Three-Day Rotation

Goals for December. I don't know who I'm kidding, I'm going to be running around with my hair on fire most of this month, especially since I am still sick, sleeping on the couch, hacking up a lung, and trying not to break a rib when I cough. Still, aim high and all that. I'm going bck to the three-day rotation and to try to get some things finished, so I've included smalls. (Clever girl!)

Here's a photo of Stella asking permission
to get on the couch. Another pretty face.

December:

1. Twisted Threads, Ortilda the Witch
2. Our Souls
3. 47 Hearts
4. Deruta Biscornu
5. Love Me, Love My Dog
6. St Nick's Noel
7. Tis the Season
8. Drawn Thread, Four Fat Friends
9. Lapland Santa
10. Nunavut Santa 

The Most Disagreeable Month

November moon, by The Dude.
Used with permission.

"November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year." Louisa May Alcott

I've never been fond of November. Growing up it was when all the leaves had fallen, but no snow had. It was cold, but there was no delight. Oh, and it was dark. Perhaps that's why I overstuffed the month with blogging, stitching, and exercise!

My goals for November:
     * Stitch every day
     * Take 10,000 steps a day
     * Blog every day

Days stitched: 16
(Days I did other crafts: 2)
Days I hit 10,000 steps: 10
(Days I had over 30 minutes of exercise: 18)
Sick days: I took 5 1/2 sick days from work.

But I blogged every day!

Happy Halloween!

Here we are at the end of October. Already.

I set out to:

• Stitch using my three day rotation
• Read The River at Night for Books on Tap (10/17)
• Make one dozen Christmas cards
• Bling Christian's Stocking and send to the finisher

Here's what I managed: bling Christian's Stocking and send to the finisher.

I'm looking at my calendar to see what I did instead. I went to see a chamber orchestra concert with one piece narrated by Barney Frank. I worked one Saturday for homecoming and that same weekend for the library book sale (two days). I did two presentations outside of work hours for the students about the endowed scholarship program. I went to see Black Violin (who are awesome, and you should see, especially if you have a little musician in your house). I celebrated a birthday. I had to skip stamping because I had dizzy spells and couldn't drive, or you know, anything else. I started taking a Pilates class. I went to a Quizzo fundraiser with some friends. (We won for best team name...and the grand prize!) I went back to Pilates class. I went out to dinner with some friends. 

But tomorrow, besides being Stella's birthday, is NaBloPoMo and we had so much fun last year with me {trying} to stitch every day to entertain you. Let's do that again!

See you tomorrow!

Tada!

Goals for September: 

1. Finish Christian's Stocking  -- YES
2. Bling all four stockings: Christian, Mary, Charland, and Sadie -- THREE OUT OF FOUR
3. Send to finisher -- THREE OUT OF FOUR
4. Stitch Tada Santa and Tada Snow Guy (Amy Bruecken Designs) -- I STARTED BOTH, NEARLY FINISHED SANTA (above)
5. Read Scribe of Siena for Books on Tap (9/19) -- READ, DIDN'T MUCH LIKE THE ENDING. MY IMAGINED ENDING WAS BETTER. 😉

I am still waiting to get the charms for Christian's Stocking. I may have been better off ordering directly from Shepherd's Bush. Live and learn.

For October: 

1. Stitch using my three day rotation
1. smalls
2. Our Souls
3. 47 Hearts
4. Love Me, Love My Dog
5. Deruta Biscornu
6. St Nick's Noel
7. Lapland Santa
8. Ladybug, Ladybug
9. Tis the Season
10. Cinnamon Stars
2. Read The River at Night for Books on Tap (10/17)
3. Make one dozen Christmas cards
4. Bling Christian's Stocking and send to the finisher

Try to Remember that Time in September

How in the ever-loving fuck did it get to be September? It's all real today. I went to the Co-op for lunch and it was swarming with students and faculty and probably some townies who have been at the shore all summer. It's true, people, we do not have the Ville to ourselves any more. Fall fell.

That also means it is time to evaluate my August goals and set new ones. As promised, I focused on Christian's Stocking so that I can get the set finished professionally. I did not finish, and I'm still missing a thread, but I shall persist!









September Goals:

1. Finish Christian's Stocking
2. Bling all four stockings: Christian, Mary, Charland, and Sadie
3. Send to finisher
4. Stitch Tada Santa and Tada Snow Guy (Amy Bruecken Designs)
5. Read Scribe of Siena for Books on Tap (9/19)

A FINISH!

I finished something! Woohoo!

I thought this was going to be my last finish of 2016. Instead it is my first finish of 2017...Yes, I realize it's August. Yet, here we are.

This is Wabbit's Wonder by Sheepish Designs. Stitched with the called-for fibers on some kind of cranberry fabric (not the called for fabric). Fun little bunny.

I'm back y'all.

Half of Nothing is Nothing

I've got a bit of a tradition going to take stock on July 2, the halfway point of the year (2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2007). And here we are on the first day of the second half. I think you know how this has gone...
In December, I wrote:  For 2017, I'm going to stick with the rotation again, and sign up for the Smalls SAL. Maybe this year I can get even closer to 12 smalls for the year.

1. St Nick's Noel
2. Christian's Stocking
3. Our Souls
4. Forty Seven Hearts (new, anniversary present)
5. Love Me, Love My Dog
6. Deruta Biscornu
7. Lapland Santa
8. small
9. Ladybug, Ladybug
10. Tis the Season

I'm also going to celebrate Craft Month with the helpful input you gave me last year. 

---

I have stitched no smalls, done very little on the rotation, and skipped Craft Month!

I haven't even started the dude's anniversary present! (shock, horror) (Eleven days and counting!)

So here's the new plan:
July: Forty Seven Hearts
August: Christian's Stocking
September: twins' Christmas ornaments
October: Go back to the three-day rotation (above)
November: New project every day for NaBloPoMo
December: Three-day rotation

I'm also sketching out a plan to blog twice a week. And make the rounds to you regularly as well.

I have been stamping and making jewelry. Here's a pic to hold you:

Happy New Year!

I did not expect to be away for so long! Christmas preparations took so much more time than I expected--and that's with dropping projects all along the way! My father decided he wasn't able to travel this Christmas, so the dude and I went to him. (My mother came up to spend Christmas eve with us.) On Christmas day we all flew to Florida. Over the next couple of days we went to Spanish Point, the Dali Museum, the Italian Market, and shopping--I was visiting my mother after all. Once we were back home, I had to read, read, read to make progress toward my Goodreads Challenge. I tried to read 20 books, but only did 18--which I'm quite happy about since I was only at 11 at the beginning of December.

With the loss of Picasa, I can't make the fabulous collages I've made the past couple of years. Google Photos limits you to nine pics. Here, we have almost all the smalls from this year (No small in September or October). I do have one more to share from December, but I am one strand of Tropical Ocean from being done. 

Most of the finishes
Sadie's Stocking
Light House
Hawaiian Santa
Winter Row
French Country Owl
Ties that Bind
Greenland Santa
Mary's Stocking
Wisteria Snowman
Love Bird

I finished 19 pieces (including the nine smalls) when last year I finished 12 pieces (seven smalls). My goals were to "stick to the rotation and see where I get." Some months I was able to stick to the rotation better than others but I think I did well!

For 2017, I'm going to stick with the rotation again, and sign up for the Smalls SAL. Maybe this year I can get even closer to 12 smalls for the year.

1. St Nick's Noel
2. Christian's Stocking
3. Our Souls
4. Forty Seven Hearts (new, anniversary present)
5. Love Me, Love My Dog
6. Deruta Biscornu
7. Lapland Santa
8. small
9. Ladybug, Ladybug
10. Tis the Season

I'm also going to celebrate Craft Month with the helpful input you gave me last year. 

Onward, stitchers!

A Month of Blogging Finis

I wasn't sure what I was going to stitch last night that could also serve as my small for today's Small SAL report. I pawed through the stash, reviewed the three Two Hour Cross Stitch books I had, selected and discarded a few items. At last my eye alighted on the Lizzie*Kate pattern Sled Dudes. One of the women sitting next to me at the Strawberry Sampler Stitch In at the beginning of this month was stitching this very piece. She started it and then I looked over again a few minutes later and she had nearly finished it! With this memory in mind, I knew I had found the perfect piece.

I only stitched on it for an hour last night, but I was able to finish-finish it in another hour or so! Since I decided on this piece at the last minute, only two of the flosses are the called-for colors. I used WDW Grasshopper for the green and WDW Peony for the pink, as called for. But the blue is GAST Huckleberry, the white is WDW Whitewash, the black is GAST Wrought Iron and the red is DMC 321 (which is listed as an alternate to Louisiana Hot Sauce). I also used metallic gold perforated paper instead of plain brown; it was all I had. Linking up with Heather of Stitching Lotus who hosts the Smalls SAL.

This is the most fun I have ever had doing NaBloPoMo! I really went back to the roots of the blog for that one, and it worked!  I'll be back to the regular rotation tomorrow.

Wisteria Snowman
Love Bird
Christian's Stocking
Our Souls
Waldorff
Cinnamon Stars
Lapland Santa
small
Ladybug, Ladybug
Tis the Season

August

Oops! I'm a little late. We're enjoying the beach, well, it's been overcast and rainy so we're not enjoying it at all. Time away from work, let's call it.

I was able to finish my small for the SAL, mostly stitched on the long drive up while we listened to Bill Bryson's Road to Little Dribbling.

Linking up with Heather of Stitching Lotus who hosts the Smalls SAL.

This is a Mosey n Me Freebie called Ewephoria. It doesn't come with recommended colors, so I chose WDW London Fog for the sheep, WDW Onyx for the black, WDW Meadow for the letters and an unmarked overdyed pink for the ribbons. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out although if I had had more time, I might have done French knots for the sheep's body. 

Last month, I decided to join Justine in Just One July, so I focused on Mary's Stocking for my sister. I had hoped to complete it, and if I could have kept up my momentum, I might have. (Do you know why I don't write might of? Because it is wrong. You are hearing might've. That apostrophe is replacing the "ha." But I digress...) Losing momentum on a project happens a lot when I only focus on one thing. Still I made progress. Mary's only missing her head and hands. (Despite all the murder mystery shows we have been watching, this is not a sign of homicide.)

Not sure what I am going to do about her hands and face. The pattern calls for 841 but I only have 840, which I think Christian's stocking (the other one I have to finish) calls for. I could make them the same color, or I could make fair Mary lighter but it would require a trip to the LNS, and I wouldn't be able to get to that for a while. Hmmmmm... (I do believe Faye's Christmas deadline is October.) Something to think about.

Either way, I am going back to my rotation which will allow me to keep my momentum (I hope!). This is what I call the "Molly Rotation" since Molly of Strawberry Sampler invented it. Three days on each of 10 projects over the course of the month.

1. Waldorff, Homespun Sampler
2. Mary's Stocking, SB
3. Wisteria Snowman, SB
4. Our Souls, Midsummer Night Designs
5. Greenland Santa, Mill Hill
6. Cinnamon Stars, Plum Street
7. Small #8
8. Lovebird, JABC
9. Ladybug, Ladybug, Rabbit Workes
10. Tis the Season, Blackbird

Onward!

Halfway Mark

July 2 marks the halfway point to the year. It is a good time to take stock of my overall goals from January.

I'm going to use the "Molly Rotation" where I focus on 10 pieces for three days each over the course of every month (except March and November) to try to complete some of the things I've started over the last few years. I'm not calling a number this year. I'm going to stick to my rotation and see where I get.
Here's the plan:

1. Waldorff, Homespun Sampler
2. Hawaiian Santa, Mill Hill
3. Lighthouse, Bent Creek
4. Our Souls, Midsummer Night Designs
5. Greenland Santa, Mill Hill
6. Anniversary Sampler
7. Winter Row, Bent Creek
8. Sadie's Stocking, SB
9. Small #1
10. Tis the Season, Blackbird

I've signed up again for the Smalls SAL, and my goal is to come out with twelve new smalls. (I think I can!)

First up, the smalls. I do have six even though I only posted to the SAL five times: January, February, March, April, May, June.

As for the rotation, April and May were pretty abysmal. I spent April recovering from Craft Month; in  early May I was stitching a graduation gift and in late May I was travelling (with some projects not on the list!). But I did do a couple of solid months of rotation stitching, and finished Hawaiian Santa, Lighthouse, the anniversary sampler, Winter Row, and Sadie's Stocking. I also started and finished a graduation gift.

I've already finished as many pieces as I did last year! What will the next half of the year bring?

Hello, July!

Heart in Hand's Woodland Peace ornament kit was my small for June, although I did finish it in July. It was just one of those months. (Even my grandmothers' cookies were made in June but sent in July.) I did enjoy stitching this; the fabric was silky, the colors were bright and fantastic, and it stitched up pretty quickly!

Goals for June:
I went with a half month rotation:
June 13-15 Our Souls--just a few flowers

June 16-18 Cinnamon Stars--nearly finished the center of the house and one side of the roof
June 19-21 Greenland Santa--just a few stitches, but that's how things are finished
June 22-24 Small #6--finished (above)
June 25-27 Mary's Stocking--no
June 28-30 Tis the Season--no

Overall, not bad. I also got some stitching done at the beginning of the month.

Goals for July:
I'm going to join Justine for Just One July. I'm combining with my traditional Christmas in July, so I'll be working on Mary's Stocking from Shepherd's Bush.

Here's where I'm starting.



This post is linked to Heather's Smalls SAL. You can get more information there or if you click the graphic in the sidebar. You can join at any time.

Good News!

First the good news. Stella's tumor was "low grade" and the margins were clear. She requires no further treatment. Woohoo! She'll get her stitches out next Tuesday and should be back to normal before we know it. (Coming off the Benadryl has certainly raised her energy level.) It will take about four months for her fur to grow back, however.

I have returned to work so am well enough. I am no longer coughing so much that I need to mainline cough drops. I didn't even take Nyquil last night! 

I thought it might be good to get back to my 10 project rotation, so the plan for the rest of June looks like this:

June 13-15 Our Souls*
June 16-18 Cinnamon Stars**
June 19-21 Greenland Santa
June 22-24 Small #6
June 25-27 Mary's Stocking
June 28-30 Tis the Season

*I have a number of meetings these evenings, so there may be less progress than we'd hope.

**The three weekend hiatus from gardening may result in less progress than we'd hope.

February Goals

Credit: Death to the Stock Photo, Floral 2

Hello, February!

I feel like I had great success with my new rotation. I saw measurable progress on each of ten projects, finishing two this month. (That's a rate about twice as productive as I was last year!) I don't think I'll be able to complete one of my larger projects each month, but I like the sound of measurable progress! So, I'm going to keep at it.

Feb 1-3 Waldorff
Feb 4-6 Hawaiian Santa
Feb 7-9 Lighthouse
Feb 10-12 Our Souls
Feb 13-15 Greenland Santa
Feb 16-18 The Thread that Binds
Feb 19-21 Winter Row
Feb 22-24 Small #2
Feb 25-27 Mary's Stocking
Feb 28-29 Tis the Season.

Year in Review: 2015

One last finish for the year! You may remember how I got thisclose to finishing this one in July before I ran out of Forest Glade. And apparently out of energy because I didn't pick it back up until the holidays were over. Since we celebrate Boxing Day, and my aunt's birthday is on the 27th, that wasn't until the 28th.












You can see here, I worked around my mishap by using a different color for Merry Christmas. I like the way it turned out. I also needed to find another color for the seven stitches in that last "E." I used a couple of different colors, and even in the sunlight, I don't think you can tell.







Twenty fifteen
Not my best year for stitching. All told, I had only twelve finishes, and seven of those were smalls. I did great when it came to finish-finishing--but only because I made that my focus in March. I want to stitch more often, and I want to complete more pieces. If you could tell me how to fit 28 hours of life into a 24 hour day, I'd be indebted.

Thanks for following along with my stitching (and gardening and farm share) in 2015!

Happy Halloween!

If someone could tell me where the last few weeks have gone, I'd be indebted. Things are super busy at work (five projects due before December). It just saps my energy. What's more, I realized I had only read six books for my Goodreads challenge (of only 15). So I picked up Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. That'll keep you involved! Anyway, no time for stitching or blogging. 

October Review

I didn't really set out goals because of the cluster that was the beginning of the month (starting with being stranded in Tennessee an extra day because of the rain on the east coast). But my goal was to stitch a small (decorative gourds), finish Sadie's stocking, and possibly stitch on an autumnal piece in the WIP basket.

I did get sidetracked by Cinnamon Stars. I love the colors of this one so much. Although I started this one for Debbie's Crazy January, I am discovering that I do not have all the colors I need. (How surprising...) That's kept me focused on finishing the front of the house where I started. That's definitely a strategy for staying focused!

But I'm back to work on Sadie's stocking because, well, these kids are too cute to disappoint. (And I'm missing one color and ran out of another.) (Story of my life!)

November Goals

I had hoped to spend November working on a different project every day for NaBloPoMo but I really need to focus. I know, I'm disappointed too. But I'll try to knock out Sadie's stocking so that I can pick up the challenge of something new every day.

And yet, when I think of the things that need doing next month, like finishing the Christmas cards, the silent auction (that old chestnut), and the Thanksgiving celebration, I'm not sure this is a reasonable goal. 

Yes, suddenly I'm going to make reasonablegoals!

Reaping the Harvest

I was going to try to catch up on last week's posts: do the Alphabet Club post, review my monthly goals, etc. But I was avoiding blogging. I wasn't feeling it. So I stitched and thought and decided just to move on. Sometimes you have to make the hard decisions. (And trust, the "C" post I had been working on was crap. You don't need more of that in your life.)

I finished a piece for the dude. This is the one I had brought to Tennessee to work on in secret, but left the black floss at home.

This is a Subversive Cross Stitch pattern. The reference is to a McSweeney's piece. If you don't know it, you owe it to yourself to read it. Of course if the language bothers you or you decorate with gourds, you'll probably be offended. The dude wasn't; he laughed for ages at this. And on the first day of fall, he told me it was decorative gourd season. Seriously, it was published in 2009, and he's still laughing at it.

Discerning viewers will realize that I cocked it up. I totally misaligned the gourds. I have no idea how I did it or why I didn't notice until I was done. But that's what Just Another Button Company makes buttons for.

I'm going to go back to the Shepherds Bush stockings and complete those so I can do the finishing work in November. And if I finish before the end of the month, I'll choose one of the autumnal patterns in the WIP basket to work on.

August Wrap Up

In August, I set out to work on the following:

• Charland’s Stocking, Shepherd's Bush--I've impressed myself with my progress on this! 
• Light House, Bent Creek--spent the ride up to Maine stitching this. I finished the sampler part, and worked on the lighthouse a couple of nights while we were there. Very appropriate!
• Small (smaller small than last month!)--I spent the ride home from Maine working on this one. I also took it to work for a project to stitch on at lunch. I only stay at work for lunch for two days (the other days I go home to let the dog out). I've started eating a quick lunch and heading to the library to stitch. Cool and relaxing.

For September, I plan to:

• Finish Charland’s Stocking
• Work on (maybe finish?) Sadie’s Stocking
• Small

July Wrap Up

Usually I'm a lot more on top of this, but I was still in Canada on the last day of July. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. (And thanks for all your comments on our travelogue.)

July's Goals:

• Shining Star, SamSarah (finish)--I didn't get any further with this project. I thought I worked on it while we were in Canada but it doesn't look like I did! {sad trombone}
• Tis the Season, Blackbird--I took a few stitches on this one on the plane...when I was awake. (And last time.)
• Wisteria Snowman, Shepherd's Bush--I stitched a bit on this in the car ride from the Newark* airport to home. (And last time.)
• Small--I don't know why I think every ornament is a small. I spent over a week--with lots of stitching time dedicated to this--and it's still stitched let alone beaded.

August Goals:

• Charland’s Stocking, Shepherd's Bush--If I'm giving my nieces stockings for Christmas, I've got to get going on the stitching. They only take about three weeks, so I should have plenty of time. But I also thought I was finishing Shining Star last month {eye roll}.
• Light House, Bent Creek
• Small (smaller small than last month!)

*Yeah, Newark. Philadelphia doesn't have that great an airport. When I tried to fly Air Canada out of Philly, they were going to put us on a bus to Newark. I thought I'd save myself some headache, heartache, and dosh. 



 

Halfway There

We are officially halfway through the year. (How did that happen, amiright?) It's time to take a deep breath and see how I am doing on the things I set out to do in January.

My goals for the year:

• Start 31 projects in Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge--I did it!

• Stitch every day. --I fell down on this one in March. Damn, March! But I've definitely picked back up recently.

• Complete stitching twelve pieces (in addition to the smalls)--I've done a whopping TWO finishes, the girls' samplers. I'm nearly there on the dude's anniversary sampler. That makes this goal 25% complete.
• Stitch more smalls--Three so far this year, which is more than none but less than the six I had hoped for. {Bee Keeper, Slow Poke, October Sampler}

• Craft Month with a new twist--It was a good one, I think.
• Finish-finish 12 stitched pieces--March helped, and even though I didn't reach my lofty goal of a finish every day, I hit the mark on this one.

1. Scissor Fob
2. Tuck Pillow
3. Jar Topper
4. Hoop
5. Bell Pull
6. Mounted Flat Ornament
7. Flat Fold
8. Box Mount
9. Tin Pin
10. Applique
11. Beaded Edge Ornament
12. Scissor Keep

• Hire a new cleaner. --She started in April with a "spring cleaning" and coming home was a joy!

If I redouble my efforts to stitch every day, I'm sure I can complete stitching more projects even if 25% is < 50%.

How are you doing on your annual goals?