Translate

Monday 20 January 2014

Stitch from Stash January Update

Stitch From Stash 2014
Stitch from Stash is hosted by Mel from Epic Stitching

Essentially the idea behind Stitch from Stash is that we are limited to spending US$25 (or £15) per month.  There are various exemptions (Birthday money, existing mag subs, clubs etc) but the idea is not to try and pervert the rules and stitch some of that stash!  I will be posting on or around the 20th of each month because that is when I get paid!

Money from Christmas 2013                  : £ 40.00

The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas : £ 15.95
Mirabilia Fairy Tales                               : £  4.99
Just Nan Red Hat                                   : £  4.00
One Skein DMC                                    : £  0.90

Balance                                                  : £ 14.16
January budget                                       : £ 15.00
Available to carry over into February      : £ 29.16

Allowed purchases:
World of Cross Stitching mag sub for three issues : £ 8.99


So I haven't even touched my January £15 because it's all been Christmas money so far!  And yes, you did read that correctly, I spend 90p on one skein of DMC.  That is US$1.49 and is how much my LNS charges.  If I need more than a couple of skeins I send away from t'internet but for just one skein I bite the bullet and support the local store.  It's not even a proper LNS either, I have the choice of a small haberdashery dept in a department store, a knitting shop or a general craft shop.

New Starts from Stash: Just Nan Lady Scarlet's Christmas, Scarlet Letter Elizabeth Burrows
WIPs or UFOs worked on: A Mon Ami Pierre Noel Blanc

Just Nan -Lady Scarlet's Christmas

Scarlet Letter - Elizabeth Burrows

A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

I also acquired some more stash, but it was a gift!  A while back Susan from Yellow Flower Meadow showed some lovely Nutmeg Cottage finishes on her blog.  She offered to send me the gently used charts which was very kind of her.  The parcel arrived today and contained not only three little cottage charts but also the Prairie Schooler Santa I had admired in the same post (I loved the Sun and Moon motifs on that one), a copious amount of white thread (B5200 and Blanc) and some orphaned Mill Hill beads!  She had remembered that I commented once I was happy to run a home for abandoned Mill Hills now alot of people are switching to Delicas.


Speaking of gifts, I was also sent this lovely Stitcher's Tray from the Mouse House:

Here it is full of my stitching necessities

And here is a close-up of the cute little dragon needle-minder!

Finally, the sign-ups are open for February's Secret Sweetheart Blog Hop.  Basically you send me a photo of a suitable stitched picture which I will then forward to a mystery participant.  You will get a photo yourself, display on your blog and wait for your Secret Sweetheart to reveal her identity!  Click on the Heart photo to the right for more details.












26 comments:

Kaisievic said...

Love your new starts and you are being so thrifty - good on you.

Jan said...

"90p on one skein of DMC. That is US$1.49"

EEP!!! And I was grumbing about the local craft stores gouging me us$0.50 a skein - that's only 30p.

That dragon needle minder is sooooo cute!!!

Kaisievic said...

P.S. Love your Noel Blanc - you are right it is reminiscent of my Winter Silhouetter - do you want to do a chart swap when we are both done?

Kerryp77 said...

Love the stitch from stash idea. I think I could keep well within that budget. Love the noël piece looks amazing on the blue.

Emma/Itzy said...

Well done on stitcking to the budget this month, I am going to do the same and use payday to post!

Linda said...

Great new starts and progress Jo. Lovely gifts.

Linda

EvalinaMaria said...

You've been good! And what jewels you have in your stash :)

Chris said...

Great update Jo! You are doing great on the stash diet!!

Unknown said...

Wow! It costs $1.80 for ONE skein of floss where I live, that is an improvement from the $7.10 that it used to be. That is New Zealand dollars by the way, I don't know how to convert it.

Southpaw Stitcher said...

All your stitching looks marvelous--I especially love the Just Nan piece! Yikes, $1.49 for a skein of DMC. I recently purchased 2 skeins from JoAnn's for a total of US$0.80. Looks like you're doing great with Stitch from Stash!

Thoeria said...

Lucky you! Those are some lovely bits you received! Aren't stitchers just the best? :)
Great starts!

Christine said...

Well done on sticking to your stitch from stash budget. I wouldn't dare put down my craft accounts in print, it would be too scary. I might just come in under budget on the stitching but then there are the beads, the fabric, the wool....

Julie said...

Like you Jo, I support the local shop if I only need 1 thread and its an emergency. Well done on the accounting, I wonder how many have already fallen off the wagon and we're not even to the end of the month lol.

Lili said...

"stitch from stash" is a nice idea.
The cost for DMC threads here is around 1euro - 1,15euros...

the needle minder is so cute!!

Hugs,
Lili

Shirlee said...

Congratulations on your Stitch from Stash thing ... I guess : ) I took a look at the group rules & thought "no, uh-uh" ... lol! But seriously, congratulations on sticking to it! Great finish & WIPs. I see Bertie Wooster is still around : ) What a great stitcher's tray! I wish I had seen that before ordering a wooden one for $35 yesterday : (

Laura said...

Love the stitch from stash idea.

Clare-Aimetu said...

Great use of your Christmas money - I'm doing Stitch from Stash too

Joysze said...

You go, girl!! I'm so going to look forward to all the WIPs and finishes from the Stitch from Stash SAL.

Btw, the linkie for the Stitching Sweetheart links to your first finish of 2014 post.

xox

Tiffstitch said...

Nice updates, and congrats on being so thrifty and having such wonderful stitchy friends. :)

Sara said...

You have some gorgeous projects on the go :) And congrats on keeping on your budget.

Don't complain much about the thread price. I had to go to the city centre LNS to buy a thread I really needed (a DMC one) and ended up paying 1.35€ for it and it wasn't even DMC it was the Anchor equivalent as they don't have DMC, and unfortunatelly I can't wait for them to be sent overseas.

Susan said...

Great job on the budgeting. I need to put my post together. Very nice WIPs really like Noel Blanc. The wreath adds the perfect punch of color.

♥ Nia said...

Well done with your month budget! :)
I didn't buy anything this month, can you believe it? I've been stitching on things I had bought before the end of the year! I had so many baby things hehehe I'm not on that 'budget goal' but I promised myself I wouldn't buy new stuff before finishing all I had.. It worked this month! ;)

Brigitte said...

You are doing great with the Stitch from Stash rules. Having that Christmas money certainly helps a bit, lol. Very nice starts from your stash.
Buying DMC here in Europe - what an expense, sigh. I pay just as much as you do so I try to stock up on DMC whenever I am overseas.

Lynne said...

Hi there! I just found you and am your latest happy follower. I have a cross stitch blog too at http://ravelldsleave.blogspot.com/

Shebafudge said...

Wonderful designs, wonderful stash and what a good girl you have been...lol. xx

Faith... said...

Great job staying within your budget for January!