Happy 2010

Greetings to all on the first day of 2010! I hope everybody had a good day. I didn't stay up and ring in the new year; been there, done that and didn't have anyone here to do it with this year but the cats and they generally sleep through it so I didn't see any point. Today I watched the Tournament of Roses parade, then plopped myself in the stitching chair with a Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy (that looks even more idiotic when I type it than it does on the TV screen) and a new start.

I wanted to start a new project with the new year and I had debated with myself a bit about which one to do, but I finally decided on The Lost Gardens of Heligan, mostly because it was already kitted up and ready to go. This picture is really, really bad; maybe I can get a better one in the daylight tomorrow.

I started with the little statue in the middle of the design; those are the stitches in the lower left of the picture above. The gray vertical block where the needle is parked is part of the wall to the right of the statue; I'm working my way to the greenery in the upper right. With a design like this, I prefer to start at the upper right, but I never seem to be able to measure it properly so it's placed evenly on the fabric, so I just start in the middle and work my way to it.

I bought it as a kit; the fibers are DMC and I switched out the 18 count aida for 40 count antique white linen.

I've read in several blogs about stitching accomplishments and goals. My big stitching accomplishment in '09 was finishing And They Sinned -- hooray! I didn't set any goals last year but I decided I'd set some for 2010, keeping them fairly generic:

1. Finish 1 BAP or large project

2. Finish 2 medium-sized projects

3. Finish 3 ornaments

4. Remember that stitching is FUN, not a chore or an obligation!

I think those are do-able, though sometimes the last one is the hardest one of all. When I find myself at that point, it's time to send the stitch on vacation for a few days while I re-connect the dots.

Stay warm!