I didn’t do a Tiny Needle Year in review because there were really only two projects this year. The first was Relic’s Wildflowers, which I started in January.
and the second is, of course, my witchy sampler, which I’m still working on and will be well into 2026.
For the last weekend in 2025, I had the honour of two stitching helpers (Burton is that black blob in the middle of the photo – it’s a little hard to make out features in all that floof).
With their help, I made excellent progress. Second witch’s sleeve was complete, along with her raven, and all the little woody/tree bits at the side.
And, we even had time to add the orange bits to this section (ravens’ eyes, buttons, hat bands, and candle flames) so you know what that means….
Next time I sit down to stitch, I’ll be moving the hoop up! Now that’s some real excitement for New Year!
It’s unusual for my knit output to exceed my quilting output…
But I completed 12 knit projects in 2025. There are only nine pics, because there are two kitty-cat hats just not two pics, and the set of orange/burgundy socks are each a project.
And the last project I finished up yesteryday!
I started these socks for myself the day after finishing Dave’s Uncle’s hat. They are made from some Opal yarn I had in my stash. They look almost identical – but if you look, the sequence is off just a couple rows between the two socks. I did not do this on purpose, they just knit up that way. I love Opal yarn for socks. It’s not the softest, but it’s VERY hard-wearing. Which is good. Part of the reason Imade these it because I tossed three pairs of worn out socks just before Christmas.
So yep they are for me. And you may be thinking…. but Valerie, don’t you prefer ankle socks? I do. But I also like being able to do this with my socks!
Now… back to the year round-up stats:
As you can see…I mostly knit hats and socks this year. Six socks, five hats and one bulky scarf. I was so happy to make the Deathflake hats at last – I’d had the yarn and plan for ages. And I’m always thrilled to knit another kitty cat hat and continue that tradition.
All projects, with the exception of the shorty socks and the Opal pair, were gifted.
My knitting time is mostly week night evenings after dinner, so I like to keep the projects nice and simple. Socks, hats and simple scarves are ideal. This trend will probably continue into 2026. Though part of me is itching to knit something light and lacey….
… with just 8 quilts finished. That’s compared to 14 last year. And 24 the year before.
There’s a couple reasons for this. 2025 was exceptionally busy workwise. There was no sneaking in an afternoon here or there to sew. I also spent a lot more time in the garden in spring, summer and fall. And I don’t regret that at all.
Unlike previous years – there’s only one baby quilt (the penguins). The rest are lap size or larger. So they definitely take longer.
Of the quilts above, four were gifted, one I kept, and the rest went in the shop. There’s still one top to be quilted (Relic’s quilt) – but Mom is doing that one for me. It will probably be the first finished quilt of 2026 – though probably not until February or March.
I’ve also got my Kittens in Cups to finish up, the log cabins, and I’ve got a new baby quilt commission I’m soooo excited about! I think 2026 is going to be a great year for quilting!
Now is the time of the year where I like to pause, and take a look back at my hobbies over the last year. Lets look at the garden first…
2025 in the garden can best be described as “Interesting”
Spring burst onto the scene, bold and bright and early! We got our first bloom (a snow drop) in the first week of March. It’s not quite a record – 2024 saw snowdrops in late February, but it’s still earlier than most years.
But then around late May, things took a little turn
While the irises did bloom, they didn’t do as well as they normally would. It looks like my collection got hit by the iris borer moth. The foliage looked terrible, I didn’t get as many blooms as I should, and by the time I realized what was happening, I’d lost about half the rhizomes. Happily, I have A LOT of irises, and by the end of summer (after I’d removed the dead stuff) they all started to recover. They should come through just fine in 2026.
Summer itself seemed to get off to a pretty good start. We seemed to be getting rain frequently (every other day or so). But then I noticed something. While it was frequent rain – it was never a lot of rain. It was a downpour for a half an hour followed by sun and heat.
Not enough to really do much for the garden. For the flowers, it wasn’t so bad. I have a fairly drought-tolerant garden. I only watered when we didn’t get rain for a week. But for the veg garden… that’s where I really took the hit.
By the time I started watering it regularly, it was mostly too late. That’s not to say it was all bad. I got a fantastic harvest of carrots, potatoes, garlic and shallots. The snap peas did ok, but I’ve definitely had better seasons. We got something like five nice sugar baby watermelons, which was great as they were a new one for us. But I only I got one eeeny weeny zucchini, and we didn’t start getting green beans until almost the end of the season. The leeks and green onions were also a write off.
I was finally able to grow yellow tomatoes – and for once we weren’t overrun with them. But that’s a sign they had a harder than normal year too.
I grew mutant inedible squash (though that had nothing to do with the weather – just my own lack of knowledge). I got a handful of baby pumpkins, a small basket of gourds and the cucumber harvest was definitely poor.
But lessons were learned and will be taken into the new year.
The effect of the drought on the garden didn’t really start to show until late summer into fall. The Susans and Asters bloomed but had a very short season. Even the Coneflowers were a little lack luster. The Cosmos I planted probably struggled most of all. They are usually the stars of the end of season but not this year.
The roses had another tough year. Though not quite as bad as the previous. They handle drought pretty well once they are established. And I managed to keep on top of the darn Rose Sawfly for the most part. The #(%@ing Japanese beetles were another matter. We battled daily and I won’t say I completely lost… more like we came to a stalemate.
The roses don’t bloom well in the really humid, melting heat of July and August, so their best time is June, then September and October. It’s one of the reasons I always pick roses that bloom more than once.
If there was one major success this year, I’d say it was the sunflowers. I grew some absolutely beautiful ones this year and hope to do so again next year.
In terms of actual garden work. I feel like I stayed on top of the weeding, mostly. I expanded both the front garden and island garden, and redid the garden along the side of the front porch. I added a new garden along the back fence. But that was it.
In the new year, I’d like to widen the gardens around the catio and down the side fence in the back yard. But not to add new plants – just to make some better room for the ones that are there.
I had great success with seed snails, so I think we’ll be starting lots of seeds here come April. Hopefully 2026 will bring a beautiful, bountiful garden!
It’s now Boxing day, but sadly, the cats did not get any suitable boxes. It was a very quiet Christmas here, and the presents were small. We will see my family some time in the new year. Just before I had my dental surgery, Mom also had some surgery. She’s doing well, but it’s a two-month long recovery, so we’re postponing Christmas with them until some time in the new year.
She did send presents by mail though…
So I didn’t have to go without new socks on Christmas morning! There’s another pair too and they are just as warm and nice!
I made a pretty traditional turkey dinner, and mile high apple pie for dessert. I prefer pumpkin or mincemeat, but Dave is a big apple fan, so I thought I’d treat him. I had a big pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.
Other than that, between checking the turkey and cooking the sides…
There was mostly a lot of knitting and chilling with my boys.
It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m happy to say that, other than baking a pie for tomorrow’s meal, I have everything done, dusted and ready to go.
Sunday morning I was having trouble sleeping, so I figured instead of laying in bed, staring at the clock, I could get up and get some stuff done. It was around 4 am – so by 6 am all the presents were wrapped and put in their appropriate places. Presents for Dave, his Mom and Uncle are all under the tree. We won’t see my family until sometime in the New Year, but everything is wrapped and tucked safely away in my studio – ready to travel when we do.
After wrapping, I baked up several batches of Chocolate Chip Scones.
These were all meted out into gift bags, and gifted to the various service people we deal with throughout the year (the mail ladies, our mechanic team, etc.). Dave delivered them Monday after picking his Mom up from the train station.
Tomorrow, of course, will be a big dinner to cook, but it’s just me, Dave, his mom and possibly his uncle, so it’s not too bad.
So I’ll leave you with the big, beautiful tree in the centre of town. They light it up every year and I think it’s just wonderful.
While it was a fairly busy weekend, I did manage to carve out a little time to do some stitching with Furby.
I managed to give the second witch her head. and I got a little started on connecting up her sleeve, but that was it. This project is definitely going into the New year, but I’m just fine with that. It was always going to be a long one!
With the help of some orange cats, and some good pain meds…
I managed to finish the hat for Dave’s Uncle before the weekend.
Pattern is My Baker’s Hat. Yarn is Patons Classic Wool – leftover from a sweater I made Dad a couple years ago.
Dave’s uncle still hasn’t confirmed if he’s coming, but at least there will be something under the tree if he does show up.
Meanwhile, with all my Christmas projects done, I’ve cast on a pair of socks for myself. I tossed three holey pairs last week alone, so it’s definitely time for some new ones.
As for my mouth, it’s a little better each day. Mostly irritation, with a little bit of deep pain now and again. I still haven’t had a Coke… and I think I’m about ready to kill for one. But I have managed some more solid food – so at least there’s that!
We picked up this awesome 50th anniversary Ruldolph stuffie at Goodwill way back in the summer. It plays the song when you squeeze his antler (and his nose flashes). Dave put it in the crawl space with the rest of the Christmas decorations. It stayed there until the start of December, when I pulled it out and set it in Grandma Cosman’s rocking chair.
It’s been there for over two weeks. Doing nothing. Tonight, just after dinner, I’m sitting watching TV. Dave is in his studio (adjacent to the TV room but behind a closed door) getting ready to teach. Most of the cats are upstairs. Lemmy is in my lap
All of a sudden, I faintly here children singing “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. For a second, I thought it must be Dave, prepping a Youtube video for his first lesson.
But…. then I realized… it’s not muffled enough for that. And Lemmy is on high alert with that “WTF” look on his face. (Though to be fair, he does that a lot).
We get up, and as soon as I hit the dining room. I realize it’s Rudolph. I thought for a minute, maybe a cat knocked the rocking chair and that tripped it. But as I said – the rest of the cats were upstairs. AND you have to SQUEEZE the antler on his head to get it to go. I tried bopping the chair several times. Nothing happened.
Wandering Cat Studio 