January Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

This is my 61st entry for the Smalls SAL (known as the Ornament SAL in Year 1) which means I have taken part every month for 5 whole years!  Now starting the 6th year.  That's a whole lot of Smalls!  Frankly I think I deserve a prize for that.  Haha, my name got chosen to win last year's prize! Thank you, random number generator.

This year I will be showing the block I stitch for the Christmas Ornie SAL and any other smalls I may complete during the month.  I am continuing with both my 10-a-Day (don't snigger, Christine) and my 30-a-Day challenges so there should be at least one Small each month.  And maybe even some fully finishing!

Here's the January block from Just Nan's 12 Days of Christmas:

stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

I have sort of completed two Just Nan smalls so far this month.  The first one would have been finished on 2nd January if the beads weren't hidden behind the Christmas tree!  This is Butterfly Rose:

stitched on 32 count Pink linen

I completed the stitching on this one but need the charm to go in the centre to call it a real finish.  Noah's Rainbow:

stitched on 32 count Antique White evenweave

The next one in line is Painted Lady.  I have made a change to the colours on this one.  I am using 3041 and 3042 purples instead of 611 and 612 browns.  I started the 611 and it just did not look right on the white fabric.  The original was stitched on dark green fabric.

Seems like the Smalls SAL should be renamed the Just Nan SAL for me this year!

💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕 💕

There is still plenty of time to sign up for the next Blog Hop.  I need the photos for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart by the 10th February.  So if you want to take part, leave a comment or send me an email and I will add you to the list.

Finally, for those of you not getting notifications for comments left by no-reply bloggers - check your spam folder.  I routinely check mine and found 60 email notifications hidden in there.  Some from Nigerian Princes and Russian Ladies wanting to marry me but mostly from no-reply bloggers.  Seems like Gmail had decided you were all spam.

Boxing Day Renamed "Stitching Day"

As the Advent Calendar revealed that some countries do not celebrate Boxing Day and others simply have Second Christmas (like festive hobbits) I have decided that 26th December will  henceforth be International Stitching Day.  Just sit in your stitching spot nibbling on leftover turkey and chocolates while stitching to your heart's content.

We will start with a piece that I actually stitched just before Christmas.  I finished Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas on 15th December so technically I had 9 stitching days before Christmas Day but I knew I was working on 4 of them and would be pretty busy on the other 5 so I decided to stitch a very small design.  Kerry the Biscornu Addict showed what she would be stitching on in the run-up to Christmas which inspired me to stitch one of the same designs:

Merry Christmas by Stitchrovia

Stitched on 28 count Colonial Blue evenweave

This was the cover kit with Cross Stitch Crazy issue 237 and came with this red hoop but I will probably scrapbook it instead.

My Christmas Day start is another 12 Days of Christmas design (No, Stephanie, I cannot get enough of these designs!).  I'm doing 12 Days of Stitchmas as I did last year.  So on Day 1, I stitched Block 1:

On Day 2, I stitched on Block 2 and Block 1:

On Day 3 I will stitch a little of each of the first 3 blocks and so on.  The plan is to stitch the black border on the new day so I can get the placement right for the next day.  Then one length on each of the preceding blocks.  Chosen to avoid changing colour too much!

At the end of the Twelfth Day of Christmas I should have Block 1 completed and then I will stitch one block a month for the rest of the year.

Today being the 26th I should have stitched my spooky conversion of the Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace.  But guess where that it?  In the chest hidden behind the Christmas tree!  So that will have to wait until Epiphany when the tree comes down.

Instead I picked up the next project in the rotation; my Zodiac SAL by Donna Kooler:

stitched on 32 count Millenium Blue linen

I'd already done my 10-a-day and 30-a-day projects in the morning:

Just Nan - Summer in the Square

Just Nan Butterfly Rose

There's still one more project to come today, the bathtime stitching which is Dracula's Book Cover by Dam Good Crafts.  Here's where I finished last night having just started the moon:

stitched on 32 count Amortentia Belfast by Chromatic Alchemy

So that's five pieces in one day!  Same again tomorrow and the rest of the month until I go back to work on 1st January.  For one day.  Then another week off.  I do love part-time working, especially when you do lieu hours in December and get to take them in January.

I do hope you all had a lovely Christmas and got everything you wanted.  My favourite presents were stitching and book related, of course.  I also got these really cute earrings:

Just 1 More Chapter

She does quite a range of books and will do custom designs too!  I wonder if I ordered our Book of the Month each month if I could put them through petty cash?

I NEED the Alice in Wonderland ones next, then some Discworld covers, the Dragonriders of Pern, The Power (Naomi Alderman) and then every book Chris Riddell has ever done a cover for...

Finally, we are approaching the end of the year so I will be putting up the Sign-Up page for Gifted Gorgeousness soon and preparing my special recipe End of Year Pie for all you Statistic lovers.  But before that we have the final Smalls post on Friday!