2025 Year in Stitches (and glue)

Since I started keeping a spreadsheet stitch diary a couple of years ago, it makes it a lot easier to figure out how much I've done over the year and how it compares to the other years - and I definitely managed to squeeze in more stitching in 2025. (Probably because my brain needed the decompression/distraction more this year... as exhausting as 2024 physically, 2025 exceeded it mentally.) I had a very full ort bowl this time around!



I didn't set a lot of goals last year, but I did accomplish one that I explicitly stated and I got a little ways towards the other. The first was finishing my calendar magnets, so now I have the whole year all done! I should have changed up a couple of the lighter colors (or used the darker perforated paper), but all in all, I'm happy with how they turned out.



And the other was a partial success - I still have A LOT of things that need to be fully finished, but I did managed to frame three projects, two of which had been pinned for ages. (The other was the Mill Hill "Moonlit Kitties", which was on perforated paper, so pretty easy to slap into a frame.) I also bought a point driver to do the final finishing on the custom frames I've been ordering. So, here are the fully finished versions of "Moonlit Kitties" (stitching finished last year), "Wonders of Space" (stitching finished in 2020), and "Halloween Fairy" (stitching finished in *cough cough* 2010). "Wonders of Space" will be going to work eventually, assuming I still have some room on my office walls for it. And I'm so happy with the frame I chose for "Halloween Fairy"! Oh - and I fully finished "Panic at the Desko", which was my final finish of 2024 (and that one is at work already and has received quite a few chuckles).









I also finished a few WIPs this year, including two of the Cricket Collection seasons, "Spring" and "Winter". I worked on "Winter" a little at the beginning of the year, but then finished the stitching in December. "Spring" was a start in 2023, which I worked on some more in 2024, but then I was able to really get some work on it in 2025 and finish it. Part of that was that I finally figured out the type of stand that I *really* needed to work on these wide designs. And not surprisingly, it was another product from Ukraine! Now I just have "Summer" to finish (which I started this year) and I'll have all four seasons hanging in the closet waiting to be framed. :) I also finished "S'Mores, Anyone?" (started in 2023) and "Mediterranean Flavors" (a Dimensions kit, started in 2021). I switched out the kit fabric on "Mediterranean Flavors" and I now wish I had used a slightly lighter floss for the shading half stitches, but I still think it loooks fine.









I also had a couple of small-to-medium sized projects that I started and finished this year. First up was "Jaws Sampler" in honor of the movie's 50th anniversary. I made a couple of color changes in this one on the guys' clothes to better match the colors in the movie (yes, I actually pulled it up on my computer and paused it and held up colors against the screen... I'm that much of a nerd) and I changed the colors on the waves around the edges to be a gradient since I thought it would look cool (and I'm happy with how it turned out).



And I finally did two small autumn designs that I had kitted up ages ago - "Apple Pumpkin" and "Halloween Pumpkin Silhouette":





I also did four small Mill Hill Kits (and started a larger one, "Spooky Gate") - "Taco", "Enchanted Moon", "Taboo Kitty", and "Fall Fun" (taco picture coming later since it's at work):



And finally, I did the cute little "Purranormal Activity" from this year's Just Cross Stitch Halloween special issue:



I finished the May block in "A Year at Hawk Run Hollow" but haven't started any of the other months yet. Something for 2026! (I decided to put the whole piece of fabric in the photo so I can do similar progress pics as I continue on it - definitely the largest project I've ever done!) I also did a little more on "Sleepy Hollow" but was really struggling with it. I'm kind of tempted to scrap this version and start again on a different fabric, because I think that's what's holding me back from progressing more on it. I really like how it looks on that fabric, but I really struggle with 32-ct linen these days.





And the one major non-stitching project I did was to finally finish the miniature room kit that I started in 2024. I have two more that I purchased last year, but I'm going to hold of on starting those for a while. These are fun to do, but I think I'm going to have to explore some different types of glues and glue applicators before I do another (at least another with the variety of surfaces - plastic, paper, etc. - that this one had). I'm really happy with how it turned out though!





Goals for 2026

I have a couple of other WIPs that I didn't touch in 2025, and I think I can get at least a couple of them finished this year, if not more. After watching some year end WIP Parades on FlossTube, I realize that I have far, far fewer WIPs than the typical stitcher (assuming that's a representative sample), but I do tend to have far *older* charts, kits, projects, etc. than other people do. I have some 30-year-old kits in my stash! Maybe I'll pick one this year and start working through some of them (although I'm definitely modernizing the fabrics).

Most of my purchases in 2025 were from a fabric of the month club and buying DMC and specialty floss to kit up some charts that I hope to start on soon, including some Nora Corbet fairies, more Hawk Run Hollow designs, and a couple of the Cricket Collection month designs (since I'm nearly finished with the seasons). So I'll probably start a few of those projects once I finish getting all of the floss.

Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all have a good crafty year!

2024 Wrap-up!

As I expected, I didn't get as much time to stitch this year was I would have liked, but I did get a little done here and there. And I did a few other crafty things, including finally starting a miniature kit I bought a while back and doing by first book nook. I did have a couple of finishes this year and a couple of FFOs, including a finish of one of my longest WIPS!

FFOs and Other Finishes

I technically finished and FFOd the November calendar magnet at the end of 2023, but I didn't post it in last year's round-up, so here it is, along with the December one (which WAS finished in 2024). I also did the June one in 2024, but I'll wait and just add that to the final photo when all 12 months are done - hopefully by the end of 2025!



And as I was recovering from the all the work leading up to the solar eclipse (and then the event itself - which ended up just being one thing of the most exhausting work week I have had in quite a while), I started this quick stitch. I made a slight alteration in the text from the original and there is a goof in one of the greens, but I was too lazy/tired to unpick it, so I just left it as-is. I painted a hoop to fully finish it. This one definitely went to work!



And towards the end of the year, I FINALLY finished the Mill Hill "Moonlit Kitties" kit that I started about 12 years ago. It was one of several projects that languished when my eyes started going downhill, and then I was having trouble holding it while stitching even once I got the eyeball situation sorted. The last key to me finally getting this project done was seeing on Flosstube - and then buying - these wonderful wooden magnetic frames that seem to have originated with crafters in Ukraine (see below). I've started to see more people making them, but I made a point to get mine from Ukrainian sellers to support them. (It's ironic that I had problems with all three of them arriving safely at my house - not because they were coming from a literal war zone... all of the issues were with the US postal service!) I think I'm just missing one size now, so I'll probably go ahead and order it just to complete the set. :) There was one panic moment at the finish of Moonlit Kitties because I wasn't sure where the pumpkin button was since I had started the project so long ago, but thankfully I found it on a project bag with some other Mill Hill kits.




One final finish, which I put the last stitch in on December 31, is this cute pattern I got from Happy Sloth Patterns on Etsy. Needless to say, once this one is FFOd, it's going to work. I finally pulled out one of the DMC variations threads to use for the rug on this one. I like the effect!



Starts and WIPs (that I actually worked on)

I started The Cricket Collection's "Winter" and worked some more on "Spring" in 2024 ("Autumn" was completed a couple of years ago, but isn't framed yet, and "Summer" is eventually going to happen). You can't really see it in the photo, but the snowman is sparkly! I used whatever blending filament was called for, so I got a reminder in how annoying they can be to stitch with... but in person the effect is really nice.





And for my other big start of the year, I finally decided to start a Hawk Run Hollow design! I started "A Year at Hawk Run Hollow" with the May block, and this was how far I got in the month of May (which was when I took a bit of time off work in a vain attempt to use up vacation hours so I don't lose them).



Other Crafts

I'll hold off on posting a picture of the miniature kit until it's complete, but here's a photo of my first Book Nook. I saw this while browsing and had to buy it since I've become quite the Van Gogh fan in recent years and "Cafe Terrace at Night" and "Starry Night" are my favorites of his paintings.



I'm not going to detail all of the stash aquisition for the year since I'm not even sure I can, other than going through my purchases at 123Stitch and Etsy - suffice to say, there were quite a few of them! But I did want to mention that I joined a fabric of the month club, this time through Be Stitch Me, even though I really don't need a bunch more fabric - I can't help myself! I recently changed the fabric choice from the mix of colors and neutrals to opalescent colors to build up my sparkle collection. I think I'll end the subscription at the end of 2025 though since I have quite the fabric stash now and I'm still not stitching enough to really work my way through it.

Goals for 2025!

I'm going to try to get the remaining five calendar magnets done in the first part of the year - if nothing else, I'll do them in the month they reprensent (January-May). Now that I have the brilliant Ukrainian magnet frames, I think they will go much faster. (Although it's not like they take all that long anywyay... at least they shouldn't!)

One other thing that I'm really going to try to do this year is to fully finish more of my projects, especially framing some of the larger ones. I even already have four of them pinned on boards - I just need to get off my butt and order some frames! There are one or two pieces that I might take the plunge and have professionally framed, assuming I can find a person in town who has good experience with framing needlework pieces. (This is a big town, so I'm sure such a person exists, it's just a matter of actually locating them.)

I haven't really decided what else to single out for my 2025 goals stitching-wise, so like in 2024, I'll probably just go where my interests take me!