September Goals

These are the goals I set myself for August:

1. Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock - Done
2. Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory - Didn't do half an hour a day but I'm still making progress
3. Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah - Did not do
4. Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy - Did 200 stitches and made it a UFO
5. Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start - Done

I'm pleased with the progress I made with these goals, I didn't even start Hannah's jumper, did a tension square but just haven't had the knitting urge recently.

I'm going through my chart inventory and splitting them into categories - some I don't like anymore, some I like the picture but don't think I'll stitch, some I would like to stitch and some I would love to stitch.  The only ones I am going to be listing on my stash page are the ones I would love to stitch so that when I want to start a new project I will have a shorter list to look through.

I'm really happy with my progress on Home of a Needleworker and have been surprised at how a seemingly simple design has caused me so much trouble.  I don't normally frog if I have put a stitch or two in the wrong place but just kind of work round it but with this design even one stitch wrong shows up and needs to be redone.  Having said that I am really enjoying it and it is nice to be doing a project where I can see the end in sight.

So my September goals:

1. Complete fourth page of Hickory Dickory Dock
2. Spend some time each day on chart inventory
3. Start jumper for Hannah
4. Do at least 2000 stitches on SK Treasures
5. Complete Home of a Needleworker

Blue Rose Fairy as of 15.08.11

So I've done the 200 stitches that I set myself for this month on Blue Rose Fairy and I have now submitted the 6 photos needed for the SAL to get the other charts and I'm giving up on Blue Rose Fairy.  I am just not enjoying stitching it and I can't see myself ever displaying it if I did complete it.  Honestly there are other projects I'd much rather be stitching so I am putting this in the UFO pile.  I'm not saying I will never come back to it but it certainly won't be featuring in my rotation for the time being.  So here's the picture of where I'm up to.

My husband has also just shown me a setting on our camera which means I can take close up in focus pictures for the first time.  Can you believe we've had this camera at least 3 years and I didn't know you could do this!!

So what will I stitch on next I just can't decide at the minute it might be Masquerade because I am close to finishing it, I may work on Believe or might go back to Hickory Dickory Dock, or should I work on Shy Baby I've not done anything on that for ages!

Decisions, decisions - I guess you'll see on my next post :-)

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 13.08.11 - PAGE 2 COMPLETE

So here's the progress I've made since my last post on those August goals

Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock

I've done 2,106 stitches on Hickory Dickory Dock since my last post and have completed page 2.  I have now done 16,448 of 26,775 stitches which means I am 61.43% complete.  There are only four partial pages left to do on this design now and I must have done over 50% of page 3 already so I'm well on my way with this.

Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory


I've spent over 4 hours going through all the charts I have.  A lot of them are stored electronically and they are all over the place so I am going through making sure they have names so that I will know what they are at a glance, making a list of them and my intention is then to split them into small, medium and large projects and try and make some sort of priority list otherwise I just know I will have lots of charts I would love to do that I never get round to.

Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah

I didn't manage to get much knitting done this week but I did complete the tension square so should be able to start on the actual jumper next week.  I think I am going to do it in a bigger size than I originally planned to and then if it takes me a long while to complete it will hopefully still fit.

Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy

No stitching done this week on Blue Rose Fairy but she will be the next one on my frame to work on.

Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start

So I chose to start stitching Home of a Needleworker by Little House Needleworks as my small chart.  It's a great project on as I can outline areas and just pick it up and fill in a few stitches whenever I get chance.  I am stitching it on 18 count cream aida 2 over 1 full crosses.  Here's how it should look when it's finished.

This is the picture of my progress so far.

Lastly I have had a major splurge this week.  Someone mentioned earlier in the week on the HAED BB that they had purchased a Millennium Frame and how great it was.  So of course I had to have a look!  The website that sell them have a great video explaining how easy they are to use and I was immediately hooked.  Granted they are expensive but a number of other people who use the frames have told me that they don't think they would ever need to buy another frame again.  So I've bought two sizes of the top and bottom bars and one set of the side bars.  I'll let you know when they arrive and how I get on with them.

Monthly Goals - August

So I decided I would set myself some small goals each month and this is what I've decided for August:

1. Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock
2. Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory
3. Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah
4. Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy
5. Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start

I'm not sure how realistic these goals are as I haven't set monthly goals before so I'll just have to see how I go.

When I say a small chart I'm thinking of maybe doing one of the Lizzie Kate's I have or maybe a Little House Needlework design.  Anyway we'll see how I go I don't really need a new project right now but I would like something I can stitch on during the day when I can't give my stitching 100% attention.

Blue Rose Fairy as of 12.05.11

This week it was the HAED BB QS SAL.  I'm really struggling with Blue Rose Fairy and only managed to do a little under 500 stitches on her.  But any progress is progress right!

I may not be able to update over the next couple of weeks or get much stitching done as I am doing a course that I need for work.  I'll be leaving home at 7am and not getting home untill 7pm so don't know if it will just be a case of eating my tea and going straight to bed or if I will have the energy to get some stitching in.  However the third week I have four days off work and my little boy will either be with his grandparents or at nursery so once I've caught up on the housework I can have four full days stitching!

Baking, Knitting, Voting and Stitching

Well over the past couple of weeks I've wanted to start doing some baking.  I used to make cakes when I lived at home with my parents but haven't baked anything for years.  It may have something to do with a new magazine that is being published in the UK called Baked and Delicious.  I saw the advert on the telly and it looked really good and my husband agreed so we bought the first copy.  I made the cupcakes and they were lovely so we decided to subscribe to the magazine.  I then decided that I needed a mixer because I only have a hand held one that has one speed and when you mix with it everything flies everywhere.  So I got myself a Breville Stand and Hand Mixer.  So I decided today to make Chelsea Buns (recipe recommended by Dawn from http://www.craftykitten.co.uk/) because they used to be my favourite cakes but I haven't had one in ages.  Here's how they came out.  I haven't had one yet so can't say what they taste like but they look good! (Edited: Me and hubby have just had one each and they taste even better than they look!)

Onto the knitting update.  I've now finished the back on Little Boy Blue and am part way up the front.  I've bought more wool to make another one for Samuel in a large size and one for my niece Jessica.  I went to the library today and borrowed five Debbie Bliss knitting books and there are some really gorgeous designs in them.  I think knitting is going to get as out of control as stitching at this rate.  But hopefully it won't take me years to finish something I start knitting, and you don't have to find room on your walls for people to see them :-)

So the poll is over on which design I should start stitching next after I finish something and the outcome is the Gerbera Daisy Pillow which is three quarters complete so hopefully won't take me too long to finish.  But I have to finish something first before I can start finishing it!

And finally a stitching update.  It is the HAED freebie SAL this week so I should be working on Blue Rose Fairy but I'm really not back in a stitching mood yet so I have gone back to my old favourite Shy Baby.  I always love stitching her so I figure if anything can get my mojo back she can.

Blue Rose Fairy as of 11.03.11

This week has been the HAED BB SAL and this is my progress on Blue Rose Fairy.

I managed to do just under 1,500 stitches on it this week which means it is now 16.45% complete.

Only a short update today as I am feeling a bit delicate as I've been in bed with food poisoning for the last 24 hours.

Blue Rose Fairy as of 06.02.11

So here's my update on Blue Rose Fairy.  I've managed to do 2,235 stitches on this bringing the total number of stitches done to 4,194 which is 12.12% complete.  I'm really enjoying watching this grow as it is quite diffferent from any of my other projects.

Blue Rose Fairy QS - 2011 SAL - as of 06.01.11

So this week I started stitching the 2011 SAL.  The chart I chose was Blue Rose Fairy and the finished item should look like this.

I am stitching her on 20 count white aida 3 over 1 tent stitch and here is a picture of the progress I have made so far.  I have completed 1,959 of 34,446 which is 5.69% of the total complete.  My BB goal is to complete 1 page and I have completed 24.99% of this goal and my blog goal is to complete 2 pages and I have completed 13.33% of this goal.

HAED BB 2011 Full Year Goals

A few days ago I set myself my stitching goals for 2011.  Having thought a bit harder about it I think the goals may be a little too much.  So today I have set myself a few less goals on the HAED BB, they are

1. Complete two pages in tent stitch of QS Believe not currently started
2. Complete two pages in tent stitch of QS Hickory Dickory Dock currently done 10.44%
3. Complete in full crosses SK Masquerade 2010 SAL currently done 61.83% 
4. Complete one page in tent stitch of QS Blue Rose Fairy 2011 SAL currently done 3.64%

I will still keep the original goals I set myself here on my blog but will be working mainly to complete the HAED BB goals.  Looking forward to seeing how realistic any of these goals are!

Stitching Goals for 2011

So I've been thinking recently about what I would like to achieve with my stitching in 2011.  I have 8 projects on the go at the moment and when I add in the 2011 SAL that will make 9.  I enjoy having lots of different things to stitch so I don't get bored but I do sometimes feel like I am not getting anywhere with any of the projects.  So the goals I am setting myself for 2011 are to:-

1. Masquerade SK - complete - this was the June to Dec 2010 SAL and I have currently completed 61.83%
2. Butterflies Galore SK - complete 75% - I have currently done 45.21%
3. Christmas Stocking - complete by Christmas 2012 - I find this quite hard going sometimes as it is a very simple pattern and has huge blocks of the same colour so my goal is to have completed it by Christmas 2012 when Samuel will be nearly 3
4. Hickory Dickory Dock QS - complete 50% - I have currently done 10.44%
5. Christmas Cards & Bookmarks - I would like to have 5 bookmarks for my mum to sell at next years Church Christmas Fair and I would like to have 6 Christmas cards to be able to send to family members
6. Train of Dreams - complete 1 page - I have currently done 3.51%.  I am finding this project quite hard to motivate myself to stitch.  It's a strange one because I love stitching it when I get started but I never want to start sewing it.  The really odd thing is it is one of my most favourite designs so I can't understand why I find it so hard getting started on it.
7. Shy Baby - complete 3 pages - I have currently done 6.86%.  I love stitching this design and have to stop myself from stitching on it all the time to do some stitching on other projects.
8. Samuel - complete 20% - I have currently done 2.63%.  This is a photo of my son that Michele charted for me.
9. Blue Rose Fairy QS - complete 2 pages - this is the 2011 SAL so I haven't currently started it.

So it will be very interesting to look back this time next year and see how much I have accomplished in relation to these goals.  I don't know if they are realistic or not as I have never set goals for myself before.  If I complete half of the goals I will be very happy.

I have been working on the photo of my son this week and am going to work on it a couple more days before I post an update.