIPocalypse Check-In

April 1, 2023 No Comments

Hello everyone!

Apologies for being nearly a week late for this check-in. My family and I were away at a convention last weekend, and I didn’t have the expected connection on Sunday morning at the hotel – which I found odd considering it was a video gaming convention. But anyway… by time we got home Sunday evening, I was feeling pretty poorly… and then work just took over the week while I battled whatever stomach bug I was dealing with.

Still feeling a little worn down, but I’m doing better. Trying to catch up on a bit of bloggy stuff this weekend! 🙂

If you participated, how did you do on the one-month challenge? I got quite a few stitches in, but wasn’t able to stitch every single day. I got… 17 days in. I’m pleased with that. My normal spring rush at work started earlier than expected and took me by surprise this past month, so getting any stitching in was a bit of a miracle, honestly. Every stitch counts, after all!

Spring is slowly beginning to blossom here in New England. April is starting with showers and mild weather, and the daffodils and crocus flowers are opening everywhere. I’m hoping for some mild days later this month where I can enjoy stitching out on my patio outdoors. I may be a little too optimistic with that, though. We shall see!

Have a lovely April with your stitching… I’ll see you later this month!

Best,
Mel.

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: Tell us about your favorite places to buy stitching supplies.

Next posting date: April 23, 2023

Topic(s) for next time: Give us five projects in your stash right now that you’d really love to start – and why you haven’t yet.

Need all the basic info about the SAL? Go here for all details for 2023!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

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.