end of month check-in for january

I thought it might be a good idea to set some goals for myself each month. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it will be fun for awhile, and might keep me a little more focused!

In January, I set 7 goals for myself, and I accomplished six of them (well, technically, only 5 because I finished my ornament early this morning, but I'm still calling it good!)

One of my goals for the year is to stitch one of the Cross Eyed Cricket mittens each month. I wanted to do this last year too, and I think I managed 6 or 7. This is a little duckie from the August leaflet. These mittens are always fun to stitch, and they go pretty quickly too. This one is stitched on a blue evenweave with DMC threads.

I also want to stitch one ornament a month. I signed up with a Facebook group that is stitching 12 of the ornaments from last year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue. I started to do the January selection which was from Blue Ribbon Designs, but I started it too late, and when I realized I had messed up on the border, I decided to just choose another ornament instead. So,while I might not be following along with the group, I would still like to stitch one a month. This design is from the same magazine. It is by Ink Circles, and is called Truly Endless Knot II (there must be a Truly Endless Knot I...I'll have to search for it). I stitched it on an opalescent lugana from Silkweavers that I found in my stash, with some silks from Vikki Clayton's hand dyed fibers. I think this one is really pretty...I love the colors.

I also wanted to finish my Autumn Quaker Seasons sampler. I posted this one on my WIPocalyse post for January, so you can see the photo here.

The next piece I wanted to finish was Moon Garden by Blackbird Designs. I borrowed this from a lending library of BBD out-of-print designs, and felt really bad that I had it for so long, so to finish it was my main goal for January. The fabric is actually more brown than the photo shows (more like the corner where the shadow is!). It is stitched with the called for threads from Weeks and Gentle Arts.

I did re-start Quaker Christmas II, but only stitched on it a tiny bit. You can see that here. I am planning to stitch on this one on Sundays this month, so I hope to make some more progress!

The last goal I accomplished was stitching my block for the monthly block exchange at Stitcher's Time-Out. We are doing a different designer each time again this year, and this month's was Heart in Hand. I love these designs. This one is called Little Brown House Sampler. It is stitched on a mystery fabric with DMC.

The goal that I am carrying over into February is to start (and hopefully, finish) Strawberry Garden from Blackbird Designs. You can see my other goals by clicking the tab on the top of the page.

So, not so bad! Let's see what February brings!

Thanks for stopping by to visit, and happy stitching!