Progress on Rotation WIPs

Friday, Saturday & Sunday: TW Woodland Angel Stocking.  According to the Stocking SAL, Friday night was the time for the fortnightly photo of progress.  But as noted in my last post, I kept going on Midnight Moogies Thursday through Saturday.  I did return to the stocking on Palm Sunday and again on  Good Friday and Holy Saturday.  The Christmas stocking I am working on is a BAP from, dare I admit it, 2011.  It is going to be my grandson Liam's stocking and I foolishly hope to stitch a companion stocking for my granddaughter this year as well.  Liam's stocking is Teresa Wentzler's Woodland Angel and I am adapting a Gold Dimensions kit, Woodland Maiden, to make a companion stocking for Piper.  The theory is the Woodland Maiden will be a lot easier than the Wentzler angel and I will get both done in time to mail cross country in early December.    I haven't yet reached the point when I will have to abandon all other projects to meet this self-imposed deadline.  I figure that will happen sometime in August.  But I have reached the point where things slow down dramatically for this page of chart.  I have stitched what passes for the larger blocks of color in a TW piece [usually five to ten stitches grouped close together] and am now stitching the confetti ...

but, remember, this is TW confetti which means it is all the heck over the place.  Translated this means: load your needle with a blended thread, stitch one cross, count one row down and three rows over, stitch one, skip one, stitch two, then count two rows down and thirteen rows across, stitch two, skip four, stitch one ... well, you get the idea.  Well, I finally got so cross-eyed with all the counting that I decided I needed another landmark/anchor from which to count.  So I counted 27 spaces/54 threads to the left of the bottom of the deer leg and stitched the rabbit.  Now, I have a clear image from which to count on the upper left side of this page of chart.  Even so, you may find that the the progress is hard to see.  I know I spent hours stitching on this piece and even I would be hard-pressed to show you exactly where the progress was made!  My third grandchild will have to wait till 2014 for his stocking but since he'll be only 15 months old next Christmas I am hoping he won't notice the absence of a stocking in December 2013.    I am thinking of using something from the Best of Teresa Wentzler Fantasy book for his stocking to keep the medieval theme going for all three stockings. 

Monday: The Berry Patch Rabbit.  This one saw just a little stitching on my Monday lunch hour this week and perhaps another hour or so on Holy Saturday.  I needed a break from the TW stocking toward the end of the day, something that didn't call for re-loading my needle every ten stitches.  Somehow it seems appropriate to finish up the rabbit right around Easter and, now that I think of it, an odd coincidence that I stitched the rabbit on the TW stocking as well.  Tomorrow, I will get started on the berries and leaves that really make this design so attractive.

Tuesday: The Cross Stitch Shop.    I didn't get to work on this piece on Tuesday.  See yesterday's post for the rant that explains the circumstances.  However, I did pick it up to work on yesterday and quickly decided I had some frogging to do.  I didn't like the way the brick stitch was looking with two strands and will  remove what I have done and try one strand.  That will be one of my projects for today.

Wednesday:  Mystic Smalls.  Another one that will see some activity today since I haven't picked it up in nearly two weeks.  Like the Cross Stitch Shop, there will be some frogging to do before making any forward progress

Thursday: Midnight Moogies.  There was a bit of progress on this during the week: two of the leaves in the garden.  It may not look like much but it represents several hours work.  I have to admit, I chose to stitch the leaves solely because I didn't want to tackle so much as another inch of the checkerboard border.  If I never stitch another checkerboard in my life, it will be too soon!  Even as close to a finish as this piece is, it is in serious danger of becoming a UFO yet again.  I am so done with it!  So ready to see the last of it!  Even the bright colors have lost their appeal and I find myself enjoying the subtlety of Teresa Wentzler and Cedar Hill Designs so very much more.  However, I am determined to finish the piece in April.  Then we'll have to see just how long it remains in the sewing/assembly finish before becoming the back cushion for my Japanese lacquered bench.

Which brings us right back to the starting point of the rotation.  Since this is Easter Week and I will be off the entire week, I expect to make more than the usual progress.  Oh, I won't be devoting my entire time to stitching: there'll be yard work and housework as well.  But still, there will be more time for stitching than is usual.  I am seriously hoping that by the end of this coming week I'll be able to revise my rotation as follows:
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: TW Woodland Angel Stocking.   This will, of course remain the lynch pin of my rotation since I want to have it and one more stocking done by early December 2013.
Monday: The Berry Patch Rabbit.  I am not sure I'll be able to finish this one in the coming week but certainly before April's end.  Once it is finished, I won't be replacing it with a new start.  Rather, Monday will become a day for Sewing and Assembly finishes.
Tuesday: The Framing Shop.  I hope to have finished the Cross Stitch Shop, both stitching and sewing assembly, and to have moved on to the next in the series.
Wednesday:  Mystic Smalls.   I hope that I'll have finished the re-stitching of the scissor case and the stitching of the needle book and the sewing and assembly finish of each.  That will leave me free to move onto the biscornu and scissor fob the following rotation.  Once I am done with the Mystic Smalls, I will tackle the other Thea Dueck class piece I have on hand, The Sturbridge Box.  I'll be taking a class with Thea again in October and want to have all my Thea projects done and ready for Show and Tell.
Thursday: The English Band Sampler.  It is my hope to have finished Midnight Moogies during this week and to have picked up the English Band Sampler again.

That's the plan anyway.  We shall see how doable it turns out to be.  I am usually over-optimistic in setting expectations but I see no problem with aiming high.