Kickstarting 2021

 Hello all! Welcome back to another long winded stitchy ramble. :)

I don't know about you, but I love making plans, especially about cross stitch. I usually start planning for the new year around September as I'm always so anxious to see what all I can accomplish and what my goals should be. For this year, I'm actually trying to plan a bit less than my normal obsessive self would like and be a bit more flexible. It's hard. I'm one of those people who doesn't like surprises at all. I'm at my best when I have a scheduled itinerary for the day, and a nice to-do list so I can check off tasks. But last year, what I wanted to stitch started to butt heads with what I was "supposed" to stitch, and the result was usually me sulkily playing games on my tablet instead. 

So this year, I'm being more flexible. Trying to be. I haven't done my usual weekly planning of wips for the year. Instead, I'm making loose plans from month to month based on a handful of goals, and I'm letting myself be more open to changes that pop up in facebook challenges, sals, or just my whims. Right now, my plans for February are pretty solid, but I've left a little wiggle room here and there. I also have definite goals for March, but no definitive plan. But April? That's still completely open. I'm hoping I can have a bit more fun with my stitching this year and stitch on what I'm enjoying at that moment, even if that means some of my goals will not be met. Because that's ok! 

I've already embraced a bit of whimsy by taking on 2 new SALs, both completely unplanned, but both amazing projects. The first is from Quiltify Designs, called Grande Vierlande. 

When I first saw this on Etsy, I just gasped. There's something about they way those circular motifs are arranged that I absolutely love, so I had to have it. This one is a very large project at 493x467. But I think what truly makes it amazing is that you actually get 3 versions of this chart, which he's colored as Red, Blue and Green, so you can pick your favorite motifs to stitch and make your sampler truly unique. I can't imagine how much work must have gone into charting all that, but it's a fantastic concept. Of course, I haven't made near as much progress as I would've liked, but I almost got my first motif done:

My alphabet is from the Red version, as are the first 2 crowns. My first motif is from the Green version. It was really hard to pick which ones to stitch, as they are all lovely. I had some Silks4U in my stash and thought these colors worked very well together, PR132 and PR021. The design is so large, I decided to go with 46ct Latte from XJuDesigns. I know I can't keep up with the sal, but I hope to get back to this regularly.

My second sal is another temperature chart. I really liked Stitchin' Mommy's temperature tree last year, and I may do that next year, but when I saw this temperature library from Kristi's Corner Needle, I thought it was pefect:

I didn't start this until the 12th, so I'm a bit behind, but I love how this is stitching up. Some people have opted to backstitch their books to make them more distinct, but I'm rather enjoying the blobs of color at the moment. Plus, the books are usually different shapes and sizes, so telling them apart isn't difficult.

I've updated my colors a bit from the last temperature chart I did. Aren't they all so lovely? :)

I suppose I should move on and talk about what I did plan for this year. I plan to make a bit more significant progress on a few select wips. I've picked 8-10 of my full coverage pieces, and about a dozen smaller pieces. I'm hoping to get in 6 finishes this year, and maybe 15 page finishes. We'll see. To help with this goal, I've decided to have a focus project each month to work on every day. I don't think I can be monogamous, but at the same time, working long term on a project seems to make me want to stitch more on it, not less. At least, up to a point.

My first monthly project was Kabuki. I had just finished a 30 day rotation on her in December, but I really couldn't wait to pick her up again. I only worked on her for 25 days this month (12 Days of Christmas got the first 5) but I've added 2,931 stiches, and I think she's looking pretty good:

I've almost finished her neck now, just another couple rows until her kimono starts to sweep around her. Once again, I am sad to put her down, but I'm also excited to see how much progress I can make on my other projects. I'm think Kabuki will be out again in June, but no firm plans yet. :)

I've also decided to pick up one of my most neglected wips again this year (although I have quite a few, sad to say) because it just breaks my heart to see these projects languish year after year. I actually picked this up in December and got a tiny page finish, and that has helped to fuel the fire for this year. This is The Favorite Bird from Golden Kite, art by Charles Hue:

I don't really like showing this one because there's nothing to look at yet, and the camera doesn't like all those dark colors. I've started in the bottom right corner, so it's just the floor and the beginning of a couple table legs. But one has to make a start somewhere, and my brain does not like center starts on full coverage, so floor and table it is. My goal is to complete at least 4 pages this year, although I might aim for 9. I've already completed 1 page and started a second, but I doubt this will be out every month since I'll still be focusing on Luna. It'll be a push, but I do love this image, so I think a push is needed.

I haven't decided yet if I'll be focusing on Favorite Bird every year now or if I'll rotate through my other neglected wips. I do have quite a few that are calling to me. I'll likely set a certain goal for each project and rotate when that's done. Probably. Which one would you work on if you were me?

I hope you are are making some good stitchy progress. Until next time!

My (Belated) 2016 Review, Part One

Whew! I had a lot going on in 2016, including a lot of stitchy stuff. Moving took up a big chunk of my year, (which is why this is a bit late), and there've been some family issues as well, though nothing too serious. It's just been a lot of a lot. I'm still trying to get things back to "normal," which at the moment means getting totally unpacked. Plans kind of fell apart mid December, so it'll be a while. Plus, I'd rather stitch than organize, so all those boxes will just have to wait. :)

So at last, here is my review! It's going to be a long one -- so long I've broken it up into two parts. I had 30 active projects last year, including 19 new starts (went a little crazy), but also 3 finishes! I am a notorious list maker and stitch counter, so I'll start off by dazzling you with my stitchy stats for last year. Ready? Ok!

All told, I did 131,496 stitches last year. Can you believe it? I can't. I never thought I'd do over 100k. I've had a busy needle, I guess. Part of that is doing lots of tent stitches instead of full crosses. Part is also due to my early morning stitching before work. Usually I only get an hour in the mornings, but I guess I'm a fast stitcher (?) as I can usually do 200 to 250 stitches in that hour, so even a few days a week can really add up.

I also know I've stitched about 623.85 hours last year, so my average is 210.8 stitches per hour. Sounds about right. I didn't manage to stitch every day (only managed 10 days in December) but for the year, I stitched 303 days. I would like to stitch every day this year, but over 300 is still pretty good.

I've got more detailed lists and spreadsheets with even more stats, but I don't think any normal people care about all that. You want pictures, right? Right! So here's all my wips carried over from 2015:

First is Pavonia. I had hoped to do so much more on her, but I got kind of overwhelmed by the confetti and had to set her aside. I did manage to get one section done though, and was very happy to get one of her eyes done:

Moon Indigo was a focus piece this year, so I tried to work on her every month. I really wanted to get that last column finished in 2016, but just couldn't make it. Still, I pretty much met my goal with her, finishing up pages 6, 7 and 8, and starting page 9:

Scale is a lot of fun, but can also be a lot of work with all that white! In the end I just powered through it and finished off two more pages this year. My mother now calls this one "Big Nose":

Euphoria is one of my easiest wips, with just 3 colors in the skin, plus she's tent stitched. I finally got part of that flower stitched this year, so it's not quite so boring to look at:

Wisdom is one of my favorites, but I just can't seem to get going on her. I did manage to finish page 1, but not the page beneath it. Halfway is still good though:

Madchen is nothing but sky at the moment, but there's more of it now than in 2015:

Flora saw a good deal of progress this year as I finished off 3 more pages (one was really small though). The bottom two rows are now complete:

Kabuki was kind of forgotten about halfway through the year. I had hoped to get her face done, but the chart is tricky to read, and she's not always fun to work on. But she will be back in 2017:

Favorite Bird is my biggest wip, so I should really try for more progress. But 3 pages last year is good enough for now. But I'm going to be stitching floor for a while:

Cassiopeia is another that wasn't picked up as much as I wanted. She is so easy and relaxing to work on, and I love those colors. Managed to get the bottom border done, and have just started working on her couch:

Tigers was my oldest wip, an old kit from Nature's Window. I was so happy to finally get it finished last year! Yes, it's still sitting in a drawer, but it is still a finish:

So that's it for all my older wips. The only wip that did not see progress was White Queen, which is a little sad. But I will try again this year.

All my other projects were new starts last year, which I'll save for part two of this post, in a day or three. Hope everyone is having a good stitchy year so far! Until next time! :)

May WIPocalypse

Hello everyone!

Been kind of absent from the blogging world this month as work has been crazy hectic, including mandatory overtime (aka the Weekend Killer). As such, my stitching has been a little spotty, but I've managed to make a bit of progress here and there.

For starters, I managed two more pages on Favorite Bird, which completes my goal for the year:

This one is dueced hard to get a good picture of, but there are now two table legs featured, not just one. ;)

I also managed to finish a page on Flora:

That red flower was quite challenging, but I loved stitching all those dark fuchsias and pinks.

Everything else has been interrupted, for lack of a better term. I've been so busy even outside of work (May is always my busiest month) I couldn't really focus on anything for long. But here are a few more leaves on my Tigers, still a long way from done:

A couple columns done on Wisdom, which I haven't touched since February:

And three columns done on Luna's second row:

I really love that bright blue spot at the top. The next few pages are nothing but clouds, but I am in love with her background, so I'm not complaining. :)

So for the year thus far, I now have three goals complete. Doesn't seem like many, but I'm close to meeting a few more, so I feel good about my progress this year.

For April, I did 16,184 stitches, so my total for the year is 57,657 stitches. May has not been nearly as productive, but every stitch counts! :)

This month's question is: What were you stitching this time last year and have you finished it?
Last May, I barely stitched at all. I only managed one week on Luna, which is still far from finished (but will be one day!).

That's all for now. Until next time!

Oh look! More Brown

Hi all!

Well, I've had kind of a stressful week thanks in part to my car (5 days in the shop! omg!) and work, which is getting hectic. This is actually our busiest month at work, though it won't actually calm down 'til September. It's just data entry, but there's a lot of it, and I wouldn't be surprised if I have to start working overtime soon. Love the money, but I'd rather be stitching. ;)

Despite all that, I actually had a surprisingly productive week. I spent most of my time on Favorite Bird, which has become known as "the Brown One" in my household, but I've actually got two more pages done:

It is really hard to tell, but there is now a second table leg toward the top. I actually didn't see it until I was editing the photo, but there it is: a bit of leg, with its shadow streaking behind it, and a reflection mirrored on the floor. At first I thought it was just a random blob of light, but now I am happy to see a bit more detail emerge. So, that's another wip that's met its goal this year, but I may stitch one more page on this sometime before the year is over...

I also managed a few more leaves on my tigers, but not nearly as many as I'd hoped:

And I have completed my first column on Luna's second row:

It looks really odd at the moment, but I just love the variegation in this column. Those brighter blues just sparkle amidst the grays and slate blues, then there's that bit of darker blue toward the bottom... It's just pretty! :) Hopefully I can get a bit more progress on her this week.

Guess that's all I've got for you this week. Until next time. Keep stitching!

April WIPocalypse

Hi all!

I know I'm a day late with my WIPocalypse post, but it has been a hectic week and a stressful day (car trouble! ugh!). But on with stitching!

Still can't cross off any more goals this month, but I have made good progress on a few projects. Since last month, I've worked on Flora:

Got a few more leaves on my Tigers:

Finished up two confettilicious pages on Kabuki and got a start on her face:

Finished another page on Favorite Bird (there's 3 now!):

And I've got a good start on Crystals and Crows (yet another new start):

I think I'm up to 42 colors done on the first page (out of 95) but honestly, I think I've lost count. :)

I'm also happy to say I again exceeded my stitching goal for March with 12,098 stitches! For anyone that's curious, that was 63 hours of stitching (it's practically all I do outside of work). For the year, I'm up to 41,473 stitches, which was close to my yearly total just a couple years ago. Still really mind boggling (for me, at least).

This month's question is: What do you listen to while stitching?
Mostly, I only listen to music. I'm a bit of a music fiend. I listen to just about any genre, and I love finding new artists. I've got a good eclectic radio station, The Bridge, that rarely gets old (listen online, it's awesome!). I also pay for Rhapsody, so I've got endless options when I want to hear something specific, or Google Music (which stole Songza, drat it) for neat playlists when I want variety. (Pandora has too many commercials these days.)

In the evenings, when my mother is home, we watch the news while I stitch, though it can be distracting. I'm the type of person who has to give my full attention to anything I watch for entertainment, so I usually stick to music. I have done audiobooks in the past, but now I can listen to those at work, which is much better. :)

Again, music is a topic I could discuss ad nauseum. If anyone has suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them (I really love listening to new stuff). For me, I think my three favorite artists this week have been Hey Marseilles, Shearwater, and Nathaniel Rateliff (though that is the tip of a very large, gargantuan iceberg).

That's all I got for now. Until next time!