I have been watching all sorts of cross stitch videos on YouTube. Most are from people participating in Floss Tube (I'm not) and also planning on various stitch alongs (SAL) which start January 1, 2015. So I'm going to try to set some goals for myself for 2015.
First of all, the reason for this is I am downsizing. I've gone from about a 1765 sq ft home with an attic and 2-car garage AND a shed to less than 1100 sq ft, no attic, no garage, no shed. 40+ years of accumulated stuff that was never really cleaned out nor sorted was basically stuffed into one room until a month ago.
One month ago I had been in and out of that room, unpacking books and moving them to a bookcase or to a countertop. I finished a box, tore it down and sat down to knit. I was not feeling any joy with the knitting so frogged the thing and tried to decide what to knit. I need more socks. I went back to that room and my feet got wet with COLD water in the same place I'd been walking back and forth a few hours earlier. Well today the room is basically empty of all the 'stuff' and the people are supposed to be here today to clean the carpet. The plan is to sort out everything that goes back into that room into bins based on what it is (supplies vs project, important papers, etc) and those bins will be, hopefully, stored in the closet, which is about 8' wide with sliding doors. Then I can assemble a table to use as a project table for sewing or cutting or finishing.
I expect to make a trip or two to the Goodwill donation trailer about 1/2 mile away from me as well as several trips to McKays. McKays is a wonderful shop located in 4 cities in Tennessee (here along with Memphis, Knoxville and Nashville) which will buy or give credit for books, cd's, dvd's, VHS, electronic games and records. There are some rules but they are pretty reasonable and common sense. Those books rejected by McKays will go to the library so they can sell them or, in the case of a few, maybe use them in their collection so others may enjoy them.
Some knitting things may be frogged and returned to stash. My current knitting projects include a pair of socks called Shazbat that are being knit 2 at a time, magic loop, in Cascade Heritage in a very dark green. My mother gave me a kit she had purchased and asked me to knit it up for her. That needs to be finished off and blocked then returned to her. That is a priority this coming year. I have my Magic Carpet Ride which is not being frogged due to all the beads. I want to finish the socks by the end of January and do more work on MCR. I have a pullover about half done and a cardigan which only needs the front band/collar to be completed. For the pullover, it is probably going to be finished sometime in 2015. The cardigan needs some work as I don't like the way the band is created then attached. I believe I want to make it more as you would a border on a shawl, knitting and attaching as you go. I'll need to write or chart out the band and plan the attaching stitching. That also is to be finished in 2015. There are 2 other sweaters which will be frogged and started again in the future.
Spinning will be strictly from stash - no new purchases of fiber. I have 11 5-gallon buckets currently crammed with fiber plus other fiber such as a few pounds of cotton, a batt from Loop, some silk and some alpaca. Plus I found one of those giant zip-locks with some fleece that may be older than my grands.
There is a lone star quilt that needs to be finished. I've been hand quilting it and I want to get one more point of the star finished and the adjoining fill-in done. I have a quilt top I gave to my daughter. That needs backing and then tied as a comforter, bound and returned to her. I'll need to decide on backing and binding. I believe I have batting available to use for it. I should have yarn I can use to tie it as well.
Weaving - there is warp for 2 dish towels currently on the loom. I ran into an issue with the pattern which is now corrected. The weaving that was on the loom was unpicked and started again. I hope to finish this before the end of January. One grand wants a scarf and I think I'll warp the loom and make a faux-Burberry scarf for that person. That should take maybe a month to do at most.
That leaves cross stitch projects - which are very numerous. None will be frogged or trashed. What I will do is pick some out to focus on. When they are done, other oldies will be chosen to complete. There will be one new start on January 1.
Heaven and Earth is having a free SAL for the bulletin board participants. Sign-ups closed at the first of December. I chose Undercover. If you click on the Heaven and Earth link, it will take you to that design's material pack. The design is no longer available. The SAL will only be a portion of that design, basically a portrait look for the fawn. I purchased a material pack with fabric and it is here and ready to go. I'll work on it for one week a month. I need to get at least 1/2 page finished to get another one of the SAL choices free. There is one of some golden retreiver pups that I would like. The other weeks of the month will be used to work on my Fireside Fairytales, the Pink Spotted Orchid and one of my oldies. First up will be Heirloom Christmas Sampler as it is the closest to finished. There is some stitching, all the beadwork and all the other embellishments to add. Then it will be framed to appear at Christmas time. After that will come the Desiderata. I want to finish 5 more bands on it. If it is completed, I'll pull out another UFO and work on it until it is done.
I had a computer hiccup and so there are no photos today. Hopefully I can fix the issue and insert the photos in a few days.
Meanwhile I wish you and yours all the joy, peace and love this Christmas season brings and may you have a wonderful New Year.
Enjoy!
