A few days late but better lat than never. I have to admit I am somewhat afraid to look at what I hoped to achieve for September. It has been a hellishly busy month PhD wise. Which has both its ups and downs I guess. A lot of those mystery PhD goals I had were actually achieved.. right up until I had a piece of equipment break down again. That kind of threw things off a bit for the past two weeks.

My September Goals were:

• Finish stitching my Halloween exchange piece - Nope but I did start at least a half dozen things.. one of those is bound to be the one I send
• Reach the 55% mark on lost (this relates to about another 2400sts)- I think I feel short on this one too but I should be close I will need to check
• Pick up cirques and get at least on length of thread into it.- I looked at it but no stitches were done
• Reach the 50% mark on Fudgeys RR - ummmm no
• Finish Belladonnas eye and post a wip pic of her finally - Very very close and I did post a pic
• Participate in the Challenge SAL - Yep

I also managed to participate in teh Background SAL and got 1500ish stitches into Violet Sometimes as well as participating in teh 5th weekend SAL. So all in all I at least progressed some of my pieces along this month.

Now for October.. I think I will have to be more focused this time in my goals:

October Goals are:

1. Participate in teh SAL challenge
2. Finish my exchange piece and send it off on time.
3. get the RR done to the point where I can finish it on time (posting date is Nov 5th I think)
4. Work on Belladonna some more
5. Get to the 60% mark on Lost

My focus though will be the obligation stitching I need to finish off. There will be some serious stashing done in october too as the usual gang is heading off to the stitching show again. Nic and I always get in trouble there

As part of this whole trying to keep a little more up to date with my blog I thought I would list my September goals. I haven’t done this for a couple of months so it will be interesting to see how I go.

So here they are

• Finish stitching my Halloween exchange piece
• Reach the 55% mark on lost (this relates to about another 2400sts)
• Pick up cirques and get at least on length of thread into it.
• Reach the 50% mark on Fudgeys RR
• Finish Belladonnas eye and post a wip pic of her finally
• Participate in the Challenge SAL

I think that should be more than enough to keep me busy, I have a load or PhD related goals too but I won’t bore people with those

Well it is that time of the month where I get to laugh at what I said I would try and achieve stitching wise in april. I already know what the verdict will be. I had five days off work where I planned to stitch my life away but unfortunately I was all busy on my days off catching up with all the things that haven’t been done in ages. So no stitching for me.
so lets start this crazy ride in april I april I said I would:

1. Get the RR out on time  I will say yes to this even though it technically was a couple of days off thanks to not getting to the post office. The stitching was completed though.
2. SAL challenge - Return of Spring (even it was only a teeny tiny bit)
3. Easter Creature SAL (i guess this is cheating because it is already done :p ) Yep
4. QS Wed 3 times hopefully finishing page 1 of the draggie yes and no. I think I managed to participate 3 times but I just missed out on that first page. QS SAL today should see it complete though so watch for an update.
5. CC on 3 try and at least participate umm no
6. Ornament SAL same as last month. start the name tree and do the finishing on the ones I have completed. I am so slack with this… no
7. Get some stitching time in on Japanese garden Nope but i did look at it and put the thread in a new box.
8. Stitch a big circle for cirques No. I think I may have about a 1/4 done of the first one. Will post an update soon anyway.
9. 1000 stitches into Violet No more like 100
10. 500 into St nick Nope
11. 5th weekend SAL for aredhel again *boogie* Yes.. well sort of as per post below.

So about 5 out of 11. Could have been worse, lol. There is a stitching show on this weekend which Nic may or may not come along with me to. She has to be good and write PhD type words onto pages before she is allowed to come. But other thean one day at work and the show this holiday weekend is mine for stitching… oh and maybe a little WoW playing too (but only a little).

With that in mind time for some marvelous May Goals:

1. Finish that circle in cirques! third time’s a charm
2. 1000 stitches into violet
3. Challenge SAL Retuen of Spring. I want to get 1000 stitches in this time.
4. QS SAL 3 times
5. CC on 3 at least participate
6. Ornament SAL (probably the cthulhu biscornu from Periphaeria designs .. gotta love lovecraftian biscornus *squee*)
7. 500 stitches into St Nick
8. Gt a start on Dianes RR already have the chart pickes out.
9. Stitch on Japanese Garden
10. Stitch a small design for the cancer morning tea auction.

I think most of those may actually be doable *giggle*

Ok I decided I best look at my goals from last month and set some new ones no matter how laughable the result. (Can you tell that today I am just not getting far with the work stuff).

My goals for March were:

1. Return of Spring for the SAL Challenge Not much progress but I did put needle to fabric
2. QS Wed participate at least 3 times try for 1500 stitches in total Nope I made progress but I can’t say I participated 3 times
3. Violet Sometimes 1000 stitches and bobbin all the thread for her Surprisingly, yes.
4. CC on 3 SAL with Hermit at least 500 stitches Nope
5. Get to the 75% mark at least with Sues RR Nope
6. Ornament SAL start on one of the Name trees I have to do and do the finishing on the ornaments I have completed so far. Another No
7. Stitch on Japanese Garden Nope
8. Cirques one small circle and the first of the large circles (eep!) more with the no
9. Last but not least pull out aredhel for the 5th Weekend Potts /Daniels SAL Yes!

So what am I hoping for April

1. Get the RR out on time
2. SAL challenge - Return of Spring
3. Easter Creature SAL (i guess this is cheating because it is already done :p )
4. QS Wed 3 times hopefully finishing page 1 of the draggie
5. CC on 3 try and at least participate
6. Ornament SAL same as last month. start the name tree and do the finishing on the ones I have completed.
7. Get some stitching time in on Japanese garden
8. Stitch a big circle for cirques
9. 1000 stitches into Violet
10. 500 into St nick
11. 5th weekend SAL for aredhel again *boogie*

Lol now if I manage that I will be very very impressed

Ok lets review how I went with Feb and seehow silly I can make things for March.

February Goals

1. At least two circles on cirques and a few filler spots  Success! I love how easy this design is to stitch I usually only get a day or two on it a month and it is still progressing nicely.
2. Get the Round Robin sent off and start on a section of Sues Yep. Though my start on Sues only equates to about 20 or 30 stitches
3. Ornament SAL (complete the small ornament I started and finishing frogging on the larger one) I managed this too though the frogging the larger one I had started has turned into choosing a different fabric. I also started and almost finished a secret ornie sized piece too.
4. Quick Stitch Wed participate at least twice (get at least 500 stitches into a QS) Sure did I think I only did manage to stitch on him twice over the month but I got over 400 stitches in each time.
5. HAED Challenge SAL: Return of Spring Yep .. slowly but surely she is growing.
6. Stitch on Japanese Garden Not a lot but I did start putting in the colour I was originally missing from the Tori gate
7. 1000 stitches in Violet Sometimes Yes
8. Continue with St Nick SAL: on tues and post pic again at the end of the month  Yes (pic posted on the BB not a lot of progress though)

Wow I thought my goals would be a struggle for Feb but they have been blitzed. I also restarted Hermit for the CC on 3 SAL so all in all I think I had a fabulous stitching month. Now for march.

March Goals

1. Return of Spring for the SAL Challenge
2. QS Wed  participate at least 3 times  try for 1500 stitches in total
3. Violet Sometimes 1000 stitches and bobbin all the thread for her
4. CC on 3 SAL with Hermit at least 500 stitches
5. Get to the 75% mark at least with Sues RR
6. Ornament SAL start on one of the Name trees I have to do and do the finishing on the ornaments I have completed so far.
7. Stitch on Japanese Garden
8. Cirques one small circle and the first of the large circles (eep!)
9. Last but not least pull out aredhel for the 5th Weekend Potts /Daniels SAL

Woops where did that first week of February go?
Well I know it is late but I thought I woudl review my January Goals and make a few new ones for what is left of Feb, So here goes:

January Stitching Goals

1. Finish my section on Nics RR ready for posting. I didn’t really stitch for the last two weeks of Jan so this unfortunately was something I didn’t manage , I am close though so hopefully I will not be late for the posting date (9th Feb)
2. finish ink circles bookmark Yepper
3. participate in QS Wed each week not quite every week but close
4. New start for new start SAL (return of spring) and participate in the SAL on 12th of Jan This was never going to be a problem.
   
5. St Nick SAL (there is no set “time” for this but I will try and get some stitches in each tuesday adn update with a pic at the end of the month Yep this has worked quitw well I am not getting a lot done each tuesday but the regular attention is meaning that progress is being made. I didn’t manage to post the pic here but there is one on the HAED BB
6. Choose an ornament and make sure I have it kitted so I can participate in the ornament SAL Sort of I did choose and kit but then had limited stitching time and had to frod what I got done. Maybe better luck this month
7. finish at least one more circle on cirques I actually may far more progress on this than I expected with only spending one real session on it and the rest was just in hospital waiting rooms

All in all not too bad. Given that most of the month was given over to long days at work and madly trying to collate data when I was at home I am really happy that I managed 4 of the 7 and the 3 incompletes were at least close

So now for February

February Goals

1. At least two circles on cirques and a few filler spots
2. Get the Round Robin sent off and start on a section of Sues
3. Ornament SAL (complete the small ornament I started adn finishing frogging on the larger one)
4. Quick Stitch Wed participate at least twice (get at least 500 stitches into a QS)
5. HAED Challenge SAL: Return of Spring
6. Stitch on Japanese Garden
7. 1000 stitches in Violet Sometimes
8. Continue with St Nick SAL: on tues and post pic again at the end of the month

Given that the month is a short one adn already one week is gone I may be pushing it but we’ll see in a few weeks

There will  a photo hunt update later today (a day late for us southerners but at least it is still Wed in the northern Hemisphere)

Given that I said I was going to go back to making monthly goals for my stitching here goes:

January Stitching Goals

1. Finish my section on Nics RR ready for posting.
2. finish ink circles bookmark
3. participate in QS Wed each week
4. New start for new start SAL (return of spring) and participate in teh SAL on 12th of Jan
5. St Nick SAL (there is no set “time” for this but I will try and get some stitches in each tuesday adn update with a pic at the end of the month
6. Choose an ornament and make sure I have it kitted so I can participate in the ornament SAL
7. finish at least one more circle on cirques

I am sure that will keep me quite busy for the month. It will be intersting to see how well I go.

The other thing I am starting this month with Adam is a photo scavenger hunt. I loved the idea whn I saw it over at nickis blog with the photo hunters and decided I would love to participate. It was late in the year though so I held off. I went looking for soemthing that said it would be repeated in 2007 and came up empty handed (this has now changed and I am aware they are running themes for 2007 as well). At the time Adam and I decided to try our hands at putting together our own list that we will post from weekly on wednesdays. I will need t post this weeks when I make it home from work tonight. The themes can be found here. Anyone can play along if they want I think Nic was going to join in too but she hasn’t got her blog together yet.

Yep here I am along with hundreds of other stitching bloggers getting ready to make my crazy 2007 goals. I have tried to be realistic but the more I think about it the more my goals are getting out of control :p

I am jsut too over ambitious especially on a year where I know that finishing my PhD will be my biggest aim for the next 8 months at least. That doesn’t really leave much time for stitching, but hey I’m a sucker for punishment and have no qualms about laughing at myself.

So in the spirit of all new years resolutions here is my list of completely unattainable goals for 2007

General

1. Finish and submit my PhD not at all stitching related but hey it deserves a listing
2. Finish Cirques (ink circles)
3. Finish Rose of Sharon (preferably by May)
4. complete all rounds of HAED v2.0 RR on time
5. No more than 2 new starts for the year
6. Go back to assessing monthly goal progress each month
7. Finish Just Nans TrickORTreat
8. organise / participate in a halloween exchange

SALs

1. Monthly (new start) SAL for HAED BB - Return of Spring 2nd weekend of the month
2. Wednesday QS SAL on the HAED BB - Fire and Lost alternating
   
3. St Nick SAL (starts on Jan 2nd there seems to be no formal days etc though so I am not sure how this will pan out)
4. Chrismas Ornament SAL - 4th weekend of the month
5. Potts / Daniels SAL - My SAL with fudgey 5th weekend of the month when there is one - Aredhel

Wow that is more SALS than I thought … lol

HAED goals (these make up my BB Challenge goals for 2007)

1. Finish a Quick Stitch (either Fire or Lost)
2. 2 Pages of St Nick
3. 1 Page of Belladonnas gift

Well June has flown by and July is already here Eeeep! As expected June was flat out socially and work wise so there was very limited stitching time. Virtually no Fridays were free which played havoc with my over 2 obligation stitching and St Nick Still haunts me. The new rotation means things will change a bit now too. so….. how did I go?

Junes Goals in Review

1. Finish the top of the arch on Rose of Sharon (the stone face etc) Nope not even a single stitch
   
2. Complete that damned page of St Nick (this is a must an no other HAED stitching will be done other than Fire until this is done) heh well I lied but the new rotation means I got very close, just some detail stitches and a little patch in the corner to go
3. QS SAL - Continue with fire minimum 1000 stitches Yep though I did miss one or two weeks
4. 1000 into the Devil Sure did I am past the half way mark across the top now the BB SAL helps keep me putting in stitches when I can.
5. Start and complete 1 more Whimsical Santa Panel (obligation piece for Christmas) I stared a new one (making 6/12) but only got half way
   
6. Make a final decision on my RR Maybe… Not willing to commit to this yet, which is probably my main problem I am just hopeless with decisions

So that leaves me looking down the barrel at July. I am liking my new rotation still but realistically if I am ever going to finish my oblgation stitching on time I will have to spend more time with that, more weekend stitching time would be good but is likely to be as rare a sight as it was in june.

1. St Nick 2000 stitches (including those last pesky pg one meanies)
2. Meta at least 1000 stitches (next up after St nick in the rotation)
3. Dragon lore 1000 stitches (my other rotation project for this month)
4. Stitch on the devil for the Tarot SAL the weekend before next pics are due
5. 1000 stitches in Fire ACEO (wed QS SAL)
6. Finish the current Santa and start another (hopefully get at least half way done)
7. Get at least two lengths of thread into Shaz

I know I didn’t get much stitching time this month and seeing as that evil page of St Nick is still looking at me I have a fair idea my goals were far from being achieved but I will run through the process anyway.

Stitching Goals for May

1. Decide on the theme I want for the next RR and get together the materials - Having huge issues with this, I have a solid fall back plan though with wolf maiden. Need to get some time with my charts and play.
   
2. Get to the halfway arrow across the top of the devil - not yet though I did make it to the half way point but ony for 30 rows.
   
3. Finish that never ending page of St nick - Another failed mission… evil evil thing
4. Another 1000 stitches into Fire over the QS SAL weds + Woot! managed this
5. Work on ROS on my over two fridays + Yep even if I did end up frogging most of it
6. Stitch up a small pice to daonate for the Cancer Morning Tea auction I will be attending at the end of may + This too. My frst time trying ornament finishing (though bigger) and making cord.

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Okay so June is going to be a funny one. Ebery weekend is booked up and most nights during the week as well as work being crazy so time is going to be a BIG issue. I am hoping though that going away over the long weekend I can sneak my stitching along with me and relax my time away with some stitching between visits to wineries. So with that in mind….

Junes Goals

1. Finish the top of the arch on Rose of Sharon (the stone face etc)
2. Complete that damned page of St Nick (this is a muct an no other HAED stitching will be done other than Fire until this is done)
3. QS SAL - Continue with fire minimum 1000 stitches
4. 1000 into the Devil
5. Start and complete 1 more Whimsical Santa Panel (obligation piece for Christmas)
6. Make a final decision on my RR