Still movin' along

I have been a stitching manic the past week or so! I did start a new project on Sunday, but it isn't going to last through this week (I barely made it through Sunday). For the week (plus some), I put in 57.81 hours total and 14,958 stitches total. First up though, I worked on Harry Potter Bookcovers just a bit more before I stopped on the 28th. I left off here last time at 8231 stitches out of 121,975, which is 6.75%.

I managed another 11.78 hours (not much, but another 2470 stitches), which brings me up to 10,701 stitches and 8.77% finished overall.

I was aching to go back to a JBG, so I went to Belle of Bonaventure (a HAED). It was one of my Leap Year starts in 2024, and I left off on her on March 4, 2024, barely 15.92 hrs in and 3719 stitches:

And, apparently I went a bit nuts on this one. Starting on the 28th until the 9th. I was literally flying through this and I really didn't want to stop, but I was afraid of burnout. Not to mention I was having issues with the scroll rods not staying tight (they are one of the first ones I made, so I can cut a break for myself on that, next time I know to get bigger dowels and longer hanger bolts). I put in another 41.71 hrs and 11,219 stitches (seriously?...even I'm impressed by that for just a bit over a week), which got me to 14,938 stitches out of 118,000 and at 12.66%. Here is where she is now as of the 9th:

I was trying to stick to my Sunday switch, so I went with Night Wish by Annie Rodrigue (another HAED), but I immediately knew that was a mistake. I SO was not feeling it (probably because of that darn moon). I left off on her Feb 12th of 2024 at 197.8 hours in:

I decided very quickly to shift out of the moon and start on the far edge of the row, but that didn't help either. My new(ish) stand just doesn't hold it right and I can't go back to my old stand because the holder clamp doesn't work anymore...only those projects mounted on the straight dowel will work with it (aka Alice and the B's). I tried to move it down some, but again, just didn't work. I only got 4.32hrs in and 1269 stitches (which is HORRIBLE for a weekend day) and left her off at 47,806 stitches out of 206,000 and 23.21% complete.

I can pretty much guarantee I'm switching again tonight. I don't want to stay tied to Night Wish for a solid week. Right now I'm leaning towards JBG Faces of Faery 167 (another HAED), which I left off on Jan 29th, 2024 at 14,533 stitches done out of 50,175 and 28.96% done (as well as 68.43 hrs in):

But, considering all the issues I've had with fabric this past month and this one is my first (and probably last) piece on 32ct evenweave, I'm just not sure. There are quite a few I could try before I start the loop over again, but I guess I'll know once I get home. I guess you'll know for sure once I post again.

I also really need to start posting daily stitching status posts to Instagram again, but I have never been good at social media (I'm not counting blogging in that, but honestly, I've pretty much sucked at that too for the past year or so). I deleted my Twitter (or X) account for obvious reasons. I did sign up for BlueSky, but I haven't posted a thing on there yet. I have TikTok, but I can't stand the way those videos auto play, so I just don't go there (and I wouldn't even attempt to post anything). TikTok is NOT made for those on the spectrum...too much noise and no control! I have been watching FlossTube again and I think I might have found a software that can line up all my status photos into a nice timelapse video (other than the expensive Photoshop), but I haven't tried it yet. If I can get that to work, I'll made a timelapse of all my finished projects and post those on the Tube (and I'll let you know when and if I do).

One other thing I got done this week is I finally got Maleficent mounted and taken to Hobby Lobby for framing! I wanted to take it to Michael's (since we have one now), but apparently our Michael's doesn't have a frame shop. And I guess Hobby Lobby is wary of the competition because it only cost $47 to frame her (mat and frame included)! If they are that cheap now, I may have to take my Highland girl (and the other one that is broken) up there to get reframed. Right now, those two just have tape holding the frames together. That's what I get for trying to frame them myself in a "normal" frame! I'll post Maleficent once I get her back (which should be on the 13th).

And, as a final note, all this stitching may come to a screeching halt soon (for at least a while). I'm going to have to have surgery on my right hand. I have several ganglions that popped up at random, but one of them is squeezing nerves in my wrist and causing electric shocks constantly. I don't think I will be out of commission long, but my doc also says I have severe carpal tunnel in both wrists and both shoulders, and he's insistent on doing surgery on them as well. For now, I'm holding off on those surgeries, partly because I don't have enough sick leave to cover them (thanks to my knee surgeries) and partly because neither particularly hurts, so why bother? He says I'm going to have long term nerve damage if I don't get them cut on, but again, I'll deal with that when the time comes.

And that's about it for this week!