MickyFine's 2026 Projects

I'm Micky, 39, and I crochet and cross-stitch. I've currently got four WIPs floating around but I'm really only working on two projects actively (one crochet and one cross-stitch, which is how I like it). I tend to share progress and completed photos of my projects around here. Let's see what I make in 2026!

Happy crafting, Micky!

Did you mention one time some kind of computer program that can keep track of your stitching? I may not know even what I'm asking.

>2 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

>3 dudes22: I know such things exist, Betty, but I've never tried it.

>4 MickyFine: - Ok. I wonder who it was.

>3 dudes22: >4 MickyFine: >5 dudes22: I use an app on my phone called Stitch Counter. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but I really like it.

>6 scaifea: - Maybe it was you. I'll go check on it.

Happy crafting! Looking forward to seeing what you crochet and updates on your big cross-stitch piece.

Hi. I'm Deborah, mainly quilter. Looking forward to photos of your 2026 projects!

I have my first completed project of the year! Last year my step-daughter got married so now that he's officially family, I've (mostly) made her husband's cross-stitch stocking. I am not a great sewer so I'm very grateful my mom will be doing the final assembly.

Apologies for the rudimentary blocking out of name for privacy purposes but I improvised the stripes above and below the name and I'm proud enough, I want to show them off rather than crop entirely. The original pattern had plaid sections at the top and in the toe but that didn't match the vibe of our other stockings so I did a few alterations to better suit what I wanted. I think it turned out well!

That's so cute!

Nice work Micky, and I love the design.

beautiful work!

He’s adorable, and what a nice welcome to the family!

>10 MickyFine: Wow, it's lovely! Well done, Micky!

>11 dudes22: >12 lauralkeet: >13 al.vick: >14 Charon07: >15 scaifea: Thank you all for the project love! I'm happy it turned out so well.

At some point this weekend I'll get a status picture up of the cross-stitch project I'm returning to again. I'm hoping I'll actually finish it this year as it's been in progress for two years now.

Plus there's a good chance I'll finish the current crochet project this long weekend. Stay tuned!

The stocking looks great! And so nice to be able to outsource the construction, trying to sew aida always seems like a nightmare.

>17 mabith: Thank you!

As promised, here's a status update on the in-progress cross-stitch project.



As with last year, I'm planning to share status updates monthly so expect another photo of this one in a couple weeks.

>19 MickyFine: Oh, that's looking fantastic!

>20 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

It’s lovely! Looks like it’s well on its way to completion.

>22 Charon07: It's a bottom heavy piece so still lots of stitching in my future but it's coming along.

>23 MickyFine: The ever-increasing pile of books strikes again!

>24 Charon07: Lol, precisely!

As mentioned above, I did finish my crochet project on the long weekend. Now that I've weaved in ends and blocked it, I can show it off.



Pattern: White Noise Triangle Wrap
Designer: Janine Myska (KnitsNKnotsWpg on social and Ravelry)
Hook: Mostly 5 mm (my gauge was a little all over the place with this project so I also did bits with 6 and 7 mm)
Yarn: madelintosh Tosh Vintage in Madonna and Knitting for Olive Heavy Merino in Coal

I made this for the office and the worsted weight wool feels lovely and cozy. I'll definitely be prepared if the HVAC in my new office space runs cold (my department is moving to a new space so it'll be new adventures in office heating sometime in the next couple months).

>26 MickyFine: Nice! I like the shape and the colors.

>26 MickyFine: What a striking shawl! Coincidently, I got Janine Myska’s book Modern Crochet Sweaters last year, and I’m working on the Lakeside Mist sweater right now.

>26 MickyFine: wow, that's fantastic Micky.
>28 Charon07: "striking" is a good word for it, such bold colors and an attractive style.

>26 MickyFine: - That looks like it would be great for the office. Nice colors.

>26 MickyFine: I love it - well done!

I keep a work cardigan at my desk because you just never know if it's going to be tropical or arctic in the library on any given day, but I love the idea of a shawl, too...

What a beautifully designed shawl with the strong black against the back, and the "holes" for interest at the colour transitions. You've really made it out of the ordinary with your colour choices, especially that amazing red.

>27 qebo: Thank you! Me too. :)

>28 Charon07: Thanks! It's a great pattern book. I have it on my personal shelf and I kind of want almost every sweater in it.

>29 lauralkeet: Thank you, Laura.

>30 dudes22: Thank you, Betty. Red is one of my favourite colours so I'm often drawn to it for projects.

>31 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. I like having a shawl as you can also use it as a mini lap blanket if needed, lol.

>32 SassyLassy: Aw, thank you so much.

With the shawl wrapped up, I'm now crocheting another blanket to give as a wedding gift. One of Mr. Fine's nieces is getting married in early September so I've given myself plenty of time to get it completed (the wedding is in Newfoundland so giving it after the fact is... trickier). I'm using the same pattern that I used for my step-daughter's wedding blanket last year but different colours. I gave the niece the option to select colours and she told me to choose, which honestly led to me sending my mom a bunch of photos from the Michael's yarn aisle asking for input, lol. I do like what I finally settled on, so hopefully she does too. I had made excellent progress on it this week but then had to frog five rows because I once again didn't pay close attention to the pattern and I put extra stitches in the corners *face palm*. You'd think I'd have learned from the last time I made this blanket but apparently not.

Love the shawl, and it's so much fun seeing the cross-stitch gradually grow.

What colors did you end up with for the new blanket?

>34 MickyFine: Oh that kind of frogging is so annoying! I'm both sorry you had to do it and happy that I'm not alone!

>35 mabith: Thanks, Meredith!

For the blanket, I'm once again using Pound of Love, this time in Antique White and Cascade.

>36 scaifea: I'm glad I'm not alone too!

>34 MickyFine: Will you be going to Newfoundland? It's a great time of year there.

>39 SassyLassy: Yes, we'll be going for a week. September is lovely in the Maritimes, although the last time we visited in September there were two hurricanes. Neither of them made landfall near us but the second one did delay our flight home significantly. We've given ourselves a couple buffer days for coming home from this visit as we have another wedding to attend at home the weekend after the niece's.

>37 MickyFine: Those should be nice blanket colors.

>41 thornton37814: They're looking very lovely, Lori.

Cross-stitch progress as of the end of February:



My week of staycation meant lots of stitching time so I made some solid progress in only a couple weeks. 😊

That's really coming along. So pretty!

I agree with Betty - that's lovely!

That's so pretty, Micky. How many different colors does that piece require? I imagine for example there are a few different colors involved in each flower, to get that shaded/gradient look.

>44 dudes22: Thanks, Betty!

>45 scaifea: Thank you, Amber!

>46 lauralkeet: The whole pattern uses 25 different colours. It does what I think of as a watercolour effect as there are lots of different shades making up each piece of it. It can be a pain to stitch as I have to switch colours frequently but the results are beautiful so I'll probably say it was worth it when I finish the project, lol.

>43 MickyFine: It's looking great! I'm almost surprised there are only 25 colors. That's pretty reasonable for that kind of pattern!

>47 MickyFine: watercolour effect
Yes, that's it! It's been forever since I did cross-stitch but the piece I was most proud of had that type of pattern and despite all the colour switching I enjoyed watching the design take shape.

>48 mabith: It's not bad. Much better than a pattern my aunt did once where she had to buy a skein of floss that she only needed for two stitches.

>49 lauralkeet: It is really satisfying, I agree, Laura. What lurks in the back of my brain is the knowledge that I have at least two more patterns in my stash in this style that I want to do as I'd planned a sort of triptych for my home library.

>43 MickyFine: I love it when I have lots of time to stitch. I'm itching to go put a few threads in today and make some good forward progress on Pandemic. I've been stitching on the dense side of page 18. I'd guess I've got 40% of the page done. I want to get a nice chunk done today. The two local shops with whom I placed market orders will have those things now--or at least part of them if the designers ran out before they got to them. I didn't order a lot, but I did get several smaller things that I can work on while working on a larger design.

>51 thornton37814: Hope you managed to get some stitching in, Lori.

I will be breathing a sigh of relief when I finish the current pattern page for the project as it's the last one where every single square is full. Never thought I'd be so excited to see white space on a pattern page, lol.

>52 MickyFine: I'm hard at work on page 19 now.

Time for another monthly update on the cross-stitch project:

>54 MickyFine: That's moving along nicely! The flowers are really pretty.

>55 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura!

I had a family gathering yesterday and my aunt, who is continuing to downsize her crafting stash, gave me three rolls of 18-count aida in oatmeal and off-white. So I may have spent a bit of time looking at my pattern stash to see which might look good on those colours. 😊

>54 MickyFine: That's looking so good!

>58 scaifea: Aww, thanks!

>54 MickyFine: -That's a really pretty picture !

>60 dudes22: Thanks, Betty!

>54 MickyFine: Looks nice!

Thanks, Lori.

Made pretty good progress on the cross-stitch project in April:

Just noting here that I'm pausing on the cross-stitch project (again). My step-daughter and her husband are expecting their first baby in late October, so I've started working on a cross-stitch stocking. I'm also still working on the crochet blanket that's intended as a wedding gift for a niece on my husband's side and dreaming of the day when I can work on a craft project for myself again, lol.

Just noting here that I'm pausing on the cross-stitch project (again). My step-daughter and her husband are expecting their first baby in late October, so I've started working on a cross-stitch stocking. I'm also still working on the crochet blanket that's intended as a wedding gift for a niece on my husband's side and dreaming of the day when I can work on a craft project for myself again, lol.

I finished the wedding blanket for the niece yesterday!

Pattern: Shell & Lace Throw
Designer: Leanne Haughian (craftybones on social media)
Hook: 5 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love in Antique White and Cascade.

Very nice, Mickey!

Oooh, I love the pattern - well done! And I like the idea of listing your hook and specific yarn, although I deeply suspect I'll be too lazy to do the same...

>67 MickyFine: Beautiful! I love those stitches for a blanket—lacy, but not holey.

>68 dudes22: Thank you, Betty!

>69 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! This is the second time I've made this pattern and I really like it. At some point I should make one for me but I think making one blanket a year is my limit. 😊

>70 Charon07: It really is a gorgeous design.

>71 MickyFine: It *is* a big time commitment, for sure.

That looks fantastic, Micky.

>73 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura!