It’s hard to believe that 2015 is now past and we have welcomed in 2016. Time really does fly by! And I’m sure each year flies by more quickly than the previous!
I’m not one for doing a lot of reflections and making resolutions with the new year. I just don’t see the point of joining the gym with hoards of others and being another statistic, and my bank balance being the worse for it with that being about the only thing to say about it! This year however, perhaps as a result of my accident, I am a little more reflective. I’m incredibly grateful and blessed to have recovered as well as I have, and the experience, whilst dreadful, has opened my eyes and heart to taking on new and different opportunities, always with the thought in the back of my mind that life really is precious and we should do something everyday to improve ourselves and make ourselves happy. Which in part explains the creation of this blog late last year – after years of thinking ‘should I?’, I decided there’s no time like the present, and you never know what’s going to happen, so you might as well go for it!
So am I making resolutions for 2016? Some would say ‘no’. My resolutions if you want to call them that are the same as they were when I looked at my life and how I was living it post accident. To live in the moment, take opportunities as they come up, not dwell on the small things, and more importantly from this blogs perspective, to spend time daily doing something I love and am passionate about, and improving all the time. This being my stitching! If I was to use one word to describe my ambitions for 2016, it would be ‘improve’.
So what have I planned in my stitching life for 2016? In short, studying my stitching and improving all the time! Rather vague I know, however hopefully the following will give you confidence that I’m not completely away with the fairies!
I will be partaking in TAST – Take a Stitch Tuesday, run by Sharon at Pintangle. Each week a “challenge” is put up in the form of a different stitch, to either be learnt or improved. There’s no pattern, it’s for everyone to work in their own way. I’ve decided I won’t do a ‘traditional’ sampler, and I have decided to take this as an opportunity to add developing my design skills into the mix. I’m going to cheat a little on this front, and for the basics of the design I have decided to use a ‘pattern’ from an adult colouring book. More on that later, as I have’t as yet decided which one I will use, so stay tuned! I’ve also decided that I will work everything in stranded cotton, as this and silk threads is where you can really see how ‘good’ your stitching is, wool is wonderful, but very forgiving and I feel I will get more out of the process if I work in cotton. Next year might be the year for wool!
There’s also my Trevelyon Cap Course. I’m dreadfully behind in the lessons, but I’ve decided to not worry about this, and just focus on doing a good job that I’m happy with. So it might take me an extra few months, but I’m OK with that! I’m hoping to have it finished by about October of this year, but there might be some give and take with that aim!
Then there’s all my other little projects. I’m hoping to get the Ann’s Orchard Clutch finished up in the next couple of months, then finish off that poor cauliflower. After that I will have to keep you posted! I’d like to get more completed, but it is also dependent on my mood at the time! I might decide to start something else new!
My sister in law is due to have her third little one in late February, and a ‘tradition’ I have is that I stitch up a new baby blanket for each new little addition to the family. So not long to get my plan into action! I’ll share with you over the next couple of weeks my design and progress of this, with the finished project hopefully not too long after the little one has arrived! I do have plan and a design in my head, I just need to action it!
And continuing on with the idea of improvement, I have a couple of other classes I will be attending. One is another online course, offered by Craftsy, on stumpwork, called Raised Embroidery Essentials. At the conclusion there will be a beautiful little poppy. I’ll let you know how that goes, but I have high hopes as Mary Corbet has given it good reviews! And, at length, my first ‘real life’ course in a couple of years! I’m so excited already! I have signed up to two Royal School of Needlework courses – one on stumpwork, and the second on silk painting. I’m really excited about these and can’t wait for the time to come when I can go to Hampton Court!
Lastly, I am working on improving my photography skills. This thought hasn’t got much further than this, so any tips or suggested online resources or courses would be greatly appreciated!
Time will tell how I progress with these throughout the year, however my ultimate goal is to spend more time doing what I love, the improvement will come naturally with practise and focus (I hope!).
And on that note, all the best for 2016, I hope it brings you much joy, happiness and success as you see it.
