Holly Doyne

We. have this bed –

It came from Germany – shipped in summer of 2014. George says it was new when he bought it. The mattresses were decent but not exceptional quality. The catch, of course, is that they are European size, not US which means if we want the much needed replacement, they would have to be custom made….

Not a great option by any standard. So we went bed shopping. One of the challenges of this room is that there is a door in one wall, windows in the next two walls and the closet in the last wall – so placement of the bed is either going to partially obstruct a window. If not, then a dresser will be accomplishing that mission.  On Tuesday we went bed shopping. As much as I would have loved to go to Fenton-McClaren, the lead time on their manufacture is a minimum of six months. My back would really prefer not to wait another six months…

So, we found a bed which was delivered today.

The frame is “cherry” and we can still access the windows.

In stitching news – I am now at 52%.

with mostly the big flower pot to go.

there was a huge storm that rolled through on New Year’s Eve which dumped an incredible amount of rain, caused a lot of flooding with winds that added damage for good measure. The only good thing that came out of it, as I mentioned before, was the lack of fireworks.

There was another “bomb cyclone” as it is being called as part of an atmospheric river predicted to hit the area starting about 1000 this morning.  All my initial plans became OBE due to weather concerns. Naturally, the roads were clear, there wasn’t any rain, and I wondered. Ran errands for most of the day, finally getting back home just before 1600.

And by 1700 the storm had rolled into my area. Both the wind and driving rain seem a lot stronger than last weekend. Slight lull after the first few hours, but we are back at driving rain with winds continually changing directions. Glad to be tucked up in my cozy chair.

I have been making steady progress on the Fox&Rabbit 2023 Royal Gardens Mastery SAL. After 4 days of stitching, my 3900 stitches puts me at 42% complete…

Seriously, the first thing that happens is that I make plans. Then they fall apart. Perhaps I should be glad that my ideas lasted a whole three days.

And yes, I am still on track with Royal Gardens –

with another 1000 stitches added today. That puts me at 31%. And last night I added another 407 stitches to the Dark Goddess Frame, With more than three/twelve frames complete – I am fine with this waiting till the first of next month.

And then an email dropped in my box with the link to part 1 of Snarky & Modern’s Gothic Valentine SAL. Huh? Oh, yes, I signed up for it part way through their Hanukkah SAL. Six parts finishing ~ 7 Feb.  Total size? 68×57. This is not exactly huge. There are a total of four colors…. Can I manage ~ 200 stitches once a week? Probably. In any case, I added it to the list with the caveat that if I get behind because I am bored with it – I will just toss it. Grabbing a piece of nothing 14 ct pink DMC (what? I want to be able see it when it is done and there is B5200 involved – I pulled out 815 and managed the 178 stitches.

yes, it is most of a heart. Surprise, Surprise…

Ok, this is now truly 2023 and I am not making any resolutions. Perhaps determined not to increase the WIP pile without finishing out projects from the last couple of years but it seems more than silly to make resolutions that are only going to stress me.

I had actually pulled out a binder, document protectors, and had planned on running off face sheets on some of the PDF patterns that I would like to stitch this year. I then spent a couple of hours fighting with the printer. I think it might have won because I still have two sheets that absolutely do not want to print. There are a couple of Mystery Stitch-a-longs on my list, two must stitch for birthday presents (need to be done and FFO’d by March), and then a number of random patterns which appeal. 

Left over from 2021 – four SALS which are all 60-80% complete. Four projects were ditched. And three regular projects. From 2022 – I have the 11/12 Zodiac Girls which just need beads and backstitching with the 12th yet to stitch.  The Spangler StoryKeep  is at about 50%. I ditched two mystery SALs. Fish ‘n Ships from LongDog is a bit over 50%. 

So I guess my plan is 23 in 2023 and will pull in whatever else I can find for old projects as I finish up 2021&2022. Adopting Gable Stitcher’s terminology – anything more than 10 years old is a legacy project. I really need to make decisions on them (I think there is one from 1986, one from 1994, and a couple from ~ 2013 which I am firmly placing in this bin) but there is really no hurry. Compared to the amount of supplies on hand – these take up absolutely no significant space or worry.

So – New Year, New Start(s)

• Fox & Rabbit’s 2023 Mystery SAL called Royal Gardens. The pattern is free this year only. So download it if you think you might want to stitch it at some point in the future. I am using Silks4U I think it is PR164 but anyway it is green The fabric is 18 ct Fiddler’s Cloth. Part 1 is 9277 stitches (ugh). The pattern works just fine in PatternKeeper. Otherwise there is no way I would tackle this.  My plan is about 900 stitches/day till Part 1/12 is done.  This is ~ 1900 stitches in…
• 

• Dark Goddess by WitchesGarden (pattern here on GumRoad). Since it isn’t huge like the other one – I am just using an ordinary piece of blue 14 ct Aida. The frame was released this month. Each of the next six following months will see 2/12 Goddesses released. I may not finish the frame this month (36xx stitches) but will finish enough to complete the frames for the first 2-3 goddesses. The recommendation was for dark fabric which I just can’t deal with. So I may wind up taking DMC 06 and backstitching along the columns of DMC 05 so that they stand out more

what was your start this year (if you did one)?

In every fiber craft that I can think of, there are always left over bits. In weaving it was thrums – those left over warp ends. In sewing and quilting there are scraps. In knitting/crocheting – I am not sure what those bits of left over yarn are – but I am amazed at how many patterns there are for those leftovers. And I think all of us have jars of left over buttons….

In cross stitch – the bits of left over floss ends are referred to as “ORTs” which stands for “Old Raggedy Thread.” What amazes me is how many different ways stitchers hang on to them – displaying in jars – filling glass/plastic ball ornaments. I have even seen a clear lamp base stuffed with bits of thread.

Me? If I am organized they go directly in the wastebasket, get swept up or gathered up and tossed on my rare cleaning days. So imagine my surprise when I discovered I had a coffee cup next to my living room stitching chair with the remains of several projects…

So I dumped it out. 

Looking at the combination of fibers – I really think that these are the left overs from any stitching I did on my floor stand in the living room. Starting in 2020 with Farewell to Anger and progressing to a few other projects, the last of which was the Tiny Modernist – Zodiac series of 2021 which I finished on time except for the frame which dragged through the past year and wax completed on the 31st.

The only possible place for these ORTs?

and I felt like I was tossing a bit of the Pandemic at the same time… New Year, new start?