What kinds of things did I work on in September?
Despite the fact October has been in full swing for over a week now (*hides* 🙈) I am finally able to get around to doing a wrap-up post for September!
I planned on getting this completed much sooner, however; I had to have a 2nd, reconstructive surgery on my foot after I had complications whilst healing from the first one. So things have been a little hectic lately..! I'm sure you can imagine!
Works in Progress
There weren't a whole lot of different things that I worked on during September; just a lot of work done on a select few. Which is not a bad thing!
The biggest thing I've been working on is -of course- the Haunted Library SAL by Lola Crow, which I've been doing my very best to stay up on track with. It's been an awesome companion during all my post-op surgery appointments in which I have to sit around with a machine on my foot for 25 minutes at a time.
I've done a little bit of design work on upcoming patterns (one of which I'm releasing next week!) which I am [likely] to get one of my test stitchers to whip up for me 😍.
I also finished a stitch people portrait that you saw in my previous monthly post and I am SO pleased with how it came out!
Let's have a look!
Maginnises Portrait
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The intricate detailing on the wedding dress -
The sketch of where I roughly want to stitch florals -
The first blue flower and I'm OBSESSED! -
Look at how beautiful it turned out!
Pattern WIPs
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Minecraft bad guys? Yep! -
This pattern is going to be called "Old Days"
New & Upcoming Products
I released two new patterns this month - on the same day!
Rookie mistake by me; it took me all day to get them both sorted. Part way through I recalled that I had vowed to myself never to release more than one thing per day and I was living the reason why. It's so stressful!
Anyway; check out my newest patterns (in the same style as before): 'Minecraft Buddies' and 'Minecraft Friends'!
Upcoming Pattern
I had a spur of inspiration one day during September to finally design a pattern for an idea I've had for… a few years now! The best thing is; the design I made was super quick and easy to stitch up, so I had it done -from the design phase to the completed stitch- within 3 days. Perfect weekend project, I reckon!
You will be able to grab this pattern in the next few days, so stay tuned!
Haul
Over the course of September, I couldn't help myself but do some small business shopping. This time around, it was mostly focused on needleminders!
I bought a few things from two different shops: Bek's Stitches and Crafternoon Stitches. In total, I got 2 new needleminders and 2 adorable stickers!
If you know me, you know I have a big collection of needleminders so whenever I see one I really like (or an enamel pin I like that I could convert to a needleminder) I… can't help myself 😵
Notable IRL Things
So as you may have suspected (if you follow my Instagram, especially), a lot of things have been going on for me outside of stitchy-stuff. What a doozy of a month it was!
Foot Surgery
The biggest thing that happened was I had surgery on my left foot - specifically, my big toe and the ball of my foot.
It's been a wild, extremely painful ride and I'm hoping that (despite the fact that at the very end of September I found out I would require reconstructive surgery) I'm now truly on the mend after shattering the bone in my toe almost one year ago. For those curious: I broke it on Halloween 2021. It's a long story but needless to say; I didn't get to go trick-or-treating that evening..!
On the plus side; being couch-bound and having multiple, weekly appointments where I am expected to just sit on my butt for 25 minutes has given me a lot of time to keep up with my stitch-along!
New Belt in Martial Arts
The Friday before I was to undergo surgery, I managed to squeeze in my second-ever martial arts belt test. The place I attend was due to do regular testing on the Monday I actually had surgery and were kind enough to test me early. So I managed to earn my yellow-stripe belt and not miss out.
I'm missing martial arts so much (which I'm taking as a good sign that I will go back!) as it was a great physical outlet and an excellent way to make some friends in person.
Too bad my kids are going to jump ahead of me in belt levels while I heal up!
Desk Update
I have been absolutely sick of my work desk for a long time. It's big and black and sucks light away from what I'm working on.
I've been looking into re-painting it and trying to justify the time and cost of doing the DIY, but it just seemed too daunting of a job. So I ignored it and just "sucked it up".
Then one day I had a revelation - there is such a thing as contact paper! I could wrap the top of my desk in a white or light-coloured faux-wood and it would be
- Easier, and
- Much, much cheaper
So I did it! I even recorded myself doing it from start to finish. Is it perfect? Hell no. Does it make me happier? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Social Media
As promised in the last wrap-up post, I'm sharing my profile stats for the very beginning of October. Yep - that's a total growth of "only" 13 new accounts. But, that's growth! And I'm doing my best to be OK with that.
I also wanted to share a reel I posted early in the month that blew up unexpectedly. The screenshot is 10 days after posting and I guess it resonated with a lot of people..!
As of writing, it's sitting at about 16k views. I'm going to attribute its success to the fact Milo is just chill'n with me.
And that's it!
At the end of the month, it was 'stitch people day' and I actually remembered *gasp* so I took a few snaps of the self-portrait I made to share again.
I am hoping to continue my trend of posting a new pattern on the Monday (or Tuesday after) that I don't post a FlossTube video, going forward. It's hard to keep myself accountable when my first duty is being a stay-at-home-mum, but now we're in full swing back into the school schedule again, I'm wanting to set the routine for myself. Just like I have with my FlossTubes - and that's been going on now for well over a year successfully!
I'd love to know what you might like to see more of me when it comes to patterns. I will always be happy to just make stuff that will tickle my fancy, give me a laugh or remind me of something. But this isn't just inflation of my ego: I would really like to make things that you -the person reading this- and others like you, will enjoy.
So please drop a comment, send me a DM or get in touch via my contact form. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
👋 Kate
