Skirting the Edge

I started in on the outer edges of this quarter this week. I'm beginning to feel excited that I'll have part five done soon. It seems to be going faster these days. So, the dark blue and green are done on the outer upright edge and the lighter gold traces the inner edge. Every time I work on this piece and Tuscany, I just love the feel of them. Silk is so soft and buttery and a joy to work with.

Looks Almost the Same

The progress this week is kind of hard to see because it was mainly filling in color in areas already outlined. On top of that, the colors were gray and brown - ones that don't even stand out.

Bordering on a Finish

The last band before the outer border is almost complete - I just need to finish putting the Fyreworks on it. There's brick stitch and another star in the blank areas of the square. I like this piece a lot. It's given me a lot of practice with my laying tool. Considering this is the first year I've used a laying tool, I needed it! My husband will be making a box to put this on the top of. I think it'll look sharp, especially in something like a light poplar.

Lining it Out

I got most of the tendrils done this week. The knotted Portugese stitch 9darker wool) looks good, but it has a nub at the beginning from the way it starts that I don't like. I had to be careful to not pull the whipped stem stitch very tightly to make it smooth, else it was pulling up and out of shape.

Knot Takes Shape

After only two sessions stitching on it, you can see the knot taking shape now. The outer edges are where the lighter yellow ends. I've worked on it some since the picture was taken and hope to work on it again before next Friday - unless I decide to finish up either the zodiac calendar piece or Dazzle before then.

New Calendar

This piece is just weird, and I'm learning exactly how much muscle memory I have invested in stitching. All the stitches are backwards. I guess the person who started it is left handed or learned that way, so we all have to do it the same way to make it look good. I'm doing Ares because it looked like the next one that needed to be done. Right now, I have this round robin, one more, and supposedly one in the post to me. I -will- catch up.

Stitchy Goals for 2008

I'm not one for resolutions, but I am a great fan of goals. Planning is good. Feeling guilty because you took something out of order or strayed off a straight line for half a minute is not. These are things I hope to accomplish with my stitching in the new year. As I complete them, I'll update this post. They're not in any real order, just the order in which I thought of them in the past few days.

1. Complete the Medieval Town Mandala. I started it in May of 2006 and have been working steadily on it since then. It's about time it was done.

2. Work two pieces that have been languishing for over a year into my rotation. Both are quite a ways toward completion. One is The Traveler by Teresa Wentzler. The other is a Barbara and Cheryl house.

3. Finish Crewel Choices. This has an actual deadline of the end of January.

4. Finish Celtic Knot. This one also has a deadline of the beginning of March. It's for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary.

5. Complete an ornament a month. It doesn't matter the method. Just make an ornament each month instead of bunching them all up at the end of the year.

6. Complete the Take It Further Challenge. This means incorporating whatever the challenge is into a piece every year.

7. Complete, on time, the two GCC's I've signed up for that start in the next couple of weeks. One is the 17th Century English Sampler and the other one is the Swiss Sampler.

8. Make a new stocking for my husband. His got fused together in our last move and it's not well finished. He needs a new one.

9. Complete Lady of the Flag to be raffled for charity.

10. Make significant progress on the Chatelaine pieces I'm working on that are not specificially listed otherwise in these goals.

11. Complete Midi Mystery 2. It was started in July of 2006. About time I got it done.

12. Make one goldwork piece.

13. Stitch Velo Bibendum for my husband. I haven't made anything specifically for him in a while. It's time.

14. Make myself a purse. I don't have a single item of stitching that I wear or carry with me that's completed.

15. Stitch a design created by my daughter Tory.

I think that's probably more than I'll actually finish, but it's good to be ambitious. I'll finish some and at least start others and it'll get done eventually. What are your goals for next year? Do you have something you have to/want/would love to finish? What about starting something new on the first? I know a lot of people do that too.