Another month flies by

I have just realised that not only is October but that there are less than 8 weeks till Christmas. I really must start getting my thoughts together about Christmas, I have as yet not brought a single present or even decided what to buy for anyone. As for the gifts that I had in mind to make for people since they are as yet not even started I guess they will have to be gifts for 2006.

The latest stitching plan is still alive and kicking - I am making progress on Daisy Chain and hope to finish it this week. The diet is also still on going and I have lost just over a stone, hopefully I will lose another one before Christmas. Goals for the month of November are to lose half a stone in weight and to complete at least 2 cross stitching projects.

The Latest Stitching Plan

I have decided to try and finish the following projects, some of which are WIPs (indicated by tge % complete), by the end of the year:
Coleshill Collection – Sunflower
Humphrey’s Corner – Daisy Chain (50% complete)
L*K – Wanted! Santa 02
L*K – Bless the Baby
Beth Russell – Orange Border (80% complete)
Derwentwater Designs - Rose Window
Just Nan – Celeste
L&L – Angel of Spring (80% complete)
Mellinnia Designs – William de Morgan Dogsmerfield (10% complete)

I have also decided to retire (to the bin) one of my WIPs which was started 5ish years ago and was intended as a wedding present for my sister. I have never been happy with it and have finally decided that I never will be. I will stitch something else as a 5th anniversary present for my sister & her husband next year.

I am starting with the Daisy Chain which I started this weekend and have made great progress on.

The Rule of Seven

I have been tagged for the first time ever, thank you Belinda.

7 Things I want to do before I die
Visit the Far East
Find that special someone
Get the hang of HTLM and web pages
Travel around the Americas (I have already done a little of Central America and Las Vegas)
Complete all the knitting / beading / cross stitching / needlework projects that are in my stash pile
Learn to speak another language
Learn to make fresh pasta from scratch

7 Things I can do
Knit (except socks)
Cross-stitch
Soduko puzzles
Cook (except pasta from scratch)
Make lists
Make my niece giggle
Ski

7 Things I cannot do
Sing
Ride a push bike
Crossword puzzles (I can not spell)
Knit socks (but I am working on this one)
Change a flat tire
Eat just on piece of chocolate or one biscuit / cookie at a time
Sulk

7 Things that attract me to another person
Intelligence
Sense of humor
Compassion
Honesty
Eyes
Smile
Hands

7 Celebrity crushes
This is a hard one since I don't really go in for celebraty crushes, I need to meet someone and get to know them before I get a crush on them

Harrison Ford
Jonathon Edwards
Johnny Depp
Nicolas Cage
Sean Connery
Patrick Swayze
Pierce Brosnon

7 Things I say the most
Well you know
What??
Yes I can do that (usually in response to a request for me to knit or stitch something for a friend or family member when I really should be saying no since I already have a tonne of things to do) And your point is?
Oops!!!
Bother
Noodles

7 Bloggers I will tag
I can't think of seven who have not already been tagged. So if you have not yet been tagged consider this your tag.

I am shrinking

I have just got back from my diet weekly meeting and am amazed to report that I have lost 9 & 1/2 lbs in two weeks. On every other diet I have done (and I have done dozens) I would have had to work really hard to loose that in 4 weeks. On Monday I wore a pair of trousers to work which the week before were too tight to wear for more than five minutes. Currently I am feeling very positive about this diet. It is by no means easy to stick to but I am now feeling confident that I can reach my goal weight by the end of this year.

While in a positive frame of mind I have been thinking about my enormous cross stitching stash. It is not the largest collection of stash in the world but it does bother me that I have so much stuff just gathering dust. It also worries me that by not buying new stash I might miss out on getting the chance to stitch some of the wonderful stuff that is available. I swing from being more bothered by the amount of stash I have and the need to buy stuff just in case it gets discontinued. So I have decided to set myself a limit of owning 20 stitching projects, once I get below that level I can buy new stuff to keep the total at 20. This means that I need to finish 30 plus projects before I can indulge in shopping. This may cause a slight problem since I need to stitch a birth and a wedding sampler next year - neither of which are already in my stash. In order to quickly reduce the number of projects I have decided to order my projects by the number of stitching hours which I estimate it will take to complete each project and to then work down the list starting with the quickest to finish piece. I will work on each piece till it is finished and then pick a project from the next three on the list. This way I should be able to finish several projects by the end of the year (fingers crossed).