The WIPocalypse is coming

It's been a busy few days with our late Thanksgiving celebration (pie was excellent, recipe coming soon!), work and an annoying hand injury that showed up yesterday and is keeping me from stitching at the moment. Instead I've been spending my free time Christmas shopping, thinking about stitching and playing Ninja Fishing on my phone and not necessarily in that order. I am embarassed to admit exactly how much Ninja Fishing I've been doing so I won't. Despite my new addiction, I have managed to cross a few more names off my Christmas shopping list and Josh and I whipped up a huge batch of vegetable soup this afternoon. I'd share the recipe but there really isn't one unless you count this- it's usually whatever beef roast is on sale, V8, some beef broth, handful of dry rice, handful of barley, and whatever vegetables I can find in my fridge/freezer.

That pot made for dinner tonight plus 5 freezer containers, enough to share with Grandpa and Dad (who both love any kind of soup), and a large bowl for us to eat out of for the next few days. I love that stock pot, it was one of the best wedding presents we got. I use it to make big pots of soups, spaghetti sauce, and chili to freeze for quick dinners since cooking time is quite often short in our house.

Even though I haven't been stitching I've been thinking about it, particularly of the work I've got to do to get some WIPs out of my basket. I did decide to join Measi's WIPocalypse SAL for 2012. I've been trying to clear my basket for a few years and have had some success in finishing off old WIPs but new ones always seem to take their place so I've been stuck with a WIP basket of about a dozen for a few years running. I know that seems small in comparison to some but it really is more than I want to keep around especially with one young child (and pretty soon two) running around.

So in the interest of shortening up my WIP list I'm going to attempt to finish two projects before I allow myself a new start. Two exceptions to that rule will be Christmas ornaments to be given as 2012 gifts and an undecided Donna Giampa JCS pillow that I'd like to take on our trip 2 to Russia to finalize this second adoption if that comes in 2012. In addition to the 2 finishes before a new start rule, I'd also like to try to keep my new starts limited to projects I've already got kitted up and ready to go since we probably should be saving money both for adoption travel and for the unpaid leave from work after our new child comes home. I know that's a little more restrictive than Measi's official rules and I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't quite stick to it but I'd like to try and put a dent in my list.

I've come up with a tentative list of WIPs for next year which may change by next month depending on what I find digging around in my stash...

~Nativity by TW

~Polar Lights Sampler by Chatelaine

~The Witch's Pantry by Lisa Cowell

~Titania by Mirabilia

~QS Pegasus and Castle Bubble by HAED/Josephine Wall

~Dragon Moon by HAED/Lisa Victoria

~Skeleton Crew by Crossed Eyed Cricket

~Fish City by Stoney Creek

~Garden of Wishes by HAED/Molly Harrison

~Watergarden by Chatelaine

~Celtic Cross by TW

~The Storyteller by TW

~Dragon Master by HAED/Myles Pinkney (not started)

~Church Window by Michael Powell (not started)

~Christmas Village Toy Shop by Mill Hill (not started)

~Pretty Pumpkins by Glendon Place (not started)

~Frosty Woodland Pillow by Donna Giampa (not started)

~Holly and Berries by Kandace Thomas (not started)

The ones at the bottom that I have not yet started are the projects I intend to start as I finish other WIPs off. They are completely kitted and ready to go. At the end of the year I'm hoping to have a shorter list and if I do well enough I'd like to reward myself with starting Chatelaine's White Nights in St. Petersburg, another reason to try to save some money if you've seen the materials list I had forgotten about the design until I was over on the Chatelaine bulletin board recently looking at Watergarden pics and found it again. We haven't been to St. Petersburg in particular yet but the design seems a perfect fit for the big blank spot on my living room wall.