#222manyWIPS

 

2/22/2022. I turn 40. And those numbers are just fantastic for a milestone birthday. So. I'm declaring it my year for some epic insanity. And this website is how I'm going to chronicle it.

X's are how I find my calm. So it's no surprise that the insanity was going to involve x's, needles, threads, fabric, and lots of patterns. 222 patterns to be exact. (Because... 40 isn't enough when you regularly start 31 projects every March.) But... if you know me 222 is way too broad, so I had to narrow it down a little bit. I decided to break my task into 19 categories and pick patterns by 82 different designers. I was born in 1982... see it all connects. I'm hoping to work on each start for at least 40 minutes. And I'd like to still knock out at least 40 finishes this year - between new starts and current WIPS.

I'll be documenting my progress on instagram under the #222ManyWIPS tag. I'm also hoping to do a daily mini vlog that I hope to publish monthly to my flosstube that talks about how the start went. Ideally, I'm hoping to also update here. But if you've followed me for any amount of time... you know that sometimes my plans are bigger than my abilities. You would think I would have learned by now... but... I make no guarantees.

I've had my patterns picked for quite some time, but we're getting down to the wire for kitting them all up. So I'm up to my neck in floss and fabric pairings and with each moment I'm feeling a little more insane and getting a little more excited!

Check back for more information as the year progresses and celebrate my milestone birthday by creating some epic goals for yourself. And as always... I hope you find your calm one x at a time!

xx Jen

Rotation - Week 1

So I've had my rotation plans going for one week.  So far... so good!  I think it will work well giving myself a day to work on each project before switching to the next.  I also like the flexibility of not setting a specific project to a set day each week.  Some days are busy and don't leave time for stitching, and I don't want to make it into a chore. 

I do wish I had thought to take a photo of my starting point on each project, but I went through my camera roll and I think I have a good indication of where most of them had been left off in the past. Anyway, here's some of my accomplishments this week.

Fall & Halloween:  "O Halloween Tree" by Barbara Ana.  Pretty much only backstitching to go.  Finished all of the evil metallic stitches!

Winter & Christmas: "Quaker Christmas II" by ByGone Stitches.  This is my massive project.  It actually got a little more than a day as I worked on it a bit before I came up with my rotation plan.  Still thinking that maybe I'll make another category for my huge projects.  That way I won't get stuck and not produce any Winter or Christmas finishes this year.  This is also my first project using only hand dyed floss.  I don't stitch with a frame and therefore my stitching tends to be very wrinkled at the end.  My mom, a stitching veteran and former LNS owner, frames my pieces and she uses the wet iron method and I'm scared to try that with the hand dyed stuff.  

Spring & Summer: "Chirpy Since" by Barbara Ana (a finish!) and "Blue Bird Sampler" by Bent Creek.  I was able to get a finish with Chirpy.  The pattern calls for a bunch of musical notes, but I'm not really a musical girl - other than belting out the emo feels in my car... so I left them out.  Added a second small yellow star as well.  Also, got a start on the final of the bird sampler series from Bent Creek.  Took a quick trip to a LNS and bought some 28 count linen and hopefully I cut it the right size... I have a tendency to measure wrong and cut crooked.  Fingers crossed I did it right this time.

Everyday Stitches: "Moon Dance" by Kathy Barrick.  This isn't my favorite project, but I'm liking it more after picking it back up.  It was the first project I ever started on 40 count, and I wish I had done it in a bigger count.  I think I'll end up liking it more once it's finished. 

Small Finishes: "Blackbird Sampler" by From the Heart.  This was a quick start this week.  I have the "Bluebird Sampler" finished and have the charts for two others as seasonal swap outs.

Brandon got set up with some stitching too.  We set out on Saturday and picked up some fabric for me and some supplies for him.  He's restarting the "Dark World" map.  We had been stitching it together but it got pretty disjointed.  We figure it would be a nice project for him to do completely since I stitched up "Light World" years ago.  

We had a delicious brunch with some friends this morning and followed it off with games and more yummy food when we stopped to stock up on snacks for tonight's Game of Throne's finale.  We got all caught up so at least we don't have to be so careful about spoilers anymore!  Might get some more stitching time in while we watch, or I might have some wine instead... Although today has already been filled with some delicious alcoholic concoctions thanks to friends with far better mixology skills than me!   

It was a good week.  This next week has the potential to be very busy with work.  I'm hoping to get my stitching time in when I can.  If not, I'm locking myself in my house for the long Labor Day weekend and basking in some extra time at home.

Making a Space

So... I clearly didn't uphold my last attempt to try to keep this up to date.  Oops.

I spent some time today cleaning it up and updating my lists.  Trying to make it a space that is more a reflection of where I actually am.

I've spent some time doing that in my house as well.  We've been in this space for almost 5 years and I don't think we ever truly made it a space that reflected us.  We brought in old furniture that didn't suit the space or our needs and tried to just make it work.  It didn't.  Finally updated the space with furniture that fits and is comfortable.  Created a cozy living room, revamped the dining room, and have some stalled ideas for the office.  It kind of tore apart my craft room - but I'm working on getting that space back up and running in a more functional way too.  The new space actually has the opportunity to decorate and I think that is what sparked the resurgence of cross stitch.  I've spent most of the last year focused on knitting - I go all in when I start a new hobby, luckily the supplies will last and it just resulted in a build up of yarn stash!

I've spent the last few days home using my last vacation days for the year before they expire in September.  For my staycation I pulled out all of my cross stitch stash and got to organizing.  One would think that seeing all of the patterns that I have and have yet to stitch would be enough, but it actually just makes me want to buy more.  What the heck?!  I decided I needed to have some sort of rotational system though because I keep gravitating towards really large projects and that can leave one feeling a lack of accomplishment when nothing is getting finished.  The rotational plan as it currently stands is to have 5 categories - each with a current project being worked on and an "on-deck" project.  I'm not sure if I'll strictly follow a day per theme or what the time frame will be yet, but it's at least a start.  For the first group I pulled some really old WIPs out of retirement and hope to just finally get them finished.

  

Categories right now are:

• Fall & Halloween - First up is "O Halloween Tree" by Barbara Ana with "Hocus Pocus" by Prairie Schooler being next up.  I've previously worked on both of these and hope to finish them and be able to move on to more of my stash.
  
  
•  Winter & Christmas - First up is "Quaker Christmas II" by ByGone Stitches with "Peace on Earth" by Kathy Barrick on deck.  I'm on page 5 of Quaker Christmas and under no assumption that it will actually get finished this year.  I'm planning to work on it until I get tired and then probably put it into retirement for a bit.  I haven't started Peace on Earth yet - but I love the owl.
  

• Spring & Summer - First up is "Chirpy" by Barbara Ana with "Blue Bird Sampler" by Bent Creek on deck.  I'm almost finished with Chirpy but wasn't loving the fabric so I've put it down a lot.  I like the way it looks, just not the way it stitches.  I've done the rest of the Bent Creek Bird Samplers and switch them out seasonally.  I think this is the last one of the series I have to do.  Although I have this fear that I've actually already stitched this so I'm going to have to do some digging through my completed works to make sure.  I tend to only want to stitch for Halloween and Christmas.  I'm hoping that having this on the rotation will help to get some stitching finished that can be displayed the rest of the year as well.  My walls tend to either get a little empty once April hits... or in all actuality I just keep Christmas up until Halloween comes around again... sometimes I fail.  I'm not a fan of pastel colors or summer heat so I've struggled to find a theme to decorate with in the Spring and Summer.  Right now the goal is birds and birdhouses. 
  
  
• All Through the Year - First up is "Moon Dance" by Kathy Barrick with "Elizabeth" by Carriage House Samplings on deck.  I started Moon Dance a couple years ago as an experiment with 40 count before I dove into my first Hawk Run project.  While I love 40 count, I didn't love it for this.  I'm giving it another try before abandoning it back into the Retirement pile.  I'm super excited to start Elizabeth.  I think it will look great in my new living room space right next to my Hipster Fox.  I've got Molly in my stash as well and am looking to pick up the rest of the Girls series to add.
  
  
• Small Finishes - First up is "Blackbird Sampler" by From the Heart with "Olga's Tart" by Plum Street Samplers on the deck.  I'm hoping to get through some of my smalls seasonal stash and then move some of the smaller other themes over as well.  It's my way of cheating the system that I created that has no real rules... I'm ridiculous.
  

I'm toying with the idea of adding a sixth category for the really big projects.  It would free up some time for the other seasonal projects that are a little bigger than small finishes to have some time in the spotlight.  I'll give this a go for a little bit and then decide.

Right now all of my projects are in ziplock bags right now, but I am hoping to convince my mom to help me make some of those nifty project bags I've been seeing around.  I figure if I just make up one for each of my categories I can then keep the two projects together.

Another goal this year is to actually get some of these finishes framed.  My mom does a lot of my framing for me and I'm thinking that it may be a skill I should learn - especially since she's not right around the corner anymore.  It's either that or move to Ohio... hm... that actually doesn't sound too bad.

Anyway.  This is my start.  Maybe I'll keep at this blogging thing.  Although gauging from my track record, it's not looking likely.  Hope you've enjoyed my rambling.  Keep crafting all the things.  I know that's my goal!

jen :)

Here We Go Again....

New year.  New start.  Goal... stay on top of this just a little bit more!

2013 proved to be my year for stitching.  I even managed to get a few pieces hung up on the wall!  I admit that I got a little obsessed and most days would have gladly spent stitching for hours upon end accompanied by Netflix provided entertainment.  Okay... I guess I did actually spend a lot of days doing exactly that.  I updated my list of 2013 finishes.  In reality most of them were finished between July and December so we'll see if I can beat my number in 2014.  I also updated my list of WIPs.  Oh boy!  Sometimes I put a project aside and forget about it.  Here's to finishing some of those this year too.  

Other goals in my life include finally getting my craft room organized and having that cozy vibe that crafting needs, learning to quilt, multitudes of board games, new recipes, and being a bit more active and pulling myself off the couch occasionally (while still giving time to stitch of course!).  Brandon's been stitching too - I love that he takes part in some of my interests.  He's really good too, my mom is more than impressed.  I think maybe more impressed with his work than mine!  We've also started Breakfast and Board Games once a week.  It's been a nice way to spend a weekend morning and I hope to learn some more of our games and get a few more this year.  Also hoping to expand my breakfast recipe collection and I think this will help.  Today we played Pandemic and I made a Sausage Biscuit Gravy Casserole.  My Southern boy loves his sausage gravy and biscuits so it was a big hit.  

Watson and the cats are still at odds, but Pandemonium is definitely warming up to our furry friend.  The pup is very protective of her territory which puts the cats (and several neighbors) at her odds.  Mayhem likes her upstairs safety retreat and will happily spend her days in the bathroom sink and my craft room - which I think is more her room than mine.  Maybe I'll get her to share, but I'm not overly hopeful.  

2013 was overall a good year.  Brandon turned 30 and is now aging faster than me... maybe not, but I can dream.  We traded in one mini and got an SUV.  Got a beautiful puppy who has us wrapped around her paw.  We upgraded our technology and entered the world of the iPad.  I stitched a lot and we played a lot of games.  We cooked lots of meals in our lovely kitchen and have grown closer together as we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.  We celebrated the life of my 93 year old grandmother and were fortunate enough to be with her as she passed.  And we spent a lot of time with family and friends.

2014 has it's work cut out for it.  

Projects... Projects... Projects...

This weekend I took some time (along with the help of my amazingly talented mom) to pull colors, match fabrics, and copy patterns to fill my "one-day" project basket. It's filled mostly with fall and Halloween projects but has a few Christmas projects that were started last year too. I tend to get stuck on either fall or Christmas and those have to be taken down and swapped. I get stuck on what I'd like to replace them with. My love for themes from my teaching days I guess. 

My next goal is to get my floss supply organized again. It's a daunting task - but needs to be done. Craft room will follow that. However, now I have a "work on" basket so stitching is all I want to do!

I'm currently working on Bent Creek's Blackbird Sampler. I finished the winter bird in this series last year but he's still waiting to be framed. Hoping these guys will be able to just be swapped out in the same frame. It's coming along quickly - started it on Saturday. It's nice to see some quick progress. 

Brandon has been stitching again too. He finished his first of the ninja turtles and has moved on to a Halloween piece. It makes me smile when we stitch together - he's a good catch that's for sure! 

Counting down until it's time to get back to stitching...  Addictive personality flaw for sure. Oh well!

Poe

I finally finished this Poe piece this week. I've been working on it off and on since we moved in to our house in October. 

A few French knots still need to be added and it needs to be washed and pressed but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Found the perfect skeleton frame this weekend but with the cost being over $80 to make I put it on the back burner for now. Wishing my crafting budget was just a littler larger!!

Learning to Live in the Present Day

I've realized lately that I have a ridiculously addictive personality.  Whether it is crafting or gaming or books or netflix or... the list goes on.  And on.  Due to these addictive tendencies my current focus tends to be all encompassing.  I want to have all the materials and complete all of the projects at once.  It's for this reason I have a multitude of scrapbook supplies and very little desire to actually scrapbook with them.  It's the reason I have three tubs of completely organized and categorized yarn in my closet and haven't touched a crochet hook in years.  It's the reason I have skeins of floss in just about every purse I own.  And it's the reason why I've decided I want to blog - keep a chronicle of my quirks and what has my focus presently.

On the reverse side, I'm trying to tell myself it's okay that I don't have every project I've ever worked on ready to be cataloged.  It's taking everything within me not to go take pictures of the baby blankets I crocheted 4 years ago with the intention of selling for some extra cash, or the beading supplies I purchased when I wanted to make a band for the watch head I just couldn't throw away.  It's hard for me to start in the present because I see the projects I've completed in the past or the projects I have goals to finish some day soon more clearly than what is being worked on today.

 My current focus and all encompassing passion is being devoted to cross stitch.  We moved into our house this past October and I have no excuse for the walls still being bare.  This past week I sat down in my cluttered craft room and made some plans to get organized and ready to complete some projects.  I sat down with my master supply of floss and my dream stack of patterns and got organized.  I pulled colors, made copies, and picked fabric.  And then... after making a huge mess... I started stitching!  And now... I've started blogging.

So here's to keeping track of my current obsession.  Here's to remembering to take pictures and post.  Here's to living in the present (and maybe throwing in a project from the past here and there).  And here's to finally getting some pictures on the wall and making this house into a home!