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Thursday 31 December 2020

December Pie and Stitch from Stash

 It's Old Year's Night and time for a look back at the past 366 days of stitching.


First of all, here is the Pie for December:





For this year's 12 Days of Stitchmas I am stitching the Stoney Creek designs from 2019.  Here are Days 1 to 6, all stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6


In my WIPocalypse post I showed you my 15 finishes from my "20 in '20" list and now here are the rest of my finishes for the year:


The collage program I am currently using only allows 25 photos, so here are the two that didn't fit in:



Let's have a look at the Annual Pie Chart now:



The top four individual projects were:

The Discworld Mappe - 111 days
Alice in Wonderland SAL - 36 days
Chatelaine Gardens of London - 34 days
Hands on Design Scary Apothecary - 27 days

I also stitched on a number of Just Nan projects, totalling 54 days when I only stitched those projects.  More often they were part of a daily stitch project.


I came into the year with 15 WIPs and started 43 projects over the course of the year of which 7 are still WIPs.  I also completed 3 projects started prior to 2018.  My current WIPs are:

Prior 20178
2012
20180
20191
2020
Total
7
18

So the total went up but a few of those 7 will be complete very soon.  It's just life got in the way this month!  I do have some very large starts planned for next year too.

How did the spending go last month?  My magazine subscription came out and I bought a charity chart.

December
Charity chart
CS sub
£3.65
£8.72
Total£12.37

I also tallied up the spend for the whole year:

Magazines£49.88
Charts£166.86
Fabric£32.47
Threads£20.49
Other£11.05
Total£280.75

That figure is about the same as last year.  Once again, I spent more on charts and less on fabric and threads.  Magazines is down because I couldn't renew JCS.  The money spent on charts was nearly all Christmas and Birthday money so that's OK too.



Finally,

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day

Sunday 27 December 2020

December WIPocalypse Annual Review

 WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  

Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "20 in '20" for this year.

  1. Ernie Bishop - NOEL Letters - WIP
  2. Joan Elliott - Faces 1 Block - Finish
  3. Brooke's Books - Stitcher's Alphabet - Finish
  4. Chatelaine Designs - Gardens of London  - WIP
  5. Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map - Finish
  6. Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs  - WIP
  7. Mrs Peggotty - Queen of Hearts   - WIP
  8. Just Nan - Christmas Friends - Finish
  9. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 1 - Finish
  10. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 2 - Finish
  11. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 3 - Finish
  12. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 4 - Finish
  13. Hands on Designs - Scary Apothecary Bat Balm - Finish
  14. Hands on Designs - Scary Apothecary Bitter Brew - Finish
  15. Hands on Designs - Scary Apothecary Broomstick Fuel  - Finish
  16. Just Nan - Winter in the Square  - Finish
  17. Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland - WIP
  18. Just Nan - Autumn Mouse Needleroll  - Finish
  19. Just Nan - Morning Meadow  - Finish
  20. Country Cottage Needlework - Main Street Book Shop  - Finish
15 finishes this year, 2 more than last year.




5 WIPs, one of which is a long term project (my Chatelaine), one is going in the UFO pile (Mrs Peggotty, I just can't get into it) and 3 more that are getting close and hopefully will be finished next year.

The NOEL letters "only" have to have the hardanger completed, Gathering Eggs needs the background and Alice in Wonderland would have been a finish but I didn't like two of the blocks!  I have redesigned one and need to do the other.  But that's not really a December task, I need time to focus.

Ernie Bishop NOEL Letters


Chatelaine Gardens of London

Nora Corbett Gathering Eggs

Mrs Peggotty Queen of Hearts

Amanda Butler Alice in Wonderland

I've 

I
I've been putting together my "21 in '21" for next year and also my WIPGO Board which is a FB group where you make a Bingo Board for 25 of your projects.  The Admin calls 2 numbers each month and you reward yourself for completing rows or columns.


Finally, it's been very busy here, I did some extra shifts before Christmas which threw out my son's routine and he's not been very happy so I have spent more time with him, lots of long walks in the cold and watching YouTube with him.  What little time I do get, I stitch which means reading blogs and replying to comments comes further down the list!  So don't be surprised if you see a flurry of comments at the start of next term.  Once again, I am furloughed so will have more time at home.












Saturday 26 December 2020

December Smalls

  


The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread


This year my Smalls have been my JBW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments which I started on Boxing Day 2019 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

stitched on 40 count white linen

I also completed another Gift of Stitching magazine design - Sugar Plum Tree by Rosewood Manor from December 2007:

stitched on 32 count mid green linen

This is from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2019 and was the September choice for the JCS FB group. Silvery Lace Snowflake from Works by ABC. Or Golden Lace Ornament as it now is:


stitched on 32 count burgundy linen

I also completed the Just Nan Owl Winder Pocket:

stitched on 28 count Tan Jobelan

A couple of people asked "what is an owl winder?"  It was a round piece of metal shaped as an owl face than you could wind your thread round, rather like a bobbin.  Very beautiful but very expensive which is why I don't have one.  I will make this up into a pocket next year and find something else to go in it.  Maybe a cardboard or thin wood shape?

Having completed last year's 12 Days of Stitchmas, I have now started this year's design:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave

This is the 2019 Stoney Creek Ornament series the lovely DJ sent me because I admired her's so much!  I will start one every day from 26th December to 6th January and finish one per month as I have done in previous years.

I will be posting my daily progress in the new 12 Days of Christmas Cross Stitching group on FB as well as sharing them here.


Finally, a big Thank You to everyone who took part in the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this year.  As usual, it was a great success and I loved hearing what your favourite books are.  Many people chose mine - The Christmas Carol.  It was interesting to hear how many different audio versions there are and which ones you all prefer too.







Thursday 24 December 2020

2020 Online Advent Calendar

 Here is our Online Advent Calendar, it will be updated every day. 

Scroll down to see the latest picture and a link to the poster's blog.

This year I have asked each participant what their favourite Christmas book is.
It could be a traditional Christmas story, a modern tale, a book you read as a child, to your own children or one you discovered as an adult.


Tuesday 1st December


Wednesday 2nd December

Thursday 3rd December


Friday 4th December


Saturday 5th December

Sunday 6th December


Monday 7th December


Tuesday 8th December

Wednesday 9th December

Thursday 10th December

Friday 11th December

Saturday 12th December

Sunday 13th December

Monday 14th December


Tuesday 15th December

Wednesday 16th December

Thursday 17th December

Friday 18th December

Saturday 19th December

and



Sunday 20th December

and


Monday 21st December


Tuesday 22nd December

Wednesday 23rd December

Thursday 24th December


Finally, I will be adding my favourite Christmas book a little bit later this month, so check back and find out what it is.  To keep you going, this is one that came into the shop today which I will definitely be buying for myself!



On the first day of Christmas my Grandma sent to me . . .

Grandma's presents may start off sensible - a partridge is easy enough to take care of - but her generosity soon gets wildly out of hand . . . 

The Twelve Days of Christmas: Or Grandma is Overly Generous is a witty new take on the festive classic The Twelve Days of Christmas, accompanied by beautiful full-colour illustrations, this is the perfect Christmas present for any child.

Publisher: Pan Macmillan 
ISBN: 9781529043372