Mini Magical Mystery SAL 18 - Information Post

Hi and welcome to the eighteenth and final information post for a Mini Magical Mystery SAL! With lockdowns still enforced/sensible for many people I'm continuing with another mystery to keep you stitching! This pattern is the same size as the previous Mini Magical Mysteries and has 376 stitches total. This mystery will start Monday after the current mystery ends: 14th December. Please read the schedule section below as there are some date changes due to Christmas.

This year has been rough for all of us and for me personally too. On top of that I have only had one day off from posting since I started these mini mysteries on the 16th of March and have had to make the difficult decision to stop doing these at the end of the year as I need some rest. The daily posts are starting to become not fun and that's always been a point to not do something for me because once it's totally not fun I'll just hate it - nobody wants *that*. I may do an occasional mini mystery next year just for fun but I'm not going to do them non-stop any more.

How to join in:

You don't need to do anything special - you just stitch your own version! That simple! There is a Facebook group listed below but you don't have join it to join in! Of course I'd LOVE to see your progress pictures - they really brighten my day and those of many others!

How much does it cost:

The patterns are free! So all it will cost is anything you choose to buy for the SAL - I encourage you to dig in your stash and see what you have first though - after all it's only a small pattern and might fit on a scrap left over from something else.

The patterns:

• You will be given the mystery pattern in 14 parts.
• The patterns will be given according to the schedule below.
• You will get one pattern part per posting day.
• There are only a few stitches a day (Maximum of 36 stitches a day) so if you don't have time one day you can easily catch up the next.
• It is the same size as the previous Mini Magical Mystery patterns. (All the links to the previous finished Mini Magical Mysteries can be found on the Previous Mini Magical Mystery SALs page)

Stitches used:

• The pattern uses whole cross stitches only.
• There are NO speciality stitches
• There are NO backstitches

The size, fabric and thread information:

The pattern is 30 stitches square. Fabric size is given so you have plenty of space to put it in a hoop/frame for stitching and so you can finish it nicely afterwards. If you have a smaller bit of fabric check the pattern size (first number in the list below for each fabric size) and see if it will fit as the 3" framing allowance is just so you can put it in a hoop more easily. However you will need a few stitches all round for finishing into a fob or biscornu etc. so make sure your fabric is about 1" in height and width larger than the pattern size.

• For 14ct Aida/28ct evenweave over 2:
• The pattern is: 2.1" square - 5.5 cm square
• You will need a piece of fabric that is 8.1 inches square - 20 cm square
• For 16ct Aida /32ct evenweave over 2:
• The pattern is: 1.9" square - 4.6 cm square
• You will need a piece of fabric that is 7.9 inches square - 19.2 cm square
• For 18ct Aida /36ct evenweave over 2:
• The pattern is: 1.7" square - 4.2 cm square
• You will need a piece of fabric that is 7.7 inches square - 18.6 cm square
• For 20ct Aida /40ct evenweave over 2:
• The pattern is: 1.5" square - 3.8 cm square
• You will need a piece of fabric that is 7.5 inches square - 18.2 cm square

Threads:

You will need the following colour:

• Colour A: Any colour you like! Solid, variegated, hand dyed, metallic - have fun and use what you like! You need 0.2 skein (probably less). Some people have done the previous ones using multiple thread colours - and they look amazing too!

The schedule:

• The first pattern will be given on 14th December at noon Amsterdam time.
• Parts 2-11 will be given once a day at noon Amsterdam time as per usual.
• I will NOT post on Christmas Day (25th December) or Boxing Day (26th December).
  
• Parts 12-14 will be given daily from the 27th December at noon Amsterdam time.
• You can check your local time zone for the daily post time here
• Central Europeans will get it around lunch time, Australians in the evening - with time to stitch before bed. Americans will have it waiting when they get up and if they get up in time they can sneak a part in before work, or work on it in their lunch break (much easier to do when you are working from home hehe). Doing something globally is never easy but I hope this works out for everyone.

As always: I do not expect anyone to be able to be up to date at all times during the SAL! It's part of the nature of this type of SAL for this to happen, so being "behind" is the normal state of affairs. If you are a slow stitcher expect to finish "after" the SAL has "finished" - though tbh the SAL is always available and new people find the patterns on a regular basis so it's never really over.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask! Either here or in the Facebook group or, if you prefer, you can DM me on Twitter or Instagram (@magical525 on both)