I hate heat

 It's time for another WIPocalypse update this time for June and July 

But first may I complain that it's hot out, not scorching the eyeballs like last year but still over my comfort level of 25C so I'm hiding in the basement and stitching, and icing my knee since I hyperextended it and let me tell you that sucks, though the icing is nice to combat the heat

So the questions of the months :

June: Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far this year? I did well on the weekly rotation until about a month ago when I got tired of not finishing Lion King, which did time well with the focus month of July.  so I have put aside Bellatrix until I have a finish, unless I change my mind again

July: What five patterns do you really want to purchase (or start) right now?

Start: Waiting by Tilton Crafts

Life is a Dance by Unconventional Cross stitch

Buy: Fairytale Dragon by NonStopStitch

Falling Snow by Shannon Christine (to go with the one I did last year

Ace &Aro Pride Froggy by Studio Ansitru

As for what I watched

Critical Role EXU- Calamity - This Critical Role miniseries must be one of the best things they have ever done, it was amazing.

Blindspot - Season 5 - This was not planned but then I got an email from netflix saying it was taking Blindspot off June 14 so I had to watch it quickly. This is why I prefer to buy shows, then they can’t be taken away from me. Also I loved this show and now have to buy the last 2 seasons but so far I can only find them as region 2 shows, something that is happening a lot these days. Maybe I should just get a region free Bluray player

Game of Thrones Season 2 and 3 - At least I own all of these

Legend of Korra Season 3

Umm Actually - this a game show for nerds on YouTube, and like Jeopardy there is a lot of satisfaction in getting something right that the contestants got wrong.

Wreck it Ralph - Found this for $2 in a second hand bookstore and I had heard good things about it, very standard storyline, but it was super cute

Notting Hill - A quiet romance that in a twist follows the man’s side not the womans I’ve always enjoyed this one

The Name of the Rose - A twisty medieval murder mystery that is fascinating 

Thor: Love and Thunder, this one is very silly but fun and the  use of music is glorious.

Chasing Mavericks - This is a fictional movie about Big Wave surfing but it goes very nicely with one of my favourite documentaries, Riding Giants. Anyways it’s a good movie with great scenery

Nanny McPhee - It’s a wanna be Mary Poppins and doesn’t measure up to that glory, but it is fun in a lighthearted way

National Velvet - I’ve watched the “sequel” International Velvet many many many times, but this was the first time I’ve watched this one, and other than a few names and a very few plot points there is no connection between the movies.  In no way does that change that International Velvet is an absolute favourite, or that this one may become a new favourite, it was so good.

The Neverending Story 1 and 2 - Some children's movies have enough wonder and magic to appeal to adults as well, some don’t.  The first movie does and is a beautiful tale, the second I find rather boring, I got them as a set though otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered with the second, but my rule was to  watch all the movies I own. A rule I will break when I get to the Lethal Weapon series I’m sure as I thoroughly dislike 3 and 4

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe , Prince Caspian, and the Voyage of the Dawntreader-  So Narnia was the first books I ever bought with my own money, I spent my saved up allowance for a boxed set at a second hand bookstore, I believe the set cost $11.  To this day it is still one of my favourite stories. And these latest movies do the books justice, there are some differences, but they do actually have the children the right age, most of the other productions have Peter, Susan and Caspian too young. Voyage is my favourite book and that still holds for the movies. 

June

 A blog every two months seems to be my thing now, I keep telling myself to be less erratic, but I apparently don't listen well.  

It's been a good couple months, nothing really new except I've been working a lot of graveyard shifts which really puts a crimp into the stitching. BUT I did finally get to a show after two years, I've missed being in a large venue so much.  It was Stars on Ice and it was wonderful, I also have a Cirque du Soleil show to go to in a week, things are looking up .

WIPocalypse questions are 

APRIL - What is your favorite store (either online or brick and mortar) to purchase your supplies?

Online I tend to use 123 Stitch for variety and dependability, as for my local store, there is one in town that carries some supplies for an emergancy, but I really love going to Kelowna Yarn, it's only a 100km away and Kelowna is where most of the shows I like to go to are so I get there a few times a year.

MAY - Retreats and seminars – have you ever been to any stitching events? If so, tell us about them!

I have not, but they sound fun, so maybe someday.

I've been fairly good about doing my weekly rotation though I have had to get my friends to encourage the switchover a couple times, I think that rotations are really not my thing and I'm not likely to do it in the future. 

So here is my progress on The Lion King 

And Bellatrix

As for what I watched

Critical Role 

Galavant Season 2 - So much fun

Blind Spot Season 4 - Had to get Netflix back to be able to watch this, seasons 4 and 5 are hard to find on DVD

Game of Thrones Season 2 - Have to watch the commentaries first.

Turning Red - There was a lot of hype about this one, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t my favourite Pixar storywise, but it is important in the way it addresses teenage girls and different cultures.

Onward - This on the other hand seemed to get very little hype and it’s so good.

The Karate Kid - The 1984 original, these movies were such a big thing when I was a kid and it still holds up as a great movie today.

Cyrano - The new musical one, really good, but it is of course a tragedy so not a feel good movie, but Peter Dinklage is magnificent as Cyrano.

The Karate Kid II - This has always been my favourite of them, part of that is just that Daniel does not act as a dumb american in a foreign country, but instead is respectful of the customs and people.  It’s such a change from most teen movies. And adult ones as well.

The Karate Kid III - This one is essentially a rehash of the first, but it has some fun bits. 

The Next Karate Kid - An early Hilary Swank movie, and actually a decent addition to the franchise 

Terminal - Weird movie, half is a conversation between a waitress and a dying man, half about assassins and a lot about revenge. Not sure if I actually liked it but the cinematography was magnificent.

Kingdom of Heaven - I didn’t like this one when I saw it in theatre but ended up with the DVD anyway and have watched it a couple times, for some reason I like it much better on the smaller screen, weird that but I do enjoy this more each time I watch it.

A Knight’s Tale - This one is just pure fun, a feel good movie that make me smile every time I watch it.

Kubo and the Two Strings - While the basic story is a standard fantasy kids story, it’s told in an interesting way and the visuals are frankly stunning. I really enjoyed this one.

The Outfit - This one was great, lots of plot twists and wonderful acting. Honestly the only reason I went to this was that it had a great trailer and it lived up to the billing so I was happy

Nouvelle Experience - I think this was the second Cirque du Soleil show and it shows, the costuming and story aren’t as grand as later ones, but it’s fun to see how it all started. 

Always time for Vacations

 I'm a month behind as per usual, but the reason is better this time.  I was on vacation last month, I went to the west coast of Vancouver Island to a fancy hotel near Tofino and spent several days just enjoying the ocean, 

The WIPocalypse questions that I have missed are 

February 27 – What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year? 

So far the only SAL I am involved with is the Bellatrix one that I'm doing with my small stitching group of friends, she's going fairly well so far 

March 27 – Tell us about a technique, designer, pattern, or anything else in stitching that you’ve been nervous or afraid to try

I don't think I really have any, I'm far more adventurous in my stitching life than in my real one.

I do have an actual
finish as well, finally go done all the baby things for the foreseeable future.

Which means I can finally go back to working on Lion King, so expect an update on that the next time I remember to blog.

As for what I watched

Critical Role 

The Legend of Vox Machina - This was so good and made me kind of proud since I had a teeny tiny part in making it happen (I backed the kickstarter)

Legend of Korra Season 2 - This one is all about spirits 

Galavant - A mediaeval musical comedy series, I have no idea how they managed to get this made, but boy is it fun.

The Olympics - Of course, I’ve mentioned my love of the games many times on here

Oblivion - This is such a solid SciFi movie with really good unexpected twists and turns

The Osterman Weekend - Cold war thriller, I remember liking it more back in the 80’s when I first saw it, but it’s still not bad

Ocean’s Eleven - The original from 1960 this is such a fun caper movie, it’s competence porn at it’s finest, the one that set the bar for all caper movies to follow, and I’ve seen a lot of them.

Ocean’s Eleven - The new one, and it’s as much fun as the original, nothing like it at all, only a couple basic concepts are the same, but that makes it no less good.

Ocean’s Twelve - I always found this one to be the weakest of the three, but I did enjoy it more on this rewatch than before. 

Ocean’s Thirteen - Really good, though still not the original, but still a much better heist than the second movie

Ocean’s Eight - This is my favourite next to 11 a fun and well thought out heist 

Uncharted - Based on a game but don’t let that stop you, I really enjoyed this one, not stellar but still a fun adventure movie with some unexpected twists

Olympus has Fallen - Same storyline as White House Down, but I like this one better.  

Encanto - Just as charming as everyone says.

A new year, same old late blog

I've been doing this SAL for a few years now and it's probably the only reason I remember to keep up this blog, but I'm still very erratic and tend to skip months, such as I missed the introduction question earlier this month

The early January  question is from last year, because my computer refused to let me see the questions.  Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!

Hi, the name is Nancy or if you search for me around the internet I lurk here and there as Katjakay especially  on Deviant Art, Tumblr, and Instagram  I've been stitching for around 15 years now and have a tendency towards doing bigger projects, not HAED big (though I do have a couple patterns of theirs I just haven't done them yet) but usually over 8x10" 

Currently my WIP is The Lion King from the Disney Dreams Thomas Kinkade kit, and I've been working on it for 2 years, the longest I've ever worked on anything, but I do tend to get distracted lately, 

I just finished (yesterday) this baby announcement thing for my nephews new baby 

And have started another for my niece's new son 

and this one will serve as my focus for the Olympic stitching

I don't usually have more than two projects on the go, but this year is strange and I have also started Bellatrix from Bella Filipina designs,  this is a SAL with my friends, one of which, Make it Pink. has done a recolors for the rest of us.  Details on her insta page here  

I have barely started this one but it is a start nonetheless 

I'm also an avid photographer so don't be surprised if a waterfall or two show up sometimes.

The late January question (grabbed from another blogger) Describe your stitching style – are you a one-at-a-time stitcher? Do you stitch on rotation? Are you a chaos wrangler? Are you comfortable in your current stitching style, or are you still searching for that stitching zen?"

I am a two at a time stitcher traditionaly it used to be one upstairs and one downstairs.  The downstairs project is usually my big one and upstairs was a small.  It was what I worked on while watching Jeopardy with my parents, but the light started bothering my dad's eyes and I brought the small dowstairs as well. Now I work on one project on Thursdays as that's Critical Role day and the other the rest of the week.  Working on three like I am at the moment is a little frustrating, but people keep insisting on having babies.

The other thing I throw on this blog is what I've watched while stitching,

 Critical Role 

The Legend of Vox Machina Season 1 Episodes 1-3  I got to watch the first to eps of this a couple of days before it was released on Amazon Prime thanks to backing the kickstarter, and it was sooooo good 

Legend of Korra Season 1 -  A really solid continuation of the Avatar series

Good Omens -Got the DVD so I could watch the commentaries.  Worth it. 

The Shannara Chronicles Season 2. I enjoy this series, but not as much as a should since I grew up on these books, but the actors look like they belong in a CW drama more than a fantasy series. But the storylines are decent

Jupiter Ascending - This movie is truly stupid and unhinged, but I really enjoy it nonetheless

The Jungle Cruise - Mom hadn’t seen it yet so it was a fun thing to do on Boxing Day. 

Raya and the Last Dragon - Ohhhhh I loved this one, both pretty to watch and a good storyline. 

Jurassic Park 1-3  - I don’t think I’ve ever watched them back to back before, in fact I think I’ve only ever watched three in the theatre.  While the second two aren’t as good as the first, it’s still a brilliant series. 

Jurassic World 1-2 I love these ones too, and very much enjoy the themes and storylines that run through all 5 movies, can’t wait to see where the 6th one leads

Over Beautiful British Columbia - This was made in 1996 in conjunction with a coffee table book for Beautiful British Columbia magazine, so it’s an hour of calming music and pretty scenery.

December WIPocalypse

 Once again it's been two months since I posted, but nothing much happened in November so no loss. 

This months question is Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).

So let's start with the ornaments I always do in winter, I had two from Mill Hill kits

One from Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue 

And this one which is a gift that didn't quite get finished in time form Irina Zagordskaya  on Etsy

I also did a cute Halloween Mill Hill Kit

Other than that. my year was mainly focused on Winter Snowfall 

and Lion King 

Start of 2021

End of 2021

As for what I watched (two months worth)

Critical Role Campaign 3 has started!!!!!

Sleepy Hollow - Season 4: They really should have stopped at three, but the series finale was satisfying 

Arrow Season 2 - I’m going into the unwatched episodes, considering I bought the whole series I better like it.

The Legend of Korra - Season 1 - This looks so good

The Princess Diaries 2 : Just as charming as the first

Dune (2021) - A really good adaptation, I was glad that I had watched an earlier version not long ago so the storyline was familiar as Dune is a very dense story.  Also Timothee Chalamet made a surprisingly good Paul.

The Puppet Masters - One of those really good alien invasion movies that no one has heard of. It’s a bit more subtle than most but a good cast and really good storyline, though it does have some of the expected clichés.

The January Man - A dark comedy murder mystery starring Kevin Kline and Alan Rickman, it’s kind of great. 

Johnny Mnemonic - It’s always fun to see a near future dystopian movie that takes place in the far off year of 2021 and realizing that because of the way technology has evolved the whole plot is rather pointless.  This movie has not aged well.  However if you turn your mind off to that problem, it is a fun action movie.

Journey to the Center of the Earth - The Brendon Fraser one - I’ve always liked that this in not a remake or adaptation but more of an homage, and a really well made one too.

Julie and Julia - The story of Julia Child and of Julie Powel who baked her way through Julia’s cookbook, the stories are meshed seamlessly and its a fun watch

Jack the Giant Slayer - Nothing spectacular but it’s a fun romp

Jumanji - The original, I always preferred Zathura, but this came in a pack with the new ones so a rewatch was in order, and I actually liked it better than I remembered.

Jumanji - Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level - These sequels are so much better than the original. They are fun and funny and so good in all ways

The Nightmare Before Christmas - I always meant to watch this and never got around to it. But a show I want to watch soon references it a lot so I thought it was time, and I really did enjoy it.

Jumper - It’s a decent show, the concept is great but the character of the lead is not that likable and the female love interest behaves  profoundly stupid. But it does have it’s fun moments,

Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island - I grew up with the original show so it was pretty easy to imagine it as a horror. And this movie does the job pretty well actually.

October (and September) WIPocalypse

 I somehow missed September so you get it now but I haven't got a whole lot of stitching to show. But first the questions 

September: List five projects you have unstarted in your stash that you’d like to start in the (relatively) near future. I don't know if I can come up with 5 but the 2 I think of immediately are Bellatrix by Bella Filipina  that will be recoloured by Make it Pink

And Waiting by Tilton Crafts, art by Victoria Frances 

I've had this pattern for years and it's likely to take longer than the Lion King is taking, also it is huge, but so, so pretty. I also have several different dragons I want to do.

October: Do you prefer Halloween or Christmas stitching? Christmas gets the edge on this one, but only because I like making ornaments so much

It's been a good couple months, I have even managed to go waterfall hunting a couple times. and found one I'd never been to before, Moses falls in Revelstoke

Stitching has been good, but I don't have a lot to show as one thing I was working on is a gift, but I did do this little Mill Hill kit

have made a bit of progress on Lion King

As for what I watched

Critical Role and the start of Campaign 3 

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Season 3 - Such a wonderful series

American Gods Season 3 - Such a weird and yet great show.

His Dark Materials - Season 2 - It’s so well done, can’t wait for season 3

Sleepy Hollow Season 4 - This was kind of a reboot, they ended it fairly well in season 3 and it seems they weren’t sure where to go for 4,

Pitch Perfect - The Trilogy - There are parts of these movies that go a little over the top for me, but other parts (like the music) that are wonderful. The good definitely outweighs the bad for me. 

Pompeii - Disaster Movie with Gladiators, can’t go wrong there.

The Princess Bride - I mean, it’s the perfect movie, it’s “inconceivable” that there is anything more to say. 

Poseidon - Cruise ship capsizes and a ragged assortment of people try to survive, in other words a typical disaster movie, and a decent one at that.

The Emperor’s New Groove - It’s so different from most of Disney’s animated stuff, but so much fun. One of those movies that is made so much better by the quality of the villain

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - While there are very few actual Persians in this movie about a mythical version of Persian, it is still a great adventure movie. Lots of unexpected twist and a great deal of fun.

Angels Fall - A made for TV romance based on a Nora Roberts novel, which I’ve read, but long enough ago I wasn’t picking this apart too badly, Could have been better, could have been worse, wasn’t a bad way to kill a couple hours.

Reign of Fire - Dragons take over the world in the near future - 2020.  It’s a pretty good adventure movie and was the first thing I saw Gerard Butler in, been a fan ever since.

The Prince of Egypt - Epic without being preachy, And the music is phenomenal 

Top Gun - The Commentary, I watched the movie not long ago, but finally got it in DVD and thoroughly enjoyed the commentary, which was done 18 years after the movie was released.

The Princess Diaries - There’s no other way to describe this other than charming.

August WIPocalypse

 I have a good reason for being a little late, I really wanted to finish Winter Snowfall which was my piece for the Olypmic marathon And I did, then I washed it and had a minor heartattack wehn the red fabric (which I had prewashed) ran, and made my lovely white stitches, pink.  Well a full day of soak rinse repeat got it back to where it should be and this and it's thousand plus beads was finished.  Haven't decided how to frame it yet, but I usually have to think about that for a while.

So here it is.

Winter Snowfall

12"x13.5" on 32 count Laguna

Pattern by shannonchristine.com 

Now it's back to Lion King which has been horribly neglected this month.  but I also have to find patterns for a new great nephew, and another great nephew on the way.  

The question of the month is Which of your project finishes made you the most proud? The most relieved?

Relived would have to be this Elephant baby announcement, for some reason it fought me the whole time. and it was so nice to be finished it. Luckily it was loved by the parents. 

Proud is a harder choice, I have a lot that I adore but I suppose I have to go back to Theresa Wentzler's Stroke of Midnight.  It's so detailed and beautiful and my mother, who I made it for and is a huge all things Cinderella fan, adores it. 

As for what I watched

Critical Role - Exandria Unlimited a summer mini series while they prepare for Campaign 3

Blind Spot: Season 3 - it looks like this is the last season I can get on DVD which is distressing

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Season 3 The Commentaries

Olympics - It’s an obsession

The Jungle Cruise - This one is a lot of fun, very reminiscent of 1999’s  The Mummy with a dash of The African Queen

Pirates of the Caribbean: 2,3,4, and 5. - I love the original trilogy with all my heart, I find four enjoyable but very forgettable, and 5 has some of the old magic, but still not quite up to the first three. 

Dune and Children of Dune - The TV miniseries and a really well done show, though not as flamboyant as the one from the 80’s.  Can’t wait to see the new one and compare.