Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010 Goals Assessment

NOT TOO BAD ... MORE GREEN INDICATING SUCCESS THAN RED INDICATING FAILURE.

---Stitch from stash ... purchasing no more than five new charts. CHECK. THIS IS GETTING EASIER AS I GO ALONG. WITH VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS, THE NEWLY PUBLISHED CHARTS ARE LESS APPEALING THAN THOSE I ALREADY OWN. MY WISH LIST IS SHRINKING. I AM GUESSING I AM JUST NOT VERY TRENDY. SO FAR I HAVE ONLY PURCHASED FOUR BUT I HAVE A KIT "ON ORDER" WHICH COUNTS AS THE FIFTH.
---Blog every other day. WITH 211 POSTS IN 2010, I HAVE MET THIS GOAL NUMERICALLY SPEAKING, AT LEAST. CHRONOLOGICALLY SPEAKING, NOT SO MUCH. I HAVE POSTED ON MY BLOG MORE THAN 50% OF THE DAYS IN 2010. NaBloPoMo CERTAINLY RAISED THE COUNT SUBSTABTIALLY.
---Maintain reasonable monthly goals. CHECK. THIS IS ANOTHER GOAL THAT HAS GOTTEN EASIER AS I HAVE OBSERVED WHAT I ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISH IN A GIVEN TIME FRAME AND ADJUST MY EXPECTATIONS ACCORDINGLY.

---Complete 3 BAPs: Finish the TW Autumn Faerie for Angela and then get to work on TW's Woodland Angel stocking for Liam and Dimensions Woodland Enchantress converted to a stocking for Piper ... to work with the Woodland Santa stocking I made for their Dad. In 2011, I shall have to come up with something equally woodsy for my daughter-in-law Christina to complete the set. THIS SEEMED TO BE A YEAR OF SMALL FINISHES ... I JUST COULDN'T SEEM TO MAINTAIN THE MOMENTUM NEEDED TO COMPLETE EVEN ONE BAP. MAYBE 2011 WILL BE A BETTER YEAR FOR BAPS.
---Complete 1 medium project a month, concentrating on Christmas and Halloween projects with forays into Quakers. CHECK, ALTHOUGH THE MEDIUM PROJECTS HAVE BEEN MOSTLY SALS AND ROUND ROBIN PIECES RATHER THAN CHRISTMAS/HALLOWEEN/QUAKER PROJECTS.
---Get to the bottom of the finishing basket and then keep up with sewing finishes each month. NOT EXACTLY, BUT SOME SMALL PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE ... AT LEAST, THERE ARE FEWER PROJECTS IN THE BASKET THAN AT THE START OF 2010.
---Stitch one or two ornaments a month, concentrating on Christmas and Thanksgiving ornaments this year. CHECK. WHAT WITH THE BRIDE'S TREE SAL IN ADDITION TO MY NORMAL ORNAMENT STITCHING, I AM WAY OVER GOAL IN THIS AREA. I STITCHED AND ASSMEBLED 16 CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS, 8 THANKSGIVING ORNAMENTS AND 4 HALLOWEEN ORNAMENTS. A GRAND TOTAL OF 28.
---Inventory and prioritize all UFOs [discarding those that are truly lost causes] and stitch at least five hours a month on UFOs. THE INVENTORY GOT DONE BUT THEN THE WHOLE PROJECT SEEMED TO STALL.

---Do more work on my own design ideas. AS A MATTER OF NECESSITY I DID QUITE A BIT OF DESIGNING TO COMPLETE THE BRIDE'S TREE SAL ... QUAKER CHARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR ALL OF THE MONTHLY SUBJECTS.

---Finally back and quilt the feather-stitched crazy quilt top in time for Mary's 50th birthday in June. ALAS, NO!
---Continue to work on fitting up a stitching room. THIS HAS BEEN A SLOW PROCESS BUT THE ROOM IS FINALLY CLEANED AND THE OLD RUG HAS BEEN RIPPED UP. NEXT STEP IS TO PAINT THE WALLS.
---Learn to knit. ANOTHER YEAR WITHOUT SIGNING UP FOR THE KNITTING CIRCLE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL. EVERY YEAR I SWEAR I WILL DO THIS AND EVERY YEAR I SOMEHOW FAIL TO DO SO.
I have enjoyed my stitching projects in 2010 but was really surprised to note that I did so many smalls this year which is not my usual style. I did finish the sewing and assembly of all these smalls, at least! And, of course, the Bride's Tree SAL pieces had a stitched back and front ... so those were each the equivalent of two smalls, I suppose. Generally, I complete 2 or 3 BAPs and 12 to 15 medium projects each year. At one time, in my stitching heydey, I'd have 70 or so finishes a year. I am forced to conclude that not only have I been stitching smaller, I have been stitching slower as well. And, clearly I have been stitching less. It used to be I would spend two or three hours a day on the craft. Now, I spend two hours most days but there have been more and more days when I don't pick up a needle at all. The demands of the job require more of my time as my staff shrinks and my own job description grows and diversifies. Household errands and chores seem to take longer to accomplish. And, it seems that more and more of my time is spent in doctor's waiting rooms and offices. Just getting through the annual physical, with the ever increasing number of referrals to one specialist after another, now takes seven months or so. Oh well, that's what aging will do, I suppose. I had once thought that I'd pick up a little extra cash as a ghost stitcher once I retired but if I am this slow now, at 60, I doubt that is a viable plan. I am just going to have repress that A-type personality of mine and ignore the numbers of projects finished and concentrate on the enjoyment and satisfaction instead.

3 comments:

Rachel S-H said...

This might have been the year of simplifying--I think we all did smaller finishes than normal. I couldn't finish my BAP no matter how hard I tried. And I think you may have stitched "slower" because you are using hand-dyes. At least they slow me down. All we can do is set goals and do our best, and you did some beautiful ornaments.

Kttycat said...

Congrats on reaching more green than red this year!

Patty C. said...

There is a new year ahead !!!
Best wishes :)