SFS 2015 January Report

Month: January
Spent: £0
Earned: £0

Wow is this really my first post for the whole of January?

January is always one of those funny months for me, Christmas feels so long ago now and yet this month also feels like it's dragged, possibly due to the fact that my company always pays us a week early in December so we have longer to wait between paydays.


Now that's out of my system I can focus on the reason for this post, stitch from stash reporting!! I managed to go a whole year in 2014 without adding to my stash, however I also didn't stitch much and as such my stash pile mountain is still as big as it was at the end of 2013....I will be budgeting in GBP for my reports, £25 per month. It's just easier for me that way.

I started this year with a couple of projects in my WIP pile (all pics taken 1/1/15)

Green series by Lizzie Kate- just the final two charts to stitch then this will be done.

Santa's Wish List by Lizzie Kate - started in December, the 2nd start from stash in 2014.

Tigerlily by Nora Corbett/Mirabilia - started in 2014 and my only other start from stash last year.

I also started 6 charts from my stash, progress shown as of 27/1/15:

Shy Guys, technically this wasn't in my stash but was a free download from Spritestitch.com, my boyfriend asked me to teach him how to cross stitch and this was the chart he chose to stitch so I started alongside him....needless to say he has taken to it like a duck to water and is considerally further along than I am!!

Bunny Egg Mini by Waxing Moon Designs, stitched on 14ct pink aida using Anchor 1360 rather than the suggested DMC, I plan on stitching the rabbits in brown.

Flying Monkeys by Glory Bee, I've had this kitted up for ages so figured it was about time I got it stitched!

Yesterday/Today by the sunflower seed, I'm actually only stitching part of this design, the wording and two of the flowers which I'll move closer to the wording, I stitched this up for an exchange in 2013/2012 and always wanted to do it again for myself.

Signs of Winter by Bent Creek, snowmen and penguins, what's not to love!!

Love Bug, a freebie I downloaded from here years ago and found in my pattern drawer while having a bit of a tidy, stitched on a scrap of DMC's heart print impressions aida in the recommended threads.

This year we have the option of 'earning more money' by counting finishes from our stash, I won't be following along with this side of it as it falls into the category of 'can't spend what you haven't got' for me. We can't buy stash on 'credit' ie spending £30 one month and budgeting for £20 not £25 the next, and this just seems to fall into the same category for me. Obviously that is just my opinion and if others don't feel the same way about as me that's fine, my stitching tends to be fairly small so I don't feel the need to incentive myself to finish things other than to see the finished item but with larger stitches such as HAED's I can see the possible need for a celebration of a page finish.

So that's my report for this month, I apologise for the rubbish iPhone pics, next time I'll try and remember to use my proper camera :)

dear god has it been that long?

my poor little corner of blogland has been somewhat neglected this year as life has got in the way rather more than I would have liked.

Next year will see some massive changes coming to the way I live my life as well as the continuation of the better aspects of this year and I can't wait to get started!

This year I joined stitch from stash and although I forgot to blog about the last couple of months I can happily report that I didn't spend a single penny on stitching supplies for the whole of 2014! I didn't really do much stitching in 2014, finishing Super Mario in the early part of the year seemed to have wiped out my stitching bug completely however I am hoping that will change in 2015.

I aim to continue working through stash mountain (hopefully reducing it in the process) during 2015 and as such have signed up for SFS again however this time I am going to remember to post & to actually get some stitching done.

I am going to follow along with the crazy January challenge in 2015-again its a chance for me to reduce the mountain to a molehill and I really enjoyed participating back in 2013. This year however I may limit myself to smaller charts to start the year off :)

My work bag is currently full of yarn based projects as well as a couple of stitching projects. Rotations never seem to work out for me so aside from my Crazy January smalls I'm going to try and be a one project at a time kind of girl.

I am going to be ruthless with my stash, if I've already stitched the design the likelihood is that I won't stitch it again so I am going to be eBaying off several hundred charts throughout the year (again reducing the mountain) and helping to reduce my debt at the same time.

Yes I have a small bank loan that I have been paying off slowly for the last couple of years, I have decided that since I have proven to myself in 2014 that I can get by without the need to buy stitching supplies I am going to try and go one better and cut out down the games buying as well (limiting myself to preorders and no retro games) and see if I can rid myself of my debts before July.

So there we have it, this is my start to a frugal 2015 (I will be monitoring myself very closely but hopefully I'll be able to have some fun with it as well and rekindle my love of crafting)

Wishing you all a very happy new year & see you in January!

Stitch from Stash September

hi guys!

yet another stitch from stash post and once again I am back to zero spending and zero stitching :(

I am working on a baby blanket in crochet but I cant show it as the expectant grandparents dont want  to know what the sex of the baby is.

hopefully will get back on the stitching horse soon....

Amount Spend: £0

New Starts from Stash: none

WIPs or UFOs worked on: none

Money banked: £225

Fi xx

Stitch From Stash August

finally this post title is an accurate one, why? Because I started something new from my stash!!!

Yes dear followers after 8 months of stitching (or lack thereof) on the projects I had languishing in my project bag (only green series after finishing Super mario) I bit the bullet and started something Ive had kitted up for years!

Tiger Lily by Nora Corbett.

I've been in love with this design since it first came out but I was always too nervous to start it, despite stitching her Halloween Fairy kit a few years ago. I even toyed with the idea of selling the chart and bead pack at one stage but I found myself unable to part with it.

Green Series is progressing a little this month albeit at a snail's pace.... maybe I'll get a few more stitches in to it in September.

I have also added a few more colourful hooky rows to my blanket :) Better get a shift on really, it'll soon be cold enough to use it!

And I cast on a new knitting project (my first ever garment!)

This is going to be a knit-in-one-piece jumper, very simple for a beginner knitter like myself but not using the recommended yarns (100% raw silks at £21 a ball!-no thanks!) Mine uses a very soft 100% bamboo yarn mixed with an angora/merino blend instead :)


And the reason(s) for my slightly more productive month?
1. I liked the comment someone in the group made last month that this is a stash diet not a new start diet.
2. It's started getting chilly this month which always has me reaching for the yarn based projects
3. New glasses!! I can finally see without looking through a very scratched/beat up pair of lenses!!!

So to sum up, still no spending to report (even with the temptation of a market bonus!) and thankfully a bit of stash busting going on!!

xX Fiona Xx

Stitch from stash 2014 July edition

Hello friends (assuming anyone is still reading this blog)

I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth I promise, I just haven't felt much like blogging or stitching (my usual summer slump has struck again :/ )

Well July is almost over and with it comes another stitch from stash update, I fear my updates are becoming dull and almost monotone as once again I have spend nothing and started nothing new. While this is great from my stash pile, my bank account remains depleted as I seem to have switched to retro gaming stash buying instead....

Anyway this is a crafting blog and as such here is my overview for July

Amount Spend: £0

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: None

Money Banked: £175

I haven't even worked on the granny stripe blanket as the weather is just simply too hot for words!!!

Hope everyone is having more luck than me :)

xX Fiona Xx

stitch from stash 2014 June edition

this month we got a bonus £50 to spend after spending our initial £25 and even with that I didn't give into temptation, Mel posting up a poll on whether she should buy Luna or Gigi didn't help!

Although I'm doing well at not adding to my stash I'm also not doing well at stitching from it! This month I haven't really stitched anything apart from a teeny tiny yoda because I wanted to see how well half stitch would work on 22ct over 1, turns out really well but the results are teeny!!

-i do have a photo but it's stuck on my phone and i can't find the cable-

Mostly this month I have been crocheting my blanket in an attempt to have it finished by the winter. The kittens aren't helping so I have to resort to working on it in my lunchbreak at work, I can manage 1 stripe in about 30 mins but I'll have pictures of my progress up on July 1st with Theme-a-licious 2014 so I won't post it now :)

so June at a glance

Amount Spend: £0

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: None

Money Banked: £150

Themealicious 2014: Menagerie May & June Jolt

Menagerie may has sadly come to an end and I have progress to show!

First I worked on and finished Autumn-ation by Lizzie Kate (see the little crow?)

I replaced the stitched leaves in the pattern with buttons and used french knots for the pumpkins eyes instead of the buttons that came with the kit.

Next I worked on the Green Series flipits also by Lizzie Kate, specifically 'be kind to animals' once that was finished I went back and finished 'keep our air clean'

only two more charts left to stitch!!

So onto June's theme 'June Jolt'. The theme for June is to work on Summer or brightly coloured projects, so with that in mind I have opted to work on 

• June Stamp by Lizzie Kate (WIP)
• Green Series by Lizzie Kate (WIP)
• Summer-licious by Lizzie Kate (New project!)
• Buzzy String by Lizzie Kate (New project!)
• possibly Eeveelutions, a downloaded pattern from Sprite Stitch ('Jolt'eon was one of my favourite Pokemon growing up!)

The downside of 'June Jolt' is that it has made me realise just how many of my charts are Christmas or Halloween themed and although they are brightly coloured, it's just too early to be thinking about those holidays, Summer's only just begun!!