Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2023
Monthly

Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2023

Oh hey! I'm back!

I haven't been on top of my game when it comes to keeping track of

  1. The days
  2. Taking photos of my work, and
  3. Finding the time and capability to write the posts

but I really want to get back to writing these monthly posts! This is an update of mostly December, but a few extra key things that happened in earlier months (mostly November, to be honest) for me, Two Little Kits and my little family.

So let's dive right in, shall we?

A close-up photograph of a bouquet of white and red roses.
Some lovely roses I got from my family.

New Patterns

Since I last posted, I dropped off my patter-each-fortnight streak due to a number of reasons. But I did manage to squeeze out two new patterns that I love and they both have been a success!

Want more information on "Flower Field"?

Want to know more information about the second pattern shown here? That's awesome, because there's so much more to explain! It's more than what you see in the image above.

Click to go to the blog post, which talks about this unique, DIY, randomised cross-stitch pattern that you can purchase today!


New Products

Early December, I launched a big amount of new POD products. I worked so hard on everything and especially love the new designs I came up with. I can't wait to get my own! (more on that another time)

Let's see what the new products are:

What will you take home today?


Works in progress

I have obviously worked on a huge variety of projects since my last monthly post, but in regards to what I have worked on in December, that amount is much smaller.

If you've been following me over on Instagram, you may have noted that I have been stitching a lot of Flossy Fox Shop pieces lately. My WIP pile for December is no different!

A photo of black Aida fabric with lots of tiny white crosses on it in a 10x10 grid.
Gridding black Aida is not so fun…
Work-in-progress of "Village in the Valley" cross-stitch pattern
"Village in the Valley" by Flossy Fox Shop
Work-in-progress of "Pixel Dragon Adventure" cross-stitch stitch-along
"Pixel Dragon Adventure" Stitch-along by Flossy Fox Shop
Work-in-progress of "Pastel Garden" cross-stitch pattern
"Pastel Garden" by Una Buena Pieza
Work-in-progress of "Book Lover's Shelf" cross-stitch pattern
"Book Lover's Shelf" by Fuzzy Fox Designs

Finished Pieces

Since June (again, my latest monthly post here), I've completed a number of pieces but let's just see the most recent things, shall we?

I completed two pieces in December; a Stitch Portrait, and [ surprise, surprise] a Flossy Fox Shop piece! I also want to take a moment to share an overview of all the ornaments I completed in late-November, because what an undertaking that is each year! They deserve some recognition, too. So let's check everything out.


Stitch people portrait piece of 3 characters. It's framed in a 4" embroidery hoop and has leaf decorations around it for interest.
The full gift

"Portrait gift"

For the past ~2 years, my daughter has had a mentor friend come over to play [roughly] once a week for a couple of hours. She is a high-schooler in a program designed to help kids in our school district who are on the spectrum find a friend ♥️

This is her last year in the program, because she's now a senior. So I wanted to make sure the gift we got her for Christmas was extra special. So I stitched her and my two girls (because of course, my youngest has to get in on the playing, too! What are younger sisters for?) as a present.

I stitched it on 18ct Aida fabric so it would be extra teensy and fit into a 4" embroidery hoop. I think it turned out great!

Close-up photograph of the above stitched piece that shows the three characters in focus.
Close-up photograph of the above stitched piece, specifically the wording that reads "Thank you for being my friend".

"Enchanted Forest Map"

My car-project; this piece took some time to complete, as it was a "stitch when I'm stuck doing nothing" project. Until I was close to the end, of course, and I ran to the finish line..! As you can tell from my above works-in-progress, I'm now working on the second piece in her little series of maps as my new car-project.

I've raved about Andrea's patterns a number of time but once again: her designs are so adorable, her patterns themselves are great and she herself is just a lovely person! I can't recommend her designs highly enough, if you're looking for something easy and cutesy to stitch up. Maybe just don't stitch it on black (see above) - lol.

Full, completed cross-stitch of the pattern "Enchanted Forest Map"
Close-up photograph of the completed cross-stitch
Close-up photograph of the completed cross-stitch
Close-up photograph of the completed cross-stitch
Close-up photograph of the completed cross-stitch

Holiday Ornaments

My third year in a row taking ornament orders was a success! I started taking orders back at the 1st of September, finished all the designing by the 1st of October and sent them out the day after Thanksgiving! 👏

In all I had 11 ornaments to stitch (one of them for my own family 😊) and two were my first Hanukkah pieces!

11 completed cross-stitch holiday ornaments laid out flat together.
The pieces themselves

I plan on writing a post about them more indepth in the near future which will include more imagery, so keep an eye out right here on my website for that.


Christmas Gifts

Last year I started what I hoped would become a trend for Christmas time - I made my two daughters a cross-stitch of something that interests them at the current time.

So this was the second year I was able to do that!

I also wanted to make my husband something, too. I found the perfect pattern earlier this year and got it completed easily. Everyone loved their little handmade stitches. Always such a lovely feeling!

"That's No Moon" by WordsandSaucery for my husband.
ACNH House for my oldest; Charlie
"Cookie" for my youngest; Alex.

IRL

Outside the normal 24/7 shenanigans, December was a pretty quite month to be honest. Especially given what month it is; it was almost a miracle, really!

But I still wanted to share a few things that happened, so let's find out.


Christmas

My family and I aren't religious, but both my husband and I grew up celebrating Christmas in some fashion. So we still do gift giving, Santa (yes! Both of my girls still believe in Santa Claus!) and a nice family dinner. If we lived near family, I'm sure we would also go and visit them but they're an ocean away, so it's just the four of us 😊

This year, I was worried we hadn't taken care of Christmas presents. But check out that tree photo! After I put the final present under the tree and stepped back, I was astounded.

So yes; my kids were very spoilt, had an excellent day and loved their Christmas stitches I made for them (see above). I also got some lovely gifts myself!

A very decorated Christmas tree with lots of presents underneath it.
Our very packed Christmas tree!
A little girl enjoying licking a mixing beater that has leftover brownie mixture on it.
Charlie enjoying brownie mix on the beater.
A little girl enthusiastically kneading cookie dough.
Alex helping me knead cookie dough.
Gifts
Presents I got from my mum for Christmas.

The Cats

Nothing good or bad, per se; just want an excuse to share some photos of my three kitties. LOL!

A cat sitting on a woman's shoulders while she cross-stitches
Milo was grumpy I didn't had a lap and took things into his own paws.
A huge white cat lays across multiple people's laps.
Noodle is now officially 1 year old and is such a giant he takes up two laps.
A cat trying to work out what the heck is going on with a printer
Zoe vs. the printer is -and forever will be- a battle of the wits.

Weight-loss Surgery Prep

In case you missed it, I mentioned in a previous FlossTube video that I am going to be undergoing weight-loss surgery in mid-January. (Disclaimer: I'm not taking it lightly, have considered it for a number of years and even spent 13 months doing pre-op testing beforehand.) In case you don't know, before you can do the surgery, you need to do a 3-week "liver shrinking" diet leading up to the surgery itself.

So to wrap up my December, I started said diet and these have been most of what I've "eaten". Thankfully I'm not sick of them yet..!

As of writing this, I have 9 days until the surgery and I can't wait. Mostly because I want to be on the other side of the surgery and healing, but also so I can be closer to eating proper food again!

A photo of a bottle of protein shake
Most of my meals are in liquid form.

Haul

Aside from the very basics, such as floss & fabric, I did get myself some new enamel pins in December, which I plan on turning into needleminders!

These pins are super high-quality and wonderfully printed. They're all from The Gray Muse which is an enamel pin and sticker company that I found via Instagram!

Enamel pins laid out in a way that you can see them all on their backing cards.
Enamel pins from 'The Gray Muse'

Social Media

I've been slowly getting better about posting on Instagram, but the stats show that I haven't been doing a good enough job. But that's OK!

I had hoped to reach 6k followers before the end of 2023, but it wasn't meant to be.

I keep having a niggling thought that I should get on TikTok properly but I can't bring myself to do it still. It unfortunately feels like a monumentous task that I'm still not ready for. Which, given the timing of things, is probably not the worst thing.

That's everything..!

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know any comments you might have on anything -blog post related or not- and I'll happily respond!

I suspect the next monthly-update post will look a little different and maybe even a little sparse as I'll still be healing post-surgery. I'd say most of my content will be sparse for a little while, to be honest. Maybe I should plan a "warning" post about it... 🤔

Anyway, thank you and until next time!

👋 Kate

Instagram phone mockup
January 1st stats for Instagram (5,757 followers).
Previous
Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2023
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Monthly Wrap-Up: January & February 2024

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Hi, I'm Kate 👋

About the author

In a previous life (AKA: pre-kids), I was a web des/dev & photographer who loved to dabble in numerous arts and crafts. Now, I'm a cross-stitch & embroidery pattern designer and full-time mum to Charlie & Alex, with adult-diagnosed ADHD. Closet nerd, self-proclaimed hermit and professional procrastinator. I have a secret crush on modern architecture, brush calligraphy, sweets, pretty nails and pastel colours.

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