Stitching - finally - or trying anyway

I've been putting this off - piecing like a mad woman - but I finally had to bite the bullet. I'm not very fast, I should probably practiced on some scrap but NO - I jumped right in. It's been at least 20 years since I have done embroidery. I have discovered that I need STRONGER readers - my 2X drug-store glasses just aren't enough for me to see the loop in that chain stitch! Because of that, my chain isn't very good. I know I will improve, just need to practice. My french knots aren't very pretty - really? I thought I could at least pull them off the first round - practice! Fortunately, this project lets you do lots of it. Notice I stitched 2012? I WILL get this finished in 2012. There, I've said it... : )