So far so good on rotation, stitching and yanking out of depression!

Well October is the month long stitchathon on Cross Stitch Crazy, so I am thinking the rotation schedule I posted yesterday should help me stitch a bit every day and thus participate in the stitchathon more than I did in September.

My September stitchathon total was 500 minutes so here are my totals so far:

• January: 1,531
• February: 1,941
• March: 3,580
• April: 1,640
• May: 0 (depression sucks)
  
• June: 0 (I mean it really really sucks!!)
  
• July: 1,590
• August: 0 (*sigh* Stupid depression)
  
• September: 500 (YAY! started pulling myself out of it, good thing I am stubborn huh?)
  

• total: 10,782 minutes

I think I will hit the goal I set for the stitchathon challenge of 12,000 to 14,000 minutes. Hell I might hit it before the end of October! WOOT! I'm well on my way and since this is a month long stitchathon so I should be able to rack up some time, specially since I have integrated rotation and so far I have stuck to it. (Though I did not stitch last night, was too damn tired) I am really excited and so very very pleased with myself for actually sticking to my plan and stitching for 3 hours today!! I will probably get more done tonight but I wanted to be sure to blog. I don't want to have so much time go by between posts and would like to start being more regular with my entries (yeah right, I am so lazy and tend to forget things so easily..so don't hold me to this!).

Today I stitched for 240 minutes (so far)! I made a little bit of progress on "Stroke of Midnight" from Teresa Wentzler. Due to a high level of pain, I couldn't concentrate very well so I only worked a little bit on it. I got a bit more of the rails behind the girl, and a bit more of the over 1 on the girl (the hair around her face). Then I switched to " Blackwork Winter Sampler" by Tam's Creations as it doesn't require as much thinking or concentration as a TW over 1. But I did find an error in the chart. In the second "round" there are mittens, hats and snowballs. On the right hand side (chart for upper right corner) the snowballs between the mittens share their top stitch with the outline for the "round". They are supposed to be one row below the outline stitching. Luckily I caught this as soon as I put the first snowball in, so I only had to frog a few stitches instead of a whole bunch.

Edited to add: I am an idiot! There is no error. I saw the line that marks the 10 squares of the chart as a backstitch line. My printer printed it dark so I confused the two. I am sorry Tam that I posted this so late last night before I realized my error! (Yes I am an idiot! LOL)

I am really liking the way both "Winter Blackwork" and "Stroke Of Midnight" are shaping up! I have found that I enjoy (and need) more than one project going at the same time. This allows me to switch between them based on how well I can concentrate at the time I stitch, how much time I have to stitch, and whatever mood I might be in. My rotation is a nice guideline for getting stuff done, but I consider it very flexible. If something comes up that is not in my rotation, I will simply add it somewhere and go from there. LOL

I am really pleased with my progress and I hope to keep it up. I really like the way it is turning out with 2 strands over 2 threads. Changing the colors, as I mentioned in an earlier post, did not work very well so I frogged it and decided to do it all in the dark purple the chart calls for. I am really liking it that way too! I will be taking this piece to the doctor's office with me tomorrow as it is easy to carry (just 1 color LOL) and I am sure to have at least 1 to 2 hours waiting to actually the see the doctor so I can stitch during that time. I think I am off to a great start on this month long stitchathon!

It is so nice to have that depressed "I don't want to do anything" mood replaced with being excited about stitching and NEEDING to stitch! Gosh it feels sooo good!

I have taken pics (before I stitched today, and after I finished stitching) but it is late and I am really hurting so I will post them tomorrow.

I borrowed my DH's glasses, they are bifocal and I have found that the bifocal part makes it so much easier for me to see the over 1 stitching. So I am going to find me a good pair of reading glasses to help me with the higher count fabrics since I can't use a stand so a lighted magnifying glass won't work for me.

Well that is pretty much it for me today! I hope everyone has a wonderful night filled with joyful stitching!

Raven