Mid-Year Musings

First a look at how well I am doing on the annual goals:
***Participate in the Crazy January 2011 Challenge. Only one of the 15 projects remains to be started, another needs to be re-started [bad choice of fabric], while two more are already a works in progress. This has been a great way to include stash I have been itching to stitch in my current rotation.

***Continue to limit purchases of charts to five per year. I have made four purchases so far this year, which works for me. I'll probably stop at four, last year I only bought three. As it is, I have enough charts stored away in binders and drawers to last me the remainder of my life.
***Continue to blog every other day. I have been blogging pretty consistently, at times, even daily.
***Complete three BAPs: Finish TWs Autumn Faerie. And then move on to Christmas Stockings for Liam and Piper: TW's Woodland Angel and Dimensions Woodland Maiden. The Autumn Faerie is finished and ready for the framers .

***Complete a medium project each month: concentrating on Halloween, Quaker animal and fantasy dragon charts. The Crazy January Challenge has included a few pieces in these categories but this goal will have to be the focus of the remainder of the year.
***Complete a Town Square SAL chart each month. So far, the Crazy January Challenge has included four of these and I did one more back in January as part of my regular rotation. So I am only one behind at this point.

***Get to the bottom of the UFO basket. I have made some small progress in this area ... more on this below.

***Get to the bottom of the finishing basket. I have come to the conclusion that this basket is, in fact, bottomless.

***Make some more anniversary/Valentine ornaments ... sufficient to keep the table top ornament tree up in the entry hall from January 1 through February 14. I am unlikely to get to this until 2012, given all my other stitching priorities. I do have a perfect chart for this project: Winter Hearts, which has four really lovely hearts to stitch.
***Paint the walls of the stitching-room-to-be as well as re-finish some of the furniture that will eventually reside there. If I get this much done, I'll be able to start using the room even before I have it fully fitted up as per my grand vision. There is still time to work on this project ... perhaps when the weather gets cooler.
***I still want to learn to knit properly. I am determined to do this in the Fall ... either by joining the Knitting Circle at the High Schhol Adult Ed Program or finding a class somewhere else.

Okay, seven of the eleven goals are already being met in a satisfactory fashion, two more are really cool weather projects that have to be deferred to the later part of the year ... leaving only two that are unlikely to be met this year. One other thing I started doing last year was tracking just how much I spent on this passion for stitching and how what I spent actually broke down: charts, fabric, fiber, tools, embellishments, finishing and framing, classes, retreats, exchanges & giveaways [postage]. I am continuing to track everything noted above except postage on giveaways and exchanges ... I am afraid to track those amounts lest it convinces me to cease and desist. Here's the mid-year breakdown:

2011 Stitching Expenditures to date:
Retreats: $ 495.00
Memberships: 50.00
Charts: 37.19
Fabric: 0.00
Floss/Fiber: 139.77
Beads/Buttons: 6.20
Needles: 15.25
Tools: 20.99
G/C: 5.00
S/H: 28.11
TOTAL $ 797.61

And so, projecting to 2012: I do believe I need to switch gears a bit. Some of the usual goals will remain in place but there will be changes of focus as well

***A UFO Crazy January Challenge: Select 10 UFOs from the basket. Stitch on one on each of the first ten days of the January 2012, to get back some of the enthusiasm for each piece. Then continue to work them into the rotation in the same way the 2011 CJC worked.

***Limit new starts to one a month until all WIPs and UFOs are stitched. Work primarily on the Dragons, Quakers and Halloween charts.

***Continue to limit purchases of charts to five per year.

***Continue to blog every other day.

***Choose two to three BAPs for the year and work on them steadily.

***Catch up on sewing finishes.

***Finish setting up the sewing/craft/TV room.

***Inventory chart stash and set some priorities for completing what is on hand.

***Ruthlessly eliminate charts that will never be stitched and UFOs that will never be completed from stash. Use the charts for giveaways. Consider setting up a UFO exchange for the fun of it.

***Attend an EGA chapter meeting as a member-at-large, or take an EGA on-line course.

I will probably change my mind about these goals as 2012 approaches ... so much depends on how many of the 2011 goals are actually accomplished. But I like to think ahead.