Finally Fully Finishing Fun for January

 Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

This is what I typed on my January post in 2020, which I copied into my January 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 posts:

Let's start the year off as we don't mean to go on - doing nothing all month and realising on the 9th that you have one day to FFO something, anything to show on the 10th.

Guess what?  Same thing this year!  Why break the run now?

This is a cube finish from a few years back that comes out every Christmas.  The previous year (2023) I noticed that it was looking a little squished so I unpicked the back and intended to restuff it for 2024.

Good intentions and all that!  It's been sat in my storage unit waiting to be fixed ever since.

The designer is Acorn House Designs and this piece was in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Special back in 2013

The ribbon came from a box of chocolates and was the perfect size for this cube.

So it's all stuffed and repaired ready for Christmas 2025.

Finally, here's my progress on my focus piece for the month - Art Nouveau Head (or ANH for those who struggle with getting the right vowels in the right place in "Nouveau"!):

stitched on 14 count white aida

January WIPocalypse Introduction

     

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. Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.


January - Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year


Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.

This is the list for 2025:

1. Mirabilia - Fairy Idyll - 6 WIPGO numbers
2. Craft Collection - Art Nouveau Head - 6 WIPGO numbers
3. Cottage Garden Samplings - 12 Days of Christmas - 2 WIPGO numbers
4. Nora Corbett - Evanora - 2 WIPGO numbers
5. Nora Corbett - Zodiac Girl Scorpio - 2 WIPGO numbers
6. Cottage Garden Samplings - Year in the Woods - 2 WIPGO numbers
7. Cricket Collection - Summer - 2 WIPGO numbers
8. Satsuma Street - Aquarius - 2 WIPGO numbers

As you can tell, I am also taking part in WIPGO again.  This is a FB Bingo group.  You choose 25 goals for the year and each month the Admin pick two numbers to focus on.  When you have met your goal, you tick off that block.  You can give yourself rewards for completing a row or a column.

Here's my WIPGO board:

For January the numbers 11 and 20 have been called.  They are both for my oldest WIP, the Art Nouveau Head.  I started this one in 2011 but have owned it for much longer.  I bought the kit when I was still working full-time back in the 1990s.  It is stitched on Aida but at least it's a nice soft one so not too much of a chore. 

Here's where I started:

And here's where I am now:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

My evening projects throughout the year will be the Annie Beez 12 Days of Christmas Stockings.  They are a quick stitch so that will leave me time for other Smalls too.

Here's Day 1:

stitched on 28 count Black evenweave

I got close to a finish on Aslan from Life in Stitch in December and will be adding a length or two of white each day until I finish it.  I'm currently filling in the tree:

stitched on 28 count Black evenweave

I am also going to be stitching a Temperature SAL, a much simpler design than the last two years.  This will be a basic bar chart with one stitch per hour, charting the minimum temperature for the night and the maximums for the day.  But here's the clever part - the days start and finish when the sun rises and sets so you can see the progression across the year.

stitched on 14 count Aida banding

I charted the last four months of 2024 on a spreadsheet and here's how that looks:

The WIPocalypse posts are the last Sunday of each month

My other SALs are

Fully Finished Gallery - post anything fully finished on the 10th of each month
Gifted Gorgeousness - post anything gifted on the 15th
Smalls SAL - last Friday of each month
The TUSAL - post on the New Moon each month

Finally, I will not be continuing with the Blog Hops this year. I know that is disappointing news for some of you but they are just one thing too much.  I intend to visit your blogs a little bit more often and have made a start already, commenting on a few this morning!

December Stitch from Stash and Pie

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:

All three projects were chosen by,my WIPGO Board.  Maria Brovko's Life in the Shire was November's pick which was a finish in the first week of December.

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue fabric

Shannon Christine's 12 Days of Christmas is still awaiting beads, so I've been focusing on Life in Stitch's Aslan.  I've got some really good progress over the Christmas period to make up for several days of very little stitching prior to the break!

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

Here's the Evening Pie:

Because I couldn't finish the 12 Days design, I carried on with Aslan in the evenings for the last 9 days. 

In my WIPocalypse post I showed you my finishes from my "24 in '24" list and now here are the rest of my finishes for the year:

I am particularly proud of the giant blackwork Zodiac design from Circle Cross.

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

A very different story to last year where one project used over 100 days.  This year was a "Rotation" year and I chose 12 projects which I thought would take about a month each to stitch. 

Those turned out to be the Top 12 taking between 12 and 36 days to complete.

My usual 1 day Marathon was spread over a week due to time constraints.  I also had my A-Z Challenge for IHSW (when I remembered!) so that meant a lot of projects got 2-3 days across the year. 

I came into the year with 14 WIPs and started 29 projects over the course of the year of which only 4 are still WIPs (although one only needs beads).  I also completed 4 projects started prior to 2024.  My current WIPs are:

Prior to 2020     6

2021-23             4

2024                  4

Total                14

How did the spending go last month?  My magazine subscription came out, I also bought some DMC and a roll of aida banding for my Temperature SAL next year.

I also tallied up the spend for the whole year:

Magazines almost exactly the same, I only get Cross Stitcher via subscription and Just Cross Stitch digital subscription plus paper copies of the Halloween and Christmas Specials.

Charts are a little bit down, the big expense was the Just Nan Magical chart which was a Birthday present.  I'm still trying to work on stash charts.
Fabric was also a little bit down, bought another three pieces for the Zodiac Girls.

Threads were a little bit up because I splurged in the sale at the Wool Shop (60p a skein can't be beat!) and "other" included beads for one of the Zodiac Girls.

Looking at the last ten years, this was pretty much an average spend which is good.

Finally,

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day

December TUSAL Two

    

It's TUSAL time!  December has two TUSALs this year and round off the year nicely.

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Aslan from Life in Stitch on Etsy.

Aslan looks a bit creepy with two large black holes in his face but they will be filled in soon.  I'm stitching colour by colour, darkest to lightest.  I'm now on the palest blue and will then finish with white.

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

Finally, here is the list of New Moons for 2025 if you want to join in with the TUSAL:

December WIPocalypse Annual Review

     

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 "24 in '24" for this year.

1. Sweetheart Tree - September Strawflowers  - Finish
2. Shepherd's Bush - Halloween Trifles  - Finish
3. Rainbow Hunter - Alice Bottles - WIP
4. Drawn Thread - Spot of Summer
5. Drawn Thread - Spot of Autumn
6. Lizzie*Kate - Sampling Christmas  - Finish
7. Shannon Christine - 12 Days of Christmas  - WIP
8. La Broderie - Quiet Hour Sampler  - Finish
9. Shepherd's Bush - Amaranth - Finish
10. Full Circle Designs - Moonshadow Mini - Finish
11. Hands on Designs - Nevermore  - Finish
12. Living on the Rainbow - Haunted House  - Finish 
13. Joan Elliott - Faces SAL  - Finish
14. Stitchy Princess - Alice in Wonderland - Finish
15. Life in Stitch - Aslan  - WIP
16. Tra La La - Couer de Sorciere  - Finish
17. Cottage Garden Samplings - 1st Day of Christmas   - Finish
18. Nora Corbett - Claire - Finish
19. Nora Corbett - Capricorn  - Finish
20. Maria Brovko - Evening in the Shire  - Finish
21. Cottage Garden Samplings - Year in the Woods - WIP
22. Primitive Hare - Hocus Pocus Cabinet - Finish
23. Cricket Collection - Spring - Finish
24. Cottage Garden Samplings - Halloween Sampler  - Finish

18 projects ticked off from the list this year (but one was a triple finish, three were parts of a series which makes 23 individual finishes).

There were only two projects that didn't get touched.  The two Drawn Thread Spots both got bumped in favour of seasonal projects, my Just Nanathon in May and Dark October.  The two December picks are both WIPs but close to a finish.  The final two are both ongoing series where I finished some of the designs but not all.

Here are the 23 WIPocalypse Finishes - I did have more finishes this year, these are just the ones from my "24 in '24"

I've been thinking about doing a  "25 in '25" for next year and have decided not to pick 25 projects out.  I really want to try focus on my oldest WIP and on one larger project.  I have put together 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. 

So I do have "25 in '25", it's just that there are 2 projects with 6 numbers each, 6 projects with 2 numbers each and 1 Longest Day Marathon.

My evening project will be a lovely chart I received for Christmas, the 12 Days of Christmas Stocking by Annie Beez Folkart because clearly I do not have enough 12 Days designs in my rotation...

I've got a list of Smalls I will stitch if I finish each stocking before the end of the month.

Finally, I do hope you are all enjoying this time of year - the planning for the New Year, when everything is possible!  The fun of going through our stash and working out what we would like to start.  The promise to work on those older projects and keep up with the SALs too!

December Smalls

           

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Rachel

For my Smalls stitching this year, I have chosen 12 smaller designs and numbered them for my WIPGO Board.  Each month one Small will be stitched in the evening timeslot and hopefully finished within the month.

In November the WIPGO Board called Moonshadow Mini from Full Circle.  Ifinished this one at the start of December.

stitched on 32 count white linen

Then I started my December pick,  which would be a finish if I hadn't put an enormous great tree in front of my bead storage boxes and can't get to them!

So here's the top half of Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas by Shannon Christine again:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

Finally, here's a picture of the great old tree blocking my bead storage!

And with the lights on:

December IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

This year I have been trying something different for IHSW - an A-Z Challenge!  These usually take place in April and people stitch one letter every day except Sunday.  I don't want to swap projects daily so thought I could do 2 or 3 letters per IHSW instead.

Of course, I totally forgot that plan for the final IHSW of the year and just carried on with my two focus pieces.

My daytime piece is Aslan from Life in Stitch on Etsy.  I am loving this so much!  You can see the shape of the lion appearing already.

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

My evening piece is also stitched on black fabric, this is Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas from Shannon Christine:

stitched on 28 count black evenweave

I've nearly finished it so I'm only showing the top half!

Finally the next IHSW will be 17th - 19th January so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

December Gifted Gorgeousness Link-Up Post

           

Welcome to the December Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

I have only stitched on one thing which comes under the Gifted Heading and that's on gifted fabric.  We're currently in the blues/greens although I need to catch up on the last couple of weeks of leaves.

Steady Thread - Tree of Life Temperature SAL

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

I record the temperature each day and then stitch the leaves on the Sunday morning.

Finally, it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "December Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally Fully Finished Fun for December

     

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

Sorry Rachel, nothing new this month but here's a recap of the year!

January

Special Delivery from Just Nan framed by me

February

Amaranth from Shepherd's Bush framed by me

March

Snowberries from Just Nan made into a card

April

September Strawflowers from The Sweetheart Tree framed by me

Peacock Tapestry from Just Nan framed by me

May

Hocus Pocus Cabinet from The Primitive Hare was framed by me

June

Spring Spell from Just Nan was scrapbooked

September

Faces from Joan Elliott framed by me

3D Haunted House from Living on the Rainbow

October

Capricorn from Nora Corbett professionally framed

The Hare Moon for Taurus from Circle Cross Designs professionally framed

3D Haunted Mansion from Fiona Baker

November

Couer de Sorciere from TraLaLa which I finished into a primitive heart shaped pillow:

Halloween Trifles from Shepherd's Bush on a wooden pumpkin

Finally, the total of different finishes:

Framed by me - 6

Flat finished by me - 5

3D finished by me - 3

Professionally framed - 2

Total FFOs this year - 16