Needlework Update: 4th Quarter and 2025 in Review!

Posted by Harper on

Happy New Year, Everyone! 2025 really flew by. We got a lot done here at Stitch Whisper Designs, and I did a fair amount of personal stitching, too. Here are the goals I started the year with:


Let's see what we accomplished!
                


I did indeed publish 12 new patterns for sale over on the Stitch Whisper Designs Etsy Shop. And you guys made 2025 our best year yet, with sales 23% higher than 2024! I'll get into that more in another post, but you all are amazing! The new crochet patterns for 2025 were the Sideways Shell Hat, Baby Set Squared, Bottoms Up Baby Sweater, Trouble With Trebles Shrug, Chevron Waffle Cowl, and the Raglan Yoke Cardigan. 

The new knitted patterns were the Elegant Ascot, Asymmetrical Stocking Cap, Two Modular Baby Bonnets, Three Reversible Scarves, Keyhole Stole, and the Fantasy Hood. Since a bunch of you who have bought the Round Waffle Stitch Baby Blanket are from the UK or Australia, I also published a version of that pattern using British crochet terminology.








In addition to publishing new patterns for sale, I also published several free patterns. The crocheted Chrysanthemum, Plush Beret, and knitted Bee Wing Applique were all already on this blog, but I turned them into printables this year. The Lacy Maple Leaf was a new free pattern, loosely based on a few other free maple leaf patterns I found elsewhere.



In time for Mothers' Day, I added a couple new travel mugs to our selection of merch over at the Etsy Shop.

  • Start compiling some of my for sale patterns into collections.


Now that there is a fair selection of patterns for sale, I've started compiling some of them into pattern collections. Each individual pattern at the Stitch Whisper Designs Shop is listed for $5. I compiled five crocheted baby blankets into a single file and five knitted hats into another file, and each of those collections is up on Etsy for $10. The baby blanket collection does include the Round Waffle Stitch Baby Blanket.

  • Continue weekly charity stitching



Charity stitching did continue. I didn't donate as much in 2025 as I did the previous year, but something is better than nothing, and life happens. I tried out several fun patterns, and I made dishcloths for my local food bank, bonding squares (and other shapes) for Today is a Good Day, and a variety of items for the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society.

  • Make at least one tutorial video
I did not make a tutorial video this year. The facts of the matter are that I simply don't enjoy doing it, and even if I did, I'd really prefer to have better equipment so that I could make higher quality videos that are more useful. At the same time, I have had a request to do a video on how to decrease in pattern in waffle stitch. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about videos in 2026, but we'll see what happens.

  • Make a crocheted fruit garland for Sukkot

I did make my garland, and it was a lot of fun! I really liked the results, too. Ultimately, I strung everything on wide ribbon. Originally, I had intended to dig out a bunch of edging I had crocheted years ago and attach all the fruit to that, but it turned out I didn't have nearly as much yardage as I thought, and the place I wanted to hang it up was bigger than I anticipated. What I did not do, however, was get a good photo of the whole thing assembled.


I did make the Rug Me Up Hooded Jacket for my youngest, and I really like how it came out. My original plan was to make it early in 2025, but the yarn I planned to use turned out to be too thin for the gauge. By the time I bought different yarn, the weather had warmed up, and I decided to put it off until the fall so that I'd make the correct size. The pattern is a fun one, and I really recommend it.


In the summer, I also made her my Octagonal Romper, which also gave me the opportunity to add new photos to the Etsy listing.


At the beginning of 2025, I did make a roly-poly for my son's birthday. Ultimately, I made my own pattern. The numbers in the linked pattern didn't make sense to me. I'm not sure if that was an error in the pattern or my not understanding how it was written. Whatever the case, I ad-libbed knitting one, had fun doing it, and my son loved it.


For this coming birthday, he requested slipper socks with monster toes and a stuffed dinosaur. I made the slipper socks, and I think he'll like them--he did choose the color, after all. Originally, he wanted a T-rex, but I couldn't find a pattern he liked. His second choice was a mosasaurus, but I couldn't find any pattern for those at all. Instead, I found a pattern for a liopleurodon, which he declared acceptable.


I had been planning to make this hat for years, and it came out absolutely beautiful! It's a little shallower than I had hoped, but I'm still very happy with it.

  • Make a hat and glove set for my 4yo


I did make mittens and a hat  (same pattern as linked, but smaller needles) for my youngest son last winter, and he really liked them. For his birthday, he also asked that I make him a stuffed axolotl and a matching hat, and I did both this last fall.





The Desert Rose Hat was a birthday present for my 14yo. He likes it very much when he wants something to cover his ears, and I had fun knitting it. I also knitted the Aspens Hat, which is another chunky, cabled hat, for my other teen. The two of them have birthdays close together, and they each go a cabled watch cap, which they both still wear.


My older daughter loves stuffed critters, and she saw that I had this pattern in my favorites on Ravelry and requested that I make one. It was fun to knit, and she loved it.


I did finish the coaster set, and they now receive heavy use at my dining table.

  • Make socks for myself

I finally started a pair of socks for myself in December. I'm using the Life Cycle sock pattern by Star Athena, and I'm knitting them up on sock yarn from Arcane Fibre Works. I'm using the colorway Green of Wheat, which I think fits the theme. This is the first time I've made socks on size 1 needles, but it's always good to broaden my horizons, and it probably won't be the last time. The pattern is free and includes lots of charts. The socks are toe-up, and that meant learning a new-to-me cast on method. There are also techniques in the cuff I haven't done before. So, while this pattern isn't particularly challenging for me, it does involve learning new things, and I'm really enjoying that. You can expect a pattern review after I finish the first sock!


On to 2026! Here are my goals for this year:

There you have it! What are some of your stitching goals for this year? Are there any patterns or new techniques calling your name?


This post has been linked to Busy Monday, Inspire me Monday, HIH, Senior Salon, WITS, Wonderful Wednesday, The Stitchin' Mommy, Thursday Favorite Things, and Create-It!

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