Closer and Closer

Carriage House Samplings - A Primitive Stocking.  Finish #26.  Used called for NPI Silks on 25 count Vintage Country Mocha Lugana, two over one.  Worked on it for three days to finish it.  Seemed like the right thing to work on for Christmas Eve.  Finished the final three letters Christmas Day.  Really happy with the results on that fabric, and a fat quarter is enough to do it easily twice, maybe three times.  And certainly enough thread to do it at least twice or three times.  Finished area stitched is about 16 x 7.  But stitching it several times, you could place the toe area under the heel of the previous one, flip the material so the toe fits at the top and body of the stocking is where the thread is in this photo.  You would not have a three inch border around each one, but you have the sock outline on the pattern.  As long as you stitch whatever first, I think easily three fit without crowding anything too tight. 

Long Dog Samplers - Pandemic.  Used more than 11 skeins.  All the motifs are completed.  I still have backstitching yet to do.  You CAN probably do it one over one in 12 skeins of dmc on a 28 count, but you sure can not do it in 11 skeins.  I started with 12, I am gonna make it.  Because I do stitch over one, there ARE backstitches I leave out.  But if you are watching to see how much floss - I would want at least 14 skeins of dmc.  So it's still not done, but it will finish after just a couple more days of working on it.  

I am going to spent a time reorganizing my pile of started things.  I started this year with a started already list of projects.  I stopped counting at 87, and there would have been a couple more.  There were a few new projects along the way.  I started Pandemic, and started and finished a Modern Folk Embroidery pattern, and also a With Thy Needle and Thread pattern.  And a few other things got started... but the point was to end with less than the 87 I started with on that list.  Some things got worked on and tossed back into the pile.  Some things never got touched and are still waiting.  I had two of the monthly SAL projects, I still have those to finish.  I already love the Modern Folk one for 2021, but wanna finish the 2020 final parts.  I pushed to get close to the end of Pandemic, and since I am at just fill in a bit of backstitching, I am fine with being slow with a final month of that finish.  I started with only a list, and the plan of "less - not more", at the end of the year.  I still bought things I loved, I still started new things, things from my stash too.  But the key was - try to grab from the started already pile.  Reach into that.  And there was a large Courtney Collection finish.  I still want to do the mirror version of that, but I wanna finish things from the started pile.  I am not ready to die, but I'm too old to have a pile with 100 projects in it.  A few things just got kitted and not started.  But it's not even about if I finished #15 or #25 this year.  The point is - less.  And I think it's time to touch all my piles of started things again.

Closer, but not yet.

Long Dog Samplers - Pandemic.  I just have to take a break from it.  I can not power through to finish it.  At the moment I am adding about two threads a day and looking for any distraction to do something else.  I don't dislike it, I'm just burnt out and need to look at a different pattern, a different color of floss.  So I put this one away and picked back up Courtney Collection - Mermaid's Folly since I only have 3 pages left to do on that 24 page pattern.  I wanna finish one of these yet this year... it might just not be this one.   But the photo does maybe show the dmc 35 color correctly.

10 Skeins and 15 Pages

Long Dog Samplers - Pandemic.  This is 10 skeins of dmc and 15 pages completed.  Two skeins left... gonna be close.  This round went pretty quick, and I finished the border lines.  Finished the lower left, adding the year.  Years actually.  I wanted it to show it was a pandemic in both 2020 and 2021.  I know in other parts of the world, the dates would be different.   I filled in partial motifs.  Back stitching things can be in a slightly different shade if I run out.  Five pages to go.

Nine Skeins Finished So Far...

Pandemic from Long Dog Samplers.  This is nine skeins of dmc used so far.  I started with 12 of the same dyelot.  Is it 3/4 done???  I think I am gonna be short.  It is 13 of 20 pages completed.  I am trying to finish motifs or borders that are started with the same dyelot and be able to mix in a different dyelot at the end.  I got several more skeins, same color number, just a different dyelot number.  I am hoping that if I prepare to run out, I might not. 

Another skein completed.

Pandemic from Long Dog Samplers.  This is 8 skeins and 11 pages completed.

Totin' Hare by La-D-Da.  I can not even explain why I had to start this, but I did.  The border matched up.  It will be 8 by 3 inches, a small thing compared to the rest of the things I have been working on recently.  Pandemic is over 15 by 12.5 inches.

10 pages and 7 skeins completed

Long Dog Samplers - Pandemic.  Finished the 7th skein of dmc 35.  Now have 10 random pages completed.  I did continue a few more threads to see if the motif would meet the top border properly.  It did.  Hooray. 

In January I must have needed a new start.  I had gotten the booklet Sisters from Blackbird Designs.  I had enough to start - Peace and Plenty.   I was missing a fancy floss.  I had a list of a few projects where I just needed one or two, and recently I have tried to fill in the flosses.  This got pulled out to put the floss away, I honestly did not remember starting it.  But it had multiple colors - for me right now - that was enough for me to play with it.  So it looked like the photo above when I picked it back up... and it looks like the photo below now when I shoved it back into the pile of started things. 

One Skein At A Time

Long Dog - Pandemic.  This is 6 skeins of dmc used.  Seven random pages completed except for some backstitching tiny things.  The pattern is 20 pages, 4 rows across, 5 pages per row.  I worked on bottom row middle page, and am gonna add a few more stitches to that yet so I can finish the page since it is silly close to completed.  Also the second row first page is now complete.  Rather than just get completely sick of the area, I skip around, work in a different area, anything so I can get to the end of the skein of floss.   

Linen and Threads 2020 SAL - finished October.  Actually I think this also flipped to another skein during this month.  I think I have started the third skein of dmc.

Five skeins of floss used...

Pandemic from Long Dog Samplers.

This is 5 skeins of dmc used.  I have only finished 6 pages of 20.  7 more pages are started and 7 more I have not started at all.  I did get to that upper right corner, so three corners are in place.  The photo color is way off, it's a wine color - dmc 35.  I tried stitching on other things, but I could not stick with them, and the progress I made was not worth taking any photo of.  I am gonna add one more thread to this, and then catch up on a couple of those monthly sectional samplers I have been working on.

Another skein of floss

Long Dog Samplers - Pandemic.
I have used 4 skeins of dmc to get this far.  It is dmc 35, one of the newer colors, but still just normal flosses. 

Added another skein of floss

Pandemic - Long Dog Samplers.  Three skeins of DMC floss used at this point.  About three pages completed.  I am skipping some of the backstitching, some flowers, mostly because I'm not sure how much a hoop would pull at those motifs as I move the hoop to stitch other areas.  It's still just the bottom half of the entire pattern. I am just picking pages that I feel have parts I want to stitch, or more likely would be easy to stitch.

The Linen and Threads 2020 monthly SAL - for August.  I skipped a basket with a huge bird that was from July, I'm gonna replace it with something else.  But I can't really do that until the end, till I see what the other motifs are.   

2 skeins of floss completed

Long Dog Samplers - Pandemic.
One page is completed, the bottom left corner. 
It's 2 skeins of dmc completed.  It's still just the bottom half of the entire pattern basically.  It's 12 5/8 inches across the bottom.  And crap, that bottom border is not really completed on that corner page.

Since I have so many of these huge patterns that are solid colors, I thought maybe the key is to stitch through a skein of floss each time.  Then rotate projects.  I don't know if that plan works for me or not.  It got me to finish the skein this round, but I can not imagine doing several more days to complete another entire skein. 

Let's Start More Things...

 Real Comfort - A Jane Austen Sampler from Modern Folk Embroidery.
With just one day of stitching so far.  Stitched on 25 count Victorian Red lugana using white 12wt Sulky thread.  One over one.  It should finish at about 8 inches square.  This is side to side.

 Rebecca Nurse by The Primitive Hare. 
On 32 count Vintage Country Mocha lugana, two over two.  It's the suggested fabric and dmc flosses.
I am omitting the her name at the bottom.  This is side to side. 

Pandemic by Long Dog Samplers.
On 28 count MCG Textiles 28 Evenweave - White.
Using dmc 35, one over one, and the fabric was because I needed something slightly bigger than a fat quarter, and it was 20 x 27 and it should fit.  I am side to side at this point, and still on the first skein of dmc. 

Primitive Stocking by Carriage House Samplings.
This is on Vintage Country Mocha 25 count, two over one.  Using the suggested 5 NPI silks. 
This is just 3 days of stitching, and it is more than halfway.  I liked the color of the 32 count Vintage County Mocha used in Rebecca Nurse above, so I ordered it in a 25 count for this, and wanted the silks to be solid, so decided two threads.  The 25 count is a lighter dye than the 32 count, but it's working fine.  I don't usually buy the NPI flosses, but it used only 5 - at $5 each.  It should finish at almost 7 inches wide, and 17 inches long.
Like last time, I spent time starting things instead of working on already started things.
I am sure it is a reflection of my life, and the things going good or bad.