Finally finished gridding my fabric for the RR. Whew! Glad to have that finished. I didn't stitch my block, but I can do that when it's returned to me.

Ran by JoAnn's after taking my SILS to their hotel and picked up the cording for the fob I made for a swap. It's late but it should be going out in the mail first thing tomorrow morning. YEA!!!! Also picked up an eyelet starter kit for scrapbooking. I had a 50% off coupon so I got it for $5.

I feel like this huge weight has been lifted. I hate getting off schedule with swaps and stuff. Once I miss that deadline, I just don't want to look at it because I feel so guilty for being late.

Now I can pursue some other projects with a clear conscience.

I'm really enjoying James Patterson's 1st to Die. It's the first book I've read by him and it's the first book I've managed to stick with for longer than a couple of pages in a long time. With this one, you know who the killer is from the beginning so it's not like I'm trying to figure it out, just the characters are. I like being let in on the secret. This way I can enjoy the characters' journey and not spend my time reading trying to figure it out before they do. Yes, reading a mystery novel is a competitive sport for me. I like to think I know more than the characters. Yes, I'm a geek.

Now that I'm caught up on my stitching with deadlines I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to work on. I would love to get L'Ete by Birds of a Feather finished by the end of the month so I can get it in to be framed before my framer leaves for the summer or possibly retires for good.

I need to finish Fairy Grandmother. My mamaw isn't getting any younger. I've missed several deadlines with that piece. It's a priority.

DS#2's Dragon Isle is also a priority. This has been a WIP for 6 years. I only have a little left to finish. He even mentioned it not too long ago.

I'm not going to start any new cross stitch projects until at least one of the above is finished. Really, I'm not. Seriously, no new projects until one of these is completed.

I didn't say I wasn't going to keep stashing, just not start anything new.

I want to start several crochet projects and get back into a good routine with my 63 Sqaures afghan. I have my gemstone/black afghan, I have a crocheted box from Simple Crochet started and have all the Sugar & Cream ready to go for Erika Knight's Pieced Throw, also from Simple Crochet. I want to also pick up the Cotton Ease for a skirt from Family Circle's Easy Knitting plus Crochet Spring/Summer 2004 issue. It's a beach skirt to wear over my bathing suit. I'd post a pic from the magazine but I'm not sure about the copyright issues. It's the skirt on page 57. That Candy Blue Cotton Ease from Lionbrand will exactly match my bathing suit, not to mention it will cover up my big behind and my thighs. That's definitely a positive.

Also need to finish DS#3's quilt. The top is almost finished, then it's just adding the borders and then the batting and backing fabric. I plan to tie this quilt so it's not another year before he gets it. He's been pretty patient.

Great stitching days ahead and dreams of new projects floating around in my brain. I love planning projects and stashing for projects and kitting projects up almost as much as I enjoy actually working on the project.

Knitting Update

I still can't purl.