2014 Plans

Possibly the heading on this post should be "Better Late Than Never," but that would apply to so very many of my posts (and so much of my life in general) as to make it redundant.  So let's just assume I'm always behind the 8-ball and go one, shall we?

Stitching Plans:

• More than last year. -- but that is a disingenuous cop out

I mean, frankly, that should not be hard since last year took the prize for Most Lackluster Stitching Finishes Year in recent, recorded memory.  Now hold the presses!   I just went and checked and actually 2010 was considerably worse.  But still, let's think here folks --  I just rewrote my WIP lists in The Sacred Book of All Stitching (hmmm, I should show you that some time) so I have the numbers at hand ---  I currently have 37 xs pieces and 21 needlepoints with needles in them.  And last year I finished stitching 21 projects.  So logic says I should be able to plow through my WIPs and UFOs in 3 years.

But wait!  A quick tally shows that 9 of the 21 finishes were started and finished in 2013.  Another 11 items that I was "inspired" to start in 2013 remain today on either the WIP or the UFO list.  Now we can assume that I will feel compelled to start a bunch of new projects (as if I could ONLY stitch from my WIP and UFO piles!  HA!).  So, follow me here, I think we can make the logic leap that in 2014 I will follow the 2013 trend and have roughly 10 of my finishes for the year be new starts, and that another roughly 10 items that I start this year will remain unfinished by January of 2015.  Therefore, dear reader, by starting 20-ish new things a year and only finishing 20-ish things a year I WILL NEVER EVEN MAKE A DENT in my piles of pieces in progress.

{By the way, you are witnessing genuine discovery in action here -- This had not really dawned on me.  How embarrassing!}  All this means that to make any progress at all I need to finish more than I start this year.  I just must.  There are no two ways about it.  It has got to happen.    

So here it is -- The Real Stitching Plan:

•  4 finishes a month
• no more than 2 new starts in a month (and only 2 if one of them is an ornie)
• a COMPLETE BAN on ornies hanging around for more than 2 months.  Sheesh!   How embarrassing is a UFO ornie with no real excuse?
• my very, very, VERY best effort to control the shopping!  Dang it I'll need a spare county to keep it all in soon!

My target projects for the year are:
Ethel

Rose City Stitchers

BBD's America

Mrs. (And Mr. who I still haven't started)

Eagle Eyes (because I'm in love)

And the pieces suffering from a lack of photo--
Ladies Day
Ellen's flag
the flag needlepoint
powwow shawl dancer
In Virtue's Ways
Mary's Sampler
Tree of Stitches
Golden Gate Bridge ornie
A Gathering of Hearts
HiH Spooky
KandQs
pink rose box lid
and the other 7 needlepoint and 5 xs ornies I have needles in.

(wow, that fortuitously adds to 30 -- honest I didn't plan that)


The only other planning that really gets me intrigued is reading.  So here we go --

The Reading Plan, 2014:

• 5-6 books a month 
• at least 2 books a month off the unofficial list of stuff that has been waiting a long time
• a serious attempt to stop channel surfing in a futile effort to "find something worth watching" -- who am I kidding, it's not like I *need* to know what is in the mystery basket on Chopped, what the boys of Duck Dynasty are getting up to, or what is going to go wrong this week on Love It or List It.  And, let's face it I NEVER need to know anything related to Cupcake Wars so why do I even bother to pause?????   

Key target books of the year:

• Gaiman's American Gods (am I waiting for a personal invitation???)
• all the books that have been interminably languishing on my "in process" list -- namely: Powers' Strange Itineries; Vaughn's Kitty and the Midnight Hour; and Poitevin's Sins of the Angels
• at least 2 by Glen Cook and Simon R. Green, and Carrie Vaughan, and Sharon Shinn
• at least 3 on Ireland
• 12 nonfictions
• oh, and let's try for at least 3 of those books that people think "everyone" ought to have read -- you know.. "those"

So there they are The Grand Plans of 2014.  Wish me luck... I do the same for you and your schemes for the year!  Here's to success for us all.

Embarrassed Blogger

Two months?  Really?  Two entire months?  Whatever was I thinking??????  

Well, I know what I was thinking some of the time -- I was thinking:

• that I had not been accomplishing anything worth showing
• that it was going to take more brain power than I had at the time to pick good pictures
• that I did not have pictures of what I wanted to show you
• that I was an idiot for forgetting the pics.... again
• that I might have to shoot an IT rep who did not transfer the pics from the old machine to the new machine (still the case)
• that I still had not really accomplished anything of note
• that maybe the stitching fairies had left me bereft of all inspiration or motivation
• that I ought to do a blog on TV channel changing because that was all I seemed to do when not at work

Well, all of those still hold true, but I ****AM**** going to post today!

Here's the best I can do with what is at my disposal right now --

A couple weeks ago I got to go "play" at TNNA with my needlepoint shop crew.  Our small squad made the trek down south to San Diego for the festivities.  I, for one, was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready for shopping.

Here's the scene of the massing hoard entering the buyers showroom on opening day:

Here's the entertainment/decor they put on for our show (Sorry, I did not get the carving team in action) --

And it was personalized just for us -- don't you just love the spool and the stitching?--

And here is our happy crew the night before the big shopping weekend.  We were enjoying a little nosh and small designer displays

We looked FAR less perky the next two nights!
Oh, and that preview night I fell for my first piece of the show --

He is by The Collection.. They were our first stop of the show the next morning, and I commend them on their perkiness!  This arrived last week at the shop--

Isn't he beautiful?  I am waiting for the stitch guide so I can start the thread pull.  He's soooo pretty, and I am eager to start him.

Apparently TNNA this year was The Year of the Eagle for me because I also ordered something I fell for last year at TNNA.  I know!   Can you believe it?  I exercised a little control... for a whole year!'

He's called "Eagle Eyes" and is by Waterweave.  What can I say I had to have him.  Waterweave also had their fast-mailing crew on staff because that arrived last week for me as well --

Yes, gentle reader, he immediately went on bars and under the needle.  I think I am going to call him George after the "husband" eagle in the mating pair near Mount Vernon (yes, he's married to Martha).

I also found myself very enamored of the new 3-D piece from Sew Much Fun

I believe her name is Zoe.  We ordered her for the shop so I expect to be seeing some Zoes under the needle in the next few months.

The show was a grand success -- though a lot of booths were smaller than previous years.  There were plenty of pieces that stole our hearts, and lots of socializing to do.  What would TNNA be without frantic waves and squeals of greeting ?  .... and really tired feet.


In my own stitching life, I have been trying to get going again and I managed to actually get some respectable stitching done--

 This is the dress bib on the canvas I'm calling "Mrs." --the black stripes are Kreinik, the white are Kreinik and Sprinkles, the light pink are Belle Soie and Krienik, and the raspberry rows are Belle Soie over Kreinik.  A couple months of dedicated stitching will get her done --- unless I wander off and work on Mr. at the same time.  I need them both done by the beginning of October.  Yup, with my attention span, I'm doomed.

Thanks for your patience -- be back soon... I hope.