A few years ago, Sophie O’Neill—who works as The Stir-Crazy Crafter—hadn’t yet learned how to embroider. She didn’t have any supplies, but one idea in particular sparked a creative flame: an embroidery journal. The first one she saw was made by fiber artist Sam Gillespie, and O’Neill immediately sourced some basic supplies and began popping needle and thread through the fabric. She was hooked.
Every day, O’Neill stitches a single symbol or word that she chooses to represent 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 completed her fifth journal, containing more than 1,800 individual images overall.
One trick to the overall composition is knowing where to start. O’Neill lays out her blank, circular canvas like a clock or a 12-piece pie, in which each 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 anything out of the ordinary, O’Neill chronicles the 24-hour period in some way. 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 often seen in photos of her in-progress pieces are known as needle minders, where the prong is replaced by a set of magnets that can hold the needle when she’s not actively embroidering. It’s a tool O’Neill can’t live without.
In a similar vein to the daily stitches, O’Neill also tracks the books she peruses throughout the year, embroidering bookmarks shaped like shelves that are filled with color to represent the titles she’s read.
You can purchase patterns and supplies in the artist’s Etsy shop, and follow updates on Instagram. And if you’re an embroidery journaler, too, you can join O’Neill’s Facebook group to share your progress and see how others design theirs.
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