2026 September Wrap-Up - Surprise Trip!

So the big news from me is I got a huge surprise for my birthday this year. DH bought me a trip to Scotland to stay with my best friend from high school! She lives near Glasgow, so we were close to many things I wanted to see, the first of which is Doune Castle!

If you're not familiar with this sight, it's the castle they used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We watched Monty Python a ton in high school, and a few years ago our families went to Spamalot together, so this was an absolute must. It was a gorgeous day, remember this is Scotland, so apparently this is rare, but it was almost cloudless and beautiful sunshine all this day. We also made a pit stop at Loch Lomond on our way up:

And I think Ben Lomond is way back there. I believe "ben" is hill in Scottish Gaelic. Beautiful day, and the little cafe there, called Zest, not sure if it's a chain, had 4 vegan options for desserts/treats! That's more than I usually get anywhere over here in North America. We took some to go for later and I had an oat latte for "take away", not "to go". :) 

Doune Castle was so much fun. We spent a good amount of time there. With your entry fee you get a little audio device and you input a code to listen to some history and bits from either Monty Python, read by Terry Jones, or from Sam Heughan of Outlander fame. I also managed to crack my head on a low doorway because I was listening and not looking where I was going. I'm still a bit bruised, so I did it really well. 

The way back home was mostly past the Falkirk Wheel and we were lucky enough to see it go around pretty soon after we got there. Such an amazing feat of engineering! 

I didn't want to go through it, but the gift shop was full of interesting things, and had a nice cafe where we both had good vegan options. 

Another outstanding part was a visit to Dumfries and Paine Free Crafts!!

A very fun shop with many temptations. I picked up 2 Bothy kits, one with a Highland Coo, because of course I needed one of those. I also grabbed a couple Nurge hoops since I hadn't tried those yet. My friend doesn't stitch, but does knit and Sarah has some nice bright yarn collections, so she found some good choices for a couple hats. 

Also in Dumfries, a very Scottish sight:

A statue of Robert Burns with a traffic cone, just perfect. 

We spent some time in Glasgow as well of course and I hope I can get back again soon. It was an amazing few days. 

Stitching wise, none except for my starts earlier in the month. I kind of started a bunch at once and set up the posts so there wasn't a long gap. It was a good idea because it took me a few days to get back into the North American time zone I'm in. I did get some knitting in on the plane and while I was there. Mostly on this Corrugated Baktus shawl:

Corrugated Baktus Shawl by Kathleen Blass

stitched with 3.00mm Chiaogoo needles

with Wonderland yarns Mary Ann colourway The Snark

I took another photo so you can see the texture. It's a simple repeating pattern, so a good one for travel. 

I love the colour of this yarn and it's knitting up well. I actually thought when I wound the yarn that I had weighed it properly and made a slipknot at half the weight. However, I got to the slipknot and it didn't look quite right, but I started decreasing and had it almost finished before I realized I'd only used about half the ball. The idea behind this pattern is to use up those one-off skeins that we pick up because they're so beautiful, but then aren't sure what to do with them. 

I also worked a little more on the Spine shawl:

Winter's Spine by Lani Stanistreet

knit with Queensland Rainbow Cake cotton yarn

I'm getting close to finishing the next white section, then it will be orange. I don't really like where the colours switch, so I'm keeping the yarn out to cut in the ends later. I know it's not the point of this yarn, but it's a weird switch. 

And that's all for now, hope everyone had a good month!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Starts #85, 86, and 87 - Traditional Santa Ornaments by Bucilla

This is another one of the Restash bargains! I found this kit for $5

And I really liked the look of these. Smallish, but also useful for ornaments, etc. I managed a nice start on each of them with a few strands in each:

Middle Santa by Bucilla

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct perforated paper

with kit DMC threads

Right Santa by Bucilla

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct perforated paper

with kit DMC threads

This is the left Santa when I realized I had made a mistake on the placement of the red thread and had to unpick it. Fortunately it wasn't too difficult to unpick it and I fixed it here:

Left Santa by Bucilla

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct perforated paper

with kit DMC threads

I think these will be fun to get back to, and it was good to go to back to some successful starts after the issue with Joy a while ago. 

I do enjoy these, very similar to Mill Hill, but less beads. There's some charms and bells to add, so that will be fun when I get to those as well. 

I hope your days have gone well, stitching or otherwise!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #84 - Joy by Seba Stitches

I felt like a bit of a change, so pulled out this free design from Seba Designs. Due to restrictions in her county, she cannot sell her designs online any more, and I believe this one is still free in her Facebook group. 

I did a floss toss with a scrap of bright fabric with some Silks4U advent threads

It seemed like this would work similarly to the photo, it's a Dinky Dyes thread, the precursor to Silks4U, so figured it would be somewhat similar. I thought the blue could be some of the outlined part that's the darker purple in the top photo. 

Joy by Seba Designs

stitched 1 over 2 on 28ct scrap fabric 

with PR178 by Silks4U

This didn't get that much work on it. I had to frog a bit early on, and then I was stitching another part, realized it didn't line up and I have to take out the whole box with the specialty stitch in it. So this has gone away to think about what it's done for now. 

I think given how many new starts I've had this year, only having one start get me so frustrated I had to put it down is a pretty decent average. And I might have forgotten one by now if it was early on. 

I do like how the colours work on the fabric, so it will sit and rest for a bit till I figure out what to do with it when it comes out again. 

I hope you've all had better luck with your stitching!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #83 - Chat Noir by Art-Stitch

 Okay, that Restash store had some really interesting things. One I picked up is this one:

There were several Art-Stitch charts, all for $1! I kept myself at this one for now, since everyone should get a chance to check out the store. I also found a couple kits that I'd seen before, but never picked up. One that I'd been looking at for years and had just been talking about with another friend that cross-stitches as well. That might show up this year still. It depends on time since it's a time consuming project. There were some Mill Hill kits too, some of the Santas that are more rustic style and I resisted them this time! Although one of the other kits is a Bucilla that has a few Santas. That one also might show up soon. 

The store is accepting donations, so I might bring some things by another time. 

But for now, here's the small start:

Chat Noir by Art-Stitch

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Demeter by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC as charted

I'm not sure if I'll be gifting this one or keeping it. DD was with me and they really liked this one as well. They found a few things to add to their crafting stash as well, some popsicle sticks and another ball of yarn in a dark green that they said they're going to use to make something for their dad (DH). We'll see if that happens. 

I hope you've all had some good stitching time!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #82 - Four de Lys by Ink Circles

This will be the last Fleur-de-lys for this year I think. Possibly the last pattern I have? Although a friend told me about a Restash store in the local city and I've got to check that out. They have just crafts that need a new home that were donated by the owners and their families to clear out their stashes. I think I can probably find some stuff to donate there too if they accept donations from anyone. 

Today's chart is another fun Ink Circles pattern. I don't remember when I picked it up, but it's the physical chart vs a digital one, so likely at a LNS. 

I debated a lot on fabric and threads for this one. I have a couple traditional blue fabric/white thread ones already, and then I found this fabric in my stash:

I think the design would fit perfectly in the middle, which is a bit of a wrench given how much fabric it will leave at the top and bottom, but those bits will be good for small charts, so it's okay, I think. 

Too late anyway, I've started it:

Four de Lys by Ink Circle

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen club exclusive by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U unknown thread (advent?)

It does look really good so far. This is 2 full threadlengths of the Silks4U. I love their thread, so nice to stitch with, and it's nice to use up the advents as well. This is 3 years or so that I've been in their advent club, and it's nice to be using up some stash. 

I think this could be a quick finish when I get back to it as well. Hope you've had some good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #81 - Alphabirds by Crossed Wing Collection

Clearly I've chosen too many big ones, but this one is really cool, and I'm excited to start it. Again, this might be for my parents when it's finished. 

Since it is a big one, I only had one piece of fabric that would work, which is a pretty big piece of light grey/blue 25ct. Therefore I needed to adjust the colours of the letters since they would have been almost invisible. I went with some light purples and it stands out well. I also chose a nice green for the leafy border and here's where I got to:

Alphabirds by Crossed Wing Collection

stitched 2 over 2 on 25ct grey evenweave

with DMC 210 and 211 for letters and Silks4U PR 130

This is a giant paper chart that you have to unfold for each letter. It's kind of involved, but fun to work on as well, besides one of my cats deciding it had to be his hidey hole and tried to dig through it. He's a little odd, inherited from a co-worker going through some medical issues. He's not 2 years old yet though, so the kitten is still strong in him. He's much cuddlier than my other 2 cats which is nice, and he's getting along with DD really well. 

Bandit

He's learned quickly that cross stitch is not a toy, so that's a good thing. Even my older cat likes to chase the threads sometimes while I'm stitching if he's on my lap. 

I hope you've all had a good day or two of stitching!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #80 - First Encounter No. 8 by Crossed Wing Collection

I love the detail in the Crossed Wing Collection charts. It does make them somewhat time-consuming to stitch, but they look so good! Today's start will likely be a gift for my parents if I can make it into something, possibly framed as it is in the chart photo. 

I managed a decent start and got in some greens for the leaves. I think it looks pretty nice on this fabric, another from the vast stash of Chromatic Alchemy I have from when I was in her FOTM club. 

First Encounter No. 8 by Crossed Wing Collection

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Celeste by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC as charted

This will be one that takes a while, but it is very fun to stitch, so it will be enjoyable as well. I love the fabric and it has enough colours that it could be from almost any kind of sky/flowers/trees background in a sort of Impressionist way. 

In some ways it's hard to believe I've started 80 projects, but when I look at the banker's boxes full of them, it's easy to see it as well. I think I'm still at a good pace to get 100 completed, and am now debating if number 100 should be the Chatelaine I purchased ages ago and finally received the threads for last year. Hmm, it's an idea. Although pulling out a lot of the smalls to try and get more finishes before the end of the year would be nice as well. 

I hope you've all had good days of stitching!

Happy Stiching, 

Tiffstitch