2020 Review

Well 2020 has been a surreal year for everyone wherever you are in the world, but on a personal note, it’s been a momentous one for me!

In February I was made redundant from my long term job, and then CoVid happened, so the job hunt was tricky to say the least. When the 1st lockdown was lifted, I visited my sisters, nephews and niece and realised how much I missed them, so when we returned, we put the house on the market, and accepted an offer a week later! So now I'm here in our new home in Lincolnshire after living in the North East for over 17 years. I also have a new job starting in January, so an interesting future and I dearly hope that we come through the Pandemic very soon.

Anyway, back to the stitching, if you remember, last year I enjoyed joining in with Magical Stitches which had a Harry Potter theme. this year I had hoped to join in again, however, the theme was Disneyland parks and I know very little about them and it got really complex, so I slowly stopped doing that.

However, I joined WIPGO devised by Jessie Marie Does Stuff. If you've not heard about this, it basically means you select 24 projects to put on a bingo board and each month 2 numbers are called by Jessie Marie to stitch for that month. I've done several rotations, but none really worked for long, however being a monogamous stitcher has really suited me and you will see it resulted in some great finishes this year.

Here were my goals for 2020:

1. Playtime Kitten - FINISH - COMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

A big 'yay' from me! I absolutely loved this design and the fabric choice. Some of that backstitch was a nightmare, however, it's worth it.

2. Greek Steps - FINISH - COMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Another longstanding project, I'm so pleased how quickly it pro0gressed once I focused on it solely. 

3. Project X - START AND FINISH - PARTIALLY CLOMPLETED

Unfortunately I can't share this new start (and finish) because it's a gift and the event was sadly postponed until 2021, so I'll re-stitch the date and share once given to the recipients. 

4. Love Spring - FINISH FULL CROSSES  - COMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So after all the full stitches, I had to go on, right?

I was on a roll, so here are the backstitches:

I'm really pleased with how it's looking, but want to get a new iron and press it well before adding the embellishments and getting it framed. So happy in the progress I made. I do have Love Tree in my stash, so maybe that'll come out in the near future.

5. Mini Think Pink - FINISH PAGE - INCOMPLETE

Whilst I didn't get anywhere close to finishing the page, I am proud of what I did complete, I adjusted my annual goals when I joined WIPGO, and did complete my 10 squares (1,000) stitches, so I'm pleased how it's coming on.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Whilst this may not seem a lot, in comparison to others BAPs, I'm really pleased to have hit my revised target and make some decent progress.

6. Millennium Sampler - FINISH 2 SQUARES - INCOMPLETE

Again, I just fell short of my target, however, I'm really enjoying this design again after it become a UFO for so long. 

I can't find a before picture, but ere's my after picture.

AFTER:

And the square I have focused on this year:

I really want to focus on this next year to see if I can finish the squares around the centre - see my goals post for more information!

7. Teddy Tags - FINISH LAST 4 Teddies - INCOMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Will add this later.

I think I'd have done more of this had my stitching group been on, but as you know everything has pretty much closed down. I wish the group all the best since I won't be returning now.

8. Frogs Kissing - FINISH PAGES 2 & 5 - INCOMPLETE

I just did a few stitched on this and not worth a photo, I'll add one onto my 2021 goals page for you to see.

NEW STARTS

Of course, with all these finishes, I had to have a new start, right?

There's actually 2 of them, but the first one was while on holiday and had nothing else to stitch, so pulled out this small kit from World of Cross Stitching:

Hello Little One

14 count white aida, 2 over 1

Started: 21/02/20

Finished: 09/11/20

The second one, I've only just started as a SAL with my stitching buddy Manx Cathy.

Here's my start:

So not much to see so far, however, I'm really enjoying stitching on the hand dyed fabric.

Summary

So it's been a great year in terms of finishing small and medium sized projects. I think next year, I'll give some love to my full coverage designs and spread it around a bit more.

WIPs at beginning of the year:17

New projects: 2

Number of finished objects: 3 (2 others almost complete)

Number of WIPs at the end of the year: 16

Happy Stitching!