introducing woodland wreath - a cozy circle of moss, mushrooms, and woodland magic, stitched on a deep midnight-blue background 💙🍄 the colors are gorgeous, the textures are rich, and it’s such a satisfying, slow stitch to start the year ✨

i decided to start with something simple and straightforward, so i'm using  [back/2] and [satin/2] to stitch these mushrooms:

(also i have to point out that this color fabric is really hard to take good photos of!)

and then, using that same red floss, i'm using [split/2] for this mushroom, leaving space to fill those little dots with [satin/2]

i am again using [satin/2] for these smaller purple mushrooms...

and then making some [colonial knots/2] for the spots:

next up i've used [satin/2] for the berries, [fishbone/2] for the dark teal leaves, and [satin/2] for the light blue sprigs of leaves. [back/2] is great for the stems, and if you want, you can whip them to make [whipped back/2] like i did for the teal stems. the whipping makes the line smoother:

next, let's take a look at the mossy areas. if you've been with me for a while, you probably recognize the swirly green lines from my other moss-related designs: terrarium, mushroom girl, wildlife... and you also know that stitching moss is super fun!

basically, it's done with colonial knots. but the trick is, start by making lots of really loose, floppy knots. while we would usually keep firm tension on the thread, to make the knots loose, you'll relax the tension. let the knots be messy, floppy, loose:

start with the darker green, 2 strands (above). keep them LOOSE. then use the lighter green, 2 strands, and again, keep them floppy:

next, use the 2 strands of light, and then the dark green to make some tighter, more strategically placed knots. use these knots to tack down some of the floppier bits, and to fill in the spaces.

see? nice and dense, a good mix of different shades and textures. mossy 💚

while you're stitching the moss, you might want to stitch up the little beetle and the snail. i i used [whipped back/1] to outline them, and i'll probably fill them in later.

after that, the only lines left to stitch are the stars, and for that i'm going to use a few different stitches and floss thicknesses. that way, we'll get some nice variation and depth.

for the 6-pointed stars [star/2]
for the dots [colonial knots/2]
for the smaller, 4-pointed stars [cross/1]

once these are done, the pattern is technically done. but i'd like to fill in some of the blank spaces a bit more, so i'm going to do that next...

i've added just a few more details to the mushrooms:
to the red striped mushrooms on the left, i added rows of [back/2] using the purple floss.
to the shelf fungus, i filled the center with [satin/2] in yellow.
to the red mushroom on the right, i added a few rows of [split/2] with the purple floss.

and now i think she's done! 💙

i'll have the PDF pattern ready for you next week, and the kits + preprints will be coming to the shop in march.