Good-bye 2025

We will be spending a very quite New Year's Eve here at home. It is snowing and even though there are some fun events taking place in town, we are staying warm and safe. We are planning on snuggling down and watching Netflix tonight with some cheesy popcorn and a warm drink. 

I wanted to get this finished and posted before the end of the year. This is my final project for 2025. It is a Secret Needle Night Kit called "A Garden Watering Can" from May 2000. I really enjoyed this one and it turned out much nicer than pictured. Started Jan 29 and finished this afternoon.

I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year!

A Year In Cross Stitch Finishes

 This year was not the best for stitching for me. Seeing the small holes wasn't always easy but things seem better now. I did get a few things finished:

Calico Crossroads - St. Patty Kat
Finished 1-6-25

The Silver Needle
Secret Needle Night kit - Eggs Jan. 2024
Finished 1-26-25

The Silver Needle 
Secret Needle Night kit - Spring Cleaning Feb. 2001
Finished 1-29-25

Alice Okon - Happy Holidays Ornament
Finished 2-2-25

The Silver Needle
Secret Needle Night Kit - Puddle Ducks Feb. 2024
Finished 2-5-25

The Silver Needle 
Secret Needle Night Kit - Toadily Covered March 2010
Finished 12-15-25

The Silver Needle 
Secret Needle Night Kit - Spring Sampler April 2000
Finished 12-18-25

The Silver Needle
Secret Needle Night Kit - Spring Fields April 2008
Finished 12-28=25

Ten smalls finished- eleven if you count the printed turtles. Not great and sadly things that were finished were all smalls - but there were XS finishes on top of the 30 knit/crochet projects, and I finished a few other miscellaneous crafts such as soaps, diamond art,  mosaic tile, etc. Hopefully, 2026 will hold a lot more finishes - including fully finished objects!

Spring Fields Finished!

 This may sound strange, but I feel sadness putting my last stitch and last button on this piece. No, it's not complicated or was difficult, but I really enjoyed stitching this small piece. Maybe it reminds me of my childhood on my grandparents farm. I spent many, many days and summers there - watching the sheep wander the fields and seeing the orchard bloom and then produce the most luscious pears and apples. I miss those days and stitching on this piece made me remember all the hours I spent outside there and in the barn building hay houses to relax in. I so miss those days and all the people I loved dearly. All are gone now but those memories are just as vivid as ever. 

Spring Fields Progress

 I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday with family and friends. Mine did not go as planned, but at my age, I've learned to adapt. LOL Hubby and I don't exchange gifts since we buy what we want when we want. That's ok, because not I get exactly what I want. It takes a lot of pressure off for both of us. I still have a Amazon wish list to help the kids out and I was really surprised when my son got me 2 history cookbooks and a sock book plus some oranges, chocolate and goodies from the Eastern European Market. My daughter also surprised me with 4 skeins of Malabrigo fingering weight superwash merino wool. Lovely! 

I've been enjoying my stitching although not having as much time to do so as I would like. Spring Fields has been so much fun to stitch and I'm coming along and expect to be done with it before the end of the month. Here was my last photo:

And now:

I'm loving the process and the design. This is one fun piece for me!

Brrringo List and January 2026 Mag. Monthly Challenge

My planning lists have been solidified and I'm done well BEFORE the new year. This is a good thing! I don't know why this December has been more about planning throughout the month instead of concentrating on it during the last week of the year, but it seemed more important for some reason. And that wasn't just for stitching, either. 

I sat down a few days ago, went over list upon list and ended up with this list as my final choices:

and my final pick for Brrringo Numbers.

The January 2026 Magaline Monthly Challenge was quite easy since the main theme was Monochrome and the Acrostic was SAMPLER

Monochrome - French Mystery 52erre ru

Acrostic:

• S - Snowman Mitten Tree
• A - Aymar's Amber Rose
• M - My Husband
• P- Purrfect Halloween
• L - Laundry Day
• E - Eastern Bluebird
• R - Icy River

The lists can do double duty, so if a number is called during Brringo and it's on the Challenge list, it can be counted on both lists. If I do that or not will be a different story. 

Brrring is requiring 2 starts for me, but there will be no more starts until at least there is a finish. My WIP list will not grow that way.

Spring Fields Started & Some Plans

 

I could not believe my luck when I stumbled across a Secret Needle Night kit on ebay. It screamed to me to add it to my list of things I need to make. So much so that it hopped into my cart and was on its way even before I knew I had purchased it! This kit is probably 80% full coverage - which is not typical of the designs I've done from The Silver Needle SSN in the past. It's cute but called to me was the sheep farm. The barn, the sheep, the hills, the apple trees - everything I remember about my grandparents farm. Yes, they raised sheep, Suffolks to be exact, so I HAD to have this kit.

It arrived on the 18th and I had to start it ASAP. It was great timing, as I had just put my last stitches into Spring Sampler. I've been on a SSN kit kick this month. I'm having so much fun stitching them! I have filed them all in order, so I just reach in my box and pull the top one out - until this kit arrived, and it wasn't waiting its turn, but jumped the queue and ended up in my hoop. I'm currently working on the lighter green hill and I am really enjoying it - but I have had some trouble with the perle cotton tangling and knotting, I have to keep an eye on it while stitching to make sure I don't get knots and loops on the back. 

I am slowly making plans for next year. Some of my goals so far are to make a much more useable craft room. Right now, I swear I spend more time looking for things because I know I have them, but I cannot remember where I put them. Hubby laughs and says I must have found a good safe place to file/store them! Everything is in such disarray that I really need to make it much more useable. A nice neat sewing station would be awesome. I have so many projects I want to sew - project bags and other small things. I also want to take my FO's and make them into FFOs. Then there's the Current WIP, Older WIP and BAP lists I need to work on. I'm in the mood to get these done - well at least some of them done. I've got a WIP list for my knitting/crochet as well. 

One of the things I have been having issues with is the feeling that I'm not a "real" cross stitcher and am looked down upon because I love doing smalls. I've done large pieces in the past, most models for shops and designers, but lately smalls are giving me a lot of satisfaction stitching. I guess lately I've been comparing my stitching to those that have HUGE BAPs like HAED going - and not only one, but lots of them. Now in my 60's, I find myself drawn to Mill Hill, designs in magazines, as well as old pieces in my stash like The Sweetheart Tree and Just Nan. I enjoyed stitching Teresa Wentzler designs when I was younger, but now, not so much. My tastes for enjoyment have changed. I am leaning towards less backstitching, fractional stitches and huge, complicated designs for more relaxing, simple, smaller ones. I really have to stop comparing myself with others and just enjoy what I like. 

I've Been Tempted & A Finish

 I don't know why, but lately, I've been looking for a kit of the month to replace the Secret Needle Night kits that I've been receiving for the past 2 years. I have been tempted by a few things, but the cost is way more than I want to spend. After really searching and spending lots of time looking for something I really like, I decided to just look at my WIPs and my past magazines. This last issue of Just CrossStitch (Winter '25) had a lot of interesting designs I am interested in stitching. One I thought was cute was "For the Birds" by Kateryna Voskoboinykova of Stitchy Princess. I ordered the fabric and I was missing one of the skeins of thread, so had to get that as well. The next thing I know was there were some more missing threads, a leaflet called "Hot Chocolate Season" by Shannon Christine Designs Ltd., 2 Riolis City and Cats kits (I was missing spring and winter) and a DMC color card that hopped into my cart. Everything I listed cost less than the cost of the monthly kits I was looking at. That's what happens when you go to the 1-2-3 Stitch website. LOL In my defense, everything except the fabric and thread were on my wishlist for a good year. 

I have been working on another Secret Needle Night kit. This one was started on the 15th and is called "Spring Sampler".  Here was my progress on the 15th"

And here it is finished

It turned out really cute!

Toadily Covered Finished

It stormed over the weekend, so I decided to catalog my Secret Needle Night Kits so that I would not be buying duplicates when I find them at good prices. I really do love stitching them and now I need to get busy finishing them. I've framed a few pieces in the past, made some needle rolls, a couple of pillows and did some hoop framing. Outside of that, I really don't have much experience to decide how to finish them. I will confess, I have a box of completed stitchery that needs to be finished and displayed. I think that should be one of my goals for next year. I really want to see some stitchery out and nicely displayed.

I finished my Secret Needle Night kit that was offered in March of 2010. It is called "Toadily Covered" and I started it February 25, 2025 and was stitching along only to find out that I ran out of the green for the frog's body. I searched all over for the color I though it was, but came up empty handed. Finally I got the bright idea of calling The Silver Needle and asked it anyone could give me an idea of what color was used. I was told to call back the next day, as they were in the middle of a busy time, so I did. I wasn't really hopeful, but thought I'd give it a shot. Sure enough, the gal that helped me looked it up and I ordered a skein of the shorted color. I really couldn't believe what luck, as this was a kit from 15 years ago! As soon as the green came, I finished the frog, but ended up putting it aside because of a time crunch I was in. Well, that was a few months ago. When cataloging my kits, I found it was not finished, so I started with the umbrella when I remembered to take a progress pic. 

It is now completed and all I have to do is finish it.

 I  haven't decided to do it as a stand-up or something else. It's cute, but there were 2 color choices. I think the blue would have looked a little better. The purple seems a bit off, but I'm sure the color choice of the fabric can bring it all together. 

FFO - Diamond Christmas Card

 I don't have a very long Christmas card list any more. No one really sends them in my very small family, so those that do now receive a special one from me. I spent yesterday afternoon doing this one and it's now ready to mail. 

Front and back of Card

Close up of "diamonds"

The Need To Stitch

 Yesterday was a true winter day. Blustery winds, snow and then a snow/rain mix and not the best roads made for some interesting travel yesterday. Although I would have rather stayed home and stitched, I had to go with hubby for his yearly appointment at the retina specialist because I'm the appointed driver for the trip home. It's quite funny to see him for the next few hours after the appointment, as they dilate his eyes and his pupils stay HUGE for those few hours. He has that "vampire" or "goul" look and he can't be around bright lights. 

While trying to decide on what to work on while waiting at the office, I came across NMI Waiting for Santa Coaster kit. (Item 3096). The coaster is cute but I laid it aside for a test project and never got back to it. I have that excuse a lot it seems. I'm really not going to test except maybe for Claire Slade of Verily Knits. Her designs are awesome and it's really not a test as much as a preview knit. 

I never took any type of project along with me, but did decide to start working on the coaster again. Here's where I was when I put it away:

We'll see how far I get. Hopefully a FFO by the end of the month. And to think those printed turtles started it all!

Small Mill Hill Finish

 I came across an old Mill Hill kit in my stash called Mill Hill Quilt Magnets Pine Tree Quilt Square MHQM6. This called to me and said it was quick and should be fun. According to what I found, this kit was back from 1993. I guess it was time to whip it up. It truly was a quick finish. Now I need to put a backing on and make it into a magnet. The beads are a little wonky since they were all different sizes, but I think that is some of the charm.

Unfortunately, I will not be resubbing to The Silver Needle's Secret Needle Night kits any longer. It expires this month, and I was balking at the rising price last time, but I so LOVED the different threads, fabrics and embellishments. Sadly, this year they were not blowing me away like they used to. Many had average threads, no embellishments, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with the kits, because they are still adorable, but not what I liked about the old kits. Maybe that's just what is going on this past year, but I'll just hold out and wait to see what next year offers. I'm one that loves buttons, beads and bling and I didn't see much this  year.

A Finish

 

The turtles are finished and are on their way to hanging in my bathroom. The first thing about this kit was to see if I would get crazy bored stitching over top of colors. Surprisingly no. Second thing was to see if there was enough included floss and how was it. Let me tell you - there was a LOT of floss left over! It did not feel like DMC (although there were DMC numbers) and there were times when I was pulling it apart, that it tangled and even knotted on me a few times, but overall, it really wasn't bad to work with. Next, was to see if the color really would come out of the white. I followed the instructions and soaked it in water.

Slowly, the color started to fade, and after some time, the colors disappeared. I changed the water a few times. First it was grey and then a purple. The color scheme on the bottom had a couple of squares that left a "shadow" of the color, but I couldn't see anything else left behind. It is currently drying and then I'll press it and frame it. The kit even came with a hoop to use as a frame. That's probably what I'll use.

Overall, I had a good experience so far. What I did like was that I could pick it up any time, any where and work on it and in hand, too. That was nice if I had to wait in an office, etc. I did miss the pattern/chart to a point. Juggling a pattern in public is not the easiest to do and for some reason this felt simplistic at times, but I did get it done and now will be finishing it later on today if all goes well. 

Thinking About Next Year

 During my time working on last minute Christmas lists, I have been also considering what I want to accomplish next year. I have a huge library of books and magazines - more than 40 years worth. Being multi-crafty, there's all kinds of different categories of crafts, some I want to try that have been put aside for that "someday" and some old standbys I want to immerse into more. I bagged up 12 skeins of yarn - one for each month, instead of joining a mystery yarn club. Each skein is fingering weight sock yarn and I have no clue what I had chosen. I closed my eyes, stuffed my hand in the tub of yarn, put it in a bag and sealed it, never seeing what I picked. I am looking really forward to find what This year holds for me in the sock department. I have a few patterns from Crazy Sock Lady, that will work with hand-dyed yarn. That will be nice to have some alternatives instead of making all vanilla socks. 

I have a bunch of classes I purchased for "someday" as well. Next year I am going to take some time working on those classes. Currently, all I do is look and say, "I want to make that - someday." LOL Well, someday is coming next year. There are techniques I want to learn and just relax and enjoy the process. I love video classes as they can be rewound again and again if need be - quite unlike the in-person classes I have taken in the past. Yes, someone is there to help, but I miss so much because I cannot see or because the teacher has an allotted time frame to be able to help all her students in. For me, video classes work better. 

I have a bunch of cross-stitch and a few plastic canvas kits I want to complete. There's also a couple of felt and embroidery kits to do as well. That doesn't count all the knitting and crochet ones I have. Then there are the cards and sewing kits... As you can see, I have SABLE a few times over. There's and up and a downside to that. The up side is I don't have to worry about how expensive everything has become since I don't need to buy anything except to replenish things like glue, tape, etc. The downside is that I'm not getting anything new, so I need to stay away from craft stores both brick and mortar and online. I need to get things finished and get rid of those that I never will, be it because I no longer like it or because I no longer celebrate that holiday. At my age, I really need to think about this stuff. Swedish Death Cleaning is becoming more necessary each day. I don't want to leave a ton of things for the kids to go through after I'm gone. They don't have the interest in crafts that I do and they have been quite good about expressing that. 

Goodbye November, Hello December!

 

I woke up to a small amount of snow this morning, but the university and many public places either closed or is on a big delay. I don't think it's amount that is out now, but what is in store later on today. We are to have snow then it's to change to a wintery mix and then maybe rain. We shall see. 

I started a new pair of socks, because they were something I had never tried before. It's a KAL, but I am behind with working on it, and because I'm new to the group, she only sends out parts after I'm done with one. So to get part 2, I have to be finished and posting part one. Well that was OK until I got behind with the holiday preps. Now, I need to get back into it, but I may be too late to get the next part. If so, I'll just knit a plain foot.

There's not else much to report for finishes last month. I've done some work on my Grand Opening Shawl. This is a paid for pattern. It was a KAL from last year's Advent, but I ran a mistake and put it aside, since I couldn't find it. That aside lasted almost a year. How does that happen? Anyhow, this was the last photo taken. I had done more with the change in directions, but never photographed it. Here are parts 1-5. I had completed all the way to part 13 and needed to fix things. 

I'm now on part 15 and found some more issues with count. I have to figure out another mistake. Ah well. I need a good brain day. I haven't touched the shawl since the sock pattern came out. The holidays are sucking up all my time. That's OK - I love baking and trying new recipes, so I'm still having a great time. 

I had posted the Honey Be Mine Blanket last month, so nothing more to show there. The same with the turtle XS. 

Off to get more things done. It's going to be a busy month - but I love the cold and the warm kitchen. The smells, tastes, etc.