Flosstube and Stitch Maynia!

Sometime last year I discovered a channel on You Tube call Flosstube. Flosstube videos all feature people who cross stitch. They share their completed projects, works in progress, and plans for future projects or goals for the next month. They also share their recent purchases and what they already have in their stash. Some show their stitching spots and organization methods. It's great. You find stitchers who have been at it for decades as well as people who have only recently discovered this craft. A lot of tips and information is shared. I like watching Flosstube while stitching.

It is just very interesting to me to watch and recall how the cross stitching community has changed over the years. I still vividly remember the elation I felt the first time I typed cross stitch in a search engine about 20-25 years ago. I had no idea how popular my hobby was and I was thrilled at how much information was available and for ways to connect with other likeminded stitchers. Back then AOL chat was all the rage and there was a rec.crafts. message board. Then there were Yahoo groups. Then we had forums on EZboard (later named Yuku). I was so sad when the forums died down, seemingly overnight. Where did everybody go? Even a lot of the bloggers just stopped. Bit by bit Facebook groups formed. Enter in also Instagram and Youtube. You used to hear stitchers say the craft was dying down. This no doubt in reaction to so many local needlework shops closing doors. In their place came more and more websites we could order from. Now many buy their charts from Etsy, sometimes direct from the designer.

Watching these Flosstube channel videos I would often hear of Stitch Maynia. Eventually, I was curious enough to find and join the group once I knew how it was spelled. It is Stitch Maynia, not mania. Why? The name grew out of an event that took place that year with the guidelines being to start a new cross stitch project every day for the first fifteen days in May. The idea was not completely new, as pretty much every year there would be some sort of challenge that began January 1st. Stitch only from Stash, or stitch 12 ornaments, or start 10 new projects, or guilt free January, etc.
This is just a Facebook version. Part of the fun is that it the activity of a group that is very easy going. No long list of rules. No drama. No competition. The flavor is more like, "here's a thing we are going to do, join us if you want. Oh, and feel free to modify it to your liking and you can still join in with us." So, this year, there are people doing the original "start a new project each day for the first 15 days of May" but there are probably more people doing their own custom plan so that they can also participate in the fun.

I am doing it! All those various incarnations of other challenges in the past always piqued my interest but I knew I probably could not see them through so I never did enter in. This one for some reason enticed me. It does sound like a pretty crazy thing to do. Most people say having that much going at once would be overwhelming and probably never get anything done. That is a very valid point. Here's the thing for me. I have such a huge stash of so many kits, charts, projects that I love. Tons. More than I can stitch in my life. I decided it is just as crazy (maybe more) to own all these things and never even start them. You can't have a finish if you never start. So that justifying part was easy. Now to choose 15. Uhm. Impossible. I have way more than 15 that I love and want to start. Some gals are doing 31 starts, one for each day of May. I have even more than 31 projects that I love and want to do. So, I came up with a little system whereby I have made an initial group that I choose a project from each day using random number generator to make the choice... because I can't. Oh, of course I could, but it was just too much work and taking too long to prep. So on with the show! I am a Mayniac. Goal: 31 new starts in May.

Sorry for the long-winded post here. I will follow with another post to show you my starts from the first week.

An Exciting Christmas Give-away

It would be so cool to win this!
Check it out and enter.
Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

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New Designer on the Stitching Scene

Hi There!
I do plan on getting back into blogging this year. Really, I do! For now, I'd just like to invite you to check out a new designer, Heart's Ease Examplar Workes. Theresa is a dear friend and she is looking for some feedback on her designs. She is so talented, but you'll see that for yourself. If you like samplers and needlework smalls, you're going to love what you see. Do check it out!

Elizabeth Roberts progress

Hey there! I thought you might like to see an update of my progress on Elizabeth Roberts II. I've only done bits at a time but have made fair progress. Did I mention I am working this one from the bottom up? I almost always stitch from the upper left so between that and the band you see one could get confused and think this is the top and that that band is part of the border but it's just a band and there will be more motifs above it.

Quaker Sampler start

I've been doing a fair job of stitching from my stash lately. A group I am in has begun a SAL where you choose a design that has to meet a minimum size requirement and stitch it within a specified time frame. I dug and dug and had a difficult time finding something that was close to the size requirement but not too far past it. I want to finish in the required time and thought I better stick as close as I can to the minimum requirement. Anyhow, this is what I finally decided upon. Elizabeth Roberts II is a Threads of Gold Sampler Reproduction with a quaker influence. Elizabeth I was dated 1775 but we don't know the date of this second sampler. The colors on this one are a little different. Not what I would normally choose. I am still contemplating changing out one very bright gold/yellow color. I might even start over. What you see so far is 40ct Light Examplar and DMC. I wanted to stitch with a single thread but I am not happy with the coverage even on 40ct. Perhaps it's the floss. Not sure. Maybe just a carryover from doing so much over one lately.

Annette's Knit Stash Giveaway

A couple of years ago I taught myself to knit. I don't know why but I just HAD to knit a pair of socks. Had to. I did conquer very basic pair using self striping yarn and a couple of dishcloths. I happened upon Annette's giveaway and would be so excited if it showed up in my mail. You can enter too!
ncluded in the Knitter’s Giveaway:

2 skeins Knitpicks Gloss in Concord Grape
1 skein Knitpicks Bare Laceweight
2 skeins Berocco Twist – pink/green
1 skein Lime & Violet sock in Katerine Hepburn
1 skein Dragonfly Fibers Eidos in Dragonfly
1 skein Socks that Rock Lightweight in Fairgrounds
1 set Knitpicks Options DPN – #3
1 40″ Knitpicks Harmony circular – #2
Socks, Socks, Socks by Elaine Rowley (not pictured)

Sounds like a pretty good haul to me!

A sleepless night and a UFO

Over the past year or so I seem to have developed insomnia. So far it hasn't gotten too out of hand. One night this week I gave up on the toss and turn and decided I would stitch. I've been wanting to finish some things I began and never finished and and this Plimoth Scissors Case is one of those I started a few years ago. I abandoned it when I was very dissatisfied with my cross stitch over one. I know I'll never be too thrilled with this one when it's done because now I can totally tell the difference between the methods I used. So here's an old progress photo and the latest. There was a bit of stitching time in between but not much.