February started with Twilight Bridge. It was chosen for WIP-go, and though a February finish seemed outlandish, I thought I could put in 29 threads, one for each day in the month. That was a joke! I reached 29 threads very early on. So instead, I decided to give it a few focus days then work on, at least a few stitches daily, for the rest of the month. Well, I made it until Feb 11, then a bit more on Feb 14, and called it quits.
Over 5.7 days, I got 2,095 stitches, many of those half cross so they only counted for half. I finished the lower left quadrant and got a good start on the upper left.
My second focus was Gingerbread Grove. Finally having (most of the) Kreinik thread in hand, my goal was to finish Page 1 with Kreinik & backstitch. Previous:
It required 3 days and 1,777 stitches. Page 1 is ready for beads, excepting the second reindeer, missing the kreinik which I need for his collar. To make up for that, I worked into page 2 a bit, adding some kreinik and backstitch to the decorated small Christmas tree. I am really happy with how it’s coming out.
My next focus was Fairy of the Rainbow, which I hadn’t touched since November. I really wanted to finish the lower half and did not expect it to take long. Previous:
Well, I spent over 2 days and did 1,907 stitches to “finish” the bottom half. It’s now ready for metallics, backstitch, and beading. 
I took out Batty Belinda just to do 300 stitches on my wip closest to a finish, for a homework prompt. That was accomplished pretty quickly, in a single evening, and I was super close to a finish, so I decided to keep going! (sort of, the full finishing for this stacked ornament is rather extensive). I’ll probably blog it once it’s all together, but at least the stitching (and beading) is finished; it took about 4 days since I started last October.
Another small focus (sharing a rotation with Gingerbread Grove) was Toy Ornament. It took only about an hour, 169 stitches and beads, and I finished it! This chart was published in Better Homes & Gardens, A Cross Stitch Christmas “Needlework Treasures”. Awfully fussy for a small piece with lots of colors, backstitch in several colors, fractional stitches, even beads… it took about 3 days since I started it last December. I personalized it and backdated it for my son (the year he was 2). I’ll share it again after it’s fully finished.
I wanted to work on my new start, Toy Story 2 Cast, because I only gave it 35 stitches when I started on January 15. It’s for my son, and February is his birthday month. So I gave it 3.25 days and got 1821 stitches. (Plus the 35 stitches I did when I started it on January 16). 
This is a big pattern, 4 pages and mostly full coverage with fractional stitches and tons of backstitch. But it does stitch at a decent pace with large blocks of color. I hope I can finish in a year or so… or at least while he’s still young enough to love Toy Story.
I had to give Rapunzel a short rotation, I needed her for Magical Stitches extra credit, also a Semisane SAL, and in general, I must stitch on her if I want to finish her in 6 months for the Semisane Fairytale challenge. Previous:
So I gave it about one day and got 516 stitches. But that simply wasn’t enough! I think she may be my new favorite. In the end, she had a total of a bit more than 5 days and 2,824 stitches.
My next big finish goal is Spring Bellpull, which I’m hoping for a birthday finish in early April. So I gave it about 2.5 days, enough time to finish the N block and get a modest start on G.
Fantasy Triptych was my project for the “Groundhog Day” SAL in my group, Stitch from Stash. (neverending WIPs). Previous:
Over a bit more than 3 days, I added 1458 stitches, including half cross for background that counted for half. At least the regular cross stitch on the border is done! I’m hoping for a lot more progress (and a full 5 days) in March. What can I say, February is a short month, and I had many goals to address. This pattern is very fussy with a lot of color changes. But the castle is easier stitching, so that’s good.
Finally, I took out Save the Stitches to stitch Part 14. I am trying to keep up, with a part each month. So, it took 2 days and 1,382 stitches. Here’s Part 14, excluding metallics, for the most part. In the small block, I basically needed to stitch the metallic silver crosses so I could backstitch around it. Part 14 was fairly difficult, quite dense for most part, but the lower right block was fun and easy. 
Discussion Topic In honor of “Leap Year,” , my biggest “leap” in stitching was probably starting a monthly meetup in my area. It’s been most rewarding though, I’ve made friends and had countless hours of camaderie and laughter. In time, the group’s size grew a lot and now it’s a little challenge finding meeting space large enough! We even have a yearly retreat, in the fall (StitchFest), in Northern Virginia, an easy drive for most of us.
February was a really good stitchy month; I managed 15,712, plus whatever I manage to do today, if any. That’s an improvement over January. I think I’ve got my groove back! The challenge will come in April, with some disruptions to the routine. As for March, I have several specific goals:
•Spring Bellpull: stitch the rest of the G block and start the backstitching
•Rapunzel: Bottom half
•Fantasy Triptych: Knight panel including backstitch, progress on Castle panel
•Twilight Bridge: 1,667 stitches
•Bat Balm, Toy Story Cast, and Comet (new start): 1k each
•Save the Stitches: Part 15, border, and metallics to finish the whole row (Parts 13, 14, 15)
Also, I may do more if I can find time to participate in the Semisane Stitchers, stitch around the world challenge (Ireland). I found a few ornament patterns that I could start (each prompt is 1k stitches). Another prompt is to work on a lighthouse. I do in fact have a lighthouse, Rocky Point by Dimensions Gold, it’s a UFO with some indeterminate mistake, but it mostly done, and I could probably work from the opposite side and fudge where it meets. What do you think, should I bring another full coverage WIP into rotation?
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