For a while I wasn’t sure that I was going to do a project that celebrates the Wheel of The Year for 2026. Then I had a think about it and realised that I would miss it if I didn’t. So here we are, another nature inspired project has begun. :-)
I am especially delighted that it is an embroidery project. The last 2-2.5 years where I had to limit my hand stitching have been really frustrating. I am so happy that my thumb is much approved (although I do still have to make sure that I don’t overdo it!)
Would you like to join me for the 2026 Wheel project? That would be very nice!
This year I do not have an end project in mind. At least not yet. I want to keep it more open ended so that I can let the project inspire the direction… I will have some ideas for finished project/s towards the end of the year but for now I am just going to enjoy the stitching. I want to do some experimenting too.
You can join the (loosely organised) stitchalong here.
For each festival/sabbath in the Wheel there will be two embroidery patterns, one that is 3″ wide and one that is 5″ in diameter. They will both be flowers/plants of that season but apart from that they won’t be related. Again because I want to keep it open, I want the project to flow and not have any rules for it.
So for Imbolc the flowers are hellebore and snowdrops. The hellebore is an example of how I want to experiment: one part is densely stitched but another is just the outline.
The leaves of the snowdrops are another example. They are worked in Bayeux stitch which is usually stitched on wider areas than these narrow leaves. But I thought it would be fun to try so I did. :-)
The smaller of the two patterns for each festival is only available through the stitchalong but the larger ones will be available individually in my shop. For instance, you can find the snowdrop pattern here.
I am really excited to see how this project evolves over the year. :-)
