Cross stitch: 2025 Nutcracker – an update

I almost finished 3 rows. I finished the stitching but I need to add the beads in. There is beads in the last row of the 3rd row and I don’t plan to do those. I like how it looks when I do all the stitching and then finish it off with the beading. I feel like the beads then sit on top of the stitching rather than getting mixed in.

I am still enjoying the row by row at a time stitching on this project and I love how much I’m progressing on it.

Here’s where I was the last time I reported on this.

What it will be when it grows up…

Important info:

Fabric: 28 count Lugana “Whisper”

Floss: Called for DMC

2×2

New start

Update – 2nd row

Keep on stitching,

Melanie

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Feb. ’26

A garden update – Pakistani Mulberry cuttings

Last report- week 6- 1/10/2026 – the little nibs are bigger

week 7- 1/17/2026 – the green nibs are bigger now

week 9- 1/31/26 I think the little nibs are fruit and we can’t have that I’m going to have to take them off. for now I’m leaving them on in case I’m wrong.

1/31- close up of what I think are baby mulberries

week 10.5 – 2/12/26 – I missed taking a picture last weekend and this weekend is almost upon us. the nibs are fruit and I’m cutting them off as they appear. It saddens me to do so but I know it’s best for root health. There seems to be 8 viable cuttings of my 10 so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they continue to be strong. I do not see a ton of roots yet so i’m holding off on potting them up.

week 11.5- 2/18/2026 – there’s been so much rain I’ve had to come out and remove excess water. I’m hoping they are still good despite the too much water.

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Feb. ’26

Monthly Door Banner – October

I started putting together the October Banner during my evening sewing sessions. I don’t generally have a lot of time but I enjoy getting one or two or 5 steps done on this homework item. This was a very interesting set of instructions and not something I remember ever doing in the past.

Flower #2 – this one came out so much better

I usually would do the flowers at the same time but I didn’t this time because I wasn’t sure about the instructions. You have to partially sew one of the sides together and then after the rest of the sides are together then you finish sewing the unfinished side from the first step. It broke my mind. The second time around, I made sure to pin and line each piece up at every step and it came out so much better than the first one.

After the flowers were done, the next several steps were to put the pumpkin together.

And one weekend I was able to finish the rest of the banner.

November – still needs to be cut

Here are the ones that I’ve finished and posted about before:

June Banner (shown in a previous post last year)

July Banner (shown in a previous post last year)

So I’m almost done!

I still need to do

November

and then time to quilt!

Happy quilting

melanie

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Feb. ’26

Xstitch Update – Rebel Stitchers’ “Disagree”

New start post

Update #1

Details:

Fabric: Live & Dye LA “Dusk” Lugana 32 count

Floss: Live & Dye LA “Naughty”

2×2

Happy Stitching!

~Melanie

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Feb. ’26

Gamer Nouveau, an update

Gamer, my main squeeze

I’ve reached the top right corner and that’s the end of the page. The next 3 diagonals are the longest diagonals and then it’s all downhill from there. at least on this page. But now I get to play with the next project on my queue.

Happy Stitching!

~Melanie

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Feb. ’26

Quilt In Progress: 250 Years of Jane Austen – Chawton Block, Finished

I finished all the appliqué on the center block. I am enjoying working on this piece. I won’t be able to start the next block until the next mini retreat so the project will be tucked away. Until then I’ll work on my next homework task.

Keep on quilting!

Melanie

Started: October 2025

Kit purchased from Quilty Pleasures in Simi Valley, CA.

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Feb. ’26

Knitting WIP #3: Mini Cozy Blanket

Okay so now that the Fingerless mitts (WIP #1) is done, I picked up the mini cozy. I’ve been doing a little bit here and there since I went through my knitting project stash and created my 2026 WIP list. But after finishing the one square that I was working on, I realized I didn’t have any more yarn to put into the project. The picture above is where it is at the moment and I stashed it back in my knitting project bin. It took a while for me to locate the bin so when I did, I put a label on it. I pulled my regular cozy blanket to possibly take its place. I can’t make a commitment now but I want to do a square a week and at some point I’ll probably run out of yarn again. Then I can use whatever comes out of that project and use it for the cozy mini. Here’s hoping. But I’m thrilled that even though this WIP is not a finish, I can’t do more with it until I use more of my stash!

One of my things to do when I pull this project back from the bin is to figure out how many grams of yarn does it take to finish a mini square.

Yarn: from stash.

Cheers! Knit on my friends.

Melanie

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Feb. ’26

Finished! Knitting WIP #1: Fingerless Mitts …

yarn: Voolenvine Yarns (my fave!) Wolke
colorway – Feyre
80-10-10 MCN

Free Pattern from stashlounge.com “fantastic fingerless mitts”

started 11/11/2025

Finished! 2/6/2026

I’m thrilled to get this off my list. And while getting my project bag cleaned up and things put away, my soldotna up and ready for my next knitting session, I ran across my knitting WIP #4 – a pom pom hat kit I got from Jimmy Beans in Reno many years ago. I think I got it when I visited on a family trip in 2015??? I pulled it out when I went through my bins of projects and documented everything on my knitting WIP list and this became the next project on my needles after Soldotna. I just finished my post where I said 3 knitting projects was too much for my small brain and here I am looking longingly at casting on this project. I persevered. I’ll be working on Soldotna and my cozy mini …

Melanie

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Feb. ’26

MFE SAL 2023, an update

My 2026 cross stitch rotation is to do 1/4th of a page and on this page that means 550 stitches whenever this WIP comes up…

Last post:

Now…

Happy Stitching!

~Melanie

—

For those who do not remember… this was the Modern Folk Embroidery (MFE) mystery Stitch a long (SAL) from 2023.

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Feb. ’26

BOM 2025 – William Morris – Update #9

Important info: BOM with my fave LQS, Quilt Emporium, in Woodland Hills, CA. The shop owner, Lisa Hanson designed this mystery quilt with William Morris fabrics and I think it’s super inexpensive for a BOM at $15/month. Even though I decided no more BOMs, I couldn’t help but cave on this one.

Started: 02/2025

Previous posts here, here, here, here, update #4 , update #5, update #6, update #7 and the most recent #8.

After finishing the November block I got started on the December block. This one had a few errors in the instructions. Luckily I caught them before any ripping had to be done.

I still need to finish the handwork for the September block and get the hexis done for the October block. September is part of my homework and will get done when it comes up in my queue. I plan to start the October block at our next mini retreat.