May Plans – Part 1

My next three or four posts are going to be kinda like Part 1, Part 2, etc. of the same post but I didn’t want to make this one post a book so I’m dividing it up. You know how I am . . I could probably say it all in 2 paragraphs but it will be 20 or more paragraphs.

You know how I had mentioned Maynia and but after thinking about it, decided not to do it. No . . I didn’t change my mind about that but I was invited to join a Facebook group where there’s a little friendly competition to work on projects during the month of May. This is my first time and IF I understand it correctly, the “host” will spin each night and that’s how many stitches we must complete during the next 24 hours. For the group I’m in, it will be either 500, 450, 400, 350, 300, 250, 200 or 0. We can “bank” a certain number of stitches on the days we stitch more than the required amount and we have a few “free passes” we can use. So, if we don’t make all our stitches that day, we can use a free pass if we still have one or we can use stitches we put in the bank. That sounds like a fun challenge since I love a good challenge so I decided to do that one.

It has taken a good bit of prep work for me to get ready because I don’t want to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off (or, trying to decide on a pink floss for Winter Rose Manor) when I should be stitching. I pulled all the project bags for the projects I intend to work on, put those in a separate bin; got all the projects on frames. A couple were folded in the bag back from when I was still stitching in hand, one was in a Q-snap. Now, everything is in a frame.

I’m going to try to maximize my stitches by stitching on things that have large amounts of one color (houses, grass, horse, etc.). I’m going to avoid stitch charts that have lots of color changes and have three stitches of this color, four stitches of another color, etc. I need big chunks of the same floss color.

I even went in and counted stitches in sections and made notes so I will know how to proceed to maximize my stitching time.

This is just like when I’m digging through my charts looking for something – every chart I have, I really want to stitch; likewise, every project I have started, I really want to finish.

Because I’m going to need to use the Lowery stand on some projects, I had to move sofa a bit so I could get the Lowery stand next to it. The loveseat has big, thick arms that curve out so I can’t get the stand close enough to where I need it to have any flexibility with moving it as I stitch across a chart. I got that all done, got the slip cover on the sofa because I know Oscar will be sitting by me, got the extra magnifying lamp set up. Tested the lamp with Vince – from where he sits, sometimes my lamp is shining in his face but he says it’s fine. I figured during the day when Vince isn’t downstairs, I could work on the Lowery with the light that bothers Vince, and at night when he’s downstairs, I’d move to the loveseat with the light that doesn’t bother Vince. He came downstairs earlier and I had him check my setup and he says the light doesn’t bother him. After dark, it may . . we’ll see.

Some of my projects are in Rolaframe frames, some are in K’s Creations frames and some are in the frames I got from Amazon (which I won’t buy again). I don’t want to have to keep adjusting the Rolaframe setup to fit different size frames. I have it set up now for a 20″ frame and have three projects in 20″ frames. Smaller or larger frames will be used on the Lowery, along with the Amazon frames. My plan is to sit on the loveseat and stitch when using a lap stand and then move over to the sofa when I need the Lowery stand.

Next post, I’ll share some of the things I plan to work on.