May's Progress

 I'm using my WIPGO Board to decide what to stitch this year.  For May we had Shannon Christine's 3rd Day of Christmas and my focus piece, Fairy Idyll by Mirabilia.  I also had my annual Just Nan-athon where I stitch a different small each evening.

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan

My Dark 13 project is Witching Hour by Keslyn's, and I added an E:

stitched 1 over 2 on 32 count Cirrus evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

I'm using a variegated DMC thread - 4240, a mixture of blues and purples.  I decided to use a different colour for the spiders and chose the Victorian Motto Violet-Grey thread I used for the Halloween Bookshelf last year.  It's not as harsh as 310.

We went away for a few days so the Shannon Christine took longer than usual and only left me a short while to work on Fairy Idyll.  I focused on the bottom of her bedlinen and the greenery:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Hopefully I can complete the cross stitches and start on the metallics next session!

I did take a small project with me but didn't get much time to stitch it.  This is the Spring Biscornu from Stitchonomy:

stitched on a random hand-dyed 28 count evenweave

This is the 9th year I have done my Just Nan-athon, started as part of Stitch Maynia when that was a big thing.  I'm currently working on 25 projects and completed two this year!

This is one of the finishes - Love & Roses:

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan.

The other finish needs a charm attaching and then I will share a photo of that one too.

February's Progress

I'm using my WIPGO Board to decide what to stitch this year.  For February, Fairy Idyll came out for both numbers which was perfect for the shortest month.

She started the month looking like this:

I worked on the right hand side starting with the rabbit:

And she finished the month like this:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

My Dark 13 project is Witching Hour by Keslyn's, and I added a B:

stitched 1 over 2 on 32 count Cirrus evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy

I'm using a variegated DMC thread - 4240, a mixture of blues and purples.  I decided to use a different colour for the spiders and chose the Victorian Motto Violet-Grey thread I used for the Halloween Bookshelf last year.  It's not as harsh as 310.

My first evening project was a Just Nan, the Witching Hour Cube:

stitched on 32 count Purple Linen

I have actually FFO'd this except for the corner beads but I need to source some pins so I won't share until I have them.

Once I finished that one I decided to focus on last year's Temperature Chart.  I got behind in the Summer and have been trying to catch up ever since then.

January to July - finished

July to December, completed the warm temperatures to the end of the year.  Need to add the 8 and below:

I've used the low temp for the nighttime hours and the high temp for the daytime hours.  I have also varied the length of the day and night as the sun changes.  You can really see the colour changes as the nights draw in.

Round Up of 2025

As you've probably realised, 2025 went pear-shaped some point in May and didn't really recover.  Several things took a hit and blogging was one of them.  Fortunately stitching limped on and recovered remarkedly well.  Thanks in part to my WIPGO plans and the fact that I love all my current projects!

I came into the year with 14 WIPs and started 23 projects over the course of the year of which only 2 are still WIPs. I also completed 6 projects started prior to 2025. My current WIPs are:

Prior to 2020 5
2021-24         3
2025              2
Total            10

So that's a total of 27 finishes this year.  12 were the Annie Beez 12 Days of Christmas Stockings.  Some have even been sewed into a stocking shape and just need their trim.

Here's the rest of my finishes in order:

January

Shannon Christine 

12 Days of Christmas Day 1

Life in Stitch

Aslan

The Steady Thread
Temperature Tree for 2024

February

Cottage Garden Samplings

Year in the Woods - Swans

July

photo to follow!

Cottage Garden Samplings

12 Days of Christmas Day 2

August

Satsuma Street 

Aquarius

Shannon Christine 

12 Days of Christmas Day 2

September

Living on the Rainbow

Fall Bookshelf

October

Heart in Hand

Tiny Halloween Town

Nora Corbett

Evanora

Nora Corbett

Scorpio

Living on the Rainbow

Haunted Bookshelf

November

The Steady Thread

Halloween Shelf

Craft Collection

Art Nouveau Head

(my oldest WIP!)

Cricket Collection

Summer

It does look like I didn't stitch much between February and August but that is when I was starting a lot of my WIPGO projects which got finished later in the year.

WIPGO was a great success and I ticked off every box this year.  Even if my Longest Day Marathon ended up taking place in November and not June!  Literally the first day I had with nothing else on so I decided to treat myself to a whole day of stitching.

I also made incredible progress on my Mirabilia Fairy Idyll project.  She started the year looking like this:

By the end of November, she looked like this:

I stitched her for the entirety of December and now she looks like this:

I am so happy with my progress on her!  I plan to stitch her for at least 12 weeks next year.  She has 6 numbers on my WIPGO board the same as this year.  Who know, we could see a finish next year?


Thanks to a computer malfunction I lost a lot of my statistics including Stitch from Stash and the Pie charts so no updates there.  I know I didn't spend much due to a lack of actual money.  I also lost my WIP photos from May to November.

Let's finish on a happier note!  I have some great stitching plans for 2026.  I do plan to "WIP down" further if I can.  I want to get my oldest WIP completed again along with Fairy Idyll.  I want to stitch more Nora Corbett and more Just Nan as well as the other series I have started.  I'm undecided about a Temperature SAL for 2026 as I have two uncompleted ones already!

Finally,

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day

September Stitching

Apart from a short break to stitch the Living on the Rainbow Fall Bookshelf, I focused entirely on Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll in September.  Specifically the over one skin for her face and arm:

Isn't she beautiful?

She started the month looking like this:

And finished like this:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

And here's the area I was working on, I started with her hair and floral crown.  Then started on the skin which seemed never ending so I alternated with some of the gold dress as well.

My evening project was Annie Beez's 12 Days of Christmas Stocking and here's Day 9:

stitched on 28 count Black Jobelan

May TUSAL

        

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is Fairy Idyll from Mirabilia and I've completed the wing now!

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

Finally, here's the latest days on my Temperature Chart.  Lots of orange and yellow for May and even a touch of red on 1st May!

May WIPocalypse WIP or UFO?

          

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 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 month I stitched on 2 of them, one new start and one focus project but both from Nora Corbett.

First up was the fourth in the Zodiac Girls series (for me) from Nora Corbett.  This is Scorpio: 

stitched on 32 count Scorpio Murano from Sparklies

You can see how many beads she is going to have from some of the gaps!

The second project is Fairy Idyll by Mirabilia. 

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

I decided to focus on her wings this month and stitch them 1 thread over 2 to give a more translucent look to them.

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

May - How do you personally distinguish between a Work in Progress (WIP) and an Unfinished Object (UFO)?

For me, a WIP is a project that I will stitch on at least once a year during my Longest Day Marathon even if I don't pick it up at any other time.  A UFO is a project I have got tired of and no longer want on my list.   I might stitch it one day, I might not.  I don't often UFO projects these days as I am more careful about what I choose to stitch.

Out of all the WIPs I have at the moment, the one most likely to be UFO'd is the cover kit from Cross Stitcher magazine that I started on a whim in January:

stitched on 14 count Aida

I thought it would be a quick stitch but it's taking too long and there are other things I'd rather stitch.  But it is cute and there's only the sky to do now which is 3 or 4 shades of blue and purple.  Then the backstitch.