A couple of years in the past, Sophie O’Neill—who works as The Stir-Loopy Crafter—hadn’t but realized the best way to embroider. She didn’t have any provides, however one thought particularly sparked a artistic flame: an embroidery journal. The primary one she noticed was made by fiber artist Sam Gillespie, and O’Neill instantly sourced some primary provides and commenced popping needle and thread by the material. She was hooked.
Each day, O’Neill stitches a single image or phrase that she chooses to symbolize her day. “This could be a cup of coffee because I went out for drinks with friends, a firework because I wanted the New Year’s Eve fireworks display, or even a tissue because I wasn’t feeling well,” she tells Colossal. “At the end of the year, I’ll have curated a collection of 365 icons that represent my entire year.” And as 2024 wrapped up, she accomplished her fifth journal, containing greater than 1,800 particular person pictures total.
One trick to the general composition is figuring out the place to start out. O’Neill lays out her clean, round canvas like a clock or a 12-piece pie, through which every hour or slice represents one month. “This is one of those things that seems complicated at first, but throughout the year it gets easier,” she says.
Even on days when she doesn’t do something out of the extraordinary, O’Neill chronicles the 24-hour interval indirectly. The journal “makes me think outside the box about what I do on a daily basis,” she says. “Maybe all I did during the day was read a book and do a bit of cleaning, but I can break down those actions into smaller things to figure out what I can embroider for my daily icon.”
The playful enamel pins typically seen in pictures of her in-progress items are often called needle minders, the place the prong is changed by a set of magnets that may maintain the needle when she’s not actively embroidering. It’s a software O’Neill can’t stay with out.
In an analogous vein to the every day stitches, O’Neill additionally tracks the books she peruses all year long, embroidering bookmarks formed like cabinets which are full of shade to symbolize the titles she’s learn.
You should purchase patterns and provides in the artist’s Etsy store, and comply with updates on Instagram. And when you’re an embroidery journaler, too, you possibly can be part of O’Neill’s Fb group to share your progress and see how others design theirs.
