WOW I AM AMAZED

I have just had to post tonight to say Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Fifteen wonderful, wonderful people left a comment regarding my reorganisation of my rota. I really did not expect any comments at all. The main reason for writing that post was to set it in concrete so to speak before I changed my mind yet again.

Many of you said you admired how organised I was (oh how little you know me LOL). I started stitching about 14 years ago with a little kit I bought whilst down in sussex, it took me about a week to stitch. When I came home I wanted to try again and my son and his then girlfriend (now wife) bought me the DMC Mother & Child Chart. This was really the start for me. I didnt want it in the blues that the chart called for so i spend a good hour or so kneeling on the floor of the shop with all the blues in my hand and every shade of pink they had in front of me until I thought I had the equivelant shades in the alternative colour. I came home and hardly took my coat off before I started and for the next month I did nothing (and I mean nothing) but stitch. I was completely and utterly hooked. This one completed I went to look for some more charts and there was so many and I wanted to do them all now. I started one, but could not settle because another one was calling me, that one started and I knew I should have done the other one first, I am sure many of you will know exactly what I mean, before I knew it I had about 20 projects in my draw, all started but little hope of getting them finish - I had the worst case of startitise you could ever imagine, and I was still buying charts. At the back of my mind I felt guilty I knew I was spending money that we did not have a lot of, on things which were not satisfying me as the minute I started something I was in my mind looking for the next project. I read an article about someone who sounded just like me and she worked on a rota system. I took about 6 things out of the draw, wrote a list and started. I timed myself, 10 hours I only had to do 10 hours and then I could start the next one,

each time I got the end of the rota I took another out of the draw and added that, and I started slowly to get finishes. The day came when I got to the end of my rota and there was nothing in the draw - I got to start a brand new project. For me it worked. Even now I will be stitching away and planning what will come into the rota next, will it be this piece or will it be that piece. But I stick with the rota because I do get to start new projects but I do get to finish things too.

So you see its not a matter of being organised its just a way of coping with an addiction for me.

Sue asked how long I spend on each project. Well that is hard to say because I stitch while I am enjoying it to a great extent. I do try to work on a project for at least one whole day - but sometimes I may get 4 or 5 hours to stitch in a day and others I may be lucky to get half an hour. Also I work my rota Monday to Friday -saving the weekends for SALs and anything that takes my fancy- and I try never to carry a piece over the weekend but I may have worked on the piece for the whole 5 days. However it goes away Friday night and the new week brings out a fresh piece. In the past I have only ever started a new piece at the end of the rota round, so this time putting a new piece in where a piece is finished is just a completely different way to me. It also means if I have two finishes then next time I will have two new starts lol.

Once again thank you to all you wonderful people your comments were so kind and so encouraging as always, it is truely a privilege to have you visit me.

xx

may your frogs stay in their pond.