Slow Sunday Stitching February 25 - 2023 Rotation #1 Slot #4 (Full Coverage) complete and Rebooting a project

 Wow, I'm really hustling through the needlework rotation.  I'm trying to get through it every two months.   Since February is short, and I shoe-horned two historic projects into January (including the BBD finish in there), some of the slots are getting a bit fewer hours than I would like.   But even though I only put in about five hours on the Modern slot, I can move on since I have a finish.   (See this post for a picture.)

Since Thursday, I put in several hours on the Sugar Skull and the outlining is done!   That finishes off the goal for full coverage this month with 1,564 stitches in February and a total of 4,747 stitches / 26.25 hours on this project since it was started.  From here on out, this will be like a coloring page - just fill in!

color is a bit off - ground fabric is pale blue

That brings me to a decision.  Which of the two 'not counted thread' WIPs shall I focus on for the final slot in the rotation?

My decision is complicated by the fact that the cutwork runner has issues.  I'd really like to work on it first, but unfortunately after taking a close look at it, I'm going to have to frog.  A lot.  Pretty much everything, in fact.   The tension is all over the place (due to the fact that I was working in hand - which I really dislike.  All the props to those who do beautiful work in hand.  I am not one of those people.)   And the knots!  OMG, WHAT was I thinking??!!   Plus the coverage in a lot of places has the padding threads showing through and the buttonhole stitches are so sparse that the ground fabric would have frayed when cut.   Not acceptable.   I tried just taking out and repairing, but there are so many issues and not all concentrated in one small section, that I think I'm better off re-doing than patching in.

Ashamed of my teen-aged self - truly.

 So, in order to redeem it. I'm going to pull out all of that half of a corner, which is all that is done on this piece.   I have plenty of thread, four plus skeins of one dyelot and 8 skeins of another dyelot.   As long as I use all one dyelot for each motif, I'll be fine.   They are really close color-wise.   

Once this is all frogged, I'll put this project back into the stash as a 'reboot' project, even though I'm not actually swapping out the linen or threads.  Changing my mind on materials is the usual reason that I might restart a project.  Or if a project gets damaged beyond repair.  I had to restart JC's USMC Seal at one point due to a spill that wouldn't wash out.  I was glad I did because I took the opportunity to switch from Aida to evenweave and that let me do all the over one. And I once had a project restart due to the original project being stolen out of my car.   Oh, I never showed you the second version of that one; it was one of the projects that I took to the framers just before Christmas and got back a few weeks ago.  Look for that post later.  (ETA:  "The Castle" is here)

Re-booting is perfectly fine if there's a major issue on a project that you still want to do.  I consider it resetting the clock to before the 'cast-on / first cut / first stitch' that turns stash into a WiP.   I have a couple of knitting re-boots in addition to this needlework piece, including my poor milk chocolate colored lace shawl (Ravelry link) that the moths ate just as I was finishing the border. (Still sad about that.)

Speaking of knitting.  We have a sleeve!  It came in exactly to gauge, but I think I want the sleeve length just a bit longer.  Since it's a seamless sweater in stocking stitch, I can just add an inch or so to the top of this piece before I join it to the body.  The cuff fits well, the underarm decreases are good, nothing binds or feels tight when I put it on a longer cable and try it on like an extra long gauntlet.  It even feels good in the underarm when I have my arms down, but when I raise my arms, it comes in a bit short.   What good is a slouchy sweater if the arms pull oddly when you raise your hand?   I think the issue may be the difference between a drop shoulder (which is what I took measurements from) and a yoke shoulder.  

The second sleeve is underway, just at the start of the underarm decreases.

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching (current roundup here).