Incoherent Scribblings

February at Last Already

I have had a strange sense of time this month. In some ways I feel like January 1st was a long time ago and in other ways I can’t believe February starts tomorrow. I suppose this is directly related to the fact that the first half of the month was relatively slow since it was the interim at West Texas Town University but when classes started the second half of the month practically flew by.

Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is tomorrow is February 1st and that means it is goal day!

January’s goals (which I believe I wrote while Dawn and I were sipping strawberry daiquiris on New Year’s Eve) were as follows:

1. Mail Outi’s belated birthday exchange. - Yep! She got it last week.
2. Work on “Fairy Flora.” - Yep! I finally started her wings and though I still have quite a way to go, I might actually finish her this year.
3. Work on and maybe finish “Cool Cats.” - Nope! I was going to but I decided I needed to get back to some sort of rotation so I was a good girl and put it away when I was done with my ten hours.
4. Participate in the January SAT - Yep!
5. Start “Harvest Witch” (Sunday SAL with Dawn, start on SAT weekend) -Yep!
6. Start and finish a “small.” - Yep!

Actually, January’s goals really don’t do the stitching I did this month justice. I worked on four of my WIPs, started three new projects as part of Guilt-Free January, and finished a small. In fact, I would wager that January 2008 was one of the most productive stitching months I have had in quite some time.

So, what goals shall I set for February? Well, since I have added some WIPs to my list I suppose one thing I should do is reorder my rotation and then continue to work through it in an orderly fashion. So, with that in mind, here is what I propose for February:

1. Finish my 10 hour rotation on “Spring Queen.”
2. Work on “Above the Clouds” and/or “Cool Cats.”
3. Continue my Sunday “Harvest Witch” SAL with Dawn.
4. Participate in the February SAT.
5. Stitch and finish Christmas ornament #1 for my “10 Ornies in 500 Days” Challenge.

Micro-Mini Happy Dance

It has been some months since I last worked on “Four Seasons Cats” so when it came up in my rotation last week I knew it was time to finally tackle the Winter Cat border.

I like this pattern, really I do, but for some reason it always gets pushed to the bottom of my rotation. I suspect the problem is that although each square is not very big the stitching is extremely dense and as a result, I find it easy to procrastinate about it.

However, with the completion of the Winter Cat border I feel like I have had a micro-mini happy dance because I now have the borders for all four seasons complete.

The winter border stitched up in a very quick five hours and though I should work another five hours on the piece to finish my ten hour rotation on it, I probably won’t because my goal for this round was merely to finish the border… and besides, I am ready to move on to “Spring Queen!”

July Birthday in January

I received word today that Outi’s belated birthday exchange finally arrived in Finland.

Did I mention that Outi’s birthday is in July? It might be (slightly) amusing if she just received this exchange from me after waiting for it since July, but that is actually not the case.

Outi was in the birthday exchange group that I moderated at The Robin’s Nest and her partner never contacted us to indicate whether or not she ever received the gift that Outi made for her or if she ever made anything for Outi. I found this to be quite a shame since Outi and her partner shared the same birthday, but oh well.

Anyway, as I followed this dilemma I told Outi that since her partner flaked and we never knew for sure if what she stitched for her partner arrived that she did not have to stitch a replacement piece. However, as the moderator I felt obligated to stitch something for Outi’s birthday.

Outi was happy to have me stitch a replacement and was extremely tolerant that I didn’t get something stitched for her right away because I was going on job interviews and moving and all that stuff.

It really didn’t take me long to decide what I wanted to stitch for Outi. I knew it had to be a needleroll. I don’t know why, but something just told me Outi needed one to add to her collection.

Choosing the right pattern took a little longer though. I really wanted to emphasize her birthday, so I looked at a lot of July-themed things before I chose The Victoria Sampler’s “July Needleroll.” I must admit I was a little worried about whether or not Outi would like it at first because she isn’t really “in” to flowers, but I suspected that even with the flowers she would appreciate it because The Victoria Sampler has such beautiful designs.

And in an attempt to make her belated birthday exchange just a little more worth the wait, I also included a chart from her wish list.

Happy (EXTREMELY) Belated Birthday Outi! I hope your year has been and continues to be a wonderful one.

SBQ: First 2008 Happy Dance

Considering that this is the third year in a row that I have asked it, I think it is safe to say this week’s SBQ has become a yearly tradition. So, without further ado…

Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that mentions it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?

Yes! I have had a wee happy dance already this year. You can see it here.

RIP Canon A300

This was SAT weekend and for it, (as you might just be able to make out) I started “Harvest Witch,” which incidentally will also be my Sunday SAL with Dawn.

I am sorry the progress picture is so dark and wonky, but today when I pulled out my trusty little Canon A300 all was dark. I poked, prodded, and even changed the batteries to no avail. With no warning, (It was fine when I used it the other day) my almost four year old digital camera was dead. I had to use the camera on my phone for this amazing! progress picture and well, let’s just say that as soon as I am done here I will be headed to Amazon or somewhere similar to compare and price new cameras.

I am a little sad that my camera died. It has been the pictorial companion to this written chronicle that I refer to as my blog for the past four years. It has been with me through some very happy times as well as some devastatingly sad ones. So, in spite of a certain someone’s opinion of it when I first got it, I feel like the money I paid for it was well-spent.

However, I must admit that I am just a little pleased that it expired. Obviously since it is an electronic gadget, it has been out-of-date practically since the day I bought it so I am rather eager to upgrade to a new model. I have learned a little bit about digital cameras since I bought it and know what features I will be looking for as “must haves” and which ones aren’t nearly as important as they seem.

Meanwhile, I will attempt to coax decent pictures out of my cameraphone and just hope nothing too camera-friendly presents itself to me.