Well, we're halfway through 2020 peeps! The longest year, in my recollection. It seems odd to say, but I actually hope to stitch less in the second half.... on the theory that it would be good to get out of the house and enjoy other fun things. Here are some fun stats: 108,747 stitches so far this year. 174 stitchy days of 178. Average 625 stitches/day.
June started with Save the Stitches, with a small bit of progress on Part 17. I gave it 2.5 days, 1606 stitches and stitched parts 17, 18, and a bit of 19.
Rapunzel is my big focus for a finish. So far she's had 5 days, 3805 stitches, and she's still not done, needing some backstitch on the upper half, and the beads, of course. At least the Kreinik backstitch is all done, and it was extensive. I do intend to finish her by Tuesday. Teaser pic (I am actually a bit further along).
Twilight Bridge also got some love, trying to rack up those 20,000 stitches for Full Coverage Fanatics, but it's not going to happen, at least not on this project, since it's getting close to finished. Now, after 2.75 (long stitchy) days and 2,070 stitches:
I stitched more of the house, the trees behind and next to it, and a bit of sky too. I'm hoping to finish by the end of summer. There's probably less than a thousand stitches left, but tons of french knots and some backstitch.
Cathedral Woodland Goddess was started in late March then neglected for a while. So I wanted to give her a mini rotation this month; she got more time since I found her useful for bingo. I gave her about 4 days and 2,247 stitches, most of her skin, a bit on the sleeve and bodice, and a fair amount of the leafy detail on the bottom. It's actually pretty fun to stitch with Kreiniks and Waterlilies.
Fantasy Triptych definitely needed some love for Whine n' WIPs. (If there's one project I whine about, it's this one, with the 3 page floss list). I gave it a little more than 4 days and 3,923 stitches. Basically I started a new page, with all my threads I had parked on the page break, and did a lot of border and background sky (my modification) as well.
Harvest Witch got a surpise rotation since I needed her for Semisane Bingo. 807 stitches over 1.3 days.
I worked on the cat, the pumpkin, and more of the purple cape including a blended color.
For the same reason, Fairy of the Rainbow came out to play, for almost one day and 799 stitches.
I worked on her mostly on her hair, with a bit of wing and skin.
I'm not sure what happened with Bingo prep. Last year, most of my numbers were not called, so Bingo was basically a bust. This year, draws were done twice daily and I got a LOT of hits. As of today, 68 of the 72 numbers on my cards were called. I opted for 3 Insane cards (300 stitches per hit, 150 in the color called). I did the prep (where you choose the numbers for your boards) rather haphazardly I suppose. Several typos left me needing new starts to complete the stitches (3064 for 3046, ie). Also, I had some issues with not enough stitches on a chart to meet the minimum of 150 stitches. I'm pleased to report that I prevailed, claiming the last Insane Line, the first Insane 4 corners, the first Insane S-shape, and the first Insane Blackout! I considered going for the ultimate prize (bingo on all 3 cards), but it involves several (more) new starts and I'm not feeling it now. There is a possibility for another blackout if I get lucky.
I wound up starting a lot of new pieces, nearly doubling my WIP count. Most of my new starts were ornaments, from magazines. They include (clockwise from top): Winter Bird Home by Little Stitcher, Holly Jolly Christmas by Tiny Modernist, Noelle by Brooke's Books, Cock and Doodle Boo by Tempting Tangles, Nutcracker by Kooler Design Studio, Coffin Paint by Hands on Designs, O Holy Night Stained Glass Angel by Leisure Arts, Merry Christmas with Love by Tempting Tangles, and Tree Tuffet by Lynn Bruce in the middle. Overall, I got 2,947 stitches on these new starts and I love them all. And I did them all from stash! Though my DMC collection is a bit depleted now.
I also started a few larger pieces. Joan Elliott's Fairy of the Rain and Victorian Snow by Joanne Aston for Cross Stitch Gold magazine. The WIP pictures are dreadfully dark, but it hardly matters with only 300 stitches each, sorry. Fairy of the Rain is on temporary hiatus with several other JE charts in rotation, but I'm confident about getting those finished soon. I suppose Victorian Snow will be considered an active WIP since I'm wrapping up Twilight Bridge. I really love it so far, it's not huge (about 150 x 135) but it's full of lovely details.
I worked on a few other older wips, but with minimal progress, update pics will wait.
Now for the monthly question: Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year?
Well, I had 14 stitchy goals. Of those, 4 are finished (Harry Potter In This House, Toys Ornie, Batty Belinda, Spring Bellpull). Another (Skeleton Polish) was swapped for Bat Balm, also finished. 3 more (Rapunzel, Gingerbread Grove, and Twilight Bridge) should be finished soon. The remaining 6 have at least been started and most have significant progress (Fairy Rainbow, Harvest Witch, Save the Stitches, Fantasy Triptych, Cathedral Woods, Comet.
Additionally, I had 6 framing goals. 2 have been mounted, 1 is ready for glass. The other needs another mat, which I ordered but need to follow up on. Having decided I don't like cutting glass in vast quantity (nor do I want to go near Home Depot in the pandemic era where people are acting dumb, crowding, and eschewing mask usage), I placed a large order for custom cut plexiglass and it's scheduled to ship soon.
Overall, I think I'm in good position to knock out all my goals this year, we'll see!
Lastly, my plans for the next few days are to finish Rapunzel, and work on Gryphon. For July (Christmas in July, Joan Elliott July), I have several goals:
•Finish Gingerbread Grove, American Eagle Ornie, Father Frost & Polar Bear, Save the Stitches parts 19 & 20
•Focus roations on Twilight Bridge, Fairy Rainbow, and Victorian Snow.
•Short rotations of Fairy of the Rain, Fantasy Triptych, and Harvest Witch, and maybe some more ornie stitching if I have time
Happy Stitching