Category Archives: WIPocalypse

February WIPoclaypse Update

Posted in cross stitch, family, goals, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Kia ora.

Since the last update, Auckland has been hit again by more bad weather in the form of Cyclone Gabrielle, although not as bad as the floods, but it’s certainly added to the issues; and other areas of Aotearoa are hard hit. It’s been several weeks and the search & rescue has turned to recovery and clean up. We don’t yet know the full extent of the damage and loss of life, as some areas are still without power and communication abilities, and we’ve been warned to expect more weather events. This is more than a little scary, TBH, as our environment is changing around us.

On the positive side, Si had a birthday and we realised that it was also Gotcha Day for the babes. Hard to think of them now as needing so much assistance, they rule the roost and provide us with purrs, hugs, licks and the occasional hiss.

I kind-of ignored some of the challenges this month. They were a bit much for me in this state, so I worked on what was calling to me and if I could fit that into the WIP Warriors or Magical Stitches, cool. WIP Warriors Scattegories was J (eep) this month and that has been a challenge.

I do have two more goals achieved:

  • FO Hissed Off (Silver Creek)
  • Get to 50% of Strawberry Fields Forever (Blackbird Designs) – SMASHED THIS and finished.

I’ve also stitched on the following this month:

  • Mini Cliffhanger (838, now 28%)
  • Letter P Fairy (212, now 14%)
  • Happy Bunny by the Trilogy (new start, 677 stitches)
  • QS Treasure Hunt Fox to Dragon Shelf by HAED/Aimee Stewart (new start, 3042, 3%)

Overall in February I stitched 9385 stiches, which is less than January, but I did have several non-stitching days due to a fatigue bout.

On the stash enhancing side, I ordered two more Blackbirds to go with Strawberry Fields, being The Long and Winding Road and Yellow Submarine. Who doesn’t have an earworm when reading “yellow submarine”?! Another piece of haul is Mary Hickmont’s Feline Fancy as I saw a finish in the NZXS group, and the cat was very similar to our Charlie Meowse.

I forgot to answer the January question which was If you have been to retreats, what are your must-bring items and supplies? I’d say needles (guess what I forgot the other day), my Ott light, and a couple of different projects. And items for the #passthestash table.

February’s question is What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year? I’m about to start the NZ Embroidery Guild SAL, which is mostly embroidery and is based on Dunedin imagery.

Hopefully March is an easier month on us all, weather and stitching-wise. Stay safe, stay well.

January 2023 WIPocalypse Update

Posted in cross stitch, goals, me, stitch from stash, WIPocalypse by

Hey everyone! I hope you have had some sun wherever you are – it was late arriving for the “summer” holidays here in Aotearoa, so late that I was joking we missed it in the lead up to Christmas. Unfortunately January has also brought in some pain, as B farewelled a school friend (very hard to do at 22) and a family friend drowned and another has passed due to cancer. Please, please – take care of yourselves and your loved ones. The city has also lost four people in the horrific flooding that’s taken us over.

Right. Stitchy stuff.

I have completed one goal in my annual list!

  • FO Seas the Day (Hands on Design)
Seas the Day, Hands On Design, GAST – Weeks conversion.

Seas the Day was completed on January third, while we were travelling State Highway 35 around the East Coast of the North Island.  I have found a frame too and just need to re-colour it.

Other pieces that have been worked on this month include

  • A Stitch in Time (825 or 41.86%)
  • The Letter P Fairy (429 or 9.09%)
  • Rogue Dragon (757, now 70.06%)
  • Seasonal Trilogy Autumn (400, now 10.49%)
  • Strawberry Fields Forever (2623, now 49.67%)
  • Tournee du Chat Noir (4559, now 15.79%)
  • Jim Shore’s 12 Days (474, now 29.43%)

Strawberry Fields has become my go-to stitch, as it’s mostly GAST and Weeks, which I love, and there’s a bit of repetition. Perfect for binge watching – we’ve done Wrexham and all the Broadchurch this month, and there’s been a lot of cricket. I’ve also put most things into Pattern Keeper to make it easier on myself, but that 12 Day’s number refers to only days 3 & 4. That’s all I’ve re-charted right now. Days 1 & 2 were completed prior to March 2021. In total I hit 11038 stitches, well over target.

January 2023 – WIPocalypse Begins Again

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hi everyone! I’m back for the seventh year. It’s the most committed I’ve been to any SAL & I put that down to the pressure free, encouraging environment that Melissa hosts. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!

If you’ve not read from my blog before, I’m in my late-40’s, a working mum to four (ranging from 28-13). I am book-mad, often found stitching & listening to podcasts or audiobooks, or training our three kittens. We own our home near the base of Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges & can often be found working on it, walking on the beach or in one of the many beautiful parks Auckland boasts. I’ve been hand stitching since before I was 10, can’t knit an even scarf or crochet to save myself and don’t often pull my machine out, although I did master zippered project bags & bagging out a waistcoat last year.

Stitching-wise, this year I am doing a combination of WIP Warriors 23:23 and Magical Stitches. It’s going to be a bit of a struggle to connect some tasks with a limited list, but I would like to get some things done in 2023 that have been hanging around for a while.

Year Long Goals:

  • Complete panels 3 to 6 of Jim Shore’s 12 Days
  • FO and FFO A Stitch in Time (Hands On Design via Quilts & More magazine)
  • Complete 3 houses in my Mill Hill collage
  • FO Hissed Off (Silver Creek)
  • FO and frame the Klimt Tree (Nora Corbett’s Patreon)
  • FO and frame the Letter P Fairy (Nora Corbett)
  • Get to 50% of Cliffhanger (Aimee Stewart/HAED) – currently 24%
  • Start Nightingale (new Mirabilia, ordered)
  • FO and frame Rogue Dragon (Nora Corbett’s Patreon)
  • FO Seas the Day (Hands on Design)
  • FO and FFO the Perennial Pinwheels (Hands on Design) – separated to three designs.
  • Get to 50% of Strawberry Fields Forever (Blackbird Designs) – currently 8%
  • Get to 20% of Tournee du Chat Noir (Lesley Anne Ivory/HAED) – currently 13.96%
Just a wee bit of black to add…

I’m starting with just the 15 projects to allow myself some new starts, which I think will keep me more on target. Last year I flittered and fluttered, managing only seven small stand-alone finishes and five full coverage pages.  Let’s see how I get on!

WIP Wednesday #293 & September WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, goals, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hi everyone, sorry I didn’t write last week but honestly I had nothing to say (and today is Friyay, definitely not Wednesday!).  It was post-daylight savings and I’m always a mess then, and I didn’t really have much of a stitchy bug. I worked for a few nights on Cliffhanger, then swapped over to the Ink Circles Red Velvet, which I am actually doing in a Caron Waterlilies thread, 177 Sapphire. I’ve realised that I will fall short there as it will take more than the full skein, bugger, but I’ve put a call out in local groups to see if anyone has any. I initially borrowed the pattern from Liz C but have since purchased it on Tracy Horner/Ink Circle’s website and loaded into Pattern Keeper – much faster progress! I have become too used to digital charts now. The freedom to zoom in and jump around is really helpful to me. I wish all of Cathy Habermann/Hands On Design worked in there too. I have a lot of those to do.

Red Velvet in Blue

September 25 – Are you a seasonal stitcher? If so, which seasons do you find yourself more productive or less productive? I love stitching Christmas stuff, but I find I am stitching more as the whim hits, rather than seasons. Not sure what I will do next year, but I am tempted by a No Starts, as then I’d get finishes…but then I’d also have more stuff simply hanging in the wardrobe unframed.

This weekend I am off to Thames, for the 2022 Cross Stitch retreat. I am so looking forward to catching up with people and collecting my haul from Catherine. Not sure now how much I am looking forward to teaching my first class – the stage fright is real.

August 21 WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, goals, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.  If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group.

Last month I signed up to do the Marathon, which basically meant I needed to be monogamous to the one piece. I’d started the Bothy Threads/Hannah Dale Moongazer pattern and as it was relatively easy to transport, staying faithful to it was also easy (also helped by UPS sitting on my other parcel for five weeks).  I got to roughly the half-way mark during the event, which I was pretty happy with. I finished Tiger later in the month and switched over to Fairy Idyll, as that’s what I was feeling.

Saturday mid-month is our local Stitch Group meet-up in Te Atatu, a small peninsula here in West Auckland. I look forward to this get-together but sometimes I’m a bit cross with myself, that it took me so long to find a group of crafty, funny, soul-enriching people. I put the kids and SI’s refereeing first for so many Saturdays but now that we’re getting into the next phase (only one truly dependent child, woot!) it is easier to be selfish. I used this meet-up as an opportunity to pass on some of The Dragon’s stash, and about ¾ is now gone. The remainder will go into the pile I’ll take to the annual meet-up next year, or to the Hospice shop. The additional benefit this last weekend was that Mase was at a birthday party/overnighter so there wasn’t any hurry to be somewhere after. Next month will need to be a Teams or Zoom meeting I guess.

At my embroidery class I’ve mastered stem stitch, and surprised myself by remembering how to do woven roses without any nudging. I’m making myself a felt scissor pouch to start with, as the clippers I use came in the most useless, fragile plastic wallet and really need to be contained. Hopefully I will find the Stitchsmith Tree of Life project that I put away in a fit of feeling inadequate and be able to finish it. Class is now postponed until we are in Level One. Bugger.

Looking at my second half’s goals:

  • Complete Un Ricarmo per Rinascere COMPLETED
  • Complete Bothy “Moongazer” COMPLETED
  • Complete the Chatelaine Castle I (at half way mark) REPLACING WITH FAIRY IDYLL
  • Complete Faby Reilly Fox biscornu (at back stitch mark, & back to stitch)

Pretty content with where I’m at for this point, altho I am thinking of simply not making the Fox biscornu into a biscornu, and just framing the front piece. I have so many things that I want to work on that I am going to end up doing small-Mira-small-Mira for a while. And by Mira I mean that I will take one of the kitted ones and work on it until I’m bored or frustrated, then switch to a small. Fairy Idyll is be the first cab off the rank, as I have the two arms over one and some of her dress to do, then she’s done…

  • Fairy Idyll (three quarters completed)
  • Elliana (started the conversion)
  • Twisted Mermaids (want to convert to be the twin of Under the Deep Blue)
  • Ophelia (not started, going to use Dewn’s face conversion)
  • Garden Prelude (not started)
  • Feather Fairy (not started)
  • Holly Pixie (not started)
  • Moonlight Laguna (not started)
  • Sunrise Laguna (not started)
  • Coral Charms (convert to the same as my Luce Mia mermaid)
  • Bella Vita (convert to the same as my Luce Mia mermaid)

September is Sampler September, and as is typical, I cannot find my chart of Le Nouveaux Sampler (yes, another Mirabilia!) so I’ve borrowed Zeb’s via a non-contact delivery, and have started this on 28count Feijoa Lugana from Countrystitch. A replacement has left Chicago airport and is on it’s way out to me now. This means of course that I will find my original chart in a couple of weeks…

August 29 – Which of your project finishes made you the most proud? The most relieved?

I think my favourite finish would be the Alma Lynne Noah’s Ark sampler. This is the first piece I modified, adding in the details about Brandon at birth; the first time I substituted in different threads, using metallic for the lightning bolt; and the first I had framed for our own house.

The most relieved would be Persephone. Not only was she HUGE I was using my own colour conversion and a fabric that could have gone very, very bad. I can see a couple of things I’d change now but overall, phew, she’s on the wall!

July WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.  If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group.

Since I last posted, I have some finishes! Un Ricarmo per Rinascere is done, and the following day I finished the beading on Nora Corbett’s Winter Bear. He’s a little altered from the original, as I am going to mount him on a canvas and I used a different bugle bead. Otherwise he’s as per the chart, on 28ct Evening Shadows Lugana from Countrystitch. URPR is on 28ct Geyser Lugana from Countrystitch, beads and threads as charted.

On a positive note, I found the fox biscornu bag! I haven’t opened it, but at least I know where it is now – in my WIP pile in my stitch dresser. I also did some “housework” and cleaned up my DMC threads, added them into Stash Cache and sorted out all the other brands (Anchor, Sullivans) to go to another stitcher.

There’s an upcoming WIPocalypse challenge based around the Summer Olympics. From Measi’s blog:

The rescheduled Tokyo Summer Olympics will take place July 23 – August 8, 2021. For the duration of the Olympics (defined as beginning of the day to the end of the day in your time zone), you can pick and choose from the following “events” to add some spice to your stitching. All optional, of course!

  • Marathon – pick one piece, and dedicate yourself to progress on that single piece for the duration of the Olympics.
  • Olympic Flag – You may stitch on any piece or combination of pieces, but only stitch in the colors of the Olympic rings – blue, yellow, black, green, and red, as well as white (the background of the flag).
  • Sprint – Choose either a time block (for example, 3 hours) or a number of stitches that you can do fairly quickly in an afternoon, and see how many projects you can work on during the Olympics. If you prefer to limit to a certain number of pieces and just do a rapid rotation, this also would count as a sprint.
  • Decathlon – Pick ten pieces by ten different designers and complete at least 200 stitches OR 3 hours on each during the Olympics.

The Bothy Threads kit Moongazer (why did I call that Moonlight last month??) arrived at work while I was away sick, and so therefore all temptation to have a new start ceased, and is the real reason I have two finishes J however, I intend to do the “marathon” event for the Olympic stitching, and hopefully this one will be a finish long before the Games are over. He really is very beautiful, confetti and all! I am stitching him on 28ct Cashel (for a change) in Waterfall from Countrystitch.

Moongazer after four days work

On that note, and probably because I am risk-adverse and at heart a scientist, but What The Actual?? Who thinks it’s an okay idea to run an event of this size and nature during a pandemic? Also, Boris et all should be taken out the back and locked up for being criminally negligent. Pretty happy the Australian and NZ Rugby League teams won’t be travelling to the UK in a few months.

July 25 – Have you ever attended a stitching retreat? If so, tell us about your experiences. As I said last month, I attended the Christchurch meet-up that was open to all NZ members. It wasn’t a retreat as such, as the accommodation and the event were in different locations, but it’s opened me up to meeting new people. I’ve attended two of the three West Auckland meet-ups, and once rugby season is over, I’ll be going to the monthly North Shore events too. 

June WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, goals, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.  If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group.

June is that time where we recap our stitching goals for the year.

  • Complete stitching Red Skies at Night; DONE
  • Stitch Autumn/Winter and Spring series from Hands On Design;  NO
  • Stitch couple of Sandra Cozzolino Santa’s; NO but I brought more, does that count?
  • Start a second full coverage piece; NO
  • Work a little bit on Fred (Tapestry Cat); NO
  • Learn some new stitches. DONE, thanks to a partially completed Chatelaine.

I’ve been letting my whims take me along recently; and since the Christchurch stitch meet-up I’ve continued to expand my stitchy horizons. I’ve managed to get to one of the monthly Auckland meet-ups at Te Atatu Library (next one is 17th July, from noon, come along if you’re local & crafty); started a stitch Te Reo class (Te Reo being the Maori language, Maori being the indigenous people of New Zealand) and have brought a few more things, including a reprint of a Dimensions kit, The Finery of Nature; and two recent Mirabilias, Ophelia and Twisted Mermaids. I think I’m reaching SABLE point!

This last month I’ve worked on my Te Reo piece, E pai ana au (I am good) which is the answer to another kit, E pēhea ana koe? These are designed by Gemma Steward, @gbsneedlepoint on IG, and most of the class has completed their design, which is a great indication of how good a tutor Gemma is, as most of the class hadn’t stitched before. I’m there for the language and people.

At work, I’m reading and working on the Mill Hill Sunday Night kit, one for me and one for Louise. For only the second time, I’ve run out of a thread doing the second piece, but as it’s all DMC I’m not fussed. Home has been Un Ricarmo per Rinascere, and I’m into the bottom half of the chart. I’d like this to be done before Ophelia arrives.

I’m going to set some goals for the last half of the year:

  • Complete Un Ricarmo per Rinascere (past half way mark)
  • Complete Bothy “Moonlight” (not yet started)
  • Complete the Chatelaine Castle I (at half way mark)
  • Complete Faby Reilly Fox biscornu (at back stitch mark) ALSO find where I put that, whoops

I’m not making any buy/sell promises or goals. We all know I’m not sticking to anything there!

A Very Late May WIPocalypse

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Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.  If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!

I haven’t written for a while. We had a wee drama in the family (be proud of me, I didn’t rip someone’s head off for destroying one of my babies self-confidence & happiness) and a trip away from home. Lots of rugby training and games – Mase took out both Coach and Manager’s choice one Saturday. A RunAuckland walk, where Mase only beat me by a minute or so. A cold running its way thru the house, and antibiotics for me. Si & I have been to both a 7 Days and a Taskmaster episode filming (making up for not being well enough to attend the comedy festival in early May). The weather has turned to winter (boo) and it’s getting time to snuggle in and hibernate, despite the Christmas Eve rose still going strong.

Our trip was to Christchurch, the major city in the South Island. I had brought a ticket for the two-day NZ Cross Stitch group meet-up, and Si, Lou & Mase came down also. We flew in the day before, and out the day after, and the three of them explored all over the general environs. My favourite spot was the pier that goes out from New Brighton beach; it was almost full moon, crisp and clear. I love the sound of the sea.

The meet-up was good too! So lovely to get together with like-minded people, and I attended the lacing class. I’ve more than a few things to frame, and now that the local framer’s lacer isn’t available anymore, I can do that first step myself. Much better than staples or tape! I also dropped in plenty of charts for the freebie table, and got a few more back – a couple of Mirabilia and two more Teresa Wentzler’s. I really need to finish Tapestry Cat so I can start another TW. Fred will look gorgeous up on the wall.

May 30 – What was the first project you ever stitched? (whether you finished or not)? I can’t remember the first pieces, but I do remember the first one I had framed. It is a Stoney Creek design that I’ve seen a few times, the mother dog and puppies from the cover. I stitched it for my brother Johnny & his wife Tania; no idea if they still have it! I’ve stitched the puppy on the left for a couple of people as requests also, and still have the much battered chart booklet. I stitched the Alsatian by the letterbox and the cat on the front cover; possibly even the Yorkie. Zac has the cat framed in his room.

I can tell you what my latest project is – the Craftiness is Happiness April kit from Cotton & Twine, the UK subscription box. I finished that today (June 8th here in NZ) and will FFO tonight in the hoop as per their suggestion. That’s washi tape around the edge, also from the kit, and I’ll use that on my Hands On Summer hoops that I stitched earlier, as some 4” hoops have arrived and I think that’s a good look.

April WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.  If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!

April was a mixed bag for me; I have gone well outside the SFS budget, especially as I found all the things (this particular book is on an airplane as I write, and I totally concur with Mary Corbet’s view of it being gorgeous –

https://www.needlenthread.com/2020/10/a-sea-to-stitch-and-its-gorgeous.html ) I finished stitching Winter Bear from Nora Corbett (he still needs a few beads that I am waiting on), did a little on my Chatelaine, a little on the Faby Reilly fox biscornu, a little on a Mill Hill ornament, a little on Mirabilia’s Fairy Tales – you get the picture. I did get one finish but that’s technically a May one – Merry Berry from Hands On Design/Squareology was finished in a temporary hoop, as I don’t have any 4” ones as yet.

Yesterday was my birthday, so I treated myself to a new start – Princess Elliana by Mirabilia. I plan to convert a lot of her dress to shades of blues but keeping the hair/skin/flower tones as is. This is on Countrystitch’s Urewera Mist, the same fabric that I used for Shakespeare’s Fairies.

April 25 – Have you found yourself to be more or less productive in your stitching during the Covid-19 pandemic? Given we only had a relatively short lockdown and of that, I only had a week off work, I’m actually finding myself quite burnt out now. Life here in NZ is still quite “normal” in most areas, except Tourism, and I find myself impatient with those countries that haven’t seemed to have caught on that this pandemic is horrific, unforgiving and needed to have shutdowns to effectively close if off before we can vaccinate. I was a lot more productive last year when working from home as I kept something by my desk to keep myself calm, but can’t do that in the office sadly! I do manage about half an hour a day at work during my breaks but most is at home, squeezed into my weekend.

WIP Wednesday #285 & a WIPocalypse update

Posted in Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hi everyone. Again, long time no write. I am really struggling for motivation, both in work and play. Our clocks went back on Sunday last week, wah, and it feels like summer has up and left. Saturday I was lounging around in shorts, and Sunday I was scrambling for trackies! The rest of the week we’ve been hovering in that almost overcast 21 degrees area, so it’s not quite sundress but not quite a wrap weather.

I made the decision to leave #magicalstitches for the remainder of this year at least. I wasn’t keeping up with the reading, let alone the stitching, and the notifications were overwhelming. It’s too big a group for me and was making me more anxious – the very thing your hobby shouldn’t make you! I did very little stitching for a good 2-3 weeks, just spending (oh boy!) and therefore I’m not going to keep up with SFS this year either. It’s all good as I don’t have a budget as we’re very lucky to not have our incomes affected, and still afford to have teenager appetites scrounging off us.

So no finishes since the last time I wrote, and I’m waiting on one order from Catherine at Countrystitch, two 123Sttich orders, the last Sassy Devils pouch (I cancelled this sub as the quality has dropped over the last two pouches, possibly as they had one of the team leave) and I added on the Spring box from Cotton & Twine as it has an exclusive Emma Congdon/Stitchrovia design that I want to do. Even if it is on the (to be supplied) aida! I could always give that away I suppose.

So, to WIPocalypse and the questions. February was What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year? and March was What is your process for working on WIPs? Are you a one-at-a-time stitcher, a rotation stitcher, or something else?

So. Feb is easy now – absolutely NOTHING (please say NOTHING in your best Sergeant Schulz voice, okay?).

And for the March question – that’s much harder. Right now I am whateverying, or stitching on whatever I have a whim to work on. Last week I pulled out Mirabilia’s Fairy Tales, looked at it for a few days, frogged the offending colours, looked at it again for a few days, then started stitching. I am not a fan of the rose colours here but I can’t get them quite right – hopefully third time will be the charm! I do want to finish this one and maybe Un Ricarmo before I start another – I have several mermaids, plus Holly, Feather Fairy and the Christmas Fairy to start. Or I just start all the things!