September Goals

Something you may not know about me: I am very analytical. I can analyze just about anything to death: people, books, movies, numbers (when they let me), etc. I like statistics and percentages and what not (big surprise coming from a mathematics major). Anyway, all of that means that I like to plan and record progress. This is why I keep a book log and a stitching journal.

All of which is to say that I have decided to become more deliberate in what I stitch and when. Many stitchers use a rotation of some sort, whether it's working a week on each project, a day, a set number of hours, or devoting certain times to certain types of projects. Because I have a million a few gift projects going on right now (or needing to be going on), a rotation won't exactly work at the moment. Instead, I've mapped out the next few months in terms of goals, based on deadlines and stuff for each project. I'll try to post my monthly goals at the beginning of each month and then recap at the end of the month to see how I did. Nothing fancy*, just something to appease my brain.

Without further delay, here are my goals for the rest of September. Note: Percentages will be approximate. I don't have time to count actual stitches.

1. Complete ~50% of Nursery Rhymes (gift)
2. Complete and frame another small baby gift (currently about 1/3 done)
3. Start Band Sampler from Sampler Quaterly (post Christmas gift)
4. Start Tribal Elephant from White Willow (gift, waiting on chart to come in at LNS)
5. Start Christmas ornament for the Cross Stitch Forum Ornament Exchange

If I can get all of that done, I should be in pretty good shape as I head towards the holiday season (assuming that the giraffes in Giraffe Silhouette don't start a stampede and demand attention). I don't have that many Christmas gifts that I'm making this year, but I have enough that I need to get started now.

Do you organize your stitching or just stitch whatever you feel like? How do you keep up with what you're working on?

*Okay, well I did make an Excel workbook to track my current WIPs, projects to start next, and projects to start someday, complete with chart/fabric info and notes. Also, technically I've set weekly goals, but that's a bit much for the blog.