Greetings dear Unraveler’s! Another Wednesday has arrived… and so we gather to share our weekly updates!
I am going to begin with the questions many of you had last week about my newly finished Year of Stitching project.
It seems your inquiring minds all want to know the size of my stitching and I woefully neglected to tell you any of those details. Each month’s template is roughly 8″ x11″… and so the size is quite generous. Its dimensions are roughly 32″ x 33″ before finishing. I will be sewing a backing fabric on it to help protect all the couched ends, which I simply knotted on the backside, as you can see below. I am going to simply back it with a bit of old cotton sheeting, which I think will work nicely to preserve the integrity of the stitches.
This sea of knots is soon to be tucked safely away.
No one asked, but I stitched last year on my last piece of Joann’s Linen from my stash. I tried to get more before Joann’s closed but was not successful. I like stitching on linen as it holds the stitches well. Most days I stitch with Perle cotton (size 8 or 12) and occasionally I will stitch with 2 or 3 strands of embroidery floss but Perle cotton is my favorite. Last year I used some linen to couch around each day’s square… it is linen that is for weaving, but it worked really well.
Perfectly imperfect… and exactly what my new stitch project needed!
One of you asked if I actually stitch every day… and the answer is yes, most days. The perfect day for me begins with a cup of coffee and my “tin” of threads. A bit of meditative stitching to start my day is absolutely the best thing ever. Now, does that happen every day? No, it does not… but if I look back at the year of stitching I can say that most days did. I don’t like “catching up” stitching days… For me doing that looses some of what daily stitching is supposed to be, at least for me, a brief moment to dip into my own creativity and stitch for a few minutes with no pattern just an empty “square” waiting for some stitches. I have been doing this now for a number of years and it is my favorite thing I do.
Now, all that being said, here we are on January 14th and as you can see above there are not 14 days stitched but I am close to catching up. I was not feeling at all excited about this years stitching but then I found a skein of very early handspun yarn I had made… yarn that though the colors are insanely perfect, the spinning was not so much that at all. It has bits that are very overspun and bits that are very underspun and then there is the uneven plying (apparently, I did not utilize the counting trick… at all, lol.) However, today I am praising my former self for this perfectly imperfect yarn! As I began stitching it down my love for this very different canvas began to grow! I am all kinds of excited about this project suddenly and I will continue each day to “stitch down” remaining lines… but January is all ready for me! (As are February, March and April!)
That “couching interlude” put my sock on pause and because couching is such a meditative thing to do, it allowed my mind to think on that sock yarn + the pattern I had begun… and yep, if you guessed that those two things were not harmonious, you’d be right. Sigh. So I have frogged that beginning and have cast on again… this time with just my good old standby “plain sock” recipe. This harmony is making me much happier.
Squiggly yarn being slowly consumed… stitch by stitch.
Reading did not fare as well this week as I had no finishes because that means I actually got some sleep this week! Whew! (and there has not been much “daytime listening” because Steve was home all last week and this week sick. Sigh. I am happy to report that my RSV vaccine is working perfectly though…)
What about you all? What is on your needles this week? And are you reading anything good?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
I love seeing your stitching Kat. So interesting and fun. Will your monthly templates for 2026 be roughly the same size as 2025? You are off to a great start and I really like your handspun for the grid lines. Like you, I have no book finishes this week to share, but my family socks are progressing nicely. Glad you are staying healthy and wishing Steve a quicker recovery.
Your grid for this year’s stitching is just brilliant — what a great use for that earlier handspun! I’m sorry Steve’s been home (sick, I assume) and that has meant less listening, but time spent catching up on sleep is not bad at all. Here’s hoping everyone is back to normal soon!
love the yellowish green border for you new stitching project. Can you believe we are in the middle of January already? Time is a flying by. Stay healthy!!!
I love your couched grid and stitching so far! Do you have ideas for what you’re going to stitch when you sit down in the morning or do you thread your needle and see what happens? I love the color of your sock yarn and it will shine in a plain pattern. I’m glad you are getting some sleep but sorry that Steve has been sick for two weeks. I hope he feels much better soon and you have something good to read/listen in the queue.
Thanks for sharing so many details about your stitching project – and process. I think you’ve found such a perfect way to begin your days with calming creativity. And beauty. I will enjoy watching your project unfold this year, Kat. And I love your sock yarn. It’s just lovely, and will really shine in a plain vanilla sock (my favorite kind of sock). Here’s to a good and healthy week, Kat. XO
What a lovely grid you’ve created for your stitches this year and a perfect use of your handspun. I’ve been reading tons, I finished my 4th book of 2026 yesterday.
Thank you for sharing the details of your daily stitching. The handspun looks great couched onto the linen. The imperfections melt away. To me, the imperfection of handspun is what makes it so wonderful. I hope Steve feels better. The viruses this month are rather nasty.
Love watching your sampler progress.