January stitching progress…

It’s been a busy, busy month of stitching for me. I’ve been participating in Semi Sane Stitcher’s Snowball party game on Facebook, along with the group’s “Choose My Wip” challenge, where the other participants choose which piece of your offerings needs 500 stitches that week. I’ve completed two of those weeks, bombed the third, and still TBD on the 4th. And I’m also doing WIPGO, where I gave myself a monthly goal of 1,000 on each project called. I normally am not a big stitch counter, especially since I don’t use pattern keeper or any other digital device which would do the calculations for me. I have to admit, though – it DOES give me a lot of information about what’s a realistic pace for me and also gives me some solid progress goals.

I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished this month!

I’ve had three new starts this month –

Stitcher’s Soul Journey by Twin Peak Primitives was my New Year’s Day start this year. I bought it as a full kit in 2021 in that post-Pandemic blur of stash enhancement and had it put aside to start. When my fabric hadn’t arrived in time to start Watergarden (more on that in a moment) on New Year’s Day, it became an easy alternative choice. It’s a simple sampler stitched on 14 count fabric with DMC thread that was provided in the kit, easy on the eyes, and easy to curl up with for stress-free stitching.

By my birthday, my spare order of fabric had come in for Watergarden, so that became my official birthday start to mark 50 years around the sun. I’m participating in a Stitch-a-Long with others on Watergarden through the Chatelaine Watergarden SAL group on Facebook. The organizers have broken it down into parts just like the Chat mysteries used to be. It just kicked off this month. I’m not quite done with January’s section, but I’m definitely close. Very happy with how this is stitching, and so far I’m noticing how much easier this is stitching than Deep Blue Sea did at the beginning. I may have honestly caused myself too much pain with that dark fabric! I’ve opted to do this in mostly DMC with only the required small number of silks and the called for beads. All of my supplies have now come in, so I just have to relax, grab a needle, and stitch.

The final start for this month was for my local stitching group holiday exchange. We decided to hold our Christmas gathering yesterday, rather than try to squeeze it into all of the December insanity. We had a fun day of chatting and stitching – and eating way too much thanks to the potluck that everyone contributes to. It’s a miracle that I ended up with a good blood sugar reading after all the junk food – but hey, it’s one day, right?

In my always-wait-until-the-last-minute tradition, I started my ornament for the exchange last weekend and fully finished it yesterday morning about 45 minutes before leaving for the gathering. Plenty is from the 2015 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue, and I’ve seen a few finished versions of it and loved it. I grabbed the Chalk and Moonlight Path threads by Gentle Arts that were called for in the chart, and then a darker red and a green that was close to what was charted. The fabric came in a Black Needle Society box a while back (I think the Pirate themed bi-monthly box?). It doesn’t show up super well in the photograph, but it is a glittery linen. This was a fun stitch, and I’m planning to make another one for myself before the holidays. There will be a separate entry with the fully finished piece posted either tomorrow or Tuesday – I just need to upload some new photos.

In addition to the new starts, I worked on two pieces by Modern Folk Embroidery for WIPGO. As I mentioned before, my goal is to put 1,000 stitches into each project, which I did! (yay!).

The Fruits of Plenty was the 2021 SAL for Modern Folk Embroidery. I absolutely love this piece – I was just focused on other projects so it didn’t get a ton of work over the last couple of years. My ultimate goal for this year is to get this piece halfway done. It’s an intense stitch – very dense, especially in that blue ribbon. I have chosen to do mine in DMC 800 (blue) and 840 (brown). This month I filled in the top right triangle and started the large right-hand medallion. I’d like to finish that medallion this week if I have time. Since there are so many stitches to do to complete that half-year goal, this will be getting quite a bit of time this year, but I’m so excited to see it progress!

The River was the other WIPGO piece I worked on this month. This project and the floss came in a Black Needle Society box in late 2021, and I decided to start it for New Year’s Day in 2023. I was a little confused why I had only a small line on the top and only half of the first Alpha done, but didn’t look too hard before stitching. By the time I got to the F, I realized why I’d stopped – I had started said Alpha over one column, so my stitches were off by a half stitch. Grrr. So I frogged the letters and started them over. All good – we can continue! Once I got that first row of letters in for my eye marker, I decided to continue my WIPGO stitches by drawing borders. The color doesn’t show up well in my photograph, but the floss is a gorgeous combination of deep teal to dark blue, and the way it shades is so, so pretty. I have no immediate goals for this project, so if I get back to it in the near future, I’ll work on filling in the other two lines of alphabet and numbers.

I plan to wrap up January with the 1st part of Watergarden, and then any extra time will be spent on The Fruits of Plenty, wrapping up that top right medallion.

Thanks for stopping by – happy stitching!