I decided that this year I'm going to revisit all of the fiber crafts I've started over the past two years and work on getting better and enjoying them, rather than starting somethng new. Over the past couple of years I've started stitching, crochet and weaving. Of course, I'll still be spinning and knitting.

Stitching is first on my list. I read the book Slow Stitch over the holidays and enjoyed it immensely. I tend to race through things, I try to learn as fast as I can and throughly miss out on the enjoyment of learning. I'm going to try and pace myself this year.

I've cut myself a small stack of linen squares that are 4"x 4". I'm planning on stitching a little most days. Each square will be a single stitch. It's a way to practice stitches and working smaller. The small size of the square fits into my planner, so I can always have a square with me. I'm using regular 6 strand DMC floss, and stitching with 2 or 3 strands.

My first square is running stitch. I'll probably come back to running stitch more than a few times. I think if I can feel in control of that stitch it makes all of the others easier.

I did break my 'nothing new ' rule and dyed the thread with tea. It was a confectionery type of pink and soaking it in tea for a few hours made it a sludgey type of pink. Much better.