Hello Stitchy Friends! Another update on what I have been up to this week on my cross stitch projects. Felt like a good week!
Starts & Finishes
I had a couple of starts and one finish this week. Hard to believe we have transistioned into March already!
FINISH: July Square Dance by Heart in Hand
I didn’t think to take a picture of the whole banner this time. Fishes seem like a dad thing that would be with June not July. 😂. Even the colors seem to lean towards June but it is July! All done. Fun little guys to stitch.
START: 2026 SAL with Climbing Goat Designs: Ocean Wonders of the Sea
It took me most of a week to pull all the floss (53 different colors) and to put them on floss bitties. I even had to order some of my missing colors online. You can imagine my annoyance when I discovered a new bag of DMC floss with some floss from completed projects stashed away on a shelf. It seems I didn’t need to buy as much as I did. Oh well! Thank goodness DMC is so cheap. Well, relative to other flosses anyway.
I also spent an evening uploading the first two drops of this SAL into my app. That really doesn’t take too long. I just got distracted.
I am stitching on 20 ct aida by Fiber on a Whim – Ocean Blue. While it is not gradient like the ocean (light to dark), I am very pleased with the color. My friend was very clever and she painted her white aida to be gradient. It looks great. I do think I need to buy some special readers and find my #28 needles for this project though.
I got a little start which makes me super happy. I tried with 2 strands but it made the holes too small. So I pulled out and used 1 strand of floss. It covers better than I imagined.
START: 2026 Vancouver Temperature Solar System by Climbing Goat Designs
This is another project that I was determined to get off the ground. I am using all the same colors as I am with the 2025 Moon Phases project (which is slowly coming along). The only real preparation needed was figuring out size of square I would need because this is a center start. It uses white floss to act as accents throughout this project. So the center started with white (how convenient!).
I had setup my excel file for 2026. I am only doing highest temperature each day. I liked how that looked with this project. It took a little time to load the temps in for January & February. I am opting to do it in Celsius again this year. It actually works out better for temp projects.
I have finished two colors which ended up being 9 days done for January. I feel excited about this project.
This is another venture into 20 count fabric. This time it is lugana instead of aida. I am not sure if it is the lugana or the black that is making this go slow. Once again I think some high magnificantion readers with a #28 needle will make a huge difference.
WIP Updates
I am still spread pretty thin as I continue exploring playing with different mediums this year. While it makes progress on projects a bit slower, my heart is happy.
JAN WIPGO #2: Shabby Winter Calendar by Cuore e Batticuore
Sorry. For some reason, I didn’t take a overview photo of this project this week. I think I intended on coming back to it before I posted to you. This footer for Winter is 4 “squares” across. I am almost half done with it. The goal is to finish it in January (LOL!). I am still plugging away. I am looking foward to finishing this gorgeous project. I looked at her other seasons. I am not sure if I want to do them. I have other things I want to do more.
JAN WIPGO #7: 2025 SJ Temperature Moon Phases by Climbing Goat Designs
I worked multiple evenings on this project this week. I gave myself an hour each night and found that I was finishing 3 moons if I didn’t outline them. Once I got to a new moon, I went back in outlined all the moons before it. That seemed to work well for me. Backstitching is not my favorite thing to do. Caitlin said she is not going to outline. I tried it, but didn’t like how it looked. I am using DMC 317 which a dark medium gray. It doesn’t stand out but the moons do.
This is being stitched on 18 ct black aida. Love it.
FEB WIPGO#22: Calendar Gnomes: Mr. April by Charlie’s Needle
I have almost finished my goal of 2000 for this February WIPGO project. Once I finish February goal, then I will work on doing 400 more stitches for March goal. That should set me up for a finish in April. The brown that is used in this for the rabbit and basket is Classic Colorworks Brown Hen. I like it. The Gnome and chick are complete except for backstitch details. I feel like I am on the home stretch!
Winter Camper by Bobbie G Designs
I hate working on this project. But I refuse to just scrap it. So I keep whittling away. The actual full x part is almost done. I decided it was time to put away all winter and Christmas projects (with an exception of one Christmas and wipgo projects) until later. I am ready to work on spring.
Crescent City Velaris by Woven Wild Crafts
The last day of February found me trying to get time in on my list two WIPs for February which ended up falling short of the intended goal. For this project I am rolling those over to March since my two WIPGO projects are less than 2000 to finish. It seems reasonable today. I wasn’t sure if I like working down the left side. It has grown on me and I can’t believe how I am kind of in a groove. This time I focused in on filling in the colors in the first row of 10 for this page. It was good.
Recap of January & February WIPGO Projects progress
JAN Project 2: Shabby Winter Calendar by Cuore e Batticuore
Goal was to finish. While I am closer, I have a ways to go.
Janaury Project 7: 2025 SJ Temperature Moon Phases by Climbing Goat Designs
The January goal was to finish July and August.
FEB WIPGO Project 5: Fabulous House: The Castle by Cottage Garden Samplings COMPLETED✅
We have a winner!!!! The goal was to complete 2000 stitches on this project in January. I did it! It looks fabulous. Such a huge difference.
FEB WIPGO Project #22: Calendar Gnomes: Mr. April by Charlie’s Needle
While I fell short of my 2000 stitches in February, I did hit the halfway mark and almost finished the gnome and the chick. I am confident I will get the last 1000 in March and hope to add another 400 as would be my normal goal. That last bit is optomistic.
Plans & Reflections
Like most of us moving up in years, I have been working on a healthier body and mind. What good is retirement if you can’t enjoy it because your health sucks? I saw this and felt it was how I wanted to feel so sharing it with you makes it more real. Plus the photo is fantastic! What are you doing to take care of yourself? I often think about the airline attendant who stops to tell anyone with young children, please put your mask on before assisting your children.
Why? Well it is obvious when we aren’t panicked, that we can’t help them if we are dead or unconscious. Was that too blunt? It is the same with day to day life. If you don’t take care of yourself, you will not be able to take care of anyone else.
Besides, taking care of ourselves is fun! Take the time and do something for yourself today.
Plans for This Coming Week
I finally worked out a road map for March. I even think it might be realistic. Well that is probably me being optomistic. LOL 😂
Here is what I am thinking for this upcoming week:
- Mar WIPGO: Mr. Postman
- Mar WIPGO: House on Pumpkin Hill
- My lonely Christmas project I would like to mark off finished this month: 2011 Prairie Schooler Santa
- Start (and hopefully finish) August Square Dance
- The Castle
- Crescent City Velaris
- Fruit of Plenty
Okay maybe it is a bit ambitious. Oh well. That is just me.
The sun is shining again here in the Pacific Northwest while it rains. I don’t think I will ever get tired of that. It feels like a blessing. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.
Peggy Stockwell in Vancouver, Washington