Two more page finishes and a new shawl start

Here it is the start of another week, and I have to admit that I am not sure where this last week has gone. I know that things that been busy around here so that might explain why I am not certain where the time as gone.

The weather is finally starting to improve which is nice, but I am still not going to say that winter is over yet because we could still get another storm. At least the sun is shining which makes both of us a little happier so that is what is most important.

This past week I have been able to spend some time crafting so that is also good. I am also happy with the progress that I have been able to make on things so that is also nice.

Mini The Forgotten - this is the project that came back out to get some attention in the last week and it was nice to have it back out. I do have it scheduled for at least one week a month when it hasn't been called for WIPGO. This month it once again got two weeks of attention, and I am happy about that because I have been able to make some good progress on it.

In the last week I was able to finish another two pages on this piece which means I now only have the top four pages to go, and I have already started to make progress on it which feels great.

Being able to spend at least a week at a time on this project is showing me that I can make some good progress on it when I can sit and focus on it. Now to see how much stitching I will be able to get done in April on it. I do know that it is coming out at least for one week as I want to make some good progress on at least one of the colours that I still have lots of stitches to do. For now, this project is going to be put down but I know that April isn't that far away so it will come out for more attention and hopefully quite a few more stitches.

Gradient Shawl - something that I realized in the last week was I wasn't happy with the knitting projects that was working on. Yes, I was moving them forward which was good, but they didn't encourage me to pick them up and work on them. This is when after a bit of a discussion with my hubby, he pointed out that I didn't have something fun to work on, so I needed that. Well, the next morning after pulling out a bunch of yarn I decided it was time to start another shawl and have some fun. This shawl is going to be a gradient shawl as I have 6 - 40-gram balls of yarn so I am going to work on this shawl until all the yarn is done. Right now, I am still working on the first ball of yarn, so I have no idea how large this is going to be, but of course, it is using a bunch of shades of teal,so I am happy with it. 

This coming week I hope to be able to at least get this first ball of yarn finished and start the next colour so that I can start to see what it is going to look like. Of course, this isn't going to be a project that I can pick up and work on for a few minutes at a time but at least I have the scarf in the round to work on when I have that time.

Other projects - this week I haven't picked up any of the other projects that I have on the go so now to figure out when I am going to pick up my English Paper Piecing as I would like to see some progress on it before the end of the month.

I everyone is finding that few minutes each day to do something that you enjoy. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you have those few minutes to relax and get your personal battery recharged. This week I am not certain how much time I will have to work on my projects, but I hope to spend a bit of time making progress on something. Will be back next week with hopefully some progress on my shawl and on a cross stitch project.

 

Very good progress this week and a cross stitch retreat

Here it is the start of another week, and I can honestly say that I have been able to make some good progress on things over the last seven days. Part of the progress is because we decided that it was time for a retreat where I could focus on moving some of my cross stitch forward. You will see that I was able to make good progress on things and I also introduced cross stitch to someone that had never heard about it until this weekend.

Pandemic - here is the cross stitch piece that was my focus for the last week and I can honestly say that it was my focus and I was able to make some really good progress on it. During the treat I was able to get over 1,900 stitches in on the piece. Before we left for the retreat, I had already done almost 1,000 stitches so that means that this week I was able to add another 3,000 stitches to this piece. It feels good seeing that I was able to make some really good progress on this piece.

This was one of the WIPGO projects for the year, so I was required in March to add another 500 stitches to the piece, but I surpassed the total by a lot and that makes me happy. Seeing that when I can focus on a project, I can get lots of stitching accomplished makes me feel good. This project is now going to be put down again as I will be picked up a different project for this coming week.

Beaded Wizard Bookmark - here is a project that I started in 2005, and it didn't get much progress on it. I think I might have had around 40 stitches done before I picked it up this week to give it a little bit of love. It did get a little bit of attention during my cross stitch retreat this weekend so we will see when it comes out again and how much more of the piece I can get finished.

This project isn't very big at all so I know that being able to focus on it for a few days would get it done but it also means that I need to focus on it which I don't seem to do on the smaller projects. It is nice having some smaller projects that I can just pick up and work on at various times, but I am not going to work on them until they are finished within a short time period.

Ex-boyfriend shawl - here is one of the knitting projects that I have been trying to move forward and I must admit that it has been a challenge given the yarn that I picked for it. This past week I was able to pick it up and work on it at least 30 minutes a day but given we were away for three days it didn't get quite as much work as I would have liked. At least seeing some good progress on it was nice and this coming week I hope to be able to continue to move it forward as I have some webinars that I need to attend so this might be the project that gets some attention.

It does feel good seeing that I have at least been able to add some rows to this project and hopefully in the next week I can maybe finish the first ball of yarn that I have on the go and will see how big it is. I do know that I will be using at least part of the second ball if not all of that ball to get the shawl to a size that makes me happy.

This week I hope to get back to the 30 minutes of knitting on this project each day because that has helped me move it forward. It doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it is amazing how much progress you can get done when you just set aside 30 minutes to pick up a project and work on it.

Scarf in the round - here is the other knitting project that did get some progress this last week. It is nice having this project on the go as it is an easy pick up and work on it for a little while. Instead of having two pictures for this project I have left the markers in for each week that I have worked on the scarf. The top marker is for this coming week to show me where I started. So, I have worked on this scarf a bit each week so now after three weeks I still have a long way to go before this scarf is finished but I have been enjoying just getting a few rows done at a time. 

This week I have some webinars that I will be watching so either this project or the Ex-boyfriend shawl may get a bit more attention as these are both good projects to be working on when I am watching webinars.

Retreat goodies - when my husband and I were talking about doing a cross stitch retreat, I mentioned how when you go to one, you normally get a goodie bag with cross stitch stuff in it. So, of course, hubby said that's still possible, that he could go down to the cross stitch store and pick up some stuff.

We talked about different things that could be in the bag so he asked me to put together a list of things that I might want in my bag, and he would see what he could do. On Friday morning, he left the hotel and headed down to Gitta's and by the look of what I got he had a good time. He also mentioned that all the staff thought the idea of the retreat and retreat bag were a great and they loved helping out.

Other projects - this past week I didn't have a lot of time to work on a lot of other stuff but I did some a new project but haven't got very far along on it so it will be shown when I get more progress on it.

I hope everyone is finding that little bit of time to recharge your personal battery each day. For me my crafting does help a lot. This week the list of things on my to-do list is rather long so that means that I need to get working on them so that I can also find some recharge time later in the day.

Hopefully next week I will have some progress to show you on some projects.

 

Some good progress

Here it is the start of another week and of course there are things that need my attention. The weather is warming up which is nice so that means that spring will hopefully be arriving soon. 

This past week I was able to spend some working on my projects and having a focus has been nice because it is helping me get things moved forward and see progress on some of my projects.

Mini The Forgotten - here is the cross stitch project that was my focus for the last week. It was one of my WIPGO calls for March, so I picked it up and was able to focus on moving it forward a bit.

I am very happy with the progress that I was able to get on it because I am getting closer to have another row of pages done and that makes me happy. I hope to be able to get the rest of this row of pages done before long and then I will only have four pages left to go on it. Yesterday, I was looking at the picture of where it was at the beginning of January, and I was amazed at how much I have been able to get done on it.

This project is now going away for this week as I have another project that was called for WIPGO so I will give it some attention and see how it goes.

Scarf in the round - I did pick up and work on my scarf this week and I am loving having a project like this that I can just pick up and work on when I have those few minutes. It is a lot of fun having a project like this because it sits near my desk and then I have those few minutes I can pick it up and add a few stitches and then put it down again.

I don't have any idea when this project is going to be finished but that doesn't bother me because I am happy having a project that I can work on like this and at the end I will have a scarf that I will be happy to have.

This coming week I will see how much more of it I can get done as I am thinking that I will have bits of time where I can pick it up and work on. We will see what it looks like next Monday as being able to move it forward a bit more this week will make me happy.

Ex-boyfriend shawl - here is the shawl that did get a bit of attention this past week, so I am slowly moving it forward. It is a challenge working with the yarn that I picked for this shawl, but I am finding a way to get move of the shawl done.

I wasn't sure how to motive myself to pick up this shawl, so I decided to try and work on it for 30 minutes at a time. That doesn't seem like a long time, and it isn't, but I am finally starting to move this shawl forward again which is good. I am going to see how it goes this week because I am not certain if it will get 30 minutes each day but at least I am going to try and do it some days to continue to move it forward. The feel of the shawl is so nice and soft because of the yarn that I am using it is just not as nice to work with as I had hoped.

Other projects - I have been working on a couple of other projects, but they aren't far enough along to show them yet. Maybe after this week I will have something to show but will have to wait and see how it goes.

I know that this week I should have some time to work on my stitching a bit so we will see what progress I can make on the different projects. I hope to continue to move both knitting projects forward again because that would be nice to see some progress on both. There is going to be a different cross stitch project for this week and hopefully I will make some progress on it. 

If things go well, I should have some projects to show you next week with some progress on them. Finding that time each day to recharge my personal battery has been important. I hope you are also finding that bit of time to recharge your personal battery as well.

Have a good week and I will be back next week to show you what I have been able to get done.

 

Progress on items and a scarf started

Here it is the start of another week and another month. It is hard to believe that February is over after how long it felt January to go by. 

The weather here is still doing its roller coaster with the temperature so will have to see how things go this week. As it is the beginning of another month that are things that need to get done for work.

Silvery Anniversary - here is the piece that got the focus for the last week. It is nice seeing how much I was able to get done on it. It is slowly starting to come to life, and I will see how much I can get done in March.

It is nice having a project that yes, I would like to get it finished but I am also able to take my time and work on it a bit at a time. My goal is to have this finished by our 25th wedding anniversary so that is in 2026, so I have time to work on the project and not stress about getting it done. I have got jus over 12% of this project done so I am on track to get it done in time for our anniversary.

This project is going to be put down for a little while as I am going to be working on another project this week and I am looking forward to seeing how much progress I can get done on it.

Ex-boyfriend shawl - here is one of the knitting projects that got a bit of my attention this past week. This shawl is taking me quite a while to get it done and part of it is I am not enjoying using the yarn that I got for this shawl. Hopefully I will be able to set aside a little bit of time each day to just add a bit more to the shawl so that I can get it finished. Normally, I enjoy working on my knitting projects, but this is one of those projects that I will like the shawl once it is done but it is the working on it that I don't enjoy as much.

If I can continue to move this project forward a bit at a time I think I will feel better. I am not certain how many stitches I am going to end up with on the needle, but I will continue until it is done and then be happy that I will have another shawl to wear even if the process of making the shawl wasn't something that I enjoyed as much as I thought I would.

Scarf in the round - here is another project that I am working on, and I must admit that I have been really enjoying it so far. This past week I decided that I had some yarn that I wasn't sure what I was going to do with, so I cast on 100 stitches onto a circular needle and then just started knitting. 

Do I know how long I am going to make this scarf, no not really. I have two skeins of this yarn so I will see how long the scarf is after the first ball of yarn and then will see what happens. I do enjoy knitting this scarf because it is something that I can pick up and work on when I have a few minutes. I don't need to finish a row, and I don't have a pattern to follow so it is a lot of fun.

Other projects - I haven't worked on anything else in the last week as I am trying to stay focused and get things done instead of bouncing between too many projects. I do hope to pick up my English Paper Piecing this week as I would like to continue to move it forward, but we will have to wait and see.

There are a few things that I need to get done this week so that means I will be busy on things. I will make sure that I do take a bit of time each day to recharge by personal battery but doing something that I enjoy. It is so important to ensure we take a bit of time for ourselves because it does make such a difference on how you can handle things when they are thrown at you.

Hope everyone has a good week, and I would like to have some progress on things to show you need week. 

 

English Paper Piecing - February Progress

Here it is the start of March so that means it is time to show that I was able to get done in February on my different projects. It feels good this month that I am say that I have been able to make some progress on two projects. One got very little attention and then the other one got more attention, and I am starting to feel better about my EPP again.

Popsy's throw - this is the project that got very little attention, and I was able to get one flower completed before I realized that I needed to work on something else for a little while. This project has a lot of memories attached to it and I felt that I needed a bit of a break from it to try and move something else forward.

Scrap throw - this is the project that got more attention this month as I was able to make some flowers for it. Being able to work on making flowers when I have those few minutes is wonderful so that is what I have been trying to do.

Another thing that I did this month was started to work on adding motifs to the actual throw. I hadn't touched the throw itself since August 2023, so it was a little different working on it again. I am happy to have at lest been able to start to add the border to the top and one side, so I now have an idea of where to add the flowers and motifs to the throw. 

Other projects - I haven't worked on any of the other EPP projects that I have on the go but at least I am starting to get back to making progress on things.

In March I hope to be able to continue to move at least one of the projects forward but will see how it goes. I know that being able to continue to move things forward does make me happy so we will see how things go. I hope to have some good progress to show you at the beginning of April.

 

Progress and a new shawl start

Here it is the start of another week, and hopefully the weather will start to improve, and we will get rid of some of the snow that we have had lately. 

Of course, there is still a lot of work that needs to get done each week and I am now continuing to try and find that time each day to work on one of my crafts so that I can slowly start to see progress on things.

Mini The Forgotten - here is the cross stitch project that was my focus for the last week. I was determined to see if I could make some more progress on this piece as I am enjoying how it is turning out.

This past week I wasn't sure if I was going to get another page finished on the pattern, but by the time I put it down yesterday I had done just that. I have now completed 6 of the 12 pages and that is making me feel so much better about this project. It makes me happy to see the progress that I have made on this project so far this year and I hope to be able to continue to move it forward. 

This project is going to be put down for a little while and I will see which project I pick up and work on this coming week. I know that working through some of my big projects is making me feel good so we will see what I can accomplish this week.

Ex-boyfriends shawl - here is a new start that I had this past week. I had picked up this yarn a couple of weeks ago and wanted to try and get something make with it. The colour isn't showing up as it is a teal colour yarn which I love teal. The problem with this yarn is it's very fluffy to handle so working on a shawl was a bit of a challenge. I had found another pattern that I wanted to make with it only to discover that this yarn to too soft and slippery for that pattern, so I needed to look at something different. 

This pattern is written for fingering weight yarn but all I did was use a bigger knitting needle and it seems to be turning out the way I would like it to look. I hope to be able to work on this more this coming week as it is a simple project when I can just focus on knitting.

Other projects - I have been able to pick up and work on my English Paper Piecing and that has started to make me happy. I am seeing some progress on one project which is good, and I will write about that at the beginning of March.

It is hard to believe that February is almost over but at least that means that spring should be here soon or at least that is what we can wish. I know that I have been feeling how long winter seems to have been this year and maybe that is because of all the grey days we are having.

I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing. Being able to set aside those bits of time each day is very important as it helps recharge your personal battery and it also helps you do something for yourself. 

Hopefully next week I will have something to show you as I would like to see if I can get some more progress done on the shawl and I also want to work on a cross stitch project and see how that goes.

Progress and a finish

Here it is the start of another week, and I have been able to make a bit of progress on the various projects over the last week. Yes, work has required some of my time, but at least I know that I have been able to move a couple of my projects forward. It does feel good knowing that I have been able to get all the work done that I needed to do as well as be able to spend some time working on the cross stitch and knitting projects that make me happy.

Mini Sea Opal - here is the second WIPGO project that I had on the calendar for February. This project required me to add 500 stitches to the piece to reach the goal that I had set for each time it was selected.

The good news is that by the time I put it down this week after working on it for 3 days I had been able to add over 1,000 stitches to this piece. I know that given the size of this project it doesn't seem like a lot, but at least it is moving the project forward which is what I am trying to do this year.

This is one of the big projects that I have on the list of things that I would like to move forward this year so now to see how things go.

Silver Anniversary - here is a new start for this week and I decided that I wanted to start this piece on the 26th anniversary of when I met my husband with a goal of getting this project finished by our 25th anniversary which is in September 2026. This project has been enjoyable to work on and I have just been working on the bottom left section of the piece as I am trying to get small sections of it done at a time.

I am going to put this down for a little while now as I have another project that is going to get the attention this coming week. 

Turkish Delight Shawl - here is the knitting project that has been getting the attention for the last little while. As this shawl has used double knitting weight yarn it has different to work on compared to the fingering weight yarn I have been using. It has been a nice project to work on because the pattern wasn't difficult to do. The lace section was something that I did enjoy working on even though there were times that I couldn't seem to get it done correctly.

This weekend I decided it was time to focus on it for a little while as I knew that I was close to getting it finished. The good news is the shawl is now finished other than sewing in the ends and that makes me happy. Of course, now that this shawl is completed, it is time to figure out the next project that I will be spending some time working on.

Other projects - this past week I was also able to pick up and work on my English Paper Piecing a little bit which is good and now to see how much more of it I can get done before the end of the month. I know that seeing progress on a few things would make me feel good.

I hope everyone has been able to spend a bit of time working on things that make you happy. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you are able to spend a bit of time recharging your personal battery.

This week I hope to move another cross stitch project forward and I will see what else I get done. Hope a good week and I hope to have progress to show next week.