In keeping with my New Year’s Resolution to finish projects, I completed three pieces this weekend.

First was my Chicago Needlepoint. The hardest part of this project was figuring out the right stitch for the water. I tried many stitches and a couple of different kinds of threads. My main problem was finidhing a stitch and thread that would cover the workds “Chicago Harbor” which were painted in the water in the bottom of the canvas. I didn’t think it was necessary so I stitched over it.

My second project was my reindeer ornament. He is so cute. He was almost done I had to finish the tree and the reindeer’s scarf. In hind sight, I would have made the scarf shorter and added some fringe to the end of it, but I’ll keep that idea for a future project.

The last piece I finished was a project I started in June. It’s a small piece but tedious. It had a lot of outlining. In addition to finishing the stitching, I also framed it this weekend.

Can I buy a new project yet?

Tags: needlepoint, cross stitch

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my goals for this year is to finish most (ie 75%) of my open needlework projects. I went through all my drawers, all my bags, all the nooks and crannies of my craft room and here’s what I found:

Needlepoint:
1. Chicago needlepoint
2. Reindeer ornament
3. Santa ornament
4. Vase with flowers needlepoint
5. Christmas Stocking
6. Swirling with Love

Cross Stitch
7. Halloween sampler
8. Strawberry basket
9. Kitty with bee on nose
10. Friendship cross stitch
11. Blue diamond fairy

Knitting
12. Afghan
13. Socks
14. Bill’s hat
15. My hat & scarf

These projects vary in size and completeness. Stay tuned for progress reports.

Tags: resolutions

Happy New Year! It’s the time of year to find areas for personal improvement. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on resolutions and have decided to look at things differently. Many of the things on my list are things I would like to change permanently. So rather than resolving to do this things, this is the year that I accomplish them.

This is the year that:

1. I finish most of my open (in progress) knitting, needlepoint and cross-stitch projects. I have defined “most” as 75%. One of the first things I’ll have to do it inventory all my projects. I estimate having 2 knitting, 5 needlepoint and 3 cross stitch projects open. I am also going to limit the number of new projects I buy. I have quite a few projects in my craft room and really don’t need to buy anything new.

2. I will conquer the clutter. I own way too much crap. It’s time to clean out the closets, clean out the drawers, clean out under the beds, clean out the garage and purge. There’s also the mental aspect of letting go of the clutter. I assign value to these things and I don’t need the stuff to still have the memories. I will figure out what is really important and let go of the rest.

3. I will spend more time with my kids: brushing Sabrina, letting Cheli lay on my lap, letting Harrison chew on my fingers, walking CJ and brushing all their teeth. They enrich my life so I will try and enrich theirs.

4. I will eat 6 - 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I think this is am important first step in a healthy diet. I’m thinking more fruit and veggies will mean less cookies. We’ll see.

5. Spend more time outside. Life is too short to spend it inside doing chores. I want to get more fresh air.

6. Have more patience. With Bill, with myself, at work, on the metro…

What I love about the new year is all the potential. This year will be what I make it. What will yours be?

Tags: resolutions