Startapalooza Has Begun! An Update

It’s been a while since I posted – as predicted, the last couple of weeks before my vacation started were slamming, between everyone cleaning their desks off onto mine, and me trying to get my coverage up to speed enough to cover me (I hope). The Band Kid had 2 concerts for both of his ensembles, as well, so amongst having to finish shopping. finish sewing, survive work, I also had 2 Christmas shows to attend 🙂 And the top band, the FBHS Wind Symphony, is preparing to open JanFest at UGA in a few weeks, so formal photos for the program for that, as well:

Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of time in on L&U, though I can say Page 7 is now officially completed, after I filled in all of the holes I left last time. I made some inroads onto Page 8, but not a lot – just no time or brainpower for it. Here’s where I left it on 12/21:

Here’s a detail shot of the area I worked – some more on the instrument (the table it sits on is going to be the worst page of all 🙁 ) and then some more of the bigger areas of red at the top:

While DH was at work Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday (Christmas Eve), I had to finish his Polar Bear kit, which I did at 12:05 am on the 24th (I was this close to having it done on the 23rd), and after I slept and got back up, I got it into its frame:

So, I went ahead called the official start to Startapalooza 2015! One of the my oldest kits came out finally – I remember when I ordered this directly from Tracy at Christmas; the corner of the padded envelope it was in was ripped, and DH, complying with my All Gifts MUST Be Wrapped rule, stuck a bow on the envelope and stuck it under the tree, after peeking to make sure everything was there (2 charts & 1 thread pack). So finally, Anatolia has been started; it’s on 32ct cream linen – I think I got it from the crazy bird lady, but don’t remember now. Using the charted Carrie’s Threads – I love these threads!

I worked on that through Christmas Day, and then, on Friday, it was time to move on to #2 – Nora’s Faerie Winter Dream. Just for the record, I am not a big fan of Caron Wildflowers used in cross stitch – I just don’t think it covers nicely, especially when mixed with other threads that do. But I know it will all get pulled together at the end, when the ton of beads goes on. Here’s my start, on 28ct linen Winter Solstice from Stephanie:

Tonight, I will put my first stitches into Plum Pudding by Glendon Place, which I converted to Carrie’s Silks – because nobody does purple like Carrie 🙂 And good thing Carrie’s colors are so vibrant, since my PTP Sprite, which is supposed to be a light purple, actually came in almost completely devoid of color – it is definitely GREY. That’ll work with these threads, though, so it’s all good 🙂 On Thursday, New Year’s Day, Chatelaine Hummingbird Lace will get started, and I will work through it probably a bit longer than these other projects, just to get it to a logical stopping place (it didn’t come in 12 parts, so I have to make my own breaks in it). After that, I have Dragon Quaker, Water Lilies, and JE Autumn Fairy left to begin for my 2015 Startapalooza – I told you it wouldn’t take too much effort to get back up to my usual number of WIPs 🙂

I probably won’t get an update in next week – I know when I go back to work on Monday, I will be buried 🙁 So until next time, I wish everyone a wonderful New Year – may it be better than 2014 for everyone! Happy Stitching!