Y'all, there are only 11 days left in this year's stitch journal project! Two more fortunes and two more sets of lucky numbers. I won't be posting anything next Saturday; the last post of this year's project will be on December 31. It's been a fun project and I'm looking forward to stitching the last two fortunes.
I'm not entirely sure what financial investment Fortune 81 is referring to. Maybe it's my collection of possibly haunted vintage ceramic cats. Or maybe it's all the weird art I buy. It sure isn't coming from using lucky numbers to play the lottery...I tried last week when the Powerball jackpot was $1B, and won $8. It was the only time I've won this year, but $8 isn't even the cost of a Powerball ticket. I'm supposed to play one more time before the end of the project. Should I play today since the jackpot is so high or should I wait until December 31 (or around December 31) as a solid end to trying the lucky numbers?
Remember kids, billionaires shouldn't exist. Even if I won a $1.5B lottery ticket, I wouldn't be a billionaire and I'd be taxed more than any billionaire in the US today. Also, if I won that much money, the vast majority of it would be going to my family and friends and organizations/causes I care about. My attempt at winning the lottery this year was driven by how many people believe in fortune cookie lucky numbers. I wanted to test the theory since I've spent all year stitching lucky numbers. Once this project is over, I doubt I'll buy another ticket again. Gambling isn't my thing and billionaires shouldn't exist.
Here are this week's fortunes and lucky numbers.
 |
| December 14 |
 |
| December 15 |
 |
| December 16 |
 |
| December 17 |
 |
| December 18 |
 |
| December 19 |
 |
| December 20 |
 |
| Weeks 1-51 |
A New WIP and the 2026 Stitch Journal
Earlier this week, I went to a preview party for the reopening of
Upcycle Creative Reuse Center. They moved into a wonderful space and it's beautiful. If you live in the area and haven't checked them, do it. Do it now! (Or when they open later this morning.) I found some great fabric and a few odds and ends for next year's stitch journal project. I also picked up a few cross stitch and embroidery kits. I decided to start one this weekend. It's amazing.
It's a Royal Paris kit from the 2000s (I think) and has all the pieces and thread. It's called L'Hiver, and depicts different winter scenes. The kit includes a pre-printed linen pattern, thread, a needle, and the instructions. I paid $8 for the kit at Upcycle. A Royal Paris kit retails anywhere from $25-200 and that's only for the modern patterns. Vintage ones can run way higher.
And the instructions are fantastic.
It's probably going to take me 500 years to finish this (probably more like a year), so I figured I'd get started on it this weekend in celebration of the solstice. Bea decided she'd like to help. With her assistance, it'll probably take me 600 years to finish. She's not great at French knots.
Last Sunday, I did a quick project while listening to my cousin's radio show on Blue Moon Radio, an indie station in Detroit. He played ambient/down tempo music, so it was actually really great to embroider to. I also discovered that Bea likes ambient music. She came and sat next to my laptop while the show was going on and got progressively more comfortable as the show went on. Who knew?
 |
| These are stick and stitch patterns from the Savage Stitcher. |
 |
| Thrift store frame for the final piece. |
 |
| I need to do another round of stitches to make it pop more. I should be able to finish it up today. |
I decided to move forward with my idea around music for the 2026 stitch journal project. I'm going to focus each month on a musician or band and create a piece influenced by their music. It might feature a specific song, a full album, a vibe...the possibilities are endless. I've already selected the musicians for each month. I'll share more about them in the first January post. I plan to post a weekly progress post like I've been doing. I like that cadence of posts and it helps keep me on track with the pieces I do for the project. I'm also planning on using techniques like applique, painting, and fabric piecing in this year's journal.
Back in the summer, a friend of mine gave me a large amount of thread from a friend of hers who had passed away. My friend's friend was an avid cross stitcher and has an amazing collection of thread. I'm using this collection of thread for the 2026 project. I also found out this week that her family is considering throwing away her entire finished collection. My friend sent me one piece this week, and I may or may not be participating in a cross stitch liberation event over the holiday break. I would hate for 40+ years of this woman's life to be thrown in a dumpster, so I'm hoping we can find a home for her work. I'm contacting some of the guilds and historical groups to see if they have space in their collections. I don't know this lady or her relationship with her family, but I hope they reconsider or just give it all to my friend so we can do something with the collection.
 |
| It's a tuxedo cat. |
Other Small Joys
Other than the Upcycle party, the thing I'm most excited about from this week is that I have an appointment to get a new tattoo on December 27. I wanted to do this around my birthday but didn't get my act together in time. I finally decided on a design and found a great shop in Alexandria. Did you ever look at the social media account of a shop and just feel good about it? That's how I felt when I found
Madison Street Tattoo. There's something really welcoming about their site and their social media. I went in for a consultation with an artist on Thursday, and the vibe is real. I've been in other tattoo shops before and this is the first one where I felt immediately comfortable when I walked in. I have to send some reference images to them today, but am very excited about this. I'll share more about the design and the (healing) finished piece in the last blog of this year.
A few weeks ago, I was hanging up some new pieces on the wall of weird art near my desk. I work from home most days, so having fun and weird art to look at throughout the day is important to me. There was a space on the wall that was calling for something and boy, did I find something for that space. I didn't know plushie taxidermy was a thing, but it is, and it is glorious. I follow
Trovely on Instagram and lucked into a shop drop a few weeks back. Just look at this magical creature.
Outstanding! I wasn't expecting the cross stitch cat this week, so it was fun to add both pieces to the wall. I should send my tattoo artist a picture of this wall as an example of how whimsy goes with everything. The wall is complete...for now.
Comments
Post a Comment