Half Year

 It's been a fairly uneventful couple of months except for a quick trip to Vancouver in May to see Stars on Ice and Matchbox 20, they were two days apart and I couldn't resist.  

The WIPocalypse question for May was What project brings you the most joy and why?

This would have to be Wentzler's Stroke of Midnight, she was so intricate and fun to stitch as well as a beautiful gift for my mother.

The question for June is Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

I've been doing really well on my goals, the main thing I wanted to do was finish Lion King and work of ornaments a bit more often and I've done both. The week once a month for ornaments is working well for me and I have finished one and started another,  I'm having such fun with this polar bear/penguin creations by Durene Jones. They will make great and very appropriate charismas gifts from me.

I've done a bit more on Bellatrix, but I also ripped out all the green vines and redid them in a darker colour, so while a lot was done, it doesn't really look like it

I am concentrating on the Gothic Cathedral temperature stitch at the moment since it's so much easier to do the repeating complicated patterns all at once. I suspect this won't take me too long and then I'll get back to Bellatrix and the ornaments. 

As for what I watched

Critical Role

Kelsey Dangerous’ Sims 4 playthroughs

Carnival Row Season 2 - Takes off nicely from where the first season left off, I really enjoy this series.

White Collar Season 5 - Not as good as previous seasons but still a fun show

Gambit - A satisfying heist movie with Colin Firth, 

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again - Not sure this needed a sequel but since they did one you would think they would follow the history that was so clearly laid out in the original, but nope. On the other hand there is still great music and fun to this.

The Mummy (The good Brendan Fraser/Rachel Weiss version)  This is one of those rare perfect movies, it has the best balance of adventure, humor, romance and horror, something that seems to be very hard to do

Major League - As previously stated I love sports movies and I think this one is my favorite, it has the perfect blend of scrappy underdogs and humour, unfortunately it has a completely unnecessary almost creepy stalkery thing going on that passes for romance in the 80’s, but that’s it’s only downfall everything else is perfect

My Science Project - This is a fun little 80’s flick about a couple students who raid a military trash heap, find some alien tech that warps time and space and try to use it as their science projects, it’s not a great movie, but it is a good one.

Much Ado About Nothing - Typical Shakespeare comedy of misunderstandings. this is the Joss Whedon version that has an amazing cast.

Monte Carlo - This was a bit of fluff aimed at fans of Selena Gomez in 2011, but it’s a very fun piece of fluff about mistaken identity and romantic shenanigans.

The Matrix - I remember the first time I saw this, opening night in the theatre and thinking that it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.  I still think that, it’s such a fun stylish movie, accept none of the massive amount of copycats.  This is still the best.

The Matrix: Reloaded and Revolutions - It’s well known that the sequels are nowhere near the original, but I bought them as a set so I have them all, accept the newest, might pick that up soon out of curiosity

Finally Finished

 The best news of this month was that I finally after three years. finished The Lion King 

The bonus of that means that I get to work on Bellatrix more 

and I've started to do my ornaments throughout the year, this won't look like much until the backstitching goes in.  

I also started the Gothic Cathedral temperature stitch

and I finished these little daffodils that are from a keychain kit a friend gave me

And after assuming that I woulnd't be doing anything else this year after my trip, I bought tickets for two shows in Vancouver in May

The WIPocalypse question of the month is

Give us five projects in your stash right now that you’d really love to start – and why you haven’t yet.

And I don't really have an answer to this one. It implies a level of planning that I just don't have. At this point I'm not even sure what my next start will be after I finish Bellatrix.

As for what I watched

Critical Role

Kelsey Dangerous’ Sims 4 playthroughs

Carnival Row Season 2 - Takes off nicely from where the first season left off, I really enjoy this series.

The Mighty Ducks - I do love sports movies and this was my first introduction to Josh Jackson and I’ve followed him through a bunch of shows.

The Mighty Ducks 2 - Whoever wrote this movie seems to know absolutely nothing about sports

The Mighty Ducks  3 - This one is actually pretty good, much better than the 2nd 

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among thieves - This one was a whole lot of fun, good storyline and follow the rules of D&D in a clever way

Matilda - A wonderful kids movie that is very satisfying for non-kids 

The Merchant of Venice - I knew very little of this Shakespear play and while I can’t call it a favourite if I had the chance to see it live, I’d probably take it.  This was the Al Pacino version from 2004

Mamma Mia - This movie is just pure joy.

Time of my Life

 Once again I skipped a month, but for good reason as I was away all February on the trip I booked three years ago and have been planning for around 10 years and it was completely worth it, I went to Argentina,

Uruguay,

Chile

and spent 5 days in the Antarctica, 

 

So February's question was What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?

Other than this one, I don't have any going this year.

And March's question is Tell us about your favorite places to buy stitching supplies.

Online I try to support Traditional Stitches as it's one of the few Canadian supply stores that deliver and locally I love a shop in Kelowna called Yarns and Needlecrafts, they are mainly a knitting/crochet store but carry a decent amount of cross stitch stuff and at least a couple of the people there stitch themselves so a good conversation often happens

As for this months stitching, I did take a Mill Hill kit along on my trip, I don't think I stitched more than 50 stitches on it the whole trip, but here's proof of Antarctic stitching

Once I got home, other than organizing my pictures, my focus was on The Lion King, and I finally got everything done but the backstitching, I will definitely finish in April

As for what I watched

Critical Role and the last 6 episode of Legend of Vox Machina season 2. Critical Role has been my main focus, I have a month to catch up on

A Star is Born - the new one, pretty good but not really my style, though it did kill time well on the plane

Everything Everywhere All At Once - This one was weird by good, also watched on the plane and the sound was not stellar, so I think I need to watch it again to see what I missed

Crazy Rich Asians - Another plane movie, and really typical romantic comedy, didn’t really stand out at all

Maid - The final of the plane shows, I wanted to see this one because I follow the cinematographer on Instagram and it’s filmed on Vancouver Island

January, bleak and drear

 It's a day early for the WIPocalypse but for good reason, tomorrow I leave on my TRIP. I have taken along a little Mill Hill kit, but I don't expect much stitching to get done, as I've never managed to stitch while on a moving vehicle, I like to spread out to much. And I suspect once I get on the cruise ship I'll be doing other things, but you never know I might have a quiet night here or there.

The question of the month is: If you have been to retreats, what are your must-bring items and supplies?

I have never been to a retreat but it sounds fun, so I shall watch for everyone else's answers to find out what to bring when I get to one

I've made quite a bit of progress on Lion King and now I set him down till March, and then maybe finish him.

As for what I watched

Critical Role and the first 6 episode of Legend of Vox Machina season 2

Bridgerton Season 2 - I do love how they have done this series, can’t wait for season 3 to come out

Avatar: The Way of Water - This movie was so pretty but I suspect the plot will be fairly forgettable for me, like the first one one, but so pretty

Jurassic World: Dominion - I know this one got panned, but I liked it, it’s a solid entry to the series and I really enjoyed the melding of the Park and World characters. 

Les Girls - I adore Gene Kelly and this is perhaps my favourite of his, it’s a story told three times with three different viewpoints as a former dancer sues one of her old roommates over a tell all book, and the truth comes out in flashbacks with lots of great music.

The Lion King - As always the first 5 minutes are worth anything to watch. This show is amazing and beautiful and obviously I’m talking about the original, accept no substitute (except the broadway musical, it’s pretty awesome too.)

Labyrinth - Why do some many good shows start with L, especially 80’s fantasies 

Hello 2023

 It's 2023 and it's going to be a good year, I insist on it. Mainly because this is the year I'm finally going on the trip that has been postponed twice.  But I have other plans as well. Let's start with the WIPocalypse Update, I'm not sure how long I've been doing WIPocalypse now, at this point it's probably the only reason I maintain this blog at all, so on to a new year we go

Question of the Month: Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!

Hi, I'm Nancy and I live in western Canada  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, I am predominantly a one or two at a time stitcher and seldom rotate, I like to finish before I start something new.  I've strayed from that a little the last couple years which is why I'm starting my third year on The Lion King, but this will be the year I finish, I'm aiming for April

Other projects I have planned is to finish Bellatrix

and to start the Gothic Cathedral Temperature stitch. I'm already keeping a record of the temps this year.

I'm also thinking of putting aside a week each month to do a Mill Hill ornament, I want to give them away at Christmas I did finish one already this week 

The other thing to know about me is that when I started this blog in November of  2013 I also started watching every movie I own in alphabetical order, but starting at each end and working towards the middle, I will also finish this this year, possibly also in April and it is the source of  the What I Watched section of this blog

As for what I watched

Critical Role

Bridgerton Season 1 - This was a lot of fun and while it differs greatly from the books it still maintained the feel of the series.

Legally Blonde 1 and 2 - The first is the best by far, it has such a good sense of humour,but they came as a set so I had to watch both cause that’s my rules

Ladyhawke - So here I am in the middle of the “L’s” and I only have Ladyhawke, one of my all time favourite movies on a very old and faded VHS. It seemed like the perfect time to replace it with DVD, but none was to be found, apparently it is only available in North America, on Blu-ray - so did I buy myself a blu-ray player just so I could own a better copy of Ladyhawke - you bet I did. 

Year End Wrap Up

 I haven't blogged here since September and it's been a long few months. I did get to go on my weekend holiday to Halcyon Hot Springs, just two nights of doing nothing by driving around in beautiful scenery and soaking in a hot spring. 

But the rest of the time was not happy, my father went to the hospital at the end of October and passed away on Christmas Eve, he was 94 and mainly cheerful till the end. He was an amazing Dad.

WIPocalypse questions that I missed were 

Do you prefer Halloween or Christmas stitching?. I love both, but Christmas ornaments are just so much fun to make.

When do you begin planning your stitching goals for the next year? Honestly I don't plan much of anything and when I do I usually change it. But I usually plan what's next when I start something new. 

And the December question 

Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc). Time for the pictures, I actually go a lot done on Lion King this year and will definitly finish it in the next couple months, note February does not count this year as I will be away for all of it.

I also got a good start on Bellatrix by Bella Filipina 

And as usual did a bunch of ornaments, one is still to be finished, which might even happen later today

As for what I watched

Critical Role

The Legend of Korra - Season 4 - This has been such a good series I can’t wait to watch it again

White Collar Season 3 - 4

Brigerton - Finally got to this, I read all the books years ago and so far it seems fun and in the spirit of the books

Love and Friendship - Based on a Jane Austen novella, I can’t say this was a favourite, not a lot of very likeable people in it and kind of choppy as well.

Lethal Weapon 1 and 2 - These are very dated now, but if you ignore that, they are still great action movies. I always disliked the ones that came after this as they turned a dark gritty action series into a comedy,  I was highly amused that in 2 the subtitles censored the swear words of a 18A rated movie. Why? I don’t understand.

The Show Must Go On: The Queen and Adam Lambert Story - I’m not a big documentary watcher, but I’m a fan of both and wanted to see how they got together, it’s a really interesting show with of course phenomenal music

The Lego Movie - Another one I bought sight unseen because it was cheap and friends recommended it, and I see why, this one is a ton of fun.

Little Shop of Horrors - I haven't seen this since it was in theatres and remembered it as quirky and fun, which it is, and it has great music, but I doubt I’ll want to watch it again soon so I don’t think this one is a keeper

L.A. Confidential - This is an amazingly done, dark and gritty mystery, I always forget how good it is. Especially since I’m not a fan of most of the actors in it

The Losers - I bought this one just because I liked the actors in it and it was well worth it. It’s a fun and smart action adventure type that should have been a bigger hit that it was.

The Divergent Series - I reread the books recently so of course I had to rewatch the movies

Howl’s Moving Castle - I’ve heard amazing things about this movie over the years but had never seen it.  But the local theatre has started doing Anime nights and this was the first show so of course I went, and it was a good if not better than I had heard.

Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole: A fun adventure about owls which I love and is why I bought this one sight unseen, and it’s worth it.  

The Cincinnati Kid - Old Steve MacQueen movie about a gamble trying to make a bigger name for himself, some of this move is very very dated and some is really good.

The Towering Inferno - My brother is on a Steve MacQueen kick so he’s lending me ones he thought I would like, and this one is perfect for me, it’s an amazing disaster movie, I think I’ll have to add it to my own collection. 

The Little Mermaid - Always a fun one with such catchy song, Under the Sea was running through my head for days

Les Miserable - There seems to be a lot of musicals in “L”

Fall is the best

 I love Autumn the colours are pretty, and the weather is cool and sunny, Definitely my favorite season.  It's been a good year so far, I've been to four shows, two holidays, one weekend holiday to come and it looks like I will finally get to go on my big Cruise in February, nearly three years since I originally booked it.

So the WIPocalypse question of the month is Are you a seasonal stitcher? If so, which seasons do you find yourself more productive or less productive?

I'm not, I stitch fairly equally all year, the only real change is when I switch to Christmas ornaments in mid November. But it's still the same amount of stitching, just the size of the project changes.

I have stuck to only stitching on the Lion King until I finish it (though the aforementioned Christmas season will upset that) and it does show a lot of progress

As for what I watched 

Critical Role

The Sandman - I read these comics when they were first published in the 80’s and 90’s and I remember being enthralled by them,  so I approached this with a little trepidation, but it was not needed. The show is brilliantly done

Game of Thrones Season 3: The one with the Red Wedding.

North And South: This miniseries was all anyone at school was talking about when it came out in 1985, and I had very fond memories of it. It’s about two families who are great friends  and the build up to the American Civil War.  I was already fascinated with the subject thanks to the miniseries from 1981 The Blue and The Grey, that had a very very similar storyline, But I had forgotten how long this one is and it has now been moved to the series wall and will be treated as such for the two sequels.

Noble House - Another mini-series also from the 80’s starring Pierce Brosnon. This is a wonderful story of Hong Kong and corporate espionage 

Now You See Me 1 and 2 - The first is a brilliant mix of fun and surprises with a ton of twists and turns, the second is good but doesn’t have quite the same magic, but a decent show nonetheless 

The Lord of the Rings (1978) - This is only the first half of the story, going up to Helm’s Deep, and as such is a rather rushed story when you are used to the Peter Jackson one.  But it is fairly faithful to the book. On the other hand it is one of the weirdest animations I’ve seen, in particular the ring wraiths are live action and then drawn on top of in some way, I remember finding them very creepy as a kid when I first saw this.

Lord Of The Dance - Despite Michael Flatley’s immense ego being on display this is amazing I love the music and dance. I’ve seen this one live a couple times and prefer it that as the dancer playing the lead (Flatley’s role) is usually more of a team player. Also live is always better

Lensman - This is an anime from 1984 and is a direct ripoff from Star Wars but a well done one. My brother gave this to me for my birthday  when I was 13 or 14 along with another anime movie knowing nothing about them, just that I like anime and it was very hard to find at the time.  

Lovely to Look At - I grew up on Howard Keel musicals as my mother was a huge fan, though I only found this one a few years ago. Standard musical storyline: Three performers inherit half of a failing fashion house and decide to put on a show to save it.

See How They Run - A friend invited me to the theatre to see this one, I had not heard of it at all, but I’m glad she did cause it was fun. A murder mystery set around The Mousetrap play in the 50’s, some great acting and quite a bit of comedy make this one I’m likely to buy in the future