Cross Stitch and Craft Cafe 2025 - come in, sit down and join us!

Coxy11

Hello everyone and welcome to our shiny new Cross Stitch and Craft Cafe 2025 thread!

Please do join us in sharing your makes, your successes and your WIPs - we love to see what everyone is working on.

My 2025 list to follow!
Coxy xx

Coxy11

My 2025 list:

Finish Jingle Bells - I'm about one fifth of the way through but stopped to make my Christmas Card Exchange piece plus moved house!!

Make more of the WI crafting groups projects - this is an offshoot group to my monthly WI and they choose a project each month to make on a sewing machine. Some of you on here know that I'm not that confident with my machine, but I hope with group support I might be able to achieve some of the makes. For January it is a pot holder.

Knit some tea cosies etc. for my Etsy shop. I need to get some worsted/Aran wool so will take a look when I'm next in my new local market town haberdashery shop (any excuse....).

Create a nice space to craft in, in my new house. We have a dining room that is under-utilised - currently just a desk and the piano. There is ample space (and light) for me to be able to craft in here, I just need to get around to sorting what I need, furniture and storage-wise to enable this. Failing that I will use the conservatory which has a nice sofa and our children's old toybox (think blanket box) which currently holds half my stash. No heating though!

That's all for now, but I'm sure I'll add to the list during the year!
What is everyone else making this year??
Coxy

Auti

Hello, Happy New Year may it bring you peace, strength and happy times.
I Thought I had finished a crochet cardi (a bit of a fancy pattern) but when I tried it on it felt not right - first I thought it was because it is an unusual design but on further looking I had crocheted the fronts 17 sts in the wrong place! So am now moving both fronts to the correct place! In my defence it is a translated pattern from Dutch and has been a bit of a pain all the way through but grrr - so I am busy finishing that.

Future plans - more cross stitch (really enjoyed making the christmas card)
Finish bag I am crocheting
Do more amugurumi
Make more cards to replenish ‘just in case’ stash
learn how to use loom to make handle for above bag 

Generally reduce amount of stuff I have

Charly27

Happy new year everyone. I hope it brings health, happiness and prosperity for you all.
Thanks @Coxy11 for the new thread for 2025. @nmm i so hope you and OH are recovering after being so poorly over Christmas and New Year.
I’m hoping to ‘complete’ several kits, WIP and learn new skills this year as well as complete on the house. 17th January fingers crossed. 

- love cats cross stitch WIP DD and DiL
- a year in the life of cross stitch WIP for me
- start Enjoy the Little Things cross stitch from Cross Stitch for the Earth book for BF 60th
- start 4 seasons cross stitch from Cross Stitch for the Earth book for a friend’s 60th
- card for exchange 
- random things for house, such as basket liners and Roman blinds x3?
Like you @Coxy11, I haven’t created a place for crafting in the new home yet, the upstairs is far from finished and all 3 bedrooms have work required in them. Got my eye on bed 3 for this and beautiful space in the first floor of the garage but freezing at the mo! I’ll take a photo of the bedrooms at some stage. You need vision! Luckily I have everything I need to hand sew, knit or crochet in the lounge after a year’s hard work.

foxandflowers

Hi everyone

Thanks for the new thread @Coxy11

I am well on my way to the first ta-daa of the year, and feeling very pleased about it. I only have 2 thread colours left to do on my bee cross-stitch. I have a massive Great Wave diamond painting to complete (thanks @betasam) that I'm excited for, but am waiting until we have moved to tackle as it needs a dedicated space to complete!

I would like to finish my Great Wave bookmark - someone said something about seed pearls instead of french knots  although I may be misremembering? - put together the Orangery bookmark my mum sewed before she passed, complete my lighthouse stitch, complete my purple star jar girl, and tackle the Inland Waterways map... Which will require an awful lot of concentration.  

Good luck everyone. 

nmm

Thank you for the new thread coxy, you managed all that on your list and moved house, i say thats a big win. 

Loving all the lists so far, some very interesting sounding projects.

OH and i are much better now, thanks for all the well wishes. I have completed my first stitch of the year, was supposed to be a birthday card for my friend last year, but it'll be this year now. Next on my list is a 50th card for my sister.

daisy_1571

Well done nmm, a lovely first tada of the year

Dxx

foxandflowers

Finished and washed
Unfortunately all the rest of my cross-stitch is in the storage unit. So guess who is going hunting on lunch, rather than buying another kit! 

Auti

@foxandflowers - that is beautiful. As a cross stitch newbie why do you wash it and do the colours run or it go out of shape? I have only got as far as stitching

foxandflowers

@Auti - this was a beginners kit to get me back into the swing of stitching, so it came pre-stamped. I washed it to remove the 'stamped' pattern and gridlines underneath my sewing, and also to freshen up the aida. I washed it in lukewarm water and a little bit of washing up liquid, and agitated it gently for approximately 10 minutes. The colours shouldn't run, although if you're worried, you could do a test with a spare strand of the darker colour or reds as those are most likely to leak.

foxandflowers

PS. I meant to say - I started this when I was 14....The literal definition of a WIP!!
It is actually at the front of the storage unit so accessible! I am going to rescue it on my lunch break, and then tackle it. It definitely needs a clean. Hopefully can finish it before we move, and then I can get it framed for my best friend's birthday in May.