Cross StitchI have decided to keep a cross stitching journal while I work on my next project. I don't intend to keep track of how many hours I spend on stitching. This journal will be a general account of my progress along with the challenges and road blocks that come my way.
Monday, January 4 - Sunday, January 10
With the busy season of Christmas and New Years over I am anxious to start on another cross stitch project. On Monday I go through my large collection of cross stitch leaflets and magazines. I have many projects that I would like to do someday so it is not easy for me to settle on one. Being that it is January and I'm pretty well fed up with winter; I decide that I need something that would cheer me up a bit and remind me that spring is on it's way. By Tuesday my mind is made up; I will do "Elegance of Spring" from the Marty Bell collection. I bought the leaflet on-line several years ago from a site that I frequent quite regularly; the Jeanette Crews Designs website. I now need to decide on the fabric. My local craft store does not carry a large variety of cross stitch fabric so on Wednesday I had to drive some distance to a favorite shop that specializes in needlework. The sample picture on the front of the leaflet was stitched on a 14 count Fiddler's Blue Aida fabric. I decide to do mine on a 28 count even weave which was hand dyed light blue and has a bit of shading . On Thursday I check out my floss collection to see if I have all that I need for the project in stock. 
Over the years I have purchased every color that DMC puts out. I have devised my own storage system for the floss by putting the skeins in white envelopes that are labeled with the color name, number and a small floss sample on the outside. I file the envelopes in numerical order in plastic containers as you can see in the photo. I pull out the envelopes of floss that are needed for my project and transfer them into another container that is labeled "Project". 
Looking at the picture on the front of the leaflet the lady's gown appears blue but as I pull the floss I notice that the colors are in shades of gray. This is somewhat of a disappointment to me but nevertheless I decide to go ahead with the project. I have everything ready to start stitching but other things in life take over. On Thursday evening my eighty nine year old father is rushed to hospital due to heart failure. I spend the entire night at the hospital with my mother and siblings. By morning we get the good news that our father has made it through the crisis but would require surgery to have a pace maker implanted. My weekend is entirely dedicated to my family.
Monday, January 11 - Sunday, January 24
During these two weeks I spent a lot of time going back and forth to the hospital. Family is a priority so there was no time for cross stitching.
Monday, January 25 - Sunday, January 31
After a couple of very hectic weeks; things have settled down. My father has recovered from his medical ordeal and is back home. We are all very grateful that things have turned out well. I am finally able to devote a few hours a day to some serious stitching.
Monday, February 1 - Sunday, February 7
I tried to do at least a couple of hours of stitching a day this week but found it difficult having to contend with a cold; my head hurts and my eyes are not focusing all that well.
Monday, February 8 - Sunday, February 21
I am pleased with my progress; I finally get to the lady's face and could see her come to life. It was a relief to be able to work with some other colors rather the grays of the gown. By the end of the week I am stitching the hat.
Monday, February 22 - Sunday, February 28
Like the pervious week I am stitching every spare minute that I can find during my very busy days. I have made real progress; having completed the hat and all the back stitching for the head and upper part of the gown. I am now back to stitching the lower part of the gown. I come across a mistake where I stitched over three threads in the fabric instead of two. It must have happened when my eyes weren't focusing too well during the week that I had my cold. My mistake has snowballed so I finish the week unstitching a portion of the gown's skirt.
Monday, March 1 - Sunday, March 7
I did not stitch as much as I would have liked. The weather has been unbelievably nice for this time of year. I needed to be outside and enjoy it before we get another blast of winter; we always do in this part of western Canada. I did manage to re-stitch the part of the gown that I had unstitched. I completed the umbrella and started on one of the poppies. Hopefully we will see more of the flowers next week
Monday, March 8 - Sunday, March 14
I managed to get in about eighteen hours of stitching this week. There is still more of the skirt to do but I know it will beautiful once it is done. The poppies are slowing coming into bloom. I can just see them swaying in the gentle spring breeze. The first day of Spring will be here next week so hopefully the poppies will all be in bloom by then. SPRING; what a beautiful time of year.
Monday, March 15 - Sunday, March 21
Had quite a time stitching and unstitching during the week. My counting just did not seem to be right, especially with the poppies on the left side. I still have to do more unstitching. Hope I will make better progress next week.
Monday, March 22 - Sunday, March, 28
Once I got on track with my counting I was back in business again. I did manage to give the poppies stems which was done with a simple stem stitch. I also did the back stitching on the umbrella. On all the cross stitching projects that I have ever done the instructions always tell you to do your back stitching after you've completed all the cross stitching. I prefer to do it as I go along. I am always careful to mark on my chart where I've left off with the back stitching.
Monday, March 29 - Sunday, April 4
I was back to working on the gown this week however I did not get much done with it being Easter week. There were so many other things that I had to do. The weather has been great too so I can't be spending all my time indoors either. I am very pleased with how the project is going; it will be at the very least another month before it is completed.
Monday, April 5 - Sunday, April 11
The gown is starting to take shape and it is very beautiful. I did not get as much stitching done as I had planned on; there are so many other things that are demanding my time.The stitching is going smoothly; I have not had any more setbacks as far as having to unstitch. I do however have another very busy week coming up so I don't think the gown will get done anytime soon. I do plan on finding at least a couple of hours to stitch; cross stitching is very relaxing; a great way to wind down after a busy day.
Monday, April 12 - Sunday, April 18
I knew that I was going to have a busy week so there wasn't much time spent on my stitching. Although I did work on it for about two hours; I do not think that it will even be noticeable. I'm hopeful that I will have something to show next week.
Monday, April 19 - Sunday, April 25
I felt that I had to put in some extra hours into my stitching this week to make up for lost time. The weather was on my side in that it turned cooler and rained so I had an excuse to stay indoors more. We were in need of moisture for our grass and trees so the rain was a benefit to all. My project is coming along without any hitches but I am beginning to think that it is taking a lot longer then I expected. It is looking lovely though and I'm getting anxious to getting the project finished and framed. I've already got a spot in my house picked where it will hang.
Monday, April 26 - Sunday, May 2
I never seem to get as much done by the end of the week as I had planned but I am really pleased with the way this project is shaping up. Cross stitching is just one of the many things that I do to keep busy. Being retired I try to discipline myself to devote several hours a week on each of the projects that I am working on. At the moment I also doing some scrape booking; reading a novel along with keeping up with the daily household chores. I go out for my daily walks; three to fours miles a day and I enjoy seeing the new leaves and blossoms on the trees. Soon there will be the gardening to do so my time for cross stitching will be more limited.
Monday, May 3 - Sunday, May 9
Another week in which I did not get enough stitching done to warrant posting a picture. It was a week in which other things in life took precedence. Out of town visitors and a milestone birthday party for a family member. Then the very next day the loss of another family member after a long illness.
Monday, May 10 - Sunday, May 16
I had hoped that I would get more done than I have. Spring is a beautiful season but it is also a very busy season. There are so many other things to do that cross stitching gets put at the bottom of the list. The weather has been great this last week too so I had to get outside and enjoy it. As you see I did manage to get some stitching done. This coming week I hope to complete the right side of the project. My aim is to complete the project by end of this month.
Monday, May 17 - Sunday, May 23
There just wasn't any time spent on cross stitching this week - so many other things to do.
Monday, May 24 - Sunday, May 30
Another week in which there was no time to do any cross stitching - I'll see how next week goes.
Monday, May 31 - Sunday, June 6
I finally got some time to sit down and do some cross stitching. Not sure when I'm going to finish this project. Summer is always so busy with traveling, visiting, gardening and just being outdoors in the sunshine. We've been getting a bit more rain in the last few days so that was about the only reason I got to work on my project. I love the warm weather and sunshine so I do have to take advantage of it whenever we get it. I'm almost finished the right hand side of the project. I need to get the stems of the poppies done before I start working on the other side. Hopefully I will have a spare hour or two to work on it this coming week.
Monday, June 7 - Sunday, June 27
It is summer time and in the last three weeks I've been too busy with so many other things that sitting down to cross stitch is almost impossible. I did manage to get a bit done but it is too little to really so up in a photo. I'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.
Monday, June 28 - Sunday, July 18
With all the family activities that I needed to attend these last few weeks I still managed to work on my cross stitch. We have been getting a lot of rain lately so that was a great help. I wasn't able to go out into the garden to tend to my flowers so I tended to my cross stitching instead. The next month is going to be another busy time for me with my son's wedding coming up and a short holiday to the west coast. I'm really getting anxious to have this project completed.
