December and End of 2025 Wrap-Up

Here it is, the start of 2026 and time to wrap up 2025! I definitely got some finishes and a few new starts, so let's see how the year finished up. 

I'll try and make it obvious which are finishes, what got work, etc. 

1. Amazing Animal Kingdom by Aimee Stewart/HAED - 35802/374500 (9.56%)

2. Canadian Hero by Stitching Jules Designs - 401/53850 (0.74%)

3. Kathleen and Summer by Hannah Lynn/HAED - 550/200000 

4. Universal Monsters B&W by Witchy Stitcher

5. Stocking #3 by Jane Henderson - completed

6. Snowball Fight by Gitta - stitches added

7. Samurai by Fire Wing Designs - completed

8. Believe in the Magic of Christmas by Durene Jones

9. Christmas Birdhouse #1 by Durene Jones - completed

10. Christmas Birdhouse #2 by Durene Jones - completed

11. Stormlight Archive Quotes by Taylor and Cromwell - 8853/13532 (65.42%)

12. Holiday Quaker by Lila's Studio

13. Noel by Bent Creek - completed

14. Normal is Just a Setting on the Washer by Lizzie Kate - completed

15. Pumpkin Patch by Lois Winston

16. Winter Feast by Mill Hill - completed

17. Zelda Cross Stitch 

18. Warm Winter Wishes by Waxing Moon Designs - stitches added

19. Thistle Stop by Crossed Wing Collection - stitches added

20. Hummingbird Garden by Crossed Wing Collection - stitches added

21. Happy Christmas by Prairie Schooler

22. Motherhood by Selena French/HAED - 1955/58013 (3.37%)

23. Skating Snowman by Mill Hill 16-2133 - stitches added

24. Trick or Treat by Anne Stokes/Paine Free Crafts - 4531/126400 (3.58%)

25. Cryptid SAL by Witchy Stitcher

26. Vermont Zentangle by crossstitch4everyone - 3109/23502 (13.23%)

27. Halloween Kitty with Pumpkin by Paine Free Crafts - new start 392/100800 (0.39%)

28. Loon Lake by Crossed Wing Collection - new start

29. Dragonfly in Flowers stamp by Sweet Annet - completed

30.The Little Prince stamp by Sweet Annet - completed

31. Journey by Urban Stitches - complete

32. Mr. Grinch by The Cross Stitch Studio - new start 514/9071 (5.67%)

33. Animal Parade by Lanarte - completed

34. 2009 Santa by Prairie Schooler - completed

35. Snow Guide by Lizzie Kate - completed

36. Honest Santa... I Didn't Do It - by The Sweetheart Tree - stitches added

37. Moon and Back by Heart and Hand - completed

38. Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street 

39. Everyone Brings Joy by Waxing Moon Designs

40. Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone - completed

41. Witch's Gate by Whispered by the Wind - stitches added

42. Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs - completed

43. In Harmony by Dimensions

44. Letter G - by Nora Corbett 

45. Bailey Basset by HAED 

46. Dragon Under Glass by HAED

47. Warbreaker by skitzzzz 

48. Mini Winter Magic by HAED

49. Under the Sea SAL by Lakeside 

50. McLaren Hamilton 

51. Raven Pixie by Nora Corbett

52. Visit Mordor

53. Magical Arrival by HAED 

54. Tiger Stare by Charting Creations

55. Tiger by Paine Free Crafts

56. Triumphant Ride by Charting Creations 8143/50370 (16.17%)

57. Spooky SAL 2021 by The Steady Thread

58. Lo and Behold by Long Dog Samplers

59. Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

60. Stroll in the Snow by Asleep at the Stitch

61. Magical Castle Stamp by Sweet Annet - completed

62. Frost by Seba Designs

This leaves me with 45 WIPS that I'm currently working on, so I did manage to meet my initial goal to start the 100 new projects this year! I'll put that all in a separate post. I know it will add a lot to my pile, but it's a big birthday, so it will be a big year of starts as well. 

I hope you all had a good holiday season and here are my last 2 finishes for 2025!

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 with kit threads and fabric

Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct Aida with Jodyri threads

Happy 2026 to everyone!

Tiffstitch

October and November Update

Finally a chance to update everything! Hope everyone had a good last couple months. I ended up catching something again near the end of October and was out of commission for the first few weeks of November as well. 

I didn't get much done on Starry Night because a friend lost their beloved cat and I decided to try and start a memorial project for her. Eventually it will look like this:

And I managed a few days on it, so it looks like this so far:

Orange Cat by BananiStitchery (Etsy)

stitched 2 over 2 as charted with DMC on Galaxy 28ct by BeStitchMe

I was able to upload this into Pattern Keeper with a little finangling, and that made it a lot easier. Apparently I'm not great with paper patterns any more for anything larger than a Mill Hill. ;)

I didn't bring this when we went on vacation over US Thanksgiving week, so it hasn't been touched in a while. I had an urgent knitting project to finish, so I worked on that instead. I mentioned in my last post I wanted to make some socks for my brother, and I didn't have that much time to work on them before I saw him over the last full week of November. He lives out west, so I don't see him that often. He had a big birthday this year, so I had a few other little gifts I'd found, but I really wanted to get these socks completed. 

I finished them on the day before he had to fly back home, so that was good timing! I had one sock mostly done, but needed to make sure the toe fit well, so had waited to close it up until I could try it on his foot. So it wasn't a surprise after that, but I did get them finished!

Vanilla sock pattern with WYS Holly Berry, about size 11 men's

Since we've been back, things have been a little busy with band concerts, etc., so I decided to pick up Animal Parade again and maybe get it finished if I can stick with it. Here's where it's at right now:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 with included threads on kit fabric

I'm also debating about starting Wisteria Garden by Chatelaine. I have some fabric I think will work, and I ordered the threads from European Cross Stitch. They took a while, apparently Gloriana takes forever to get threads to them, but I have everything now. Here's the floss toss:

I tried to set up the fabric in my scroll frame, but it's not tight enough, so I ordered some larger Qsnaps to try. Hopefully that will work. Everything I've read about Chatelaines recommends keeping the fabric tight for the specialty stitches, so we'll see how it goes. 

I think that's it for me for now, I'll keep working on finishing Animal Parade for now and maybe can get a few other little projects completed before the end of this year. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

September Update

Only a week late since the start of the month, so not too bad  this time. It's been a busy time, one of the community bands I play in had a concert at the end of September and it was really hot that day, so it took the next day to recover as well. Plus I had to work a couple extra days to make up for being ill at the end of last month, so not too much time for posting. 

First, the big news, it's a finish! Peacock Infinity Feather is done!

Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

I'm glad to have this one complete. I have so many of these smaller confetti-heavy projects, and this felt great to finish. Not sure how to fully finish it yet, but something will come to me. Ideas are always welcome too!

I picked up something easier, plus worked on this while we were on a shortish road trip. You've seen it recently, so just a little update:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on kit fabric with kit threads

Stitchy-wise I decided to go back to Starry Night and catch up a bit, so I'm now on week 23. I think the last published week was 31, so I'm not too far behind. 

Starry Night SAL by Urban stitches

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted with DMC

I also managed to finish the socks for DD, and start a new pair for my brother. He's having a big birthday this year. Here's the finished pair:

Vanilla sock pattern with West Yorkshire Spinnery in the Nutcracker colourway

And that's September! Most of the month was taken up by finishing the Peacock Feather, and I have a feeling a lot of October will be catching up on Starry Night, but I'm sure I'll pick up some other projects as well. 

I hope you all have a fun month and enjoy Spooky Season!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

August Wrap-up

Slight delay in getting this post up, but I'm sure no one is surprised at this point. Great excuse this time though, another bout of what was likely COVID-19 kicked my butt again. Fortunately no one at work or at home caught it, so no one else was down for the count at the same time. 

August was a little bit different in that I completely ignored Starry Night to obsess over one of my sort of full coverage projects. This is the Peacock Inifinity Feather when you last saw it in April:

and now I've added a lot more to it!

Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

There's less than 400 stitches to go, so I think I'm going to try and stick with it to a finish. That will make it easier to accept starting some new full coverage next year. 

I also managed a little more progress on Animal Parade, to here:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on kit fabric with kit threads

Apologies for the blurry photo, this was taken while we were in the car driving to pick up a car for a friend. It was about 3 hours away, so I did manage a decent amount of the more repetitive black stitching on the ground. The fabric looks great in that light though, this is pretty close to how it actually appears. 

I also mostly finished step 21 of Starry Night as well, which looks like this:

Starry Night SAL by Urban stitches

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted with DMC

Not sure if I needed a break from the backstitch or all the blue, but still obsessing over the Peacock Feather. I set up my old scroll frame on my new lap stand, which is fantastic and works really well to get the whole project available to stitch, so that may be part of it as well. 

I fully finished a couple other projects as well:

Moon and Back by Heart in Hand

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen with Gloriana threads mostly

I had already sewn the backing onto this project, so I need to sew in the dowel rod. I used the "invisible" thread, which is a bit of a pain, but does look amazing when you're done. DH hung it up in DD's room and I'm not sure if she's noticed yet. We did it while she away at her grandparents for a week. This is also likely why I had time to get this fully finished. 

Another fully finished project:

Normal is Just a Setting on the Washer by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 2 with stash threads (WDW, Carrie's, Jodyri)

I had picked up a sign at Goodwill that had this hanger, so I ironed the heck out of this project, although it doesn't look like it in this photo... Then attached it to the frame so the hanger was still usable. I think this will be a gift for someone, possibly for a friend with an autistic child, but it would certainly fit in our house as well. 

There's some knitting progress as well! When I was feeling really sick I didn't have the mental strength to stitch, plus I was trying to isolate myself away from everyone, so I picked up the two colour cowl I'd been struggling with since December last year. In February this year it looked like this:

Very Merry KAL by Claire Slade

knit with Fiberstash superwash sock yarn

I think I had grumbled about this one back in February because I don't seem to have the knack for colourwork. I did somewhat figure things out over the week I was sick and staying home from work, so I managed to get all the way here before going back to work:

And at that point there wasn't much left, so I kept at it when I had the energy and finally finished it:

I do really like the final result, I think the pattern was great, the problem was me, not the instructions. I love how the yarns worked together, it's very striking, but I don't plan on pulling out another colourwork pattern unless there's a very good reason. 

Also another pair of vanilla socks complete!

Stockingette stitch socks

Nutcracker by West Yorkshire Spinnery

I'm still working through the giant amount of WYS yarn I picked up a Must Love Yarn a couple years ago. I had a gift card and decided I needed multiple skeins of all the colours. Some day I'll get through it, but I won't need to buy Christmas sock yarn for a while. There's some left in the skein, so I'm starting shorter socks for DD. Her feet keep growing! 

I think that's all from last month and we'll see if next month can bring a finish on Peacock Infinity Feather. I have a few days off this month, so maybe! I hope all your stitching has been going well. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Late June/July Update

I could have sworn I had a post in July about June stitching, but clearly not. So here are 2 months in one! I will say I had less stitching time in July because of a couple hockey tournaments, but still have some accomplishments. 

First up, progress on Starry Night SAL:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted with charted threads

 on 28ct white Monaco

This is 2 complete rows! So a good amount complete, although there's still a ways to go. I'm a little behind and have a few weeks to catch up on, which will probably get me halfway through the next row by the end of next week if I can keep at it. 

There are also some finishes, first up Journey by Urban Stitches:

Journey by Urban Stitches

stitched 1 over 1 as charted

on 28ct Red Tide by Chromatic Alchemy

This was a fun one and I can't wait to get it finished. I might try and frame it and hang it in my office at work. I really love the letters in this one, even though I frogged one of the 'R's about 4 times. 

Next up I finally finished another smallish project:

Noel by Bent Creek

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct scrap evenweave with stash threads

I used some Caron snow for the stars and DMC Etoile for the snow and the trees. I like the look of it. The chart has "NOEL" on the bottom as well, but I didn't have a ton of room on the chart, plus this way it's more winter stitching than Christmas, so has more versatility. 

I also managed a little work on a piece that's easier to stitch while riding in a vehicle on our way to one of my hockey tournaments. This is where it was last time you saw it:

and now there's a little more added:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on kit fabric with kit threads

I managed some of the fiddly grass while at the hotel, so the long stretches of black were easier to do while riding in the car. There's a bit of the rhino's legs started as well if you look closely. 

This will be an easy one to pick up and work on when I need a break from switching colours in Starry Night, but it still has a lot of stitching left, even if every animal gets smaller and smaller from now on. 

I hope you've all had good stitching months. I've worked out my plans for next year too, I plan to start 100 new things like 2 Martini Stitcher did this year. She's got a FlossTube if you want to follow along with her progress. I spent some time using a planner that I found on Peacock & Fig which is linked if you're interested. The pages I needed most where the ones to write down the project and what fabric I wanted to use and I managed to fit everything with fabric into 1 1/2 bankers boxes. I didn't pull threads yet, but that may happen as I reassess my plans as well. I think I'm pretty much set on choices, but there are always new options that might come up. 

So I hope to catch up on Starry Night and keep on finishing things up so I have 50 or less WIPs at the end of the year. I'm at 48 so far already, so as long as I don't start anything new, I should be good. 

Have a good month! I'll try and get a post up in September on time. 

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Late May Update

Bit late with last month's update, but getting it up anyway. Things have been busy, and I have to admit to being a bit obsessed with a video game I picked up on 80% off. But, there has been stitching!

And finishing actually, so here's a couple finishes:

Ho, Ho, Ho! by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct black aida with WDW mostly

This Lizzie Kate was finished over a thrift shop frame and can either sit or hang up for this holiday season. I finished this several years ago, so it's nice to have it complete. This was my first time using Wisper thread as well. 

Magical Castle by Sweet Annet

Stitched 2 over 1 as charted on wooden stamp

My last Sweet Annet that  I had started is finished! I have 2 more kits that aren't started, and it feels nice to have these finished off for now. 

And my latest progress on Starry Night:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches 

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 on 28ct white Monaco as charted

I believe last month is when I used up my third skein of DMC 312... There's going to be 7 total I think. I also got on a bit of a backstitch kick last month and did not pick up the Peacock feather. Here's where I progressed on another Urban Stitches project:

Journey by Urban Stitches

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Red Tide by Chromatic Alchemy

I also found an old WIP that's been lying untouched for a while. I had forgotten to add it to my WIP lists, but it's there now. The last time I touched it was in 2019 I think and it looked like this:

and now it's filled in a bit more:

Frost by Seba Designs stitched on 28ct Chromatic Alchemy fabric

stitched 1 over 2 with Jodyri April Showers

Like I said, I got on a blackwork/backstitch kick and just worked on these the past month. I need to catch up a bit on Starry Night again, things are busy with school ending, etc., but I'll get there. It's really interesting seeing it all come together. I think after this week's release we're at 2 full rows. 

Hope everyone has had good stitching time and are staying healthy!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

April Update

Another month is gone and I'm mostly on time posting again. Generally I'll have time on the weekends, so it just depends on where the end of the month falls. I hope you've all had a good month, stitching or otherwise!

First, let's start with the update of Starry Night SAL:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

Stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted

I still need to finish this past week's chart, but I'm caught up till then. Next up are some finishes!

Samurai by Fire Wing Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Fire Rooster by Chromatic Alchemy

with Madeira black 

This was a fun stitch. It went fairly quickly because of being monochromatic. Like most of these, I always wonder why it took me so long to get back to it. I'm looking forward to deciding how to finish it. Possibly some dark backing fabric would look best? Suggestions always welcome. 

Next up, another finish!

Moon and Back by Heart in Hand

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen with Gloriana threads mostly

I have backed this with some dark brown fabric and plan to loop it over a dowel. I need to give it another press first, but I'm glad to have some of the finishing work completed. This seemed to go quickly as well. I had purchased mostly Gloriana threads from the LNS I purchased this from, and then used some stash threads for the rest. I'm mostly impressed with how well the Autumn Leaves thread worked for the giraffe. I only used the one colour and sort of worked out where I wanted it. 

Prince and Fox by Sweet Annet

stitched 2 over 1 as charted on wooden stamp

This was another fun one. I may have missed adding the outline on the whole stamp on the other one I finished. I added the included backing to this already as well, so it is also fully finished. 

Next up I pulled out the other stamp I had started and got a few more stitches into it:

Magical Castle by Sweet Annet

stitched 2 over 1 as charted on wooden stamp

I also volunteered a lot at the book fair we had at DD's school and I managed to unpick all the 2 over 1 threads on Lanarte's Animal Parade:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on included kit fabric with kit black

I had originally started stitching this 2 over 2, but it looked so packed I decided to adjust it and went with 1 over 1 instead. I'm not worried about the leftover thread fluff since I'll stitch over the same area. It's so fussy to pick out the threads, so working at the book fair was a good way to break up the tedium. 

Accomplishing so much helped make me pull out the Infinity Feather again and I added another 1500 stitches.  This will go away for another few weeks, but now there's only about 8500 stitches to go. That feels pretty nice, even with so much confetti. 

Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

I'm waiting on some mail to continue with this other mail order project I've been working on, and I had a good day to work on some finishes. I managed to get backing on several Mill Hills and  get them cut out. Now I just need to decide on cording or beaded cord to get them ready to be ornaments. 

These were fun to get closer to being complete. I'm glad to be able to have a little more free time to get more stitching and finishing done. 

I have a few boxes I've saved from various things and decided I could add some stitching to the tops to make them beautiful and useful as well. 

I think I want to add some thing ribbon to the edge of the stitching, or rick rack, or something to finish it off a little more. I'm glad it fits so well, but a little extra touch will make it more interesting I think. 

Suggestions always welcome too if you have any other ideas.

That's it for now, have a wonderful month!

Tiffstitch