Sorry I'm late, but have BIG news!

Let's get the stitching out of the way first. My ADHD is in high gear right now. I'm having issues focusing on any piece for very long, so I was all over the shop this week. I stopped working on Amour et Vengeance and moved back to Belle of Bonaventure, which is what I wanted to do anyway. I left off on her here last time:

I'm not digging her off white face (she's a bit Wednesday Addams) but, I'm hoping it will all work out in the end. I managed another 10.58 hrs and 2675 stitches for a total of 68.22 hrs, 17,705/1118,000 stitches and 15%.

Next up, I went ahead and started Garden Path from Monet by Yiotas.

I'm fighting with the large paper pattern, but I'm just not feeling it either, so it got one whole night. It's not big, that marked square in the middle is the size of the whole thing, but I think the confetti might make it take a long time. I also can't give complete totals since it didn't cross into Markup RXP right, but by the pattern, I know there are a total of 26,730 stitches. I can also tell you that I did 804 stitches in 3.8 hrs. I'll keep up with the stitches as I go manually.

I kind of realized I needed something a bit easier and maybe that would sort out my ADHD, so I picked Merida by DoNa Stitches. I last left on this on 2-9 here:

I only worked on it one day this week so far (other things to discuss in a mo-mo), but I got another 886 stitches in 3.72 hrs, for a total of 22.47 hrs, 4745/41,836 stitches and I'm now at 11.34%. If I focus on this, it should be a quick finish, maybe a month or two, but again, ADHD is a pain, dude.

On Tuesday, I had a HORRIBLE crick in my neck (which I still have, FYI), so I decided not to stitch that night. But that's not the good news, or scary news, depending on each second my obessive brain flip flops.

I had already decided that this year, considering the debt from the past several trips, even though this is my 55th birthday and a big one, I probably wasnt' going to go anywhere for my birthday. I did consider a few places, Nantucket, Cape Hatteras, even Universal for Harry Potter (which was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, BTW), but eventually decided I wasn't really interested in anywhere and decided maybe to pay down some debt first and maybe get my new skirting or new deck.

I was having a rather innocous conversation with a co-worker about swimming, something I haven't done since I was a teen, since I grew up with a pool, but I refuse to be seen in public in a bathing suit now, so it's a moot point. I was reminded that the last time I stuck even my feet in a pool was many years ago at Wilderness Lodge, my favorite Disney resort. Then I started trying to figure out when the last time I had stayed at Wilderness Lodge and it was 2013! That was ridiculous! Then my brain went into overdrive. I randomly ended up on the Disney website to check prices around my birthday and they weren't bad! I saved a cart, but decided I needed to talk to my therapist on Wednesday before I did anything drastic.

As some of you may remember, my last trip to Disney in 2021 was a life changer. Not only did I plan that bad (booking a month out), but I didn't physically prepare so I spent the entire trip in severe pain (and it even led to both my knee surgeries in the couple of years that followed). It was also, not only the first trip I had taken since "Hotel California" in 2017 (my last Disney trip before that was 2016), but the first trip since COVID. It was stupid of me to do it and it severely burned me on Disney totally. I did start taking trips again, but it's been to the Northeast (several times) and Boulder and a few other places, not Disney. I had decided that I can go a ton of other places for a 1/3 of the price of a Disney trip (not including spending money, which would probably lower it to an 1/8 of the price). Plus, I disagreed with a TON of the changes Disney has been making. Disney hasn't been a thought for me in the years since (well, maybe a fleeting one, but more of reminiscing the old days).

This morning (Wednesday), I realized I don't have therapy today, it's Friday. I couldn't wait until Friday. They might book up at the cheaper rate, the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party tickets should go on sale at any time this month, timing was key. So, this morning, after talking to a couple of co-workers, I booked it! A birthday trip to Wilderness Lodge! It's 6 days/7 nights (hence my 7 park ticket purchase). I decided to book a value resort for the night before (making it 7 nights), simply because I want to get my ticket's worth and didn't want to waste a night at a Deluxe Resort when I would be arriving late. I have done this before, one night at a Value then move to the Deluxe, and it worked out well. My therapist and I will just fight it out on Friday, it's done.

Yeah, I'm going to Disney World! Granted, I have to walk a lot between now and then to get in better physical shape as well as lose at least 30lbs (I've done it before, I can do it again). I'm not entirely sure where the money is going to come from, but that's why god made credit cards and I do have a Disney rewards card, so more Disney points for me (and adds to my spending money fund). Because I haven't been in such a long time and there have been SO many changes, I will have a few months to study up (and gives me a project for the next few months and focuses my brain).

I booked the Quick Service meal plan instead of the full Dining Plan. For those that don't know, Quick Service plan includes 2 quick service (or counter service, non-reservation sit down restaurants), one snack and a refillable mug (which is only good at the resort, but I collect the mugs more than actually use them on the trip). The full plan includes one quick service, one sit-down meal, one snack and the mug. I can't remember what I did last time (I will look it up when I get home), but considering I can count on one hand how many times I've been in a restaurant since 2017, I'm not sure it is wise to book restaurants. I will probably eat at Raglan Road for my birthday (it had become kind of a Disney tradition for me...bangers and mash!) and I can pay for that out of pocket. But I can change the dining plan if need be between now and then, or even upgrade when I get there. I need to research the restaurants because they have all changed since the last time I was there (as well as MANY other things).

One of the big issues in 2021 was the buses and how close I had to sit next to people after COVID (something that always bothered me, but having strangers touch me after that was almost unbearable). But with the Lodge, most of transportation is not buses. Yes, Animal Kingdom is exclusively bus, but the Magic Kingdom is a boat. I can get a boat to the Contemporary and take the monorail to either Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Epcot and the Studios both connect via boats and skyliners (and the skyliner goes to Pop Century, so I can get to Disney Springs via boat from either Epcot or the Studios)...and about a dozen other transportation options other than buses. Last time at Saratoga Springs, even though I wasn't exclusively tied to bus (there were boat options), the skyliner was barely working and new and I didn't want to risk it. That makes it even more exciting, human distance (to a point)!

Normally, I also upgrade my park tickets when I get there and get an annual Passholder (basically for the extras you get with that, special pins, discounts, etc), with the idea that I will go again in a couple of months, which would make it worth it financially, but I have only ever gone back a second time in the year of the pass twice. I'm not sure it's a good idea to upgrade (but even just for the discounts and pins, I might splurge and do it anyway).

I also have not edited a picture from any trip since Disney 2016, and I'm not sure those are edited properly. I need to get Lightroom for a couple of months and fix that. Depending on when I start that, I might actually be able to photo update you on all my past trips since 2021!

This will also probably cut into my stitching. I take Disney planning VERY seriously, and the fact that I didn't plan in 2021 is one of the reasons why that trip failed so spectacularly. I won't risk that happening again. So stay tuned, more Disney info to follow! And maybe I'll be able to update my Disney reviews page! I haven't done that since 2015 (didn't even apparently do them for 2016). If I don't shut up now at the possibilities, I won't shut up at all! I'm already pissing off co-workers today!

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!

Busy doins', but not stitchin' much

When last we left off, I was stitching like a mad person, adding new projects left and right, and I think I might have stitched myself out for a while. I worked a bit more on Belle of Bonaventure, going from here:

To just a bit further here:

Before switching back to Merida, which I left off here:

And, although I was gung-ho because I think she has the potential to be the fastest finish (probably before the end of the year), I very quickly hit a dead end with stitching altogether and stopped here:

Some of it has been headache related, our weather has been tornadoes one day, freezing temps the next, but some of it has just been burnout. I think I pushed the whole "new starts before Leap Year" thing a bit too far.

But I haven't been just sitting on my rear (well, not only sitting on my rear), I've started spring cleaning for the first time in YEARS and I've also started cataloging my book collection, which turns out, is a lot more of a massive undertaking than I thought it would be. They say you don't really have a book collection unless you have a 1000 books, which I knew I had, but actually cataloging those books isn't as easy as you'd think it would be, even with a nifty app that just scans barcodes and pulls up the info for you. Especially when you're old like me and a lot of your books are older than ISBN numbers (I believe it stands for the International Standard of Book Numbers, but don't quote me on that) and you have nothing to scan. I've had a lot of books where the info is wrong, or I have to add the proper picture, or I've had to just manually enter it altogether. Then there is the issue of removing the books from the shelves, cleaning them, and reorganizing (which needed to be done anyway). I've even managed to find some missing movies, which, for some reason, I had forgotten I had put with their respective books years ago. They are now back happily in their movie locations, leaving more room in the bookshelves (except for special shelves that are movie and TV themed, like Twilight, Firefly, Once Upon A Time, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Outlander, a whole shelf of Harry Potter, etc.)

I've learned I have WAY more books on Scottish History, Art History, Cathedrals, ghosts, witches, vampires, Jane Austen fan-fiction type books, leatherbound classics, and young adult fiction and WAY less on English history, horror, romance, and Classical Literature than I thought I had. Might need to balance that out more (which means I'll probably end up buying more books, not offloading some). I'm in the mid 650's now and I've got the main four bookshelves in the living room done, but I still have a ton more books in the living room to do, at least another 150 or so. Then there is my bedroom (which maybe only live about 100) and the duck room (where all the Disney books are, but it's a MUCH harder get to area and probably at least another 300-400 books). I don't have as much as I thought, but I should hit 1000 easily enough.

But, all in all, every single bone in my body hurts, my wrists are killing me from the carpal tunnel, and I might take tonight off (although I'm scared to do that because I'm not known for finishing things if I don't push through). When all is said and done, if I do finish, it will be SO nice having a catalog of my books. It will at least keep me from buying duplicates in the future! And, if this all works out, I might get a couple other of their apps, like the movie one and the music one. The book app I bought (which was only $4.99) was Book Buddy, and so far, no issues. I can back it up to iCloud and share it between my iPad and my iPhone. Hopefully, after all this work, I don't loose the backup. That would suck.

It's also a trial run for cataloging my Disney collection, which I should have done YEARS ago, but have been putting off for obvious reasons. I bought software to do that years ago as well, but the software is now obsolete (and I never even used it). That was frustrating. It is now a subscription thing, which I literally hate how everything is going to a subscription service where you have to pay per month to use something. Who can afford $5/mo here and $10/mo there for this and that. By the time you add it all up, it's $100's per month for all kinds of things and it's ridiculous! I'd rather just buy software or programs when I need them and upgrade when I need to, not pay per month for something I might use once per year! It's why I don't ever work on my pictures, because I can't bring myself to pay for Lightroom or Photoshop! But I digress.

For the near future, my stitching is on hold, at least until I get these books cataloged and my house cleaned. I'ved scheduled the weekend of the eclipse off, but I'm not sure I'm even going to watch it. I live in the direct path of it, but everyone and their cousin is going to be in our town because of it, so I'd rather just stay in the house. That's four days of good cleaning if I can psych myself up for it. I might go out for a bit, I have the special eclipse glasses, just in case. We'll see. If I do stitch though, you'll be the first to know!

2024 New Starts

Not quite ready for a end of year review, so let's go with the new starts.I have been off this week and tried to finish Happy Haunts, but it is killing me. I don't think I'm going to make it through the week with it and it won't even be a row finish, let alone a total finish. I need a break from it. But that's for another post.

So, I guess you guys knew that I wouldn't be able to hold off from new starts, but I came VERY close! I had the chosen six picked out, but when I added some fabric to a chart (I do have fabric in my stash) and added the thread (more about thread in a mo-mo), it was almost $700! I am NOT kidding...it was exactly $678.76, but that's pretty darn close to seven (and yes, that is with discounted fabric and a coupon)!!! For friggin THREAD! I can't say how many skeins I ordered, it was for at least one max color project and four others (yes, 4+1=5, my math skills will bite me later). I decided I could NOT afford that and was ready to let it go with the WIPs I have. I agreed with myself that I would pay off three credit cards first (granted, the smallest three, but three nonetheless). But then we got our xmas bonuses and they cashed in some of my vacation time (because we're only allowed to roll over three weeks and I had way more than that saved up) and all of a sudden, three credit cards were paid off. I took that as a sign (granted, I didn't need much of a sign, but the checks came the exact same day I decided not to make the purchase, so here's your sign Keebs).

Of course, it's never just that simple and here's where my math caught up with me...I forgot an entire project hence #6, so fabric and thread again, another $108. I also had to place an Amazon order for some other things (another $120), I still have to get scroll rods (and you'll see why in a minute), and there are other things, so it won't be a January 1st start for any of these. I need to pay this stuff down, save up more money, and frankly, kit up six new projects. I like bobbins, so bobbinating a max color project is going to be a chore. But oh my, cross stitching is an expensive hobby!

I've always prided myself on my stash of stuff, but apparently, I'm not as stashed up as I thought. I went through all my thread to see what I had (so I hopefully wouldn't have to buy any) and I discovered that all that Chinese thread I bought years ago had faded and started to fuzz up. Most of it was probably over 10 years old, but the DMC was about the same and it was fine. I just decided to pull all the bad thread, unless it was the only one for the color I had and I gave it all to a co-worker. I ended up with about a forth of the stash I had to begin with, and none of it was enough for a full project. After all these projects are finished though, my thread stash will be stocked again.

Speaking of which, so which projects did I choose? Well, I guess it's no surprise that I went with HAED's Belle of Bonaventure by Jasmine Becket-Griffith, she'll be on 28ct Lugana:

And the HAED Supersize Max Color version of Once Upon A Fairy Tale by Aimee Stewart (and I'm not doing the redo chart...I had already printed the chart when they reissued it...I actually had to email HAED last week to figure out the difference because it's been so long, which was just two colors, so I figured I wasn't going to reprint the whole thing just for that and I don't mind the colors anyway, so I'm just going to keep as is...I do still work with paper charts and I print them on this soft card stock stuff, and it ain't cheap either). This will also be on 28ct Lugana, magic guide. I will say, this week I've been on vacation and I've been working on Happy Haunts (it's on 18ct 2x1) and I really HATE working with two threads, so I'm pretty sure I won't be doing 2x1 tent stitch on this. I still can't wrap my head around tent not being a "cheat" version of cross stitch, but any time I would save with tent I would just be wasting with the two threads. I can't deal. I think I stitch fast enough that 1x1 full crosses will be fine. Guess we'll find out!

A chart by Thread Geeks that goes with my Snow and Charming, Evil Queen is also one of my new starts...it should be fairly easy if it's like Snow and Charming. Of course, another 28ct Lugana, unless I pull out some old Monaco that I still have.

Then there is my first Unconventional X Stitch, The Blue Marble is So Fragile by Borda Danut Adrian. I've been wanting to start this since the second I saw it! She will probably be on the 28ct magic guide Lugana as well, but she is not small.

Another easy one, DoNa Stitches Merida, she'll be on 18ct opalescent Aida, like Rapunzel was. She shouldn't take very long, although she is a lot more coverage than some of the other DoNa's.

Another new designer, Fox and Teacup Designs, Harry Potter Bookcovers. I went with the American version, not because "American pride" and all, but when the books were coming out, I was one of the weirdos standing in line for them, and I live in the US, so the American versions were the ones I ended up with. I still own those original versions. Maybe, when I finish this one, I'll do the British covers (which I also now own). It will also be on 28ct, but I'm not sure whether it will be Lugana or Monaco. It's also the supersize max color version, but it's still not very big, so I'm not sure if I have the wrong pattern, so I'm reading it wrong, or what. If it's right, it shouldn't take very long.

I've also decided, since I have a new stand now, on the kit front, to go back to A Summer Ball. I UFO'ed that several years ago and haven't touched it since 2015. I hated it. Maybe a new stand will make it better? It seems like I also had issue with all the partial stitches, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. If I still hate it after another shot, then I'll look at another kit.

Here is where I left off, barely a third of the way through (and to be honest, I'm not even sure where I put it, so I might have to do some digging):

As a side note, I am going to UFO retire a project, HAED's Christmas Contest Suteki by Aimee Stewart.

This was a project I started for my sister, who never really acted like she cared for it anyway. I don't know why I was bothering. It was a nightmare to work on with all the confetti, and frankly, now that my sister is not in my life anymore, I just don't see the purpose in working on it because it definitely isn't my style at all. I actually have several charts I bought to do for her. Guess they will go in my RAK folder. I haven't worked on her since 2020, so it's really no skin off my back to retire her. Maybe someday I'll pull her back out again if I meet someone who's style she is, but I just can't see it. I only made it here:

So that at least takes one WIP off the books along with Maleficent. Next time, a year end review, which should be short since I've only been stitching since October and only (at least so far) on two and there is only a few more days left in the year.