Week 1

BRR-ingo has brought some excitement back to the old projects I tucked away and haven't touched in forever. Yes, there was the eye issue, but some of these projects hadn't been touched waaaay before that. The first number called was in my last post.

The second number was #4 - A WIP or new start that intimidates you. I had originally picked Teresa Wentzler's "Stretch", but honestly, it just never called to me, and the person it was being stitched for wasn't "into it" any more. That was pulled from my rotation and will be frogged and the green fabric will be repurposed. 

Kustom Krafts "Fire and Ice" took its place. The black was intimidating after the eye issue, so this was chosen because of that reason. I don't know why I put this aside and never touched it again all those years ago, because it was such a soothing stitch for me this time. It will DEFINITELY be getting more love this year!

Fire & Ice before

Fire & Ice after 2 hours 

Jan 3, the number called was #9 - WIP or new start that is sparkly (fabric, floss, etc). Pamela Kellogg's "Cupids Garden Mystery SAL" certainly fit that bill! I started it on 28 count opalescent white that should have been an evenweave, but certainly was not. Now I know why it never got touched again. That fabric was autrocious at best. I put the requred hour into it and decided to pull this one from my rotation as well. This does NOT get frogged!!

Cupid's Garden Before

Cupid's Garden after 1 LONG hour

January 4 - #5 WIP or new start that will be a gift. This one is called "My Husband" by Linda Myers. Yes, this is the one I received in a XS lot from Ebay and searched for the pattern. I was lucky to receive it just in time to all it to my BRR-ingo card! 

My Husband before

My husband after 2 hours

January 5th - #19 WIP or new start you were inspired to start because of the way you'd see it finished. This was December 2023's Secret Needle Night Kit from The Silver Needle. It's called "Love Machine" and not only do I think the pattern is cute, but it is finished and displayed on a small cutting board. I love that idea! After looking up the ideas on how to do the finish to display on a cutting board, I saw that someone had put magnets on the board and washers on the back of the stitched, so one could interchange them with with other similar sized pieces. So cool!!!

A new start!

Love Machine after 1 hour of stitching.

January 6 - #25 WIP or new start you would take on vacation.  My choice for this was the Dimensions kit "Laundry Day". It's easy and kitted, so grab and go. I had to get this when I saw it at Walmart one day. It says it all... 

Laundry Day before

Laundry Day after 2 hours

January 7 finishes up the week. The number called was 10 - WIP or start from a magazine. I knew exactly the WIP that needed to be chosen for this number - "North Woods Stocking" from the Premier issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts. It has been in WIP/UFO pile for a many years and if I'm not mistaken, is my oldest.  I started it in the late 80's and it was touched every now and then, and then I discovered a major mistake and had to frog a considerable amoun that had been done to the tree. The tree was frogged and then the piece returned to the pile to wait and wait and wait. It has surfaced, the issue has been fixed and has received some much needed love.

North Woods Stocking before

North Woods Stocking after 3 hours.

This has been the most fun activity I've participated in a long time. I really look forward to the posting of the new number every evening. Weirdly enough, it's not to see if I'll win a bingo, but just to see what is next to work on. 

The Lists and Challenges

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

I wish everyone a happy and productive year. I know I'm looking forward to a year of change and getting stuff done - things I've had on my TO-DO list forever.

I am excited to turn a new page and start over! One of the things I decided to do to accomplish my goals was join the Magazine Monthly Cross Stitch Challenge group on Facebook. I need to focus on my projects listed below, and this group is going to be a big help accomplishing that. This month, we are playing BRR-ingo and there's also a monthly Acrostic. I'll be doing both - the BRR-ingo has a lot of my listed WIPs and the Monthly Acrostic will be focused on stitching from my magazine stash. It's about time I put them to good use!

Today's number is 3 - which is The Silver Needle's exclusive kit called Mitten Tree Snowman. Linda Stolz of The Silver Needle and Stoney Creek paired up and Linda did some modifications to the Stoney Creek's snowman pattern. She changed colors and threads added/subtracted things to create a lovely and quite large snowman. 

Here's how my snowman looked before I started working on it today:

And today's progress:

For us to be able to cross off our bingo square, we are required to put in at least 1 hour or 100 stitches. I have a bit over 3 hours in. I would have had more done, but found there was an error with the thread that was provided in the kit and what was used in the instructions. The instructions said to use 1 strand #3 DMC Perle Cotton but only #5 was supplied. I didn't notice the discrepancy until I stitched the red and green area and really, really didn't like the coverage - or lack thereof. I then looked closer and saw the weight difference, so decided to do the blue area using 2 strands and see if it may be too heavy. 

I preferred the 2 strand coverage, so I went back and restitched the red/green area. It looks so much better to me now. 

This piece is on my Brr-ingo card 2 more times, so I should see some nice progress on him by the end of the month. 

I can't wait to see what the next number called is. This has sparked a new excitement and interest on getting these projects done. 

The following lists are what I want and need to work on. My goal is to have some finishes but also to touch each project listed below at least once this year. Some things on this list haven't been touched in about 20 years!!!

CURRENT WIPS STARTED IN 2023

Dimensions - Laundry Day Kit

Janlynn - Live Simply Kit

Riolis - City Cats in Autumn Kit

The Silver Needle Exclusive - Snoman Mitten Tree Kit

THE WIP LIST

Art Ventures - Old Sentinel - 15%

Cross Stitch & Country Crafts - North Woods Stocking

Crossed Wing Collection - Hummingbird Garden 35%

Dawna Barton - Dinner Call - 60%
Diane Arthurs - Happy Everything - 60%
DMC - The White Bindweed Fairy - 15% - found mistake must rip
Dimensions - A Bird For All Seasons - 5%

Dimensions - Magic In Motion - 5%

Dimensions - Wolf Portrait - 65%
Drawn Thread - Miniature Reversible Sampler
Drawn Thread - Winter Spot - 10%
Hearts Delight - Noahs Ark Kit - 50%

Jiffy - Fateful Night 

Just Cross Stitch 2001 Ornament Issue - Cinnamon Bear 85%

Just Nan - First Stitches
Just Nan - Last Stitches
Lanarte - Romantic Picnic 15%
Lavender & Lace - Celtic Spring - 35%

Pat Rogers - Hearts & Lace Sampler 70%

Paula Vaughan - May

Pegasus - Pekingese Dogs V. 4 15%

The Silver Lining - Aymars Amber Rose 30%

Sweetheart Tree - Olde English Needle Roll - 15%

Sweetheart Tree - Teenie Tweenies Spring Has Sprung 30%

Teresa Wentzler - Stretch 15%

MYSTERY/SALS/MONTHLYS

Bent Creek - Snappers (12 w/border) - 12 completed plus 1/3 of the border

Curtis Boehringer - Needlewomans Murder Mystery

French Calendar free weekly - 23 of 52 finished

Helga Mandl and Barbara Ana - Mystery Sampler - 45%

Marquoir Mystery Sampler freebie SAL 4 of 9 finished

Pamela Kellogg - Cupids Garden Mystery SAL 15%

BAPS

Carriage House Samplings - The Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Kustom Krafts - 4 Horses of Apocalypse
Kustom Krafts - Fire & Ice
Kustom Krafts - Sofa Cat

Marty Bell - Hideaway Cottage

Sunset - Gettysburg

Teresa Wentzler - Under the Evergreen

The Cross Stitch Pattern Gallery - The Baby by Harrison Fisher

Vermillion Stitchery - The Holy Family

PULLED OFF LIST FOR DONATION

Leisure Arts - Noahs Ark Baby Afghan 50%