The Purge Part 2

Ok, this is really hard (yes, I am whining here). I finally finished going through the first drawer of my file cabinet. I guess the first decision I had to make was do I want to work on mostly BAP's from here on out or do I want to stitch short, quick projects from now on? Or do I want to mix it up and do a combination of both? I think I do want to mix it up a bit cause there's no way I only want to do the big ones from here on out. I do like the satisfaction of finishing something once in a while. So I found myself getting rid of lots of different graphs and patterns. As I was going through everything, I felt like I was revisiting old friends. I hadn't seen some of those charts in years and had forgotten all about them. I guess that's a good sign that I'm on the right track by purging them. I'm also having second thoughts about some of the things I swore never to get rid of. I found some Shepherd's Bush patterns that just don't appeal to me anymore. Now I still love all their kits but some of the patterns just seem kind of pale to me. So they went into the sell pile. As much as I dislike getting rid of all this stuff, I also feel good about taking back my space. It's like I have the proverbial devil on one shoulder and angel on the other. The devil is telling me that I'll need it someday and I relly want to keep it, so why not? The angel, on the other hand, is saying you didn't even remember you had it so why shove it back in storage for another 30 years (yep, some of my charts are really that old). I figure if someone can get some enjoyment out of them, well, that's ok with me.

It Has Begun!

Well, I said about a month ago that I need to purge my stash and today was a good start. Both Brian and Sherrie are up at NAU now and Dave had to work, so I decided to take back my craft room. Sherrie had moved into it for the summer as her refuge so this was the first chance I've had to get in there and work. Dave and I went to Ikea last weekend because I still want to get an organizer wardrobe from there to organize all my stash. Dave said we needed to see how much storage I'd need before we went and bought anything (now why didn't I think of that ;-p). So today I started purging. I got about 1 drawer of 1 file cabinet done. Now that may not seem like alot but, remember, I had already started on the magazines earlier this year. I was ruthless. I know I'll never stitch everything I have so most of it is going to go. What I can, I'll try to auction off on Quin's cross stitch auction. I used to use ebay but their fees have become prohibitive for the small amount I price things at. That which I don't suceed in selling is going to go to Goodwill. I also went through folders and found articles I had printed off from Prodigy (that tells you how old they were) that I had forgotten I had. I recycled all those plus lots of free patterns I had printed off the Web. The recycling bin was full by the time I quit for the day. I also have quite a pile to sell. Once this drawer is finished, I'll only have 1 more partial drawer in that file cabinet, then it will be purged. The 2nd one is the one I'm dreading. The first drawer has things that have already been purged, so no problem there. The other 3 drawers have all my patterns and charts and books that I've collected over the years. Almost 30 years to be exact. It's gonna kill me to get rid of some of them but I need to commit to doing this. I have decided certain things will not leave the house. All my Shepherd's Bush kits and patterns, all my Drawn Thread kits and patterns are staying if I have to be buried with them. Everything else is fair game.

I mentioned earlier in this post that both Brian and Sherrie have gone to school. Yep, I now have an empty nest. It was okay today but last night was kinda weird. Now most of the time Dave and I would watch TV by ourselves anyway but we always knew someone else was in the house. Last night just felt... different. Not better, not worst, just different. I'm praying this time Brian takes full advantage of this opportunity cause I'm afraid if he blows this one, there may not be another one for him. Only time will tell.

A Great Vacation!

Well, vacation has come and gone. I can hardly believe Sherrie is heading back to school this week (and with a lot of luck & prayer Brian will be going to NAU as well). We had a wonderful time on vacation. It had been years since Dave and I had gone to any amusement parks. Monday we stopped at the beach before we checked into the hotel. The girls had a fun time splashing in the water. Elizabeth (the tall gal in turquoise) had never seen the ocean before so it was quite a treat for her. After dinner at a nice Thai restaurant, we never saw the girls till it was time to leave on Thursday. Dave and I spent Tuesday at Universal Studios and Wednesday at Disneyland. I have to admit I liked Universal Studios better than Disney. The rides were so much more exciting. Dave started feeling ill on the first one we went on and didn't start feeling better till after lunch. So I ended up on the Jurassic Park River ride twice. The first time he didn't feel like riding and the second time because he did. So I spent most of the day wet but since it was hot, that didn't bother me. Wednesday we went to Disneyland. We enjoyed it but my knees and ankle really started hurting me so we ended up renting a wheelchair so I could get around a little better. Taking this vacation was like being a kid again. Now I'm not saying I would do it anytime again real soon, but it was lots of fun while it lasted. And we got to spend some quality time with the girls (well, while they were a captive audience in the car that is). So now it's back to a pile of receiving at work and a dining room that needs painted at home.

My Next Venture

First of all, it's been hard to imagine that a whole year has gone by since I began blogging. Where has the time gone? But it's been great. I've met new people, learned many new things and in general broadened my horizons and my outlook on life. So Happy Blogiversary to me!

Since I'm on the home stretch of my windmill, I thought I'd get my next project lined up. I really thought about doing another Michael Powell but decided to give him a rest for now. This is a chart from Mary Hickmont called Highland Living. I really like her designs because they are so dimensional. She uses 1 strand and 2 strands and half and whole stitches. I stitched a couple of her designs (when I model stitched from Down Under Designs) and really enjoyed them. This one was originally published in her magazine but I couldn't find it so ordered it from Britstitch. I'm stitching it on a hand-dyed fabric from Wichelt called Stormy Grey 28ct linen. I've pulled the Anchor threads (I really prefer to use them over DMC). I was originally going to use a hand-dyed fabric from Silkweavers but the only way it would fit was to do it over 1. Now I love to work over 1 but I was afraid it would lose some of it's texture if I just used one strand so I went with over 2 on 28ct. I thought about 32ct but couldn't find a color I liked in it. So hopefully I can start this before too long.

Well, off to pack for our vacation. Disney, here we come!

Slow Progress

Well, I've been making slow progress on the backstitching on this piece. I could have been stitching more on it but as usual, life just keeps interfering. I've been able to work on it a little in the mornings before work, but in the evenings I'm pretty tired, so I usually just knit. But little by little I am making progress. I'd like to get a little more done before we go on vacation. Yep, Dave and I are driving Sherrie and 2 of her friends to Disneyland on Monday and coming home on Thursday. It was supposed to be a road trip for the girls but no one wanted to drive. So I volunteered us. We're going to be pretty much on our own so it should be fun. But I can't imagine having a whole lot of time to stitch so maybe I'll get some done tonight and tomorrow in between packing and getting ready.