October Progress Report and November Goals

I think I was rather over ambitious when it came to setting my October goals and therefore have not achieved very many of them but I did stick to the important one - buy no stash :-). I am going to try and be a little more realistic when it comes to setting Novembers goals.

Octobers Goals / Progress
1. Finish Kate's GTG Sampler - I have been stitching on this one but have not quite finished
2. Start and finish Bakewell Tarts Sampler - No, not even started
3. Start and finish Sunflower - No, not even started
4. Turn Dog Rose Scissor Case into a scissor case - No
5. Finish Around the World - YES
6. Finish a beading project - No
7. Start and finish Celtic Heart - No, not even started
8. Start and finish Celeste - No, not even started
9. Start Dunedin - No
10. Complete stitching on first round of Just Nan RR - Almost, it is about 75% complete
11. Keep up with stitching on UFO RR - Yes it was posted 2 days late
12. Buy no stash - Most definitely a YES

Novembers Goals
In November I want to:
1. Finish Round One of the Just Nan RR
2. Complete Round Two of the Just Nan RR
3. Keep up with stitching on UFO RR
4. Finish one stitching and one beading project
5. Do some pre-stitching for CA Wells class
6. Buy no stash

I am still here

I haven't been doing much stitching, knitting, beading or blogging recently since life has gotten in the way but hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel and this weekend will see things becoming more normal at least for a little while.

I don't want to turn this into a woe is me post but in summary over the last couple of weeks, I crashed my car and gave myself whiplash and my Daddy has had to resign his job (which he loved and was a major part of who he sees himself as) due to ill health. This means, among other things that he and Mummy have to move since the house they have been living in was provided by his employers. At the moment Daddy is very ill and the road to recovery will be a very long one but he will recover. Mummy, who can normally cope with anything that life throws at her, is not coping at all well. So for the moment all I can do is be supportive and provide whatever help is asked for although my parents are not the best at asking for help.

A Stitching Finish

Around the World by Barbara Thompson, started while on holiday in New Zealand in Feb-2006 and finished on 01-Oct-2006. This piece was fun to stitch and something completely different from what I would usually choose. It is the first finish on the 50 Projects Challenge and so far I have not been tempted to buy any new stash. I am not sure how long that will last. I am now going to try and finish off a few of my more advanced WIPs just to get a few more finishes onto the list.

50 Projects Challenge Update

Following long discussions with Karen and Liz yesterday (who were both kind enough to come over to my house for lunch and lots of chatting about stitching, thanks to both for a great day) I have decided to add two modifications to my personal rules for the 50 Project Challenge: the first of which is that I will allow myself to buy the Loose Feathers Limited Editions by Blackbirds Designs, but I am only allowed to buy the charts, the second is that when I have completed the first 25 projects I am allowed to kit up 5 projects but I have to take at least half of the supplies for each project from my existing supplies piles. This will mean that I am still reducing the amount of stash that I have but will give me an incentive to keep going till I get to 50 finishes.

September Progress and October Goals

Once again I can not believe how quickly a month has past. September was not a very good month progress wise. I did however list out some of my stash and decide on taking part in the 50 Project Challenge which I am feeling very excited about.

For September my goals were
1. Finish Kates GTG Sampler
2. Start and finish Bakewell Tarts Sampler
3. Start and finish Sunflower
4. Turn Dog Rose Scissor Case into a scissor case
5. Finish Around the World
6. Finish a beading project

I managed to reach none of my goals, although I did make a tiny little bit of progress towards a couple of them, since I got distracted by a couple of Round Robins. This means that my goals for October make rather a long list.

For October my goals are:
1. Finish Kates GTG Sampler
2. Start and finish Bakewell Tarts Sampler
3. Start and finish Sunflower
4. Turn Dog Rose Scissor Case into a scissor case
5. Finish Around the World
6. Finish a beading project
7. Start and finish Celtic Heart
8. Start and finish Celeste
9. Start Dunedin
10. Complete stitching on first round of Just Nan RR
11. Keep up with stitching on UFO RR
and of course
12. Buy no stash

Stash Reduction Plans

I have started yet another plan to reduce my stash and am going to take part in the 50 Projects Challenge organized by Cherylann. The challenge is to finish 50 projects (I am going to count all beading, knitting, crocheting and stitching finishes) before buying any more stash. I have decided on two exceptions to the no stash rule - I am allowed to buy any supplies neccessary for any classes / workshops that I take and I am allowed small quantities of supplies to finish off any projects that are completed as part of the challenge. I plan to start counting my finishes from today and that for stitching projects to count as finished both the stitching part & the finishing part has to be completed, except for stitched pieces that I plan to get professionaly framed which will count as completed once the stitching is all done.
In order to keep track of my progress on the 50 projects challange and also as a place to store my stash list I have created a second blog (Allie's Stash Mountain)where I have already posted my current list of fully kitted up projects, all 130 of them. I also have large quantities of chart / patterns for which I do not have all the supplies and also of unallocated supplies (yarn, beads, DMC, hand dyed threads, fabric etc.), I have estimated that I can probally kit up another 50 or so projects from the unallocated stash pile. I aim over the next couple of weeks to go through my stash and turn the unallocated stuff into kitted projects either using patterns / charts that I already own or using free patterns / charts so that I know exactly how much stash I have.

Time Flies

I can not believe how quickly the past week has flown past. I had a great time at the Take A Lovely Sampler class last Saturday, it was my fist ever stitching class but will not be my last. It was also nice to meet up again with a couple of stitching friends. I have set myself a challenge of trying to complete the pieces from the class before the end of the year.

Stitching wise I am currently taking part in a UFO Round Robin and am having great fun stitching on someone else's UFO while watching my own UFO grow. This weekend I am going to try and start the pre-stitching for a CA Wells class that I am going to be taking in November.

Sorry that there are no photos at the moment but my camera has decided to die on me.

Take A Lovely Sampler

Tomorrow I am off down to London to take part in my first ever stitching class. I am both excited and nervous, there is so much to learn and my skills are very limited on the stitching front but, as I keep telling myself, that is why I am taking a class.

The class is Take a Lovely Sampler by Lauren Sauer. I recieved the kit for the class earlier this week and it is gorgeous, I have made a small start by stitching the front of the Book of Needles. Unfortunately my photography skills are not good enough to capture the true colours, which are very vibrant in real life.

Saying Goodbye to a UFO

I have decided to take part in my first every RR, a UFO RR and today have posted my chosen UFO - Night by Maria van Scharrenburg. Hopefully by the time I see her again there will be a few more stitches added to my sorry start. I started this piece several years ago, stitched about two dozen stitches and then put it to one side for reasons now long forgotten. I am really looking forward to get some progress on one of my UFOs and also to stitching on other peoples pieces.

August Report & September Goals

For August my goals were:
1. Finish Quaker Garden - YES
2. Finish Around the World - No, I didn't even manage to put one stitch into this piece
3. Finish one beading project - No, I did start a couple but didn't finish anything
4. Start and Finish Dog Rose Scissor Case - Sort of, I finished the stitching but as yet have not got around to making it into a scissor case

For September my goals are:
1. Finish Kates GTG Sampler
2. Start and finish Bakewell Tarts Sampler
3. Start and finish Sunflower
4. Turn Dog Rose Scissor Case into a scissor case
5. Finish Around the World
6. Finish a beading project