2022 Stitching Plans

Good morning everybody, and Happy New Year!!

After a couple a relatively up and down (although still very productive) years, I'm hoping that 2022 will be rather more smooth-sailing. But whether it is or isn't, here are my stitching plans for 2022.

** LONG POST ALERT! **

Going chronologically through the year, then...

1) CONTINUE STITCHING Kings and Queens at one monarch each month. I missed 6 months last year but am now back into the swing of it. There are 11 monarchs left to stitch and then in the 12th month I shall add the names of the heirs in the space on the bottom right. One more monarch has been completed since this photo:

2) CONTINUE SALing WITH LEONORE The Loneliness Of Autumn at 10 hours per month, colour by colour. This should take me from about 45% to about 67% complete with the addition of about 10-12 colours. Here is how it stands at the end of 2021. Colours to come in 2022 include yellows, oranges, light browns and (finally) a nice brightish blues:

3) SMALLS SAL - stitch one small project each month for Mary's link-up. I like the fact this SAL gives me a new start and quick finish every month and have already chosen charts for eight of the twelve months; the jury is still out on the other four.

4) WINTER OLYMPICS (4th to 20th February) - NO NEW STARTS but hope to complete the winter-themed Let's Be Frozen. There are about 24 hours of stitching left to fit in over the course of the 17 days:

5) WINTER PARALYMPICS (4th to 13th March) - NO NEW STARTS but aim to finish the 10 dragons which I started during the Tokyo Paralympics. I have been quietly working on them so that there is only about an hour left to stitch on each one. No progress pictures, but this is how they looked after their initial one day of stitching:

NB the Winter Paralympics overlaps with:

6) MISCHIEVOUS MARCH - start four projects over the four weekends of March and finish them all soon after. I keep changing my mind about which four I want to start but I have at least narrowed it down to two new-to-me designers! There will be a link-up if you would like to join me.

7) CHRISTMAS IN JULY - NO NEW STARTS but continue with Lizzie Kate's Merry Christmas By The Letter which I started for Christmas In July last year and continued with the week after Christmas. Except for the buttons, I've now completed 8/16 blocks (slightly altering the heap of snow between the two words). My aim for July is another four sections:

8) DARK OCTOBER - NO NEW STARTS but hope to finish Haunted Library by Mill Hill. There's about 30 hours to go on this, so completing it during Dark October itself might be a bit of a squeeze:

9) NAUGHTY NOVEMBER - start four projects over the four weekends of November and finish them all before the end of the year. This is Moonset from Whispered By The Wind, the same company who designed Moonrise which I completed for Naughty November last year.  There will be a link-up if you would like to join me.

10) CHRISTMAS DAY - NO NEW STARTS but keep working on Lizzie Kate's Merry Christmas By The Letter. Whether it becomes a finish or not will partially depend on how much progress I make in July.

And then there are the:

11) PEOPLE'S CHOICE SAL - first Saturday of the month hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching where we post around a theme for the month.

12) FULLY FINISHED GALLERY SAL - 10th of the month hosted by me(!) with the theme of finish-finishing stitched pieces rather than leaving them languishing in boxes, cupboards or drawers.

And then, if I've got time(!!!):

FINISH AS MANY OTHER WIPs AS POSSIBLE! This is a non-committal number so could be anything from 1 to 30 depending on how long I've got and which ones I choose. In an ideal world, my ultimate goal is to end 2022 with 22 fewer WIPs than I started with, so as 11 finishes are planned for the Olympics, that would ideally mean 11 more.

And finally...

REWARD

As a reward, for every 10 WIPs I finish (as in those started in 2021 and prior) I will allow myself one new start. Yes, I want to significantly reduce my WIP pile, but all WIPs and no new starts (Smalls SAL, Mischievous March and Naughty November aside) could become demotivating. The new start could be anything, depending on my mood at the time.

Of course, all these plans assume life is steady and I don't get distracted or bitten by any additional tempting SALs. It's certainly not my intention, but one never knows what's just around the corner!

And that's it! Congratulations if you got this far without skipping anything!

I now look forward to reading your 2022 plans too.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and stitchy 2022,

Rachel x