…down the rabbit hole…

I tried to resist a 2020 cross-stitch-along. I swear I did. I tried so hard, and then the kits were released and there was an option to split postage and well… self control isn’t exactly my strong point, is it? It didn’t take much more than a little push and I was down the rabbit hole – literally.

The Alice in Wonderland stichalong was so cute, and I swore this year would be different, that I would keep up. After all, we were in pandemic iso, what else was I going to do? Week one I managed reasonably well, and then week two, the wheels started falling off the wagon a bit. I continued to plod along, working on it each day at the school table. Our resident speed stitcher was smashing through the blocks, and we all figured she would be finished first. Life, though, has a way of happening, and AJ got busy, while I kept plodding along, and suddenly I found myself in the lead.

I am nothing if not competitive, and so I decided now I was ahead, I would stay ahead. With a self-imposed challenge to keep me motivated, I powered through, smashing out block after block. Three weeks later, I’d completed the remaining six blocks and began on my least favourite part – the borders. My border-avoidance is well known. Equally well known is how my border avoidance comes back to bite me on the bum on the regular, and Alice was no exception. There were a few stitches to unpick where a vine curled out a stitch or two too far, and even more frustratingly, a border needing a spot of fudging where it was wrongly stitched based on the other error.

A bit of a fudge, a roadtrip after iso lifted to visit family and the beach, and the job was done. A whole stitchalong, completed in the year it was started, ahead of my own little competition of the other stitchers. Between Alice and my 100 Days success, I was high on the joy of finishes, and so began the trend of 2020 – emptying the WIP boxes.

Today’s WIP box attack involves this week’s black work block, and some more work on the current corner of my stitchery while the children do school. After school, while they head outside for their daily dose of vitamin D and vitamin mud, I’m planning to get stuck into the cutting of my Sage Brush Top – I have a couple of events on the weekend and I would love to have my new top done in time to wear it to at least one of those. I have October journaling prompts to finish up and November challenges to prep for. A finished project means it’s time for a started project, especially with school break coming up next week, and school holidays are perfect for a craftapalooza.