2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #38 - Holly Jolly Mandala by Ink Circles

Another Ink Circles pattern! This makes 3 Ink Circles starts this year I believe. I've had this pattern for many years, and had it kitted up, but for whatever reason I'd never made time to start it. That time is now! Here's what it will look like when finished:

I haven't found a good way to photograph paper patterns to make them entirely straight, but this is pretty close. I really like how this one has both winter and Christmas motifs. 

I really enjoyed stitching on this one and ended up using an entire skein of DMC Blanc. The pattern calls for 3 skeins, so this is about one third complete now:

Holly Jolly Mandala by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on opalescent 28ct Flotsam & Jetsam

with DMC Blanc

Despite having a paper pattern, I don't think I've made many errors in this one. I had one counting error so far, but that happens with Pattern Keeper too sometimes. It's certainly possible this one could be finished by Christmas. I was wondering if there was some way to make it into a 2-sided pillow, with one of the Halloween style mandalas on one side and this one on the other side. I'm not the best at finishing, so this will take some brainstorming. 

I hope today has been a successful day of stitching for you!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #37 - Purrfect Stockings by Swallick Stitchery

Time for another small! I think this is one of the series of 12 monthly ornaments from Jo's JCS Christmas ornie Facebook group. I tried to do it a couple times, but usually only got the first month complete, then other things took my interest for the rest of the year. I had printed out all the patterns to be ready, so this is one from that pile. I don't remember which year this was. 2021 or 2022 maybe? When I thought I had all this stitching time because of COVID, etc. 

Apologies for the black and white photo, this is from the pattern I printed out. 

And this looks small, but there's a fair bit of stitching in the stockings, so I actually have not finished this one yet. I think I will probably skip the text at the bottom. This might be a gift for someone with a black cat. I have 2 friends with black cats, and we have one as well, so possibly I should stitch this again. 

Here's where it's at so far:

Purrfect Stockings by Swallick Stitchery

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Jamboree by Chromatic Alchemy

stitched with DMC 310 and stash threads so far

There's 3 colours in this so far, the stocking hangers are a dark green colour. I will likely stitch the stockings in red and possibly use some Wisper or metallic for the white tops of the stockings. Might as well jazz it up a little for the season!

This fabric was a leftover scrap and I think it fits the pattern well. Very colourful, almost like fairy lights/Christmas lights. I also love the "chicken leg" lounge pose of the cat, it's always funny to see cats with their back leg stuck out like this. Hopefully I can get back to this one soon. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #36 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg pattern by XcrossstitchpatternX

I purchased this pattern from the Etsy shop way back in 2022. There are lots of fun patterns in their shop, and I decided it's finally time to start one of them. Eventually this pattern will look like this:

The Etsy shop shows lots of finishes, and hopefully mine will be one of them at some point also. Here's where I managed to get to after a couple days of work:

RBG by XcrosstitchpatternX

2 over 2 on 28ct Brittney colourway Kolga by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC 310

Now, should we all say it together? "It's monochromatic, so shouldn't take too long to finish" :D

It's another fun word pattern, just a different idea with the outline of RBG's face and her dissent collar. It feels like the right time to work on this one as well. 

So far this works in Pattern Keeper, and that makes it easier to keep track of the pattern and progress. I really do love this app and am happy so many designers can make use of it. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #35 - Tis the Season by JBW Designs

Here with are with the second designer I've repeated so far in this epic journey. This first was also a finish, as is this one. Fortunately JBW Designs has many fun smalls,  so there's a lot of choice for seasonal or just-for-fun stitching. 

The chart shows the finish like this:

And my finish is similar, but a little different since I used some scrap threads. Some Jodyri, some Carrie's Creations, Dinky Dyes, maybe WDW as well. Lots of different threads and they all melded together to bring us this finish:

Tis the Season by JBW Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct? linen?

with scrap threads

I  have a thought this fabric was called Alexandria from one of the online LNS' that has since closed, but I really do not recall. It's similar to linen with the slubs and not being quite even, but I didn't mind it as much as I do some linen fabrics, so I'm really not sure what it is. Technically the star should be a bead, but I didn't have a star bead, so I just stitched a star in with the same thread that is used on the gifts for the ribbon. It's a Dinky Dyes oops thread that is a yellow orange and makes a nice gold colour when looped together. 

This took a couple days to finish, and was an easy stitch. The hardest part was finding scrap threads that had just enough for a gift so I could finally toss the old paper bobbin they were wrapped on. :)

I think this might be a good fold finish, and will be easier to store that way as well. Someday I'll get it out for that. For now it will go in the box of smalls finishes to work on when I have a chance. 

I hope your days were pleasant!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #34 - Halloween Dress-Up Mummy Cat by Durene Jones

I think most people are familiar with Durene Jones' patterns. Many of them are small, but often time-consuming because of the colour changes and backstitch. They're so fun though, and I've stitched several of them. One of my favourite finishes was the Halloween bat, which I think was a freebie from her Facebook group. 

See? So cute, but lots of colour changes to give it that look. Very worthwhile though. 

Today's project is a sort of small like this one where it's full coverage in a smallish design. However, since it's full coverage with a decent amount of backstitch, it will take a while. Eventually it will look like this:

And I found a fun Halloween style fabric scrap I'm going to use for this one, and I've finished one colour so far. 

Halloween Dress-Up Mummy Cat by Durene Jones

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct scrap aida

as charted with DMC

These patterns will go in Pattern Keeper. What you need to do is select only the pattern you'd like to stitch and not the other 3 that come with this one. I purchased this from Durene Jones' Etsy site and there are 3 other characters that might get stitched at some point. This was my favourite one, even with all the backstitch! 

I don't know if I can make this into a Halloween finish, but there's always a chance. For now it's back in the big box of WIPs that I've kept separate from all my other WIPs. 

Hope your stitching days have been favourable!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #33 - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by The Witchy Stitcher

Through the short story by Washington Irving, the Disney short film, the Johnny Depp film, and the TV show, I think most people  have heard of Sleepy Hollow. Do you know it is an actual town still? It's located in New York state, and I've been through it a few times when I worked in southern NY. It was also known as North Tarrytown during the Industrial revolution and was likely called "Slapershaven" originally (300+ years ago) by the Dutch settlers. More info here!

Somewhat related to this, when I was working in southern NY, my parents and aunt and uncle came to visit and almost got locked in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. They happened to get to the gate just in time for the gatekeeper to let them back out. 

Anyway, on to the stitching! Here is what the finished piece will look like:

And I managed to get an entire strand of DMC 310 into it, so this is where it's at now:

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by The Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Midas by Chromatic Alchemy

with charted DMC

Not a bad start, and lots of black to go. It's an interesting one and I'm looking forward to getting back to it. I really like the fabric I had in my stash as well. Being a member of the FOTM club from Chromatic Alchemy is really helping out for all these new starts. And yet, there's still some fabric left! 

I hope your day is treating you well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

March 2026 Stitching/Crafting Update

Another month sped by and here we are in April. Although we're still getting occasional snow up in the Northeast US, hopefully the weather is better wherever you are. 

First day of spring where I live

A new pottery painting place opened in the nearby city, and the whole family went to check it out. There were many painting options, and I ended up choosing a knitting bowl. The finished projects were ready during March, and here's what mine looks like:

KNITTING is around the outside

BECAUSE MURDER IS WRONG on the inside

I was debating on colours, etc. and finally figured out a good phrase to write in this one. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it. 

The 2024 Advent KAL (knit-a-long) is getting close to completion as well, only a few more colours to go:

2024 Advent Mystery KAL by Renee Strout

knit with fingering weight sock yarn scraps with 3.5mm needles (you need 2 sets)

I only worked on the HAED SAL for WIPs this past month. And not too much work on it either, but I think you can tell a difference. Here's where it was:

and now:

HAED SAL - Whisper of Wishes

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct easy count

as charted with DMC

I'm somewhat focused on finishing a page, and it's maybe 1000 or so stitches away from that at this point. I will get back to i t, but I keep wanting to stitch on the new starts instead right now. I figure I'll go with what my interest is for now. 

Hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch