Are All the Balls Still in the Air?

Whew! It feels like the weekend just blew right by. Must have been that looooong two day workweek I had last week! Unfortunately, this post has been further delayed by my inability to get a decent picture. The sun is just rising when I leave for work, and it's set when I return. So we're just going to have to make do.

When we last communicated, I had tried to start Blackbird Designs' "Friendship Gathering" in the office and was foiled at every turn. We had friends round on Friday night--such fun! (And I will strongly urge you to serve Brillat-Savarin cheese with homemade strawberry jam for dessert.) When they left, I still hadn't taken a stitch and I needed to put in two threads, so I just grabbed Hang a Shining Star (SamSara) and put a few stitches in.


On Saturday, I still needed to collect some threads and fabrics for my starts, so we drove over to the Strawberry Sampler. They had many of the regular threads, but their fabric stock was kind of low. They usually have a fabulous collection to choose from. It was still early, so I conned the dude into driving me to the fiber store--it's a needlepoint shop--and they always have every thread I need (except NPI; they don't carry that). We pulled up at 3:30 to find...they had been closed for half an hour. And they wouldn't reopen until Tuesday! (Doesn't matter, I can't get back there until next Saturday.) Ugh.

Still, I started Friendship Gathering (Blackbird Designs). I have no idea what the fabric is but I don't think it is the count I thought it was. I started stitching with two threads and quickly realized that would end unhappily so I switched to one thread and was incredibly pleased with the coverage.The fabric has a small vein of green running through it, and I am wondering now if I even bought this piece of fabric for this project. Too late now!

I went home and ordered online. Which I don't love to do, but I want my stuff, dammit. It took orders with FOUR online shops. Fabrics here, NPIs there, more thread here and there. What the hell has happened to this industry? The good news is that I did find a store that stocks *some* DMC Flower Thread, which has been discontinued for years. (I'm stitching a design from 1997.) I stumbled upon them when I was looking for a substitute. (The ultra bad news is, upon further review, I forgot to get more Thread Gatherer threads.)

On Sunday we took down the tree. And...I guess I did stuff all day because it wasn't until that night that I chose a project to stitch on, Tis the Season (Blackbird Designs). (Just two threads)

Monday saw two threads go into Love Me Love My Dog.

Tuesday saw two more threads in Lady Gray.

This morning, I hurriedly threw threads into a bag, grabbed my needlebook, cheaters, and a piece of fabric (that I hope I hadn't "reserved" for anything else) so that I would have something to work on at lunchtime stitching. You'll just have to wait to see that though because I started my smalls for the SAL.

I am glad I made my goal "stitch two threads each night" rather than fifteen starts at the beginning of the month. I thought I was going to get much farther on making sure all the kits were prepped than I did this past weekend, yet I was able to keep up with my goals. I think that's the secret to success--having the right goals to start with!