Ready for the New Year

I received the chart I chose for the HAED 2026 SAL a couple of days ago, which is called Fairytale:

The reason I joined the SAL was because if I could complete one page of the chart, I would receive Aimee Stewart's Sanctuary of Stitching, and I figured one page was definitely doable. Then, when I got the email with the chart, the organizers announced that everyone who participated in the SAL would get that chart, page finish or not. Here's the design, which I've already downloaded:

How fun is that?! Now I'm torn about starting Fairytale, since my main motivation has been removed. But I do already have it kitted, so at some point I'll probably pull it out and at least try working on my first HAED.

Last week I finished Tiny Modernist's Winter Forest Ornaments SAL, which was a very enjoyable stitch:

I think it would be fun to stitch one or more ornaments solo and finish them as ornaments, though who knows when I would actually get around to that!

Part 10 of the Jardin Prive sheep SAL was released last Wednesday, but I barely made a start on it before I received a Heart in Hand model, so I'll need to stitch two parts to catch up by the time the model is done, hopefully later this week.

I did finish The Christmas Beetle by Hands on Design on Christmas Day:

I changed the top border from brown to purple because of the fabric I used, and I used a metallic thread for the Smyrna crosses, but otherwise it's stitched as charted. Now I need to figure out a design to stitch for the back of the ornament, stitch it and then get it fully finished.

I also made a bit more progress on Purrfect Christmas Santa, on Christmas Day once the beetle was done:

I had thought I might finish this before the new year, but then the model came in so it's not going to happen.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week, and wishing you all the best in 2026! 🍾🥂🎉