Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Progress Bars Should be Made of Chocolate

As I munch away on a lovely slice of dark chocolate with orange....

I think about my NCC while I'm at work more than I think about work and then have to shake my head back into reality.  I did find a new goal to achieve at work (besides get the not done work done) with regards to my retirement.  I want my time back....I had cashed out years ago and "lost" my accrued time.  I WANT IT BACK.  I also want to have my old Tier back.  I WANT IT.

Why? So many reasons, but mostly so I can retire before much longer and not work until I'm so ancient it's pointless to leave at all.  That is my goal and I shall achieve it one way or another.


Other than that, I think about my NCC...devoid of life during the day unless my housemate's cat "Lady Door" visits...I'm sure she does...but aside from that it is cold and dark and devoid of creativity.  I think about my projects and my LIST, my blog, my girls, their projects and lists, and cannot wait to get back here where it's safe and quiet and full of love and fabric and thread and patterns.
Recently I added the progress bars to show my progress on each thing I work on.  At first I thought I would change names and stitch counts as I went along, but then decided I have seven slots in my nerdy expando file and should have seven progress bars and then added an eighth bar because one of the projects (12 Days) will be a monthly and then added a ninth bar because one project will be the main project and won't be in the nerdy expando file.  Those progress bars are the list of things I seriously hope to finish for 2015.

Do you know how darn difficult it is to choose "what's next"?? YES YOU DO!!  You also know that after digging through your stash for an hour you find yourself reasoning with yourself that you need to do this because "reasons" or you need to do that because "other reasons".  So my "reasons" were to stick my last "guilt project" in, followed by my next oldest pattern, followed by a kit, followed by a TW, followed by a kit.  Somehow the kit landed in front of the TW but I have a feeling I will be itching to start that TW sooner so those two might get worked on at the same time.

Fortunately, the kit and the TW Celestial Dragon have fabric issues. Now you are saying "uhm...it's a kit and those come with fabric" and you are correct.  I don't like it so it will change.  Since I signed up for Silkweaver Fabric of the Month there will be no shortage of interesting fabrics to choose from!  I'm going with the Monaco for the Celestial Dragon which sounds almost blah after you noticed sparkly fabrics, hand dyed fabrics, etc. in my pictures, but I really like the outcome I have seen time and again on the Monaco by other stitchers. So the Monaco stays when I do it, just have to get a piece large enough.

So my progress bars are set up, the 2015 "list" is created but aren't we forgetting a few things?  Silly Precious!!  I have NOT forgotten...my mouth is currently overly full with that bite that is more than I can chew BECAUSE in February I may, potentially, throw myself into another Unconventional X Stitch competition which will disrupt everything  for a bit and drive me off course, AND THEN there are the ToTs which include 12 Days, monthly bookmarks, a bunch of little kits and tiny patterns, AND THEN there are the quarterly contests at Stitching Pirates which...as I write this...I already know the pattern I want to do for the next one and NO, I'm not telling anyone what it is until January 1st (insert evil laughter) besides, I'm a judge and my projects don't count towards prizes and such even if I still like to participate.....I'm thinking I'm dreaming entirely too big, and should get "real"...


BUT WHY??!!  Goals should be set!  If I get close, that in itself is an achievement of epic proportions! Right??  Not to forget I am the reigning queen of Berserker Stitching...I refuse to lose my crown!   So much to do....and I pray for longevity!  My grandma will be 92 in February so if I can go at least that long that is 42 more years of good stitching AND if I can get my time back and my tier back that will mean an earlier retirement.....ahhhhhhhhhhh, yep...goals have been set!

Before I forget, here's an update on Vinnie for you;  I took his framed awesomeness to work with me and hung it in my co-worker's cubicle of death.  He loves it.....and so does everyone who has seen it.  My boss thought it was beaded because it was so sparkly.  While she was there I asked how appropriate it would be to give Queen Bee to the woman I don't know and my boss says, "OMG she will LOVE it!"  Now confidence is restored and I can happily give it and not worry about whether or not I've crossed some line of appropriate.  People are funny like that...


I did say in my last blog posting that Vinnie would be my last finish of the year, but if you can't dream big.....I'm going to try and finish Skeleton Crew by New Year's Eve....It's only December 16, shopping is done, and we aren't doing a big supper this year....I bet I can do it.  Watch and see.

Happy Holidays and I'll update at the last TUSAL for 2014 :D

10 comments:

  1. Of course you can do it, and if you can't it's because you were distracted by other awesome things and that's okay too
    Also I knew he'd love Vinnie and I can't wait to hear how Queen Bee goes.

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    1. You are so incredibly wonderfully supportive! Teleporter now so I can hug you and then dig through your stash!

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    2. Which FOTM did you choose. I can't decise between Surprise me and Rotating

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    3. I chose the surprise me sparkly evenweave...I'm so excited! Cannot wait for the first installment! It took me two months to decide so I hope I've done it right...I like to be surprised and even ordering something on purpose is still a surprise because the fabric is always far more delicious in hand than the picture on line!

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    4. I think I'm going to go for rotating, but I might yet change my mind

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  2. Wow, so much fun in a single posts! all of your projects, and plans and goals; now I feel like I should go and make plans and goals of my own, and I was determined not to do so before the WIPocalypse January checkin...ts!

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    1. I didn't want to go so far so soon either, but I was already organizing and working on my yummy progress bars I figured why not! The LIST is organized, TW girls are organized, ToT is still being worked on...I may make some changes to the wording and sizing because even I am having doubts about 125 w x 125 h...other than that NCCIH needs updating as well. Hmmm, it seems I still have a bit to do but the largest part is done and that is a good thing! I LOVE your goals, they are so well put together and all of your SALs are so wonderfully intertwined!

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  3. This post made the start of my day happy.
    Stitch all the things!

    I do love your accordion file, that's a bit brilliant. And how do you measure your progress? I've always wanted progress bars, but I'm never sure how far I really am with a piece.

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    1. Thank you! And yes, STITCH ALL THE THINGS ha ha!!

      The progress bars, well, depending on the pattern, I may or may not have an actual stitch count. If I do I can stitch color by color, cross those off the list and change the numbers in the CSS that way, or when I don't have an actual stitch count, like 12 Days for instance, I put a 12 as my "goal" number and then put the days I have stitched to date.

      For patterns like Skeleton Crew, I count the blocks of 10 to get a "goal" number and then when I'm done stitching for the day I can count the blocks and change my numbers that way. For other patterns that would be Celtic Goddess or if I were doing a HAED piece I would count pages. I may have to change that method if I can figure out a better way, but for now that is what I came up with :D

      I'm glad you like the Nerdy Expando File, it REALLY keeps things organized and if I do not want to stitch something for awhile, it stays somewhat together and doesn't end up all over the place!

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    2. Interesting on the counting - I'm always curious how far I am, as well as afraid of how much further I have to go! lol

      Nerdy expando file is brilliant. If I hadn't fallen into my mesh bags already, I might go there :) I might Nerd Expando File for my current projects bag, though :)

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