Stitching plans for 2020

Long story short, this year I am dedicated to leaning into cross stitching.

I already have one finish up my sleeve! My nephew's Christmas stocking, which is currently being finished and I can't wait to share. Here are a couple more finishes I have planned for 2020.

Design Works - ABC Sampler
My kid is at kindergarten this year and learning letters. In this 14 count aida kit, every letter corresponds to an animal. This is a good way to teach her the alphabet while I stitch and once finished I will rip down the $2 Aldi ABC poster from her bedroom wall and replace it with this magnificent work of craft.

I am approaching this one letter and motif at a time, and back stitching as I go. That way each letter feels like a finish. I'm also enjoying how simple the pattern is compared to the Secret Santa stocking I just finished, which was Dimensions Gold and more complex.

Mirabilia - Lady Veronica
I have spent a lot of time on this cross stitch and I don't think it will take me too long to finish it. I had forgotten how far progressed I was on this until I pulled her out of my stash this morning. 


But just as I was making great progress and expecting to have it finished in the winter of 2018, disaster struck. My daughter - then two years old - got to the pattern. Not just ripped, but also drew on it with a pen and cut it with scissors. It was cross stitch torture.

She has since evolved into a four year old who understands that mummy's cross stitching is very special and not to be touched. I have sticky taped the pattern back together, can make out the symbols through the scribbled pen and I don't think I need to buy a new pattern. For a moment I regretted my habit of not taking a copy of my pattern before I begin stitching but honestly I am too lazy to do this going forward.

Toddler brutality aside, a bigger problem with this cross stitch lurks in them there stitches - I am almost 20 stitches out across the bottom half of the stitching.


This was definitely a piece of work where I should have proceeded in 10 x 10 squares - I don't know why I didn't, ROOKIE ERROR. To get through the rest of the cross stitch, I intend to start up where the brown stitching is and proceed in 10 x 10 squares until I reach the problem areas and then wing it from there. Mirabilias are time consuming but they are not overly complex and do not have many confetti patches so I think it should be achievable to improvise a solution with the stitching and save myself from having to rip out hundreds if not thousands of stitches.

What else?
I am hoping to get through more cross stitches this year, but given my poor output over the last three years I don't want to be too ambitious. I have a number of WIPs that I can work on and I don't want to buy any stash in 2020. If I do end up finishing the ABC sampler and Lady Veronica I would prefer to put my money towards framing.

My plan over the next few years is to work through all the WIPs and kits I have that I still like, sell what I don't intend to do and then focus on acquiring one kit at a time and stitching one project at a time. I still plan to fill all our walls with cross stitches.

October thoughts

FLOSSTUBE
I have been neglectful of monthly updates on my blog because I have been making flosstube videos here and here.

THIS MONTH'S PROGRESS
This month I am not sure what to put on flosstube, because it feels like a pretty slow month of stitching. I thought I was going to finish all the cross stitches on my daughter's Christmas stocking - ha! - and of course I didn't. 

 

By the time I realized that I had been overly ambitious for the month, there wasn't much of September left, and I switched to balloon glow for some quality time. Luckily, I am up to sky portions on balloon glow with half stitches, so it is stitching up quick. Yay.

 
STASH
There are a few items I intend on buying this month:
- two Pako floss organisers
- size 24 and 26 needles (50 each)
- scissors (I lost my little pair)

I haven't bought any patterns or kits in a really long time and I am starting to have pangs!! However, I don't really have any discretionary income to throw around on my hobby. Don't get me wrong, I will ALWAYS find the cash to enable me to cross stitch because it is my number one activity, but I don't have enough money to just accumulate stash for the sake of accumulating stash. So, like, if I need scissors, I get the scissors. But I don't need a stockpile of Mirabilia patterns, or Dimensions Gold kits, when I have plenty of projects to keep me occupied already.

PLANS
I like making plans.

Plan no 1 - new project once I finish Candy Cane Santa stocking
I am planning on finishing the stitching on my stocking by the end of the year, but I am not planning to actually FFO the project until I have finished a second stocking and can do them together.

I have decided that my next stocking for kid #2 (unsure when we will have kid #2 but it's going to happen one day so might as well be prepared) is going to be Secret Santa stocking by Dimensions Gold. I have asked Mum to buy it for me for Christmas and she was like sure no worries. Best Mum ever!!

Plan no 2 - up the WIPS
I'm starting to get sick of only having three WIPs in my rotation. I have two more WIPs in my stash so why not chuck them in? All I need is two Pako floss organisers to set up my threads. So I think I am going to buy those in October and then that allows me to have five WIPs in my rotation. I will likely have projects I work on every month (like my stockings) and then other projects I do every few months (like birdcage by Design Works).

The first WIP I intend to add in is Autumn Queen by Mirabilia - as far as I remember I have only done her face, neck and some of an arm. 

 

The other one is Kitty Litter, which is quite progressed (two out of three pages done but no backstitching) but it has a major defect in the stitching itself (I think I have an extra row in it) and is running short on threads. So I will need to sit down and compile a list of threads to request from Dimensions before I get stuck into that one again.

 

Once I finish a WIP (probably first to be done will be either Balloon Glow or Kitty Litter), I get to add a new one to my stash!

New starts available to me are:
- Maggie the Messmaker (Dimensions Gold)
- Max in the Adirondacks (Dimensions Gold)
- European Bistro (Dimensions Gold)
- Victorian Charm (Dimensions)
- Winter Queen (Mirabilia)
- Summer Queen (Mirabilia)

When the time comes, I might do a lucky dip on flosstube to pick my next start.

June's progress

JUNE WENT QUICK!!

June was the month I got back on the cross stitching wagon. I reckon I spent more time stitching this month than I have for the whole past 12 months! (Well, excluding the period of maternity leave before my daughter was born and I went MENTAL).

I attribute my new found productivity to setting up a rotation system and also going back to work. There's something about working that makes me feel a more urgent need to spend time on my hobby!

So let's have a look at my progress...

FINISH!!

First of all, I have a finish yay. This was a quick stitch for a friend's wedding. It was a custom made design off Etsy, from a designer named Youmakemesewhappy. My friend picked out this type of design. She is a stitcher herself so she understands how much time it takes to cross stitch, and she also has quite particular taste. So I felt it was really thoughtful of her to pick something out that would prevent me from spending months stitching something she hated the sight of! When that happens no one wins.

So I sent the Etsy designer a photo of the happy couple and a photo of their beloved pooches, and she sent me back a really quick and easy pattern.

My friend who is getting married says she has a beautiful frame already picked out, so that makes life SUPER easy (and saves money for me to donate to another present for them!).

MY WIPs

Candy Cane Santa Stocking 

This one got a workout for a good ten days. It's such a fun, happy stitch. It's well progressed and at the point where I am familiar with most of the symbols and what is going on in the design and it's very easy for me to just get in the zone and stitch right through my daughter's two hour nap without blinking an eyelid.

I love the vibrant colours and can't wait to backstitch this bad boy and bring it all to life! I am dreading the finishing part though. I can't sew, I butcher things, and I love this piece so much that I think I would prefer to pay a professional to turn it into a stocking than risk doing it myself.

New start - Design Works Birdcage

Oh gosh I have loved this design for so long. I have been itching to start it since I added it to my stash. Then the Great Flood of 2016 happened (we were relocating interstate from Perth to Melbourne, then we got rained on in Adelaide and half my stash was water damaged and I had to throw it out) and I realised that if I don't start on some of the stash that is left, I am risking it being lost for good!

I allocated room in my rotation for a new start - to keep my stitching morale bouyant, as starts tend to do - and I was torn between this and another Design Works pattern with a cat in a shoe. I held both designs up for my husband to look at and he said of the cat "that is so ugly how could you ever think that is okay to stitch" that I decided I don't want to keep the cat kit anymore! When he has such a violent reaction to something I'm working on, it ruins it for me! Hence why I try to avoid ever asking his opinion. Ha!

He had much nicer things to say about Birdcage though, and from the moment I started I really enjoyed this kit. The colours are a lot more varied and pinky than what the cover picture suggests, but it is still going to look spectacular when it's done. Metallic threads are a complete pain in the butt but man they are EFFECTIVE once done.

So here is where I got to on Birdcage in about five days (because I spent half the second rotation on the wedding stitch and then the other half on birdcage). Next month I look forward to doing a whole ten days!

HAUL

I miss my pre-baby days of being able to buy whatever cross stitch stash took my fancy but those days aren't coming back anytime soon. I'm a responsible mother now, ha! This year I've been much more austere and I'm planning to stitch almost exclusively from stash until it's eaten up. So how's that for Madam Stash, eroding her stash until there's none left!

This month the only cross stitch related purchase I made was a Pako floss organizer. This is so I can add one of my Dimensions Gold WIPs to my monthly rotation. I think it is going to be Balloon Glow.

JULY PLANS
So I am already underway on my first rotation - Candy Cane Santa - and then I will spend 10 days on Birdcage. By then hopefully my Pako has arrived and I will spend the final 11 days of the month on Balloon Glow.

Look forward to updating you again next month! In the meantime, you can follow my progress on instagram: @madam_stash

Implementing a rotation

I want to add a bit of momentum to my stitching and I find competing with myself is generally motivating. It's very hard to find time to stitch these days and I want to MAKE time.

So I have been inspired by some notable stitchers to begin a proper system of rotation.

In deciding how to rotate my projects, I've tried to think about WHEN I will be stitching.

1. STITCHING AT HOME 

The most stitching I get done is at home. I work three days a week, so on those days I can stitch in the evening for an hour or so, and then I have four days at home where I could ideally stitch more (such as when the baby is napping). However, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up stitching more on the work days than the home days because the home days seem to stretch for 24 hour stints ha!

I've chosen three projects for my at-home rotation because I think this is enough to keep me interested without overwhelming me. I've also chosen progressed WIPs that I'm already keen to finish. 

At any one time, the three projects will be:

A. A gift for someone else

B. Something just for me 

C. Something for my kid

I'm going to spend 10 days on each because I think over 10 days I should be able to stitch for at least 10 hours, each 10 day period will cover at least one weekend where I can catch up if necessary, and 10 hours is enough time for me to feel that I have made real progress.

So these are the three projects I'm going to begin with:

A. Something for someone else - Anchor Birth Sampler. This is at the back of my rotation now due to cat and backstitching issues! 

B. Something just for me - Balloon Glow by Dimensions Gold. I bought this to hang on my wall. It's terribly kitsch and I love it. However, the threads are a bit of a nightmare, as I began stitching this before I had a Pako. I have a vague feeling that there might be a stitching defect in it similar to Kitty Litter. If there is, I'm going to chuck it on my UFO pile and start afresh with a brand new kit I'm excited about, using a Pako and my refined method of stitching that has taken me about six years to get right! 

Here is my last progress picture of Balloon Glow from Instagram:

C. Something for my kid - Candy Cane Santa Stocking by Dimensions Gold. I am currently working on this one first in my rotation and it's so enjoyable. I am (sort of) moving across in 10 X 10 squares, my thread is organised in a Pako, I'm already about halfway done, and I'm excited to try and get it done by Xmas! Here is my last progress picture for the stocking:

2. STITCHING BEFORE WORK

On the three days I work I've noticed that I have a space of time available, the time between dropping off my daughter at daycare and the time I'm due at work. I try to catch an early train so it's not too squishy for us, but that usually gives me at least 45 mins to kill before I'm due in the office. I don't want to let that time just be absorbed by work until I'm busy. I also don't want to spend that time trying to keep my daughter entertained on winter mornings. I want to take that time for myself and grab a coffee, sit in a cafe, enjoy the silence and STITCH.

The kit I've chosen is a Dimensions mini kit. I love these because they're small in size but remain incredibly detailed. I have one in my stash called "Try to Relax". I was given this kit as a birthday gift in my law grad year back in 2012, and I would love to have it framed and in my office at work! This is what it will look like finished. I don't have a progress photo because it will be a new start.

Similar to other stitchers, I intend to post updates of each WIP on Instagram at the end of their respective rotations. I will also post blogs here with an overview of my progress in the longer term.

I am currently on the Christmas stocking and will rotate to Balloon Glow on 20 June. Then at the start of next month I will return to my Anchor birth sampler.

Hopefully this new plan finds me more stitching time and gives me another three or four finishes for the year :-) 

P.S. If you want to follow me on Instagram, I'm @madam_stash

WIP: Anchor Birth Sampler

I know, I know. I keep vowing to myself every time that the birth announcement I am cross stitching will be my last, and then I end up doing one more. It feels like EVERYONE is having babies, and some of those everyone are good friends.  

I chose this kit because it looked quick and simple. The cross stitching part proved me correct. 

However, the backstitching took me by surprise - it's fiddly because it doesn't all fall within the aida holes. 

Then my cats ate through the pattern. And then I lost the alphabet for personalisation.

Meanwhile, we relocated from Perth back to Melbourne, spent a month travelling around the USA, I set up an eBay business selling cross stitch kits and then I returned back to my day job as a commercial lawyer three days a week.

And I'm sure I've mentioned that I gave birth to my daughter in December last year. She has required care and attention too (babies, so needy, am I right?).

So, quick and easy this cross stitch has proved not.

I've decided it's going to be a first birthday present, which means I don't need to have it done until January next year. Which means I can now put it aside for a few months and work on something else. Hopefully by the time I've returned I've figured out what to do about the missing alphabet!!

Christmas stocking

My first child, a daughter, was born four days before Christmas and nearly a week behind schedule. But that week of leeway so thoughtfully afforded by her was wasted by me sulking and shoving cake in my face rather than stitching. Which is a pity because my latest project, her Christmas stocking, is going to need a lot more work before it's finished.

The design is called Candy Cane Santa by Dimensions Gold. I'm enjoying it a lot, I think because it is coming alive so nicely before my eyes. I am also using a Pako thread organiser which seriously makes my stitching three or four times faster and I waste a lot less thread - which is important for Dimensions kits because they are so tight with thread that I tend to run out and have to write to them for more and last time it took over six weeks to get it delivered to Australia! 

I would love to have this finished before maternity leave is over at the end of May but it will be hard squeezing it in with an interstate relocation (back to Victoria) and a month long trip to the United States. So perhaps Christmas 2017 is a more realistic goal!

Framed - latest baby samplers!

Recently framed my last two finishes...

The first was Noah's Animals, my second and final finish for the year. This was framed by a fabulous man named Gary who did a great job but cost an absolute $&@?! fortune. Of course I didn't take any bloody photos so here it is hanging on the baby's bedroom wall. 

So now I'm an official stay at home mum I've returned to buying custom made frames and doing them myself. This frame was a tight enough fit that I didn't end up lacing it or pinning it - I just chucked it in! What can I say, it looks fine to me.