OhSewCrafty Blog

My October rotation started, a day late, with Water Goddess.  As for tardiness, what can I say, diamond painting is addicting!  Then I made it up with it several finishes in short order.  Anyway, I gave Water Goddess 4.5 days and that was enough time to finish .

Trick or Treat Fairy got a bit of time to finish the beading.  I found a significant dye lot difference between the new beads and the ones I used before, but they were used in different areas and I decided it wasn’t worth frogging.   So, I finished her October 7th.

The next day, October 8th, I finished the October edition of the Mini Mandala (bottom left of piece) along with approximately 1/3 of the border.  Yes, I decided to add a border this late in the game, which is not my practice.  It took 3 attempts (with different patterns), but I finally got it on the go… this old DMC pattern is titled “Blacwork Oriental”.  I will stitch it in the different shades of grey-black as I go around, to match the mandalas.  
I spent some time with the Mill Hill Village, to finish the Bakery with beading and backstitch, as well as extend the border and grid to prepare for the last row.  So I finished Bakery on October 10th.  

Then it was time for the first Stitchathon weekend, which I devoted to Fall Fairy.  She got 8.5 days of love in all, which was enough to finish page 4 (lower right), add in the half cross, and do the extensive backstitch on that page (2 greens, dark brown, orange-brown), with the exception of the metallic backstitch.  The pattern calls for 3 strands of the gold metallic filament type stuff that was kitted (sigh).  I’ll probably give it a try, but may end up using #4 braid instead.  Backstitching that page took 2 days.  3 more pages to go, and Page 1 (upper left) is partially backstitched already.  I think a finish is within reach, probably another week or so; it will definitely be a November goal.

Then it was time for my retreat, StitchFest in Herndon, VA.  I contacted the wonderful lady behind Cross-stitchRetreats.com to organize it after my local friends asked me to do it and I realized I might be in over my head.  She did the heavy lifting but I pitched in where I could, with publicity mostly.  Also, I created a retreat t shirt, and self published my first cross stitch pattern (based on the t shirt graphic) as retreat swag for everyone.  Anyway, the retreat was fabulous and I can’t wait to do it again next year.  I brought 3 projects, Fall Fairy (above), Boo Club, and Charmed Santa. Boo Club got one day to finish the Monster line.  

Charmed Santa received a half day.  I stitched the gold metallic border around the upper left quadrant.  Easy peasy stitching while talking and laughing, having a grand old time!  I also started the holly leaves on the upper left.  Every stitch counts and this bit of progress is pleasing.  It will be a December finish goal.

Spooky House got 4 days.  I finished the regular cross stitch on page 3, and completed all the kreink on the bottom half in two colors, silver and citron.  I also started backstitching, from the left side.  I finished the black on that first page, and moved on the center page, which is about half done.  There is more backstitching to do, in various colors.  The grass is charted with long stitches in a DMC variegated thread that I don’t have in my stash.  My plan for this is to keep it on the frame and continue backstitching through the rest of October, then put it on hiatus until January.  

Discussion topic: Do you prefer to stitch on a rotation or one project at a time? I definitely prefer to stitch on a rotation, mostly because I like larger patterns and I think it would be boring to stitch monogamously long enough to finish a big piece.  Also, my WIP quantity is sufficient to make a rotation necessary, if I want to work on the various pieces with a degree of frequency. That said, as of the end of October, I have been successful this year at dialing back the serial starts, and I’m in position to maintain a lower wip count for the next year, at least.  With fewer projects in rotation, each one will come more frequently.  My rotation for 2019 should be simple, each month (28 days), I plan on 5 x (5 day rotations), plus a 3 day rotation.  So that’s 6 projects each month, out of 8 WIPs.  Every project should get a rotation, at least every other month.  

My plans for the rest of October include Spooky House, as I mentioned, plus a bit of effort on Winnie the Pooh (I’ll aim for 500 stitches or so).  I may do some diamond painting too.  As for November, my finish goals are Fall Fairy and We Do Disney.  I’ll also work on Boo Club, Mini Mandala, and Charmed Santa as time allows.  November is going to be an interesting month with lots of travel, the Thanksgiving holidays, and a big sewing project on deck, so we’ll see.  For now, I hope everyone has a happy Halloween!