Ok. So maybe it's a year later than I wanted it to be, but my gosh, I finished that needlepoint. I can't really believe I managed it, and find it even more unbelievable that I am feeling anxious to start another one.
The illustration is based off one I found on the website of Chris Silas Neal, but of course can't find again. I am not an illustrator, so I knew I was going to have to steal from someone else for this, but wasn't sure where to look. I browsed around a while, not really drawn to anything until I saw this, and I knew immediately it was the one. I really hope he doesn't mind.

I was bouncing off the walls when I pulled the final stitches through, but when I stepped back to have a look at my work, my heart sank. The whole thing had gotten itself all stretched out of shape and I thought for sure itwas ruined. Do you see that slope in the photo above - devastating, right? Well, fortunately, wrong. This being my first needlepoint project, I had no idea that this is totally normal and all it needed was some good old fashioned blocking. Lucky for me, I am collector (hoarder) of craft books of all kinds and found a great tutorial in my Complete Guide to Needlework. A few simple steps, some major pulling and about 50 thumbtacks later, the piece was straight. Now all I have to do it get it framed. . . I'll see you back here with that in another year.

As the title of this blog suggests, this is the year I make good on all the craft projects I've started and abandoned. I have boxes of half-knit sweaters, of pattern pieces cut out but not sewn, of patchwork quilts pieced but not quilted. I have notebooks filled with sketches of projects I want to start - and in most cases have even gone out to buy the materials, only to be sidetracked onto something else, leaving the original idea in the dust. 
Case in point: I set the (probably unrealistic) goal of finishing my first needlepoint project in time for my daughter's first birthday, which is now just a few short weeks away. If I really dedicated myself to it, I could probably accomplish it, but once again, my attention has been diverted. As Spring looms, and R's wardrobe shrinks as she grows, I decided what I really should be doing is knitting her a lightweight sweater to keep the chill away. The needlepoint can wait.