Once upon a time, a gazillion years ago, just as the 1980’s breathed their last and I was starting the Great Adventure of Life in my first year of college, I had a memorable conversation with a friend.

We spoke about about books. She was a sci-fi fan. I was not.

One of the reasons I gave her was that my mind simply could not grasp with ease those far-flung futuristic dates like… “2023.” That was the exact example I gave her.

I told her I couldn’t imagine living in “2023.”

I joked around about how we would refer to the year.

“So, what year was that?”

“Oh, it was 23.”

To me, that was either really ancient history, or the Roaring 20’s.

I always thought those futuristic dates in science fiction sounded so distantly weird.

And now here we are.

I was thinking about that as the clocked struck … oh, about 9:48, when I saw the last of 2022 before my head hit the pillow.

“We’ve finally arrived at 2023. I am now the Science Fiction of my youth.”

I thought about other things, too, on the last day of 2022, but they were either more profound, in which case, I won’t bore you with the details. Or they were more practical, in which case, they will probably show up right here on Needle ‘n Thread in the forthcoming twelve months.

2022 into 2023

Along with regular weekly embroidery-related content, news, tips, tutorials, and so forth, in 2022, a couple key events happened here at Needle ‘n Thread.

We launched a new tutorial and project series called Stitch Snippets, where we worked together on four different small(ish) embroidery projects in stitch-along fashion.

The four projects that we created together were this Bee-Jeweled Pincushion, this Cotton Quartet Sampler Embroidery Tool Wallet, this Autumn Fire embroidered tree, and this Christmas Tree Ornament.

I believe it was a successful series, and I plan to continue it with some modifications in 2023. We have plans! And they are exciting!

In 2022, the retail shop here on Needle ‘n Thread expanded to include more curated goods like fine embroidery books from different designers around the world, high quality linens for hand embroidery, functional and beautiful embroidery tools, and embroidery kits.

I’ve had many requests for further goods to be made available and lots of recommendations for different embroidery-related books, items, kits, threads, and the like. I’ve also been in touch with several designers around the world regarding kit offerings.

In 2023, the specially curated offerings in my shop will continue to expand. It’ll be an exciting line-up that I’m hoping will help make a variety of hand embroidery techniques more accessible to more people. That’s always been one of the main goals of Needle ‘n Thread.

All of the above can happen only because, in 2022, we moved Needle ‘n Thread from a small residential rental to a larger commercial building in my hometown. We have more space to work, more space for retail goods, and more space for manufacturing our own goods, compiling kits, and other work.

We also have enough space to offer local classes again, to host social stitching events, and to offer occasional pop-up retail events for in-person shopping. The latter will come to pass as we conquer each stage of development in our plans.

But for Now…! A Bit of Crazy!

But for now, things are a bit hairy on the home front! I must take a short hiatus until Monday, January 9th.

Remember the great kerfuffle of the studio move at the end of October and beginning of November last year? Right in the midst of that big moving project – at about the point when things were getting overwhelming, I found out that, come January, my dad (he’s 91) and I would have to move out of our house.

This was surprising news, especially coming on top of the business move. We have to move house right as I’m normally stuck into a very important and busy of time of year for Needle ‘n Thread. It’s in January that my yearly plans for Needle ‘n Thread (concerning major projects) are finalized, and that we put into motion the first steps of developing projects for the year.

Our house move is temporary – for a few months – due to some major necessary renovations. They’re the kind of renovations that involve structural repairs and work in every room in the house. Floor joists, floor leveling (one corner of my kitchen is sinking into the netherworld as we speak), ceiling replacements, support beam replacements, bolstering and whatnot, and on and on and on and on. It’s going to be a mess – and there is about 90% of me that is relieved that we can’t be in the house while it’s going on.

But then there’s about 1,249% of me that is quaking at a whole-house move (we have to leave a shell) over one week’s time, starting today. The move should be entirely complete by this coming Saturday at the end of the day. Anna and I, along with two of my nephews who are currently on furlough from construction jobs, are doing the job together.

We are very, very fortunate that things worked out as they did. We are moving into the residential duplex that Needle ‘n Thread was in! The timing was perfect. The location is perfect. The duplex is catty-corner from our house, just a little way down the street. My dad will have the convenience of familiar surroundings and a relatively easy in-and-out access to our temporary quarters. It will be a tight fit, but it will work and it’s only for a few months.

Once we are moved, I can breathe again for a while and concentrate on Needle ‘n Thread wholeheartedly. Here’s hoping that nothing else major comes to light during the renovation project. Moving back into our (more stable, repaired, and revived) house will be easier and quicker.

Man, oh man. I can’t wait until Easter! That’s about when life will (hopefully) stabilize for a much longer stretch!

So that’s where I am! And that’s why you probably won’t hear from me on the blog until next Monday, January 9th.

I will check email in the evenings, to take care of any emergencies that might arise (with digital downloads, for example), and this Wednesday afternoon, Anna and I will tackle any shipping that comes in. After that, our next shipping date will be next Monday, and from then on, we will hopefully be back to daily shipping, regular blogging, and stitching!

Happy New Year!

Here’s to 2023! May it be a glorious year for all! Wishing each of you abundant blessings and peace, joy, happiness, good health, and prosperity for the new year!

See you next week!