Weekly Stitching

Well, I'd like to stay I had another great stitching week and all was well at work, but that would be utter bollocks. I basically spent the entire week soaking up every single drop of negative energy at work and, trust me, it was a virtual flood that filled my head so full it exploded. Thankfully, I had a neurologist appointment on Friday and finally got IV meds for my week long migraine. I'm still in and out with it...even the medrol dosepack is having trouble kicking this one. Some days I managed to stitch, some days I couldn't. Some days I tried to stitch through the pain, some days I couldn't. I'm not sure if I'm dreading tomorrow so much that it's all starting again, but I didn't manage much today either. But anyway, I left off here last week:

I SOOOO wanted to finish this row this past week because it should have been simple...all that was left of the cape was black fill-in. By mid week, I knew it was a lost cause. By the end of the week I figured I could at least make it by the end of the month, but now I'm not sure of that either:

Technically it's only a page of work, but it's super-confetti'ed and dithered out the wazoo, so I just don't know what to do but keep pluggin' on. Maybe if I can't finish by the end of the month, then maybe I can finish by the weekend. Granted, four and a half weeks for 7 pages of a HAED isn't anything to scoff at, but still, I have been doing much better than that lately and if I can only finish one row in a project per month, then I ain't gonna make 18 row finishes (or even full finishes) by the end of the year. Guess that's what I get for being a BAP stitcher. I'm just not comfortable with small projects anymore. I think it's also probably why I've never started a super-sized/max-colored or one of my own designed projects...since those would make a normal BAP look tiny, I would probably never finish one of them. Oh well, screen is hurting my eyes, so it's time to quit now. Guess it's also safe to say I got no reading done this week either (or probably will now that I'm so far behind with stitching).

Weekly Stitching

Definitely not as good a stitchy week this week as last, but at least I figured out why last week was good (and this week was bad). It was a HORRIBLE work week all the way around...from the late hours I worked just to do my own job, to the other department that got phased out and just got told Friday morning. Unfortunately, because of my position, I've known for months and had to keep my mouth shut. I've had to look at these people everyday knowing they would be out of work soon and couldn't say a bloody word.

But when things like this happen, even though it doesn't directly affect me, I still feel like I'm the one who's getting the rug pulled out from under me. Obviously I get the difference because I do still have a job (at least for now), but I am reminded that the lab I love so much could care less about me...it's all about the numbers for them. My brain understands that, but my heart can't feel it that way and it feels like I'm being stabbed directly in the ticker. I'm also aware how selfish that sounds because I'm obviously not loosing my job (again, not yet), but it's never been just a "job" to me, it's like a second home and a family...and just like my real family, one that does not love me back. How ironic. And people wonder why I'm so walled up.

I did a lot of soul-searching this week (which affected my stitching too) and I think it's time I buckle down, get my credit cards decreased, and go back to school and finish my degree. I've always used the excuse that I didn't know what I wanted to do "when I grew up", but obviously I'm not good at anything job-wise but computers, so I might as well give in. I won't like it, but it's marketable and movable, which means I won't be trapped here if I don't want to be. That in itself will make it worth the social struggles of going back to school. Besides, it's not like my local college has a huge choice in degrees...it's either nursing, teaching or computers and I'm definitely not cut out for options 1 and 2. So, as of now (and we all know I'm not good with long term plans), come fall of 2019, it's time to enroll...again. That is if I still have a job by then and I don't come up with some other master plan. It also means new house is out of the question, at least for several more years.

But anyhoo, enough about things I can't control...obviously I stitched so much last week because I knew this week was coming and I always stitch like mad when I'm upset, nervous, or a basket case. It didn't even occur to me until my second long night at work this week, what the deal was. I thought I was doing a good job of ignoring the situation, making it through the workday with a smile and then going home and shutting down by watching Supernatural (for the umpteenth time) and moving my hands a million miles and hour with a needle and thread, not giving work a second thought. But by Wednesday, when I had a panic attack at noon because I couldn't go home and stitch right at that moment, I knew my shell was breaking. Funnily enough, I didn't even get to stitch Wednesday night. I ended up working too late.

Last week I left off here:

And barely got into her cape:

That "V" part was the worst confetti-wise and it took me most of the week, but I still had a couple of days that I got home too late to stitch. Most of the cape I did this weekend.

I'm really itching to start one of the new projects, but I really feel like I need to finish Maleficent's row first. If nothing else, at least I can control that. Or I'd like to think I can.

I figure the atmosphere at work next week will be pretty toxic and I'm not looking forward to it. I tend to soak up atmosphere like a cruise ship-sized sponge in the ocean which could really be a bad thing right now, especially since I finally feel like I have my head screwed on straight again for the first time in a year. If I end up with headaches all week, it means no stitching, which means no "therapy", which means I'll feel worse, which means more headaches...it's a never-ending cycle of suck. Right now, I just wanna stitch and not deal with anything else. Shame I can't do it at work.

Why?

I hate that we keep loosing all these great artists from my generation. They are way too young. God help me if I ever loose one of my boys...be it a Duran or a TT guy. I may never recover. RIP Delores, you were amazing.

Weekly Stitching and Reading

I'm not sure what kind of stitching steroids I was taking this past week but, considering I didn't stitch three whole days, I still managed to somehow finish almost two full pages of a HAED...seriously! Granted, I do buy large charts, but still, even I'm amazed at that! If I would have stitched for another three hours tonight, I probably could have finished the second page. I left off here last week:

and here is where I had to make myself stop tonight:

Actually, that V part is about a third of the way into the third page. Since I'm still waiting on orders to come in for my new projects, if I keep up this current rate, there is a good possibility I could finish this row in three weeks, maybe less. Besides, I still have to go to Hobby Lobby and get thread and scroll rods.

Since I decided to join in on Jo's 18 in '18, I still have to come up with five more projects for the year (which means more thread and more scroll rods). I have plenty of stash to choose from pattern-wise, but I thought I'd go through all my cross stitch magazines that I've collected to see if I could find a pattern in one of them. I must be keeping them for a reason other than my hoarding issues. So I spent Friday night going through magazines instead of stitching and there was only one pattern that said "maybe".

I definitely do not like the fabric used with this...it fades out too much with the colors of the glasses and there is a special Caron's color at the base of each glass that you can't even see on the picture, so I'm thinking a silver or maybe purplish-gray might be better. I'm still not sure I'm going to do this one yet, but what do you guys think?

I also kind of made a sort-of New Year's resolution to read more, but nothing definite or by any fit schedule. I just finished my first book of the year:

I was keeping it in my purse to read at work because I also said I was going to start taking breaks and a lunch. I never get to do either because someone else is always either on break or lunch, so I'm always left to hold down the fort. No matter what job I've ever held at the lab, that has always been the case. If I do get to eat at work, it's usually at my desk and I'm usually answering the phone while doing it. I do tend to do more receptionist duties than I.T. duties and that aggravates me (especially since receptionist is probably the one job I've never had there and Asper's aren't known for our people skills), but I have to just keep in mind that it's important to make sure I stay indispensable, you never know what could happen in the future.

But I'm digressing...needless to say, I managed one lunch and two actual breaks since Jan 1, so it took me a while to get through the book. Luckily, I had to take my car to get those pesky nails out of my tires before taking a work trip the other day, and I managed to finish the entire thing in less than an hour. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is another one of my geek crushes, so of course I adored this book! It was a super-fast read (once I had more than 10 minutes) and, as per usual Neil, it was hilarious in the weirdest places (I still disagree though...Pluto IS a planet!). Granted, there wasn't anything in the book I didn't already know, but he just has a way of making everything fun. He makes me want to learn more.

I wanted to read one book a week, but I might be looking more at one book a month, maybe two if I'm lucky. Since The Conjuring is on Netflix now and I've been watching it a lot, I remembered I have one of Ed and Lorraine Warren's books, so I'm going to read that one next. I may have read it before, but it had to have been 20+ years ago because I don't remember and I've probably had it that long. Plus, I just got in Stephen Fry's Mythos, so I guess that will be next or maybe another Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I'm going to try to be diverse. I just don't want my reading to distract from stitching, which I guess I'm also trying to make more diverse. I'm trying to expand my very tiny universe as big as I can within the constraints that I'm comfortable with. It's not much, but it's a start!

WIPocalypse 2018

I had initially decided not to sign up for any stitch groups because I'm not good with the follow through, but as the days of January have been flying by, I'm starting to change my opinions on lots of things (like in the previous post). I've always been a fan of WIPocalypse because the rules are so loose and free and that's right up my alley right now!

So, for January's question: Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!
Hi, I'm Keiley (pronounced Key-Lee), but my friends call me Keebs. I'm an Asper with OCD and numerous other conditions not important enough to name, but all of which make me an incredibly dedicated stitcher. I live in Northeast Arkansas and I work in I.T. in the medical community. I have two monster Shih-Tzu's, Bam and Bugs who are potentially as nutso as me. I am extremely Disney obsessed (as evidenced by the memorabilia covering almost every square inch of my home), but my annual trips to Disney World have been waylaid a bit until I get my finances in order. Aspers can go on forever about themselves, so I'm gonna shut up now and get to the stuff we're all here for.

Stitch-wise, I would LOVE to do Jo's 18 in 18, but I do tend to do big projects, so I'd have to dig up some small ones to round out the count and since I'm kind of doing this post off the cuff, I might have to come up with the rest of them in next month's post (plus, I need some thinkin' time on it to come up with some).

I hope I'm not repeating myself here from my year-end post, but right now I'm working on HAED's Maleficent by Annya Kai (and yes, my copy says Maleficent since I bought it the day it came out (although they did spell Maleficent wrong on it)...I don't go by the Evil Queen title because A) it's inaccurate and B) it's an affront to Maleficent herself, copyright infringement or not).

As of my last posting, I had only put in one day's worth of work on row 4, but my tentative goal for the year is at least one full row on each project, so that's what I'll be working towards this week and next, which, at my current rate, might get me halfway through the row unless the sky falls (which, in my world, is VERY possible on a weekly basis).

I always have at least one HAED Jasmine Becket-Griffith in rotation, and my largest HAED ever, Alice and the Bouguereau Princesses, just got row 4 finished in November of last year, so I hope to finish at least row 5 this year:

Jessica Clark's Snow White (a retired HAED), got row 1 finished in November as well, and I hope to finish row 2, but this is an incredibly difficult project to work on because the fabric is wonky. I'm not sure if it's because it's too thick, too soft, too tufted, or all of the above, but it's it a total pain, especially in confetti'ed areas because, after a few colors, I can barely get the needle through anymore. She's gonna be fab when finished...if I ever get there. I don't know why I just didn't start this over on a better piece of fabric. Maybe I should.

Another HAED, Annie Rodrigue's Night Wish, got it's first row finished in November too (November was a good month I guess), and my goal is row two by the end of the year. At least the next row won't have an entire skein of white in the moon because there will be a head in there!

I also (finally) started Sleepy Hollow Mural by Lewis T Johnson (another retired HAED) last year and made it about a third of the way through the first row. Since it's a horizontal piece, I'd be happy to finish the first row, but I'm not counting my chickens.

Also, I am NOT diggin working with Qsnaps, so I'm going to get big enough scroll rods to hold this piece. People tell me all the time I stitch fast, and I don't think I do at all, but I do stitch two-handed and since none of my stands like the Qsnaps, it's become a one-handed thing and it slows me down (well, I stitch two-handed and I have no life, so I have plenty of free time to stitch). I've seen the videos on how to make a Q-snap stand, but I'm not crafty like that and I don't like the way they sit, so it wouldn't help anyway.

I'm not sure I should even mention this one because I'm seriously considering drawering it (as in drawer of shame), but the eternal thorn in my side, Christmas Contest Suteki by Aimee Stewart (another HAED), if she stays in rotation, will hopefully get row 2 finished (although I've been perpetually stuck in the middle of row 2 all year):

Thorn #2, Tartan B. It's not hard, I just have a very difficult time staying focused on this piece. I can never work on it for more than an hour at a time and, so far, I've rarely worked on it more than a couple of hours per year. So I won't put in a goal more than that for this year either. If I ever do finish it, I'm going to make it into a pillow (when I learn how).

Next up is The Bride Dollmaker (or Doll Making, depending on which of the documents I'm looking at) by Medusa Dollmaker from GeckoRouge. Despite my initial concerns with this kit and the fact that it's the most expensive cross stitch kit I have ever bought, it turns out that it is my absolute favorite one right now! I cannot believe how beautiful she's going to be! I was a bit shocked that I couldn't even tell it was her face until almost the final 100 or so stitches in that area, but once she started to "appear", it was almost magical and I couldn't put her down!

Since the next two rows of her have to do with Freddy Krueger, I'm going to try to finish both rows by the end of the year. I love me some Fred!

Next up is Neni Design's Happy Haunts. I flew through her Lilo and Stitch project so fast that I thought this one would be the same, but it hasn't been the case. I've struggled with it all year. I'm not sure if it's because I did Stitch on 28ct and I'm doing this one on 18 or what, but the next Neni I do will definitely be on 28ct. I'm hoping to finish at least two rows of Happy Haunts year, but again, no chickin' countin'.

As of a few days ago, I decided to drawer two other thorns in my side and start four new projects:
Another HAED Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Faces of Faery 167, my first on 32ct. If all goes well, I would be happy with two row finishes, but I'm aiming for a total finish on this one.

Addict to Cross Stitch's Everest on my usual 28ct. Since it's horizontal, I think a row finish is ambitious, but not out of the question:

Tilton Crafts Once Upon A Time's Captain Hook by Daniel Kordek is on 28ct (shocker), but I'm using a tea color since all that white background is stitched (nightmare!). Hopefully at least one row will be finished by the end of the year. Night Wish is pretty monochromatic, but it's a purple monochromatic which is a LOT different that sepia. Hook could turn into my thorn piece for the year, but come on, it's Hook, he's too gorgeous to be a thorn!

And finally, for my first DoNa Stitches, I'm going with Rapunzel. I figure 18ct will be better (and I'm going with opalescent fabric). I don't see any reason why I can finish this project by the end of the year:
So that's at least 13...I need to come up with five more by next month! I definitely have enough stash for it, that's for sure!

I'm a bad, bad duck!

Yep, only days ago I said I wasn't going to do any new starts. I had valid reasons...I already have too many projects going as it is, I may never finish the ones I have going now, especially since they are all so big, etc. Well, Aspers are good at logic, but following through with it is another story because we are often led more by our hearts than our heads, despite the strong argument that logic may give. We want what we want, when we want it and how we want it, consequences be damned sometimes.

A thought occurred to me on the way to work one day this week...I have all these great projects in my stash, charts that I have whole collections of from a small number of designers, but I tend to only work on HAEDs or Neni's and I decided that it's just not fair to those other designers! So I chose some patterns from my favorite online designers and decided it was time to branch out...in more ways than one (but more on that in a moment).

I know I'm overdue on a FanGirl Stitches and I think the Supernatural Alphabet is calling to me (probably because I'm binge watching it yet again after finishing The X Files, again), but that's another really short project (less than a month if I force it), so they may pop up too at some point. But here's a question...would you do a Supernatural-themed alphabet on opalescent fabric? I absolutely ADORE my Once Alphabet on it, but are "sparkles" appropriate for a man-dominant show? Every time I talk myself out of it, I always think of the imaginary friend episode when Sparkle gets murdered and he bleeds blood and glitter. That episode was hilarious! It could be my own little inside joke, but what do you think? Here's the pattern:

As of now though, that one is on hold, but lets get on to the ones I chose.

I have all the DoNa Fairy Tale series and have been envious of Linda's work on Sleeping Beauty. Considering that Aurora is my favorite princess, normally I would do her first. But for some reason, Rapunzel call is louder (probably all the purple), so I decided to start with her:

I'm going to do her on 18ct opalescent white Aida, which I have already ordered and I have enough thread in my stash for the entire project. I just have to buy scroll rods (and that's the catch with all of these...I am completely out of scroll rods, I didn't even think that was possible!). Luckily, I already have a Rapunzel needle minder.

Next up I decided on Tilton Craft's Once Upon A Time's Daniel Kordek's Captain Hook (although I'm still miffed he never did a Charming...having Charming and Hook framed next to one another would literally be the highlight of my entire stitching career, oh well, I'll have to make due with Hook, The Huntsman, and The Mad Hatter - unless I break down and get Pinocchio too or maybe the one with Emma and Regina, guess it depends how horrible stitching sepia is):

I'm going to do him on 28ct Tea Monaco simply because there is SOOO much white in this (and yes, ALL that background is stitched), I can't deal with stitching white on white fabric, especially this much of it. I had almost all the thread other than the two colors that have multiples each (I prefer to buy those in the same dye lots). But I have to have scroll rods for him too. I have at least ordered a needle minder for him although I don't know when it will be in. Since I still have to get the rest of the thread and scroll rods, I have time.

The next choice was harder. I absolutely adore Addict To Cross Stitch charts and I have several in my stash, but picking that first project was a lot more difficult. In the end, I went with Everest:

I'm not a fan of the horizontal project, but I think I'm having Disney World withdrawals and this might help. I'm going to do it on 28ct Monaco as well, but probably just plain white. I had most of the thread, but I'm missing several colors and, broken record here, I need scroll rods. I have also ordered a needle minder for it as well, but I'm not sure it's the right one for the project, so I may keep searching.

Last, but certainly not least, I decided on my "small" project...it's a HAED (obviously not a new design choice), but it's my first Faces, Jasmine Becket-Griffith's Faces of Faery 167:

The exciting part here? I'm going to do her on 32ct Silver Moon Lugana...my first foray with that small a thread count which means she will only be 7x7 when finished! It's going to be a good test because, if it works out well, it will SOOO make a difference on a supersized HAED if I could use 32ct instead of 28. I'm also going to buy all new thread for her because I will be doing it 1x1 and I want new "clean" thread for her. Again, needle minder ordered as well as fabric, but I might have a scroll rod for this, especially because of the next paragraph...

So, I also decided it's time to start a "bin of shame". I don't have one, at least not a real one. Anything that gets put in a drawer is usually because it needs framing and it's never in there long (except for my Design Works mice and those are being held until they are all finished and can be framed together). Can anyone guess the first occupants of the bin? Yep, A Summer Ball and 35th Anniversary Celebration. They are getting removed from their scroll rods, bagged up, and binned until maybe one day the urge will strike again. They have literally been sitting out since 2015 without being touched and frankly I'm getting tired of dusting them. At least for now, it's the best choice (and it frees up at least one scroll rod, 35th's rods are too big).

I'm also thinking, depending how all these new ones work into the rotation (which I still haven't worked out yet), that Suteki might also end up in the bin of shame because I have another project that would be much better suited for my Sister that will be easier and that she will probably like better anyway, she's probably just as much a Scooby fan as a Disney fan...I like other cartoons, but I don't really "cheat" on the house of mouse...just flirt a bit with the other guys...but I am digressing:

After doing Lilo and Stitch Otherwise and working on Happy Haunts, I prefer Neni Designs on 28ct as well, so I will need thread and a needle minder for this one too (and yes, ANOTHER stupid scroll rod as well as a bobbin box...thanks to these four new ones, I'm now out of bobbin boxes too), but I'm thinking it might go a lot faster than Suteki. If I ever decide to finish her in the future, I will figure out something else to do with her (although heaven knows what).

Am I crazy (wait...should't ask that question because we already know the answer), am I stretching myself too thin? At least Rapunzel and Faces 167 have a chance to be finished easily within the year, so it can't be all bad, right? Oh well, won't know until I try, so as soon as I get paid, off to Hobby Lobby I go to buy thread and scroll rods (and then probably to 123 Stitch to order all the thread that Hobby Lobby was out of) and by then all my needle minders, fabrics, and various other knickknacks like new gridding pens and storage folders for the patterns should all have arrived by then. Maybe I'll start one (although I don't know which yet) about the time I finish this current row of Maleficent!

Weekly Stitching

I know it's just another week's worth of stitching, but considering it's a new year, this post seems like it's different for some reason. Maybe it's just me being weird...wouldn't be the first time! In any case, lots to show! I left off on The Bride at the end of year post:

And I finally finished the row on Saturday:

Since Maleficent has been "calling" to me, I decided (along with a little support from you guys!), that she was where I needed to go back to. I left off at the fourth row finish back in June:

And since I've only worked on her today, not much to show so far:

I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to go back to weekly rotations or row rotations, but since I realized that I only have two and 3/4 rows left on her, right now I'm thinking row. There is a good chance I could finish her this year...maybe...no promises!

I also said I wasn't going to start a new project, but a new start is calling to me. No projects in particular are doing the calling, but something small, maybe finish-able by the end of the year, maybe a non-HAED or maybe a JBG Faces or a Mini. I already know a QS is not so quick. I still want to hold off though. I have way too many projects going to start yet another one. I'm trying to control the urge, but we all know I'm not good at controlling my urges!