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

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #32 - Joyeux Noel by Susan Ache

Today's start is one of those epic projects designers came up with in 2020 when a lot of us had more stitching time all of a sudden. This is still free from Aurifil on their blog. Although I have some Aurifil, I don't have the colours they asked for in this, so I'm going to try and use up more of my Silks4U Advent threads. Here's what the project will look like eventually:

And my floss toss looks like this:

I managed a bit of a start over a couple days of stitching as well:

Joyeux Noel by Susan Ache

stitched 2 over 1 on 20ct opalescent aida by BeStitchMe

with Silks4U Advent threads

I was debating about the green, it has a faint hint of blue to it, which I think holly leaves do sometimes,  so I think it will work out well. The floss toss shows the full hanks, and I only took about half a hank for most of the colours and set it aside with this project. I don't think I'll need a full hank for this, even though there's a lot of stitching to go. 

This is probably going to be one of the ones that sits for a while since there's so much more to go, but that's okay. It's about getting to these projects that I've really wanted to start, not so much about the finish. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #31 - Stained Glass Christmas by Ink Circles

Time for another Ink Circles design! I think this is the first time I've used a designer twice in the 100 starts frenzy. I really love her designs though. Here's another one of my Ink Circles finishes from a few years back: 

Wings and Things by Ink Circles

Stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Haunted by PTP?

with 001 Kreink #8 braid and Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues

Tracy Horner has brilliant design ideas and excellent colour sense. I purchased this from her website a few years ago, and this seems like a good time to start it. 

I haven't quite decided if I'm going rogue on the colour scheme with some of my stash threads or will stay with her charted colours. For right now I plan to do the black outline first, then deal with the colours another day, probably far in the future going by my start. Here's where it is so far:

Stained Glass Christmas by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct light blue Jobelan

with DMC 310 so far

Not much of a start yet, but I think you can see that I'm working on the chart that is in the top left. These are Pattern Keeper friendly, which is very helpful. A long way to go on these though, so don't hold your breath for a finish any time soon. 

Hope your stitchy days treated you well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #30 - Your Future by Lollypop Stitches

This is one of the charts designed for the Michelle Bendy Stitchy January 2020 Fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Fittingly, it's a quote from Back to the Future, one of the best movie series out there. Eventually it will look something like this:

I think I'll stitch the side parts since it has the flux capacitors, but I was most concerned about the right fabric and threads for this one. DH and DD helped with the floss toss and here's my start:

Your Future by Lollypop Stitches

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct opalescent Bedrock by BeStitchMe

with Silks4U threads

I really like the look of it so far, and maybe the colour will pick up the blue in the flux capacitors as well. It's interesting to switch between aida and evenweave. I think I still prefer evenweave over all other fabrics. 

Hope everyone had a good stitching day!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #29 - Be A Cupcake by StitchLife

Does anyone remember StitchLife magazine? I had joined for a while, they were on Patreon I think and it was fun for a while. I don't think they still exist, I couldn't find much online. I still have some of the patterns that came with the subscription, and I thought this one would be a fun start. 

There were a few different options as far as chocolate or vanilla icing, and I chose vanilla, here's the floss toss with the vanilla icing:

And my total progress:

Be A Cupcake by StitchLife

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct mauve aida

with Silks4U threads

The fabric got a little washed out in this picture, but fortunately I took a photo of how well my cat was helping me stitch, and the fabric is pictured correctly there:

Such a good helper right? And why all my stitching has "specialty thread" added, whether I want it to be or not. :)

Hope your stitching day went well! 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #28 - Antisocial Cryptid Club by Witchy Stitcher

Time to get out the black Cone of Doom! For yet another all-black Witchy Stitcher pattern. I actually am not using DMC 310 on this one though. Here's what it will look like when it's finished:

I had some fun fabric for this one, and instead of DMC 310 I grabbed some of my Madeira black silk. I picked up several skeins on deep discount when Stoney Creek was getting rid of them, and the coverage is better than DMC, so it should look great on this pattern. 

I didn't get as much done as I hoped, the lighting wasn't great at the conference, and this was the second day of it, after not sleeping well for 2 nights, but there's definitely a start. 

Antisocial Cryptid Club by Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Midnight Tryst by Chromatic Alchemy

with Madeira black silk

Although the first cryptid is likely intended to be Nessie from Loch Ness, in my head it will be Champ, our local cryptid lake monster that was discovered before Nessie, by Samuel de Champlain, who Lake Champlain is named after. I believe Lake Champlain is the largest lake after the Great Lakes in North America. 

Here's a bit more on the Champ legend if you're interested. There is a photo of Champ that people use as evidence:

The person who took the photo disposed of the negative and didn't remember exactly where they took the photo, so that leads to some question about it. Plus the lake isn't very deep in that area apparently. 

More cryptids to come when I can get back to the stitching!

Hope it's been a good stitching day,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #27 - Acceptance by Bendy Stitchy

A new designer for me, Michelle Bendy Stitchy is newish on the scene as well. She's got lots of interesting patterns, and I think they're pretty popular as well. I'm not a huge fan of the prim style, but I liked the message this one had, so picked it up. I can't remember if this was maybe for a charity as well? She does that often, which is fantastic too. 

I was away over the weekend, so I had sort of more and less stitching time. I was at a conference, and it helps my attention span if I keep my hands busy, so I had time to stitch. However, the chairs aren't the most comfortable, so I usually have to switch to knitting at some point to give my neck/arms a break also. So I had the time, but not the ability. Plus I tend not to sleep well in hotels, so I need to keep any WIPs very simple. 

I've stitched and knit so many things over the years at that conference, the lighting matters for cross stitch as well of course, so knitting often takes over most of the time. 

Here's where it's at:

Acceptance by Bendy Stitchy

Stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct Aida "Cassia-Rose" by Chromatic Alchemy

stitched with stash threads

The border repeats, so it's an easy stitch so far and this should be fun to get back to at some point. I think I chose colours that fit well with the initial design, and all from stash, which is nice. I'm definitely whittling down some things and my overstuffed specialty threads bin is starting to close properly. :)

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #26 - Wind Waker by Avocado Stitchery

For those of you keeping track, we're not quite 1/4 of the way through the year, but I'm a little over 1/4 of the way through my starts! So we're doing okay so far on the end goal. I haven't had as much stitching time this month, but I did manage a small start on this fun project. Eventually, it will look like this:

 And my small start is here:

Wind Waker Story by Avocado Stitchery

stitched with DMC 310 so far on 25ct gray Jobelan(?)

Not a huge start, but it's still a start and I'm looking forward to getting back to this one as well. 

I have to be away this weekend at a conference and I've been debating whether I'll bring a few new starts or take one of these monochromatic ones to work on. I have to decide tonight since I leave right after work tomorrow. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #25 - Gotcha! by SonovaStitch

SonovaStitch has some really fun patterns, and he has a fairly active Facebook group if you're interested in joining. I've purchased a few patterns, and in October he does a free pattern every day, so I've donated as well during the month. You have to check every day to download the pattern for free, and most, maybe all, of them will end up on his website to purchase as well. 

This is a tiny project, and has 7 colours! But it does stitch up really nicely. I skipped the words, so maybe that's 8 colours? Anyways, I only stitched the main part of this pattern, and it's a finish:

Gotcha! by SonovaStitch

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Monaco

with DMC threads as charted

I added the DMC scissors (gift from DD) and needleminder (gift from DH) so you could see how teeny-weeny this stitch was. It took a bit since you have to use different colours, but it is a really great finish, nice dimension to the chart to make it look more 3D, very cool pattern. 

Definitely more of these patterns in the future, but I'm glad to have this finish complete for now. The word "gotcha!" is in the pattern below the Pokeball, but I only wanted the Pokeball and have already gifted it to DD. She loved it! 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #24 - Mackintosh Rose Blackwork SAL by Lakeside Needlecraft and Peppermint Purple

This SAL is still available on the Lakeside Needlecraft Facebook group if anyone is interested. There's a few other things in the files I hadn't noticed that I'll have to check out as well. This was an interesting pattern and again, something I might change up a bit with some variegated thread. 

Here's the chart image:

I debated a bit about the fabric, but decided I wasn't sure if I wanted to add the blackwork in the background, so chose an opalescent fabric. I might just stitch the flowers since it has a stained glass look. I worked on it for a few days and here's where I'm at so far:

Mackintosh Rose SAL by Peppermint Purple and Lakeside Needlecraft

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Hurricane by PTP

as charted so far

I found the leftover Lanarte black threads from Animal Parade and decided to use them up vs. having them take up space in my stash threads box. I did manage to use up everything I had left, so now I'll have to check if DMC works best or Anchor to finish off the black outlines. 

This is another fun stitch and I enjoyed the progress. I'm a little disappointed I ran out of the thread, but I'm also glad I managed to use it all up. It would have felt nice to get all the black complete, but since I ran out of the thread I left it here for now. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #23 - Plan Ahead by Subversive Cross Stitch

I've collected a few of these fun patterns over the years, and it's finally time to start another one. Most of them are fairly small, so a finish can happen quickly sometimes with these. Their website is here if you want to check any out. They have random sales and sell kits as well as patterns. 

This is the one I finished way back in 2018:

This pattern is a fun one, and is easy to adapt colours, etc. I took a couple days and finished it up, and it looks like this:

Plan Ahead by Subversive Cross Stitch

stitched 2 over 1 on scrap opalescent 14ct fabric

with Jodyri Santa's Sleigh (border) and WDW Crepe Myrtle (words)

I  wanted to make it more colourful and I thought playing with the variegated thread in the border would be fun. I like the patterns that it made, definitely fits the saying! And it was nice to find 2 different thread companies that had somewhat similar colours, so you can really pick out the pink colour in the border. 

It's great to have a finish, and go through some of my stash to work on this one. That's the goal, hopefully to not have to buy anything, just work through what I have and enjoy the process. 

Hope your stitching day went well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

February 2026 Stitching Update

Hello again! No finishes this month, but lots of starts, as you may have noticed. Still trying to keep up with the 100 starts for the year and I think it still seems possible. 

This is the post for anything besides the new starts though, so let's start with the HAED SAL. Here's where it was last month:

and another few thousand stitches got us to here:

HAED SAL: Whisper of Wishes

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct easy count 

with charted DMC

Some people have already finished their projects and I assume they're more one-at-a-time stitchers. That is not me, and hilariously not so this year. 

My other main project to work on at least monthly is the Stormlight Quotes. There's not a ton of progress, but here's where it was:

and I spent some time going back to make sure all the little details on the swords were correct, so that's where a lot of my time was spent, plus lots of letters again! Here's what it looks like now:

Stormlight Archive quotes by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct black Monaco

with DMC as charted

I don't remember where I picked up this fabric, but it's exactly the right size for this one, as if it was meant to be. I still enjoy stitching on this one and Pattern Keeper tells me I've hit over 10K stitches, so that means about 3.5K to go. That should still be possible before the end of the year and someone's birthday. 

And that's it for stitching other than the new starts. Lots of new starts this month though. Even if I haven't got all the blog posts up yet, there will be more to come! I hope to spend the next couple weeks on the HAED SAL, so I try and start several projects in the previous 2 weeks to then spread out the blog posts with new starts so they all get their time. Not worth rushing through things, they're all fun projects. 

Hope you all had good stitching months!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #22 - Spaceballs the Cross Stitch by MegC

I don't know if any of you are fans of Spaceballs? The movie with John Candy, Bill Pullman, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers voice and Daphne Zuniga from 1987. 

It's a favourite of both mine and DH's, and we recently introduced it to DD, despite her protestations. To explain a bit, she gets anxious with anything "new" or that we like since it's "old". Anyways, she loved it and wanted to watch it again the next day, because obviously, it's fantastic! 

That inspired me to start this fun stitch:

This is someone's finished project that they posted on the Etsy site. You can find the pattern here if you're interested in getting it as well. 

I only managed a tiny start, and am maybe using a different colour than the model stitch, but here it is so far:

Spaceballs the Cross Stitch by MegC

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct black aida with DMC B5200

My photo is a bit blurry since my camera doesn't seem to like stark contrast? Or I was too close, either is possible. This will need a lot of time since there's a lot of stitches, but it is Pattern Keeper compatible, which does make it much easier for me to keep track of what I've done and minimize errors. 

I don't know if this will be done before the next movie is out, they're making Spaceballs 2 if you hadn't heard, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

Hope your stitching days have been fun!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #21 - Don't Be Suspicious by Ketty

Another small start today, it's like I'm being reasonable or something? I'm sure that will change as time goes on and I feel like starting another BAP. But for now, let's take the small wins! 

This is a pattern by Ketty from Supernatural Stitchies by Ketty on Facebook.  I'm not sure if you can join the group right now because she was having computer issues at the end of last year and I didn't see any recent posts. The pattern for this stitch still exists in the files section though, so it should be available. Possibly I could send an invite if needed? Let me know if you need any help joining. 

The original pattern has 2 colours of DMC pink charted, but I made this for DD, and when she plays Among Us, she prefers white or cyan. I changed up the colours to make this one cyan in colour and will list my colour changes. This was another fairly quick stitch and I think it only took 2 nights of work. 

Here's my finish:

Don't Be Suspicious by Ketty

stitched 1 and 2 over 1 on 18ct scrap fabric

as charted but subbing DMC 597 and 598 for the body of the character

It seems like this could maybe use some back stitch to outline the character, but it's not charted, so I'm going to leave it. Maybe, if you know the Among Us game, you can think of it as fading out like the imposter? Anyways, it's a finish, whee!

I hope you've all had good stitching days,

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #20 - Celebrate by Kitty's Pretties

Time for another actual small! This was a pretty quick stitch and a fun chart as well. If you haven't heard of Kitty's Pretties, she has an Etsy shop you can find here. She has finished cross stitch projects that she sells as well as charts. You can find the charts in the labeled area. There's lots of fun ones, and she has several fandoms covered. I've been tempted by several, but only have this one so far. 

Here's the finish!

Celebrate by Kitty's Pretties

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct scrap white aida

with DMC as charted and Wisper for the Santa hat

To add a little pizzazz to this one I had some Wisper in the right colour, so I used that for the white on the hat. I think it makes it just right. 

My dad is a huge Doctor Who fan, gets the magazines, etc. and has been his whole life, so this will likely become a Christmas ornament for him. It should be a quick finish when I get to it. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch