Year Of Projects 2025-2026 Roundup!

On this last Sunday in June, it's time for another annual Year of Projects round-up of crafty goodness!  As is normally the case, the commentary accompanying the pictures is mostly for the sake of my remembering these things.  While I sometimes share time frames when things were worked on, this post isn't really in chronological order.  Feel free to read along, or just scroll through the pictures. 

To start the 2025-26 YOP year off,  I finished these two Celtic Knot stitches (from a Reader's Digest book called Celtic Cross Stitch), and turned them into miniature pillows:

And I learned how to use my Kreinik Custom Corder.  My first time was a bit of a rough introduction, but I eventually got the hang of it.  Being able to make one's own cords from something like embroidery floss is very handy!

When I finished the sweet little Valentine pillow I made months later, making the cording was a piece of cake:

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2025 was the year I learned how to make Manx squares.  My first slightly wonky square was turned into a humble hotpad:

And with that first Manx square, I was hooked on these for a few months.  At the beginning, I had some imaginings of making a whole quilt of these squares, but I soon learned that dealing with the potential wonky nature of these hand-stitched squares would frustrate me to no end if I tried to sew them together to make an entire quilt. 

So I settled on smaller projects, like a pillow:

It is on the small side, but I love it and have kept it in the living room, where it reminds me that "yes I do finish things..."

Then four wonky squares were sewn together and the whole thing turned on point makes a decent wall hanging, though it's currently in the living room as table topper:

And before running out of steam, I made a friend a colorful Manx square hotpad:

And she immediately put it on the wall in her freshly painted green and yellow kitchen:

While that was completely unexpected, I have to admit it looks pretty cheery on the gray tile wall. 

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In September, a friend and I made lined tote bags together with this fun granny square print fabric:

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In October, another friend asked me if I'd help her finish a baby quilt she'd begun 36 years prior for her then soon-to-be-born 2nd daughter.  As happens with us all sometimes, life got busy and all the squares she'd cut out were never completed into a blanket.  

Until she got the idea to finish it for her soon-to-be-born granddaughter - the first baby of the daughter she'd started the blanket for 3 1/2  decades ago.

A simple blanket, and a perfect first quilt project for me.  And since I've known this daughter from the time she was around 10 years old, it was super sweet to me to be able to have a hand in this.

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In November, I stitched up some cloth napkins for a Christmas table I hosted for our church's Women's Christmas Brunch:

I learned a method of mitering corners neatly, but the bigger story is that I learned to always, always, ALWAYS prewash printed cotton.  I should have told the story here after it happened, but the non-dramatic version goes like this:  

A color catcher wasn't nearly enough to catch the bleeding red dye in this fabric.  It took many washings of the bleeding/stained fabric, that included over-sudsing of my washing machine and drain - because I had used a non-chlorine bleach dishwashing liquid to treat the stained fabric.  It also meant I ended up with a very clean laundry room floor (a couple of times over) by the time I managed to turn pink polka dots almost white again and my washing machine and the standpipe drain were both finally clear of suds. Sigh...

PSA - never, ever put dishwashing liquid in the washing machine or a dishwasher.  Since you don't need to ask me how I know this when it comes to a washing machine, you don't need to ask me how I know this about a dishwasher. I had to learn the hard way.  You don't!

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Also in 2025, I finished off some potholders I'd begun as 2024 Christmas presents for my adults sons and (now) daughter-in-law.  What actually motivated me to finish these was realizing they'd make great practice for preparing me to sew a binding onto the baby blanket above.  What a win!    

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2026 started with me crocheting a blanket for a friend.  A blanket with several shades of brown she had chosen.  When it was finished, she dubbed it Cinnamon Latte Blanket:

A lot of angst went into this blanket as so much brown is a bit outside of my comfort zone.  But when it was finished, and I took it to my friend's house, it looked perfect with her warm wall colors.  It was a happy ending.

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In January, I had pulled out this unfinished set of Christmas ornaments, and set my mind to completing the crewel work on the teddy bear in a stocking:

Then, in March, I decided, once and for all, to fix an ornament (that was part of the above set) that had gotten stained many years ago from putting potpourri in it:

And with that "repair" done, I finally sewed up the other three ornaments.  Did I mention that this was another many decades-old project?   Finally...  at least four decades after these were begun, I now have a cute and complete set to display for however many Christmases I have left in me.

I hope when I'm gone someone (even if it's a stranger) will love these even just half as much as I do now.

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At some point in the spring of 2026, I tried my hand at some patchwork stitching:

I also discovered a fun "moss stitch" granny square washcloth pattern, and I couldn't stop making these for a little bit:

 

It thrills me to finally have a project I can devote all my colorful kitchen cotton yarn scraps to!

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I did finally stop, though, and finished my second Granny Goes Large blanket that I had begun the autumn before:

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And for the last few months, when I've picked up a crochet hook, it's been to crochet doilies.  While I know this latest fascination will wane eventually, it's still going strong for the moment.  Some of these were new to me, some were favorites that I'd made before:  

And that wraps up another Year of Projects!

Next week begins the 2026-27 YOP year.  Many YOPers will use that first posting to share their creative plans for the coming year.  As for me, it suits my wiring more to go with the flow and make whatever I'm in the mood for, when I'm in the mood - occasionally being distracted by some project that feels pressing to work on for some reason or another.

If you blog and are into fiber arts/crafts, I invite you to join us if this YOP thing sounds fun.  You can click the link attached to the graphic below where, if you already have a free Ravelry account you'll be taken to the Year Of Projects' home page, and you can join the group and join in on this year long "project".  If you don't have a Ravelry account, the link should take you to the Ravelry home page where you can create a free account, and then you can come back here and the link should take you to our group's page.  

And if this stuff is nowhere on your list of things you'd ever be interested in doing, I am so pleased that you pop in here to see some of what I get up to.  The comments on these YOP posts from my non-YOP readers are as sweet as those from my YOP buddies.

See you next YOP year!

Late spring garden...

This Sunday, where normally there is a crafty YOP post,  gardener me is popping in with a progress report on growing things. 

It's been a great spring here for gardening - better than I was prepared for in March and early April.  I wish I had planted peas earlier this spring so we'd have gotten more.  As is, I planted peas in April, and now in the middle of June, with temps in the 80's they are slowing down to the point where I'm trying to decide when to cut them down and plant something summer-loving in their place.

I only planted two trellises worth (above).  My thought process in April, not really knowing if I was too late planting peas, was that I'd plant this many and if they produced enough, I'd practice blanching and freezing some to see how they fared.  Well, I was so excited to see peas, I just started picking them and eating them, and now, all of a sudden, the plants are slowing down and I may have missed the opportunity to do a trial run on processing them.

So...  my very loose plan now is to plant some more peas later in the summer and hope for enough peas come autumn to process.  But we'll see if I have the gumption for that when/if I see winter any winter squash on vines healthily sprawling. I didn't have success with winter squash last year, so this is another test.  If I don't grow autumn peas, there will be next spring to try again.  

Three kinds of green bean plants are thriving so far.  I labeled them at the time of planting, but some of the popsicle stick labels have disappeared and any that remain are pretty badly faded.  So, I'm discovering what some of them are as they start to produce.

While I've been picking peas, and harvesting garlic scapes (more on that in another post), next in line are Dragon Tongue beans (above).  While their purple speckles are fun, these beans evidently turn a yellow-green when cooked.  

I failed to read the seed packet or the online description when I ordered Dragon Tongue seeds, and I only just realized today that these are bush beans. The trellis I planted them around is completely unnecessary, and frankly a bit in the way of future picking.  I also planted a couple of cucumber plants on the other side of the trellis and they are just about ready to start climbing.  Since it's supposed to rain tonight, I'm leaving it all "as is" for another day or two and I think I'm going to pull the trellis out, and maybe transplant the cucumbers and plant more in a different spot - maybe where the peas are currently.

The sweet corn (above) is doing pretty well (planted in two square patches).  I'm trying to stay hopeful that racoons don't make a meal of it before we can.

Last week I planted some winter squash seeds amongst the corn, thinking that if corn is harvested (by us or racoons) in late July/early August, the squash will have room to spread out the rest of the summer and fall.  I kind of regret devoting nearly a third of the garden to experimenting with sweet corn, and now winter squash, but it is what it is now.  I don't plan to interfere anymore - unless it's to plant more squash seeds if I think the space can handle more once I see them sprouting.

Moving on (and trying to ignore all the grass I need to take a hoe to)...

On the south side of the corn, where there's plenty of sunshine, I'm experimenting growing sweet potatoes (above).  If I remember correctly, this was a total impulse move when I found the sweet potato starts on clearance a few weeks ago. I thought for sure I came home with five good sweet potato starts left in a 6-pack, but within a week of planting I only had four.  Do critters eat these?  It seems odd that four are there looking perfectly wonderful and one just disappeared.

Behind the corn, on the right side of the hose (above) are three mounds of zucchini and yellow squash.  

Everywhere (above) that there is a wooden stake, there is a tomato plant.  Twelve Romas meander across the garden.  I like to imagine I was being creative with my planting layout, rather than just looking for anywhere to stick them in the ground.

Kentucky Wonder Green Beans (above)

and

Kajari Melons (below)

They don't look like much yet, but I'm excited to see what these Kajari melons look and taste like in person.  But, if you're curious here's a video:

And near the Kajari melons are some Blauhilde beans.  More beans that grow one color and turn green when cooked.  I can't wait 'till those start showing up!  And I have some pepper plants.  I think they're called Big Bertha.  I couldn't resist - again, on clearance at a local greenhouse.

And below is normally my favorite view of the garden where I can sit and put my feet up for a bit.  It's not so pretty at the moment, as the spot (bottom center) where I've reserved for the butternut squash to grow into is in serious need of weeding.

And somewhere in there, near the tomato plants are a couple of okra plants.  I failed to label them, but I think I found them sprouted yesterday. I need to put a tomato cage around them so I don't step on them. Those were a 100% spontaneous decision after watching a video of someone growing okra, and shortly after seeing seeds discounted at Tractor Supply.

Oh!  And I almost forgot!  The garlic is close to picking time!

Once those come out, in another week or so, I'll weed the strawberry patch, fertilize it, mulch it with more straw, and let it grow.

It's hard to believe today is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year!  And it's doubly hard to believe we're now headed toward the days getting shorter, and my countdown to autumn begins.  Okay...  I don't really start counting down to fall the first day of summer, but I do look forward to it.

Happy Summer!

Yes, I'm still making doilies...

I seem to be in a phase again where I can't summon the discipline to blog regularly, but that doesn't mean nothing is happening.

In fact, blog fodder is stacking up for when I'm more in the mood to write, but for today, since this is a Year of Projects post, you get crafty me.

I'm still crocheting doilies, albeit somewhat slowly at the moment.

I finished another "Easy Doily" in a pretty spring green:

And Doily # 18 from the book, 99 Little Doilies:

This 5-inch doily I'm calling Flower Star

(made in the color, Ciel)

Tomorrow I'm planning on attending a "Tea" that a friend is hosting.  Now, I don't take a hostess gift everywhere I'm invited, but I know the host of this gathering is going to a lot of effort.  She didn't accept my initial offer to bring something to contribute to the Tea, and I didn't get around to offering again, soooo I'm planning on taking her a hostess gift.

She has lots of blue in her decorating, and when I was at her home recently, it occurred to me the light blue doily (below) that I made a month ago, would look great with her color scheme. And late this week, finishing the smaller Flower Star, I thought it would make a nice accompaniment.  Even if she's not a doily person, I'm thinking she'll appreciate the idea that doilies fit perfectly with a Tea. 

The only problem in doing this is, I will have to remake the lighter blue one. I've liked the way it looks in my china cabinet tucked partially under a blue and white tea cup and saucer, hanging over the edge of the shelf. 

Hold on... 

...

...

... 

Oh yes...  

While this smaller, more open doily doesn't show up as well on the shelf as the denser one above, I think the darker blue (Ciel) looks better with the dishes:

Okay!  On second thought, I may be making the pineapple doily in this darker blue!

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At the end of June, this Year of Project blogging thing wraps up another year, and we'll begin a new YOP year on the first Sunday of July.  I mention this just in case there might be a reader here who'd like to join in.  Some YOPpers do a January-December YOP year, but quite a few of us stay true to the original vision of a July-June year.  I have to say, I LOVE starting something new in July. 

Anyway, if you'd like to join in, you need to have a free Ravelry membership, and then join our group.  And it would be a good idea if you crochet, knit, spin, weave, tat... because fiber arts are the reason Ravelry exists.  But, to be sure, lots of other crafts pop up on YOPper's blogs, in addition to our fiber crafts.  Most of us are multicraftual and we enjoy the inspiration provided by the variety of creative pursuits.

Check us out; join in if you like!