Making progress, a finish and another start

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully one where the weather will be nice. Of course, there is work that needs to get done so that is what I am going to be trying to achieve first. Hopefully this week I will find some time to also do some crafting.

Pandemic - here is the piece that I picked up and worked on again last week. I was going to work on a different project, but this one was calling to me, so I decided to work on it for a second week in a row. 

This past week I was able to finish another page of the pattern so that made me happy. It has been nice working on this piece and seeing the progress that I have been able to make on it. Being able to see the progress on this piece is making me happy. I still have a long way to go before this is finished but at least I am moving it forward and enjoying it. I am going to be putting this project down for a little while as there are other projects that I also want to make progress on.

Preemie blankets - this last week I continued to work on knitting the preemie blanket that I had on the go, and it didn't take me too long to get it finished. 

It is nice having that blanket finished and it is ready to be donated at the end of June to a hospital. I am going to be continuing to make some preemie items so that I have a few items to donate. This week I am going to try and work on getting some hats made as well so I am not just donating blankets.

After I finished the blue blanket that I was working on I immediately decided to start another blanket and have been able to make some good progress on it as well. 

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects this last week other than the preemie blankets and my cross stitch. It has been nice trying to stay focused on my craft projects.

I hope everyone is finding a bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy. Being able to recharge your personal battery is very important. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you find a bit of time for yourself.

This week I am going to work on my knitting again and see how much of it I can get done and I am going to work on some small cross stitch projects for a change as I would like to see some progress on them as well.

Have a good week and I hope to be able to show you some progress on things next week.


 

Making some progress

Here it is the start of another week which means it is time to figure out what I have been working on besides trying to get other work done during the last week.

Pandemic - this is the cross stitch project that got the attention in the last week and I am extremely happy with the progress that I was able to make on it. I wasn't sure how much I would be able to achieve in the last week, but I do know that once I started things seems to flow.

I have been working on trying to get another page either finished or close to a finish but this week I didn't get a page finish, but I am pretty close to that. It does feel good seeing that I have been able to continue to move this project forward. It would be nice to see another page finish, but at least I know that next time I pick up this project I should be able to get that page finished and will see what else I can achieve. 

Preemie items - over the last little while I have been trying to make some progress on getting some preemie items finished. I have worked on a couple of hats and the first one did end up being extremely large, so now to figure out making sure that I can get some smaller hats completed.

I am currently working on a preemie blanket which hopefully I can get it completed this week so that is something else that is on the list of things to complete. These items don't normally take too long to finish so I will be trying to continue to make progress on this stuff. I also have another preemie blanket on the go which I should be able to get done quickly so that is another project that will get a picture taken soon. I have a v-stitch blanket that I have been working on and that just needs a bit of time before it is finished.

It has been so nice being able to pick up and work on some of the small projects so we will see what I can get done in the next couple of weeks. Just seeing progress on hats and blankets is making me happy so we will wee what happens moving forward.

I was also able to finish a blanket that I had started a few years ago. It was going to be a bigger baby blanket but I decided it was large enough so I crocheted the border around it and it will also be added to the items that I will be donating.

Other projects - I haven't been able to work on any of the other projects this week because I have been trying to stay focused as much as possible. Hopefully soon I will be picking up something else and maybe move it forward. I know that I would like to get some English Paper Piecing done soon so that is something that I am going to have to work on.

I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing. It doesn't have to be anything big; it can simply be taking those few minutes to just sit and relax and not do anything. If things go well, I hope to have more progress on things to show you next week. Hope everyone has a good week, and I will be back next Monday.

 

English Paper Piecing - April Progress

Here it is the beginning of May, and I want to let you know what I have been working on with regards to my English Paper Piecing in the last month.

Scrap Throw - my scrap throw has come back out to play for a while and I am starting to work on it a bit more which is nice. I have lots of flowers to add to the project so it is now time to work on getting them attached to the throw so that I can get this project finished up.

Another thing that I did with the scrap throw is to start adding more of the denim motifs that are going to be the border onto the throw. It felt nice see some progress on the actual project instead of just continuing to make the motifs and flowers. 

Of course, I am going to have to continue to work on making denim motifs because this project is going to be large enough that I know that I don't have enough denim motifs made to go around the throw twice for the border.

I do have an idea how to move this project forward, so I am hoping to be able to continue to work on it for a while and see how quickly the throw grows. It felt good this last month seeing the throw change a bit so hopefully I can continue to get it moved forward.

Other projects - I do have an idea for a small project so that might get some attention in May, but we will just have to wait and see. I do know that being able to continue to move my EPP forward even a bit at a time is making me feel a lot happier.

I hope to be back at the beginning of June to show you some more progress on at least one of the projects. Have a good month and if you are working on an EPP project please comment and let me know what you are working on.

Progress and a shawl finish

It is hard to believe that another week is over, and I am writing another blog to let you know what I have been working on. It has been a busy week so of course; the crafting time hasn't been as much as some of the other weeks. Now to see what this week is going to be like as I know that I have a few things already on my schedule that I need to do.

The weather has been improving which is nice and now we are starting to see buds on the trees, so I think spring has finally arrived. Hopefully we will get some of our seeds in the ground this coming week.

Silver Anniversary - here is the piece that got the attention this last week. I have been trying to move it forward a bit each month and again this month I was able to get more of it done. I am working hard to move this project forward a bit each month as I would like to have it finished next year for our 25th wedding anniversary.

It has been an interesting project to work on as I wasn't sure about the beige colours in it but they seem to be working, and they aren't so bad. This week I tried to work on just a couple of colours so that I could move the entire project forward and I can see a difference in it and some of the little open areas have been filled in. Next time I pick it up I will probably work on it the same way as it was nice seeing the entire project grow.

This project is now being put down as it is the end of a week so it's time for another project to come back out and get some attention. The WIPGO numbers have been called for May, so I will pick up and work on Pandemic is coming week and see how much progress I can get done on it.

Gradient Shawl - this is the knitting project that I have been working on and have loved it. It has been a project that was easy to work on and something that I could pick up and not worry about what row I was on. This last week I decided that I was going to see if I could get the shawl finished because I had just joined the last ball of yarn so figured I might be able to get it done. I ended up having 421 stitches on the circular need and with just under 10 grams of yarn left I figured I didn't want to push my luck, so I did the cast off which did take quite a while. 

The shawl is now off the needles, and I just need to sew in the ends and then block the shawl and it will be ready to wear. I am very happy with how the shawl turned out and cannot wait to wear it. Now to get the next project onto the needles and see how it goes.

Other projects - this past week after finishing the Gradient Shawl I decided to pick up and work on some preemie items that I want to donate to a local charity. I haven't taken any pictures of the items yet but will do so soon as I should have at least a couple of items ready.

I hope everyone is finding that little bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy and for yourself. It doesn't what you do as long as you take that bit of time to recharge your personal battery.

This week there are things that I need to get done but I am going to try and spend a bit of time working on my crafting as I would like to see some progress on a couple of things. If things go well, I should have some progress to show you again next week. 

 

Moving projects forward

It is hard to believe it is the start of another week so that means it is time to see what I worked on over the last week. A lot of other things happened this last week, so I didn't have as much time to work on projects, but I did make progress.

Mini Magic of Books - this project was the second WIPGO project for April, so I was able to pick it up and work on it a little bit. I didn't get as many stitches in on this piece as I normally wanted to do but at least I moved it forward.

My goal with WIPGO is 500 stitches when it is called so getting just over 600 stitches in on the piece was good. Hopefully next time this project is called it will get more attention, and it will be moved forward more. Even getting the stitches in that I did make me feel better because now this piece is finally starting to get moved forward again.

Mini the Forgotten - as last week was a little rough, I decided to pick up a project that is making me happy so over the weekend that is exactly what I did. Mini the Forgotten once again get a bit of attention even after just working on it for a week. I am so looking forward to seeing this piece completed and it makes me happy when I work on it.

I am continuing to work on the upper left corner of the piece and slowly trying to get it done. What I have been trying to do is work on completing one colour at a time in this section. It is amazing seeing how much the piece changes when I only spend a couple of days on it. I am not certain when I will pick this piece up again, but I do know that it is scheduled to get a week of attention of May so at least I will see it next month.

I am working hard at moving this piece forward as I would like to see it finished before the end of the year so that means that I need to focus on it. Having this as a focus piece for this year is making me happy because I have already seen some good progress on it and hope to get more progress on it before long.

This week I know that Silver Anniversary will be coming out for some attention so we will see how that goes. I do have a minimum goal for that piece so hopefully I can get it achieved.

Gradient Shawl - of course, I have been doing some knitting most days and it is nice to see that I am making progress on this shawl. This shawl has 6 shades of teal in it and as of last night I have start joined the last ball of yarn into it and it makes me happy to see that I am now getting slower to the end of the shawl.

This project has been really enjoyable to work on and in some ways, I will be sad to see it finished because of how much I have enjoyed working on it. I do look forward to being able to wear this shawl because it is going to be a piece that I can wear quite often when I want to wrap up in something comfortable. I did make this shawl a nice size because I wanted to have something that I could wear when I needed something to cover my shoulders.

It is going to be interesting to see how long it takes to get the remaining ball of yarn used because the rows are now around 400 stitches so that does take a bit of time to get a row done. This week I will continue to work on the shawl, and we will see what it looks like next Monday.

Other projects - this past week I did work on my English Paper Piecing a little bit so that was nice and now to see what I can do this coming week. Of course, I have things that I need to get completed besides by crafting so we will see how things go.

This week I know that I have my shawl to work on as well as my Silver Anniversary cross stitch project so we will see what progress I can make on them. I am not certain what else will get any attention as I normally just let it happen as the week goes along.

I hope everyone as a good week, and you find that bit of time each day to do something that makes me happy. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you do a little bit of something for yourself. If things go well, I should be back next Monday with some more progress on things.

Moving two projects forward

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully I will once again be able to make some progress on things. The weather is supposed to be warming up as well this week so that would be nice.

Mini the Forgotten - here is the cross stitch project that got my attention this last week. I picked it up on Monday with a goal of seeing some good progress on it before the end of the weekend and that I did.

Now that I only have four pages to complete on this piece, I am trying hard to get as much stitching in on this piece as I can. This past week I worked on one colour on the two pages for 5 days before that colour was finished and I started working on a different colour. So, this week I only added two colours to this section of the design, but I am happy with how much I was able to get done.

This project is going to be put down for a little bit as I do want to add some stitches into the second WIPGO project that was called for April. I hope that I can get those stitches in quickly and maybe I will pick this up again as I am looking forward to seeing this piece finished.

Gradient Shawl - this shawl did get quite a bit of attention this past week as I have been trying to move it forward again. My first goal this last week was to get all the yarn knit back into the shawl that I had to take out and then see how much more of the shawl I could get done. It does feel good because I have now started the fourth colour.

I am going to continue to work on this shawl as I am also looking forward to getting this finished before too long. It is a fun project to work on because it is easy to do but the rows are getting rather long, so it does take a while to get across the row. Including the ball of yarn that I have on the go I have three more balls to add so it is going to take me a while yet before it's finished.

Other projects - this past week I have been able to pick up and work on my English Paper Piecing a bit, so I have started to see some progress on one of those projects as well.

This week I hope to be able to continue to work on my shawl and I will see how much I can get done on the other WIPGO project.  I would like to see if I can get Mini the Forgotten out for when a day or two to try and move it a little closer to a finish.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find time to do something that you enjoy. If things go well this week, I hope to have some progress to show you on my projects again next week. It is also Easter this coming Sunday, and I hope everyone as a good long weekend.

 

Some progress and some frustration

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully some progress on my crafting. I know that this week I have some more work stuff that needs my attention, but I also know that I am going to be trying to make progress on a couple of projects.

The weather here is still feeling like late winter, but hopefully it will start to warm up soon so that I can enjoy being outside sitting on the balcony again. 

Sea Opal - here is the first of my WIPGO projects for April. I am so happy with the progress that I was able to make on this piece in the last week.

When I picked it up, I was going to see if I could possibly get more of the bottom left page completed but then I decided that I just wanted to work on the overall piece and see what it is going to look like. My WIPGO goal is 500 stitches, and it didn't take me long to surpass that number of stitches and I just kept stitching on it all week. It is so nice having a project that I can focus on for a week and see some progress on it. 

Now that it is the start of another week it means that another project is going to be coming out for some stitching time. This week it won't be the other WIPGO project for April, but I decided that Mini the Forgotten was going to get the attention this week.

Gradient Shawl - here is the knitting project that I picked up and worked on this past week. If you look closely, you will notice that the second picture doesn't have as much done on it as the first picture and that is correct. The pictures are not out of order as I had to pull back quite a bit of the shawl earlier in the week and reknit it. On this project I decided to try the magic knot (invisible knot) because everyone said it was great, and it didn't come undone no matter what. Well, I decided to give it a try and last Monday when I was working on the third colour, I noticed that where my join was didn't look right, so I looked only to discover that the knot had come undone. Of course, with the magic knot you cut the yarn right at the knot so there is nothing left to weave in, so I knew I was going to have to take out a few rows to join the yarn differently at that join. 

Once I discovered that knot had some undone, I knew that I was going to have to check the other join between the first and second colour and as you can probably guess what I found. Yes, that knot had also come undone. So, the decision was could I rescue the shawl at the joins somehow or did I need to pull it out. I did try and rescue the joins, but it didn't work well, so it was time to take out the shawl back into the first colour. When I was looking at the shawl after making the decision to pull it back into the first colour, I noticed a stitch that wasn't looking the best so if I was going to take it out to the first colour I might as well take it back a few more rows to also make that stitch look better. It was a tough decision to make but I knew that the joins didn't look great so with the help of my husband we pulled out all of the second colour and part of the first and now I am back to knitting everything back in. 

I am not doing the magic knot like they say to do it as I am leaving some ends that I will sew in as well as tying the knot. Hopefully this will work, and I will be able to see this shawl moved forward more this week.

Other projects - this last week I did pick up and work on my English Paper Piecing a little bit so that was good and hopefully it will get more attention before the end of the month. I didn't work on anything other than that because I was trying to focus on getting some stitches in on Sea Opal and trying to get the shawl back to where it was.

This week I will be working on getting more of the shawl knit up as well as adding some stitches into Mini the Forgotten. I hope everyone has a good week and you find that bit of time each day to take some time for yourself. If things so well, I should have some progress to show next Monday. Have a good week and will see you then.