I officially started this piece on 25 August 2002; however, there is a slight story to this pattern. Christmas of 1996, I gave this pattern to my husband who really liked it and who had done a couple cross stitched pictures. I had this great mental image of the two of us spending evenings together stitching on the sofa. Unfortuantely, I pushed a little too much. He started this piece in 1997, stitched the purple part of the belly, and decided that he'd had enough. He's never stitched since. In his defense, since I've picked up this piece, I realize that perhaps, I pushed him in over his head. This chart is full of confetti stitches, and he's had the satisfaction of listening to me issue many curses over it already.