My first finish of the year - Calico Crossroads - Kats by Kelly "St. Patty Kat". This is the 4th piece of the series I've finished and was started in February of 2024. Now all I need to do is wash and press it, then put it in it's frame for an easy FFO. One more to cross off the more recent WIP list.
This is my first time participating in WIPocalypse, so I will start out with an introduction. I go by the name Tweezle. It was a name given to me back in the 80's by my then boyfriend's close friend. He called me Tweeze all the time and the name just stuck.
I have stitched since I was a child. Mom started me on embroidery first then cross stitch, counted cross stitch and then crewel embroidery. She also started me on crochet when I was about 5 and knitting a couple of years later. There were many other crafts sprinkled throughout my life, but counted cross stitch, knitting and crochet are the ones that I have stayed with.
I worked as a model stitcher since the mid 80's and have enjoyed working with some great shops as well as amazing designers. I've also proof-read charts, test knitted and crocheted items and did proof-reading both knit and crochet patterns as well. Now, it will pick up a test here and there, but I'm basically retired. It got to the point where I was no longer loving the needlearts and hating the deadlines. I put that aside for awhile and then my eyes went bad. I guess it was just in time.
My project list is forever changing. In fact, I just pulled another set of patterns off my list. I've decided to scrap Curtis Boehringer's The Needlewoman Murder Mystery in 13 Chapters. I'm just not enjoying it at all. So off to the Pulled List it goes.
It was my start and focus piece for this year, but after putting 5 days of stitching in, I decided it was time to make room for things I love.
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| Before |
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| After 5 days |
I have passed the requirement for WIPGO, so I can mark that off and I've put my time in for my focus piece on WIP Warriors. It's been stated that I've wasted my time, but I really haven't. It helped me to come to a conclusion that this one needs to move on. Now I have more time for something else.
My next piece for WIPGO is Lanarte's Romantic Picnic (Stoney Creek). It's being stitched on white linen and it's not as easy to work on as it once was. This one will certainly take some time with my crappy eyesight.
I have a few full coverage patterns that I'm really hoping will work well with it. There a few HAED and Artecy ones as well as a couple I bought from Etsy. Fingers crossed. It would be nice not having to manually count stitches or keep track of hours. I always seem to screw up on that.
Now I must patient wait for it to arrive.
Here we are - in 2025. I still can't wrap my head around how that happened. Where did all the time go?! I know I'm not the only one that has commented on how quickly the year has went by. Good-bye 2024. There's so much of you that I won't miss!
I'm looking forward to this year. Plans include a No-Buy year for yarn and pretty much the same for Cross Stitch. Cross stitch won't be as strict, because I'll be needed threads, beads and possibly other supplies to finish my projects. I am enjoying the idea of working from stash. I want to complete the projects I have going and as a reward, I think I will have my large pieces framed - maybe even professionally. I've only paid for a couple of pieces in the past to be framed. Unfortunately, although I loved the finished pieces, my LNS who did a gorgeous job has since moved to another state. I've been putting off sending my things to Michaels or Hobby Lobby, just because of all the tales I've hear about the chain craft stores. I need to do some research before I do decide where to take them.
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| Professionally framed by BushMountain Stitchery |
