Sunday, 29 March 2020

March WIPocalypse - Title seems more apt than usual

I told myself I wasn't going to miss any months this year, that lasted one month oops.  Though in my defence the reason I missed February was because our whole family picked up a nasty (normal) flu, right at the end of the month, and I spent the end of February pretending to be a limp noodle.  So I have lots to show, though my upstairs stitch that usual gets a boost in March thanks to World Curling Championships, has not been touched, poor thing is sadly ignored at the moment thanks to the state of the world. 
So February question was In honour of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc.
This would have to be when I did the Vimy Ridge Sampler, I am for the most part strictly a standard cross stitcher, but I really wanted to do this piece for the fall fair that year and took a chance that I would figure all the other types of stitches out.  It was so much fun.
March Question is  Have you ever adopted a piece from someone else or gave up a piece to someone else? Which piece and why?
And this one is short, because the answer is no, I never have.

So I have two months of stitching to show, and I seem to be in the mood for smaller stuff at the moment,  I'm a grocery store baker, so I haven't been isolating, though I have been able to stay at home more on my days off which is nice.  I'll start with the big one - Lion King, this one is going to be slower going than usual for me, since I already have my fall fair piece for this year I'm not in a rush, so I've distracted myself with smalls. 
Mathysphere had a quick little Pi day SAL from March 1st to 14th, a pattern a day, but the trick was all the patterns were puzzles,  math, crossword, and even origami, it was so much fun, though I did realized how much math skills I've forgotten
I'm also doing the Lesley Teare Birds and Blackwork SAL so here are the first three months of that. All taken in completely different lighting, oops, fabric colour is closest to the last pic


And one more project is  the Princess Peach Stained Glass Pattern from Make it Pink, the Shadow variation, thinking I might stitch four of these and make a tower.
As for what I watched

Critical Role: and Talks Machina 
Quests and Chaos - Pandemic Legacy Season 1 and 2 - Another streaming board game show, I wanted to watch Pandemic Legacy and tried several different ones until I landed on Quests and Chaos, I like their dynamic and will probably move on to some of their other board games.

Teen Wolf  S5-6  I really enjoyed this series, but I tend to enjoy supernatural dramas so not really a surprise,

Supernatural S14 E1-10  Somehow I managed to fall behind on my beloved Supernatural and I want to catch up before the series ends, which just became easier as they had to halt production while filming the second to last episode

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider:  Enjoyed it just as much this time, thisone is far superior to the Angelina Jolie version, Alicia Vikander                                                              gives Lara far more personality

The Dark Tower - I meant to see this when it was in theatres, but I failed, so Walmart's boxing day sale was handy.  I read the book umpteen years ago and don’t remember it much which is how I like it for movies, This was a solid supernatural adventure, nothing spectacular, but not a waste of time either.

The Spiderwick Chronicles - This is such a fun kids movie, I adore it every
time I watch it.


The Stand - Mini series from the 90’s of Stephen King’s book I remember watching all but the last part back then, so when I found this dead cheap at Walmart I figured it was work $3 to see how it ended, and it was.  Not a favourite but still a fun.

Onward - The latest from Pixar and as per usual it was great, so geeky in all the best ways.




Stardust - I love how Neil Gaimen twists stories, and I really need to read this book, I have it, I just haven’t got around to it yet.  Anyways, the movie is wonderfully charming and well done, I rather adore it.


The Sum of All Fears - Another I should read this book - movies, Though I have read and enjoyed several of the Jack Ryan books, I love all the Jack Ryan movies but none of them are particularly related to one another, They are such smart action adventure shows, also this one stars Ben Affleck and he’s a favourite of mine.


Step Up - A movie like this depends a lot on the final dance and this one delivers.  This is one of my all time favourite movies, the story is good to, a little more serious than the typical dance movie which is another thing that elevates this one.

Sunday, 26 January 2020

January WIPocalypse

So one month in of the new year and all of winter has decided to happen in this month, that should mean the spring starts in February? On the other hand, cold and snow does keep me inside to stitch so that's something. 
The question of the month is What SALs are you participating in this year?
Other than this one I plan on doing the Lesley Teare Birds and Blackwork Flowers SAL which I shall be starting as soon as I finish this blog, 
I finish January with a Finish - as just today I completed this baby name thingy that I adapted from a larger pattern by Smart Cross Stitch on Etsy, starting the year with a dragon is the best thing

The piece is just under 8X10" which makes it the biggest baby thingy I've done, I have tried to keep them all close to the same size but failed on this one because DRAGON
But this does mean it's time to start The Lion King and I can't wait

As for what I watched
Critical Role: and Talks Machina 

Quests and Chaos - I was looking for a play through of Pandemic Legacy and came across these streamers I enjoyed them so much I’m now watching them play Betrayal Legace

Jumanji: The Next Level - I was never a huge fan of the Robin Williams original, but boy are the Dwayne Johnson/Karen Gillian ones fun.


Clueless - Finally got this on DVD, it is  teen romantic comedy done right, incredibly outdated in fashion and slang, but that doesn’t matter because it is timeless

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Everything you’d expect from Star Wars, and a thoroughly enjoyable night out, also the cameo by Wedge made me inordinately happy

Sunday, 5 January 2020

New Year, New WIPocalypse

I love this SAL , if it wasn't for WIPocalypse I'd never remember to blog at all, which when I think of it, this blog is my WIP far more than my stitching is.

So the first question of the year is :

Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!

Hi, I'm Nancy, I'm that weird beast known as a one-at-a-time stitcher, well two at a time really, but I have no UFO's.  I very rarely set something aside to work on something else, it's only happened when I need a gift or something for the fair.  So I live in a two story house and have a small project upstairs that I work on during Jeopardy and curling and any movies that I watch with my parents.  Downstairs is where the BAP lives, cause that's where I watch movies and Netflix and most importantly Critical Role.
I have actually started this year having just finshed my last BAP and a bunch of ornaments, but I have plans.  I am currently stitching a baby name thing,  and it's my focus at the moment, and after it's done, I have no baby things needed, as far as I know no one is pregnant and the one I'm working on now will by less than a year after the birth, so that's not bad for me.

As for the plans for the rest of the year, the BAP is going to be Lion King, I'm just waiting for some fabric, it was a kit and came with some, but I really prefer working on evenweave.
I also have some small kits that have been hanging around for a few years, mainly gifts so they will be my smalls for the year.  I have just barely started this one from Dimensions , as I needed something bright to work on during a powerless New Years Day.

I also have one other SAL planned, more about that next blog.

In non stitching related things, Happy New Year hope yours was less "interesting" then mine,  A snow storm dumped 18"/45cm on us on new year's eve, taking the power out at 11 am on the 31st.  It didn't come back on till 2am on the 2nd. Not exactly the normal start to the year.
But plans for this year mainly work,sleep and stitch same as usual, except for July when I'm going to go to Denver to visit one of my best friends and go to Denver Pop Culture Con with her, and then she will show me around and probably find me a waterfall.
As for what I watched

Teen Wolf Season 5

Cats - I know it’s supposed to be horrible, but I love the music and thoroughly enjoyed the movie

The Addam’s Family Values - For a sequel it’s not bad at all, Not one I would have bought on it’s own, but it came as a two pack so I might as well watch it.

Sunday, 29 December 2019

WIPocalypse December Recap

Another year over, or almost and it's time for the WIPocalypse end of year recap, I've had one big finish and a few small, and am getting set to start another big, just have to wait for the fabric to come,
So here is what I finished this year. More than I thought I did actually








And this is my newest start, another baby thing and since the kid's name is George, I had to do a dragon

As for what I watched
Critical Role: and Talks Machina  

Teen Wolf Season 3-5

Various Christmas movies, probably the same ones as last year
Superman - The best one in my eyes, Christopher Reeve will always be MY Superman

Speed - Probably my favourite action movie, good story, good action and likeable characters it’s rare for an action movie to have all three

Star Trek (2009) I can’t believe this is 10 years old already, which is probably the last time I saw it, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it, this is a great
remake.
Frozen 2: Highly enjoyable story and stunningly gorgeous to watch
The Addams Family - Found this really cheap and I remember liking it, so I bought it.  And it’s really good, The best thing about the Addams family is that they unapologetically love and support each other, which is really rare in most media 

Saturday, 23 November 2019

All the Finishes

So once again I skipped a month, but I had a good reason, the end of October was Skate Canada close enough for me to go to, and go I did and had an amazing week. And then I came home and concentrated on finishing the Angel, which I did
and since that got done, I finished the baby thing as well.
 I am at the moment, not working on anything.  That will change in a couple hours when I start making ornaments. December is always a month of smalls

The WIPocalypse question for October was: Do you prefer to stitch on a rotation or one project at a time?
I am very much a one (or in my case two) project at a time stitcher, I'm not sure how rotation people do it, but they probably wonder about people like me also.

The WIPocalypse question for November is: What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year?
Actually nothing comes to mind for this one, maybe one of the December ornaments will have something for me to learn.

As for what I watched
Critical Role: and Talks Machina 

Carnival Row - Season 1 - This brilliance makes getting the Amazon Prime Membership worth every penny,  A historical murder mystery taking place in an alternate world where fae are refugees, It has a solid mystery and political intrigue and even a decent love story, and yet more proof that Orlando Bloom is always better in a period piece.

Teen Wolf  Season 1 - 3 I’ve previously watched the first three seasons and for a teen show from MTV it is better then it has any right to be, I own all of it now so I’m starting from the beginning and enjoying the whole thing, and am about to start the new parts.


The Skulls - I’m a huge fan of Joshua Jackson and this one was obviously made to due to his fame on Dawson’s Creek (it was made while he was on the show) but for a it’s type  this is better than it has any right to be.

The Skulls 2: It has decent moments, but  this is essentially a low budget rehash of the first movie,




The Skulls 3 - Same story as the other two, but with a woman instead, all these three movies really do is say that if you are in a secret society you will end up involved with murder.

Sleeping Beauty (Disney) - This is it, my all time favourite movie I love
everything about this, the original Tchaikovsky score, the slightly darker storyline than the usual Disney at the time, the gorgeous animation and most especially Maleficent, the best movie villain accept no substitutions, especially not that watered down version of the new movies that seem to forget that she’s a freaking DRAGON.

Sneakers - A great heist movie from the early 90’s, so the technology is massively outdated, but that doesn’t stop the story from being good, there are a lot of interesting twists and turns in this one


Sound of Music - I mean, it’s a classic for a reason, beautiful music, cinematography and story, also, Julie Andrews is my Queen.