2018 SALs and a Freebie

Regular readers of this blog will know about the Weavers Tapestry Band Sampler SAL that's due to start on the 3rd of January (If you didn't know about it you can read all about it here). I have been blown away by how many people are interested in this SAL!
I though perhaps 50 people might join the fb group (you need to answer 2 EASY questions to join, please do, I don't like declining people) but at the moment of writing this we are at a whopping 320 people with more people requesting to join every single day! I'm thrilled!

Today I thought I'd share the picture of the first band - which I had said people would get to see before we started stitching. This band is 88 stitches high excluding border so for the first 9 weeks this is what we will be working on.

Because you can see the band in its entirety it also means you can see the S and reversed S shapes under the animal's feet - if you want to add your initials this would be the perfect place to do so! All you need to do is replace the initials you want for the S shapes. The S shape is 15 stitches high and 9 stitches wide though there is a little breathing space both ways if needed. There is also space to add the year if you wish to do so.

I thought you might enjoy a little something to stitch that didn't make it to the final sampler, as it was just too big and there is a limit to how long I could make it.

You can find the pattern here

You would think that one SAL would be enough for any sane person to host - fortunately for you I am not that sane as I have two more SALs I'm hosting! The first is the Neglected Floss SAL - aka NFSAL that is going for its third year! This SAL is released on the first of the month and I host in the Stitching Pirates group over on Deviant Art.

Having done one year with no thread colours given and a year of optional threads given I decided to change it up completely and make it possible to either do it as a large project or have 12 individual pincushions/biscornu or whatever takes your fancy. With thread amounts given in advance and a border in case you want to make it big you can go any way you like with it! I'll be giving more information about this on dA within the next day or so.

Last of all is a new SAL - or actually a returning one but then here on my blog and not at another location - I'm talking about the Ornament a Month project I did back in 2015 over on the NCCIH site. This time round it will be a little different - the ornaments will all be 3-D! I'll be giving one pattern a month on the first Friday of the month as the Friday freebie. There will be more information about that with the first ornament on the 5th of January. I can let you know what the theme is for the colour choices: rainbow. Of course you can choose to do them in any colour you like as it's always nice if they fit the theme of your Christmas tree - mine has become very colourful since I made my 2015 ornaments (though I still have a few to stitch lol)

You might be wondering what happens to the Friday freebies... well they are not going anywhere - other than the one Friday a month that gets taken over by the Ornament of the Month it's business as usual with a surprise pattern every Friday - even I don't know what's happening then!

I'll see you Friday for the next Friday freebie!