Monday, December 2, 2024

Two finishes, some progress and new starts

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully this week I will be able to continue to make progress on some of my craft items.

With it being the start of a new month there are work things that need my attention so I will be focusing on getting those things done today and then I will see what else I can do. The weather is cooler than it has been but at least we didn't get the snow that north of us got. Some areas got over 5 feet of snow over the weekend which is a lot.

This week I have some plans on what projects I would like to work on so I am going to see how things go and maybe I will see progress on things. I do know that I have been loving my knitting recently and have been doing quite a bit of that.

  Let Flowers Grow - this is one of the projects that I have been giving a bit of attention to, but I still have a ways to go before this is done. I have been trying to work on this project a bit at a time as I would like to get it finished.

Part of what I am not looking forward to is working on the little bees that are on this piece as they are going to take quite a bit of time for how small they are. I hope to be able to get them started before long because then I can work on them a bit at a time instead of trying to do them all together.

Ramsay - here is the last Christmas ornament that I need to stitch. I decided it was time to pick it up and get it started. I don't think it will take me long to stitch it. Once it is done, I will have to finish the three of them into ornaments so that they are ready to be given as gifts on Christmas.

I stitched the other two of these in the summer and am not certain why I didn't just get this one stitched at the same time. At least I have a couple of weeks to get this one done but I think it is going to be a focus so that I can get it finished.

Noelle Scarflet - this last week I decided that I was going to work on getting this project finished up and it didn't take me long to get it finished. I enjoyed working on this project and hopefully I will be able to make another version of this before too long. I do know that I would knit it on slightly larger needles next time.

The yarn that I used was slightly tonal which meant that the scarflet is not all one colour. It would be nice to get another one of these done before long and see the difference in the two of them.


Little Meg Shawl - I am happy to say that I did get the last stitches cast off on this shawl and it is now finished. I am very happy with how it turned out and I do know that I will be knitting another one of these before too long. I still need to block this project but other than that it is ready to wear. Of course, you know what happens when I finish a project, I quickly need to have something else on the needles.

Vignette Wrap - here is the project that I started shortly after finishing the Little Meg Wrap.  This is a wrap, and I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I got this pattern in the Knitvent 2024 book by Helen Stewart.  This project again has an increase section but after this there is a section that is straight and that is where I will determine how long I want it to be. The pattern says the length is 104 inches, but I think I may be making it a little shorter than that.

This project has been enjoyable to work on and it does have the feather and fan sections in it so that does give it a different look. I hope to work on this some more as I would like to get into the straight section before too long.

Ex-boyfriends shawl - after starting the Vignette Wrap, I decided that I wanted a simple project that I could pick up and knit on when I needed something like that so I started this project. I am not certain how big this shawl is going to be because I am using a 5 skein bundle that I got a while ago. What I am going to do is just knit each of the skeins until they are finished. This is going to be a fun project to work on as I can just pick it up and not have to think about the pattern because it is only two rows.

Other projects - I haven't worked on anything else in the last week but given that I have been working on all of these projects I think that is enough.

This week I hope to be able to try and focus on a couple of the projects and I will see what happens. I do know that I will try and get Ramsay done and I also know that I will be working on my knitting as I have been really enjoying making the various shawls.

I hope everyone has a good week and you remember to take a bit of time for yourself each day to recharge your personal batteries. If things go well, I should have something to show you next week.



 

Sunday, December 1, 2024

English Paper Piecing - November progress

Here it is December 1st and time to show you the progress that I was able to make in November on my various English Paper Piecing projects. If you read by other blog posts, you will know that I have been spending a lot of time knitting in the last month.

Popsy's throw - this is the project that got the little bit of attention that I gave my EPP this last month. I cannot believe that I only got four flowers completed because I thought I had worked on it longer than that. 

I know that at least I have been able to continue to move the project forward and that is the main thing but given all the other projects that I have on the go I need to focus on moving these forward again.

Other projects - I can honestly say that I haven't worked on any of the other projects that I have on the go. Hopefully in December I will be able to start to focus on my EPP a little more and maybe even see some good progress on things. I know that I just need to pick it up a little more often and that would help.

This coming month I would like to spend some time working on getting at least a couple of projects moved forward. I know that being able to focus on my EPP a little more would be nice so maybe that is what I will try and December. Hope everyone has a good month, and I will be back at the end of December with what I was able to accomplish. 

Monday, November 25, 2024

Lots of progress and a close to a finish

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully I will be able to focus on some projects and maybe see things moved forward.  Of course, there are other things that need my attention as well so that means that I will get the work done that needs to get done and then try and focus on seeing which projects get the attention this coming week.

The weather has now turned quite a bit colder so that means more time to be inside and hopefully more time to do some crafting or at least I hope that is how it works.

This past week I was able to make some good progress on a couple of projects and some other projects didn't get as much attention as they could have got.

Let Flowers Grow - this project got a little bit of attention but not as much as I would have liked to give it. The house still needs the door outlined and the front walk finished but I am making some progress on it.

This week I hope to be able to continue to move this piece forward as I would like to see how much of it I can get done. I am going to try and move this piece over this week as I would like to have the house finished as well as more of the remaining sections also moved forward some.

Sea Opal - here is a project that I decided to try and give a little bit of attention to this week, and I am happy that I did. Instead of picking it up for a hour or two, I was able to give it about 4 hours attention one day and it felt good seeing the progress that I was able to make on it. There is still a very long way to go before I can see this project finished but I am happy seeing that I have made a bit of progress on it.

Once I have finished working on Let Flowers Grow and stitching another Christmas ornament, this might be the project that gets a little bit of attention towards the end of the year.



Little Meg Shawl - here is the project that got most of the attention this week. I am really enjoying working on this project and of course I had to make some changes to the pattern.

This pattern comes in two sizes, a small version (which I knit before) and a large version (which I was knitting). As I was knitting it, I realized that the large version was going to be bigger than I really wanted my shawl to be so I did a bit of calculating to see if I could make it a medium size version of the pattern. The large version had four pattern sections, and the small version had two so I decided to do three pattern sections so that was an easy modification to do. The border for the two versions were also different widths so I checked the border on the small version and the large version, and I then just did the middle of those two border widths. 

As you can see, I am working on casting off the shawl now and should have it finished hopefully at some point today. I will then sew the ends in, and it will be time to block it and see what it looks like and how I like the size of it. I am looking forward to being able to wear this shawl before too long. It has been fun to knit, and I may make another one of these because I have enjoyed making it and also using different yarn will make it look so different.

Noelle Scarflet - here is the other knitting project that I have been working on. I started this scarflet about a week ago and have been slowly working on adding a few rows to it. The pattern isn't hard at all which is nice, and this has been a project that I have tired to work on some evenings. I haven't got a lot of it done but it is working up quickly.

I have just started working on the center section of the piece so that is something that I have been enjoying. I know that the last section of the pattern is just the reverse of the section that I have already completed, and it is just going back down in width. Hopefully I will be able to spend some time working on this project after Little Meg is finished.


Other projects - I haven't done a lot of work on any other project as I have been trying to continue to stay focused on only work on a small number of projects at a time. It has been nice staying focused because I am seeing results and that makes me very happy.

I hope that this week I will be able to continue to work on moving projects forward. I know that I would like to get the Little Meg Shawl finished and then I will see what the next project finished will be.  This time of year, is when things are starting to get busy because of the holiday season so I will see what I can continue to get done.

Remember to take time for yourself each day because it is very important to recharge your personal battery. It doesn't need to be a long time, but that little bit of time can make a big difference. I hope to be back next week with some progress to show you.







 

Monday, November 18, 2024

Progress and a new start

 
Here it is the start of another week and hopefully I will be able to make some progress on a few things. I know that there are a few things that I would like to try and get done so that means that I am going to have to try and focus on them and see what happens.  
I hope to be able to spend some time working on the projects that I would like to move forward so will see what happens. The weather is cooler now so that means more time to be spending indoors and curling up and working on my various projects.

Let Flowers Grow - I was able to spend a little bit of time working on this project and I have almost finished the house. I hope that I can continue to move this project forward as I would like to have it finished before long.

It does feel good seeing that I have been able to continue to move this project forward as I didn't give it as much attention this week as I would have liked. Hopefully this coming week I will be able to spend some time moving it forward. 

This last week I decided to focus on an area of the design instead of working on one colour through the entire design and I think that has helped some. It now means that I am getting sections done. Hopefully I will be able to continue in this manor and see more of the piece come together.

Little Meg Shawl - this project did get quite a bit of attention last week as I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like when it is finished. I did have to finally put the shawl onto a circular needle because I was running out of room on the straight needle that I had been using.

I am making progress on the shawl but must admit that the rows are taking a while to do now, and I still have another 200 stitches to increase on this pattern before it is done so it is going to take a while. I am loving how it is turning out and cannot wait to see what it looks like when it is off the needles.

I hope to be able to continue to work on this piece this week and will see how much more of it I can get done. Seeing what I can get accomplished in a week is good, but it still shows me that I have quite a ways to go before I am finished with the shawl.

Noelle Scarflet - here is a new project that I just started over the weekend. This is another Helen Stewart pattern, and it isn't going to be very wide at all. This pattern was in her Knitvent book for this year and the pattern was released on Thursday and when I saw it, I immediately wanted to start it.

This pattern uses sports weight yarn instead of fingering, so it does seem to knit up faster and because the rows have been so short that also has helped. I am going to try and work on this project a little bit at a time as I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like when it is finished.

Other projects - I have been able to get a little bit of my English Paper Piecing done as well so I will have some to show you are the beginning of December. It does feel good seeing that I have been able to move it forward a bit as well this month.

This coming week I am not certain what I will be working on, but I do know that I would like to move the shawl forward a bit more as well as my cross stitch. Being able to try and stay focused on just a couple of projects makes me happy because I see progress on them.

Hope everyone has a good week and remember to take that bit of time each day to recharge your personal battery.





 

Monday, November 11, 2024

Making progress slowly

Here it is the start of another week, and I do have some progress to show from the last week. It is a bit all over but at least most days I was able to find a little bit of time to work on things which does make me happy.

This week I hope to be able to spend a bit more time working on the various projects because I think that would make me happy. If I could focus on a couple of projects, I might see some good progress on them but only time will tell.

This last week was a very difficult week for us as it was the week of the funeral for my mom. That meant that there were things that needed to be done for that as well as I just needed time for myself, and I did take that.

Let Flowers Grow - this project didn't get a lot of time this week as I just couldn't seem to focus on it. I was able to spend a bit of time over this past weekend working on getting more of the design stitched and that does make me feel good.

This coming week I hope that I can continue to work on this piece as I would like to see how much of it I can get completed. Knowing that this piece is done would be great as I do have another project that I would like to work on for a while.

I am currently just over 45% completed on this project so that means that I need to focus on it for a little while and maybe I can get it done. I hope that this week I can at least make some progress on it. I would like to see if I can get this piece done by the end of the month but will have to see how things go.

Mini Sea Opal - here is a project that I haven't picked up for over 2 years, but I felt it was time to see if I could add a few stitches to it. This is a full coverage piece, and it is going to be around 18 inches square once it is finished. I am looking forward to seeing if I can spend some time working on this piece over the next while as well.

It was so nice to pull this piece out again because I wanted some of the brighter colours to work on and given this has a lot of blues and teals in it, I was very happy to get back to working on it. The first thing that I had to do was organize all the floss for this project because it was all just in the bag and not sorted like I normally have my threads.

I am not certain how much of this I will get done through the end of the year, but I am thinking that I might try and at least give it some more attention. For me just seeing that I have finally picked this piece up again makes me happy because it is one that I love and would like to see if I can get it finished.

I currently have four full coverage pieces that I would like to work on, so maybe next year I will try and make some progress on them. Of course, full coverage pieces do take quite a while to complete but they do take even longer when you don't work on them, and you just let them sit like I have been doing.

Little Meg Shawl - here is the knitting project that I have been focusing on. It has been so nice to see how much of it I could get done in this last week. I have been trying to work on this shawl a bit each day and I have been able to do that most days.

The rows are getting longer now so I can't get as many rows completed each day. Hopefully I can continue to move this project forward because I would like to see it finished so that I can wear it. Being able to see some good progress has been nice so I will see what I can get done this week.

Other projects - this past week I did pick up my English Paper Piecing for a little while and at least made a bit of progress on it.

Taking a bit of time each day to focus on something that I enjoy doing has been needed in the last while. I hope everyone else is remembering to take the time to do things that you enjoy most days.


I am not certain what this week is going to be like, but I do hope that I can find some time to do some crafting and maybe make some more progress on these projects. Hopefully, next week I will have some more progress to show you and until then have a good week.

Monday, November 4, 2024

A start, a finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and I can say that I have at least been able to spend a bit of time working on things. It feels good being able to see some progress on things.

The weather here has been a little crazy as it is warm for a couple of days and then it gets cool again. It has meant that being able to get out and enjoy some of the days has been good. Most of the leaves have now been blown off the trees so there isn't much colour to enjoy but at least the weather has been good.

Let Flowers Grow - this past week I picked up and work on this piece for a while and am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on it.

I have been bouncing around on the stitching of this piece as I am trying to work on completing some of the colours so that I have placements for other parts of the design. It has been fun working on the different areas because some are very easy, and other sections do take some focus.

The tree on the right didn't get finished as I was leaving that for when I just need some simple stitching as it is just fill in with one colour. I am also going to be working on getting more of the little items stitched because that will help me see that I am moving this project forward.

Little Meg Shawl - this last week I decided to focus on trying to get the shawl finished that I had been working on. I finished the shawl on Tuesday, and it still needs to be blocked but at least it is finished.

The shawl was a lot of fun to work on and it was easy in some ways but also had some challenges that I did enjoy doing. The version I knit was the small version and I looked at the pattern and thought about it and wondered what the large version would be like.

I looked through my yarn that I have for shawls and on Wednesday I started the large version of the Little Meg Shawl and am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on it. This shawl is going to take me longer to do knit because of course I end up with more rows and more stitches, but I am thinking that I just need to try this pattern out.

Other projects - I didn't work on any other projects in the last week as I have been busy doing other things that have required my attention.

If things go well this week, I hope to be able to make some progress on both my cross stitch and my knitting. Taking some time to recharge my personal batteries has been very important so that I can get everything done that I need to do and be there for others around me. 

I hope everyone has a good week and you take that bit of time for yourself each day. Remember to tell those around you that you love them.





 

Friday, November 1, 2024

English Paper Piecing - October Progress

It is hard to believe that another month has flown by. It was a very busy month for us both personally and professionally, so I am happy with the crafting that I have been able to get done.

Popsy's Throw - this is the project that I focused on this month as I wanted to see if I could at least see something moved forward. It was nice to be able to focus on one project and see that I have been able to get a few things done. 

It was nice to work on motifs when I had that little bit of time when I was sitting watching a video or just relaxing. The flowers do take a bit more time and focus, so I work on those when I have a bit more time and better lighting. It is nice to see that I at least moved this project forward again this month and now to see how things go moving forward.

Other projects - I didn't pick up and work on any of my other EPP projects this month as I didn't have the time or energy to do that. I also wanted to try and focus on one project so that I could see results instead of bouncing all over.

If you are working on your EPP projects, I hope that you are making some good progress and being able to enjoy the time you spend on them. I was someone that never liked any hand-sewing but now that I have found EPP, I enjoy the relaxing feeling of picking up my needle and thread and seeing progress on something.

I hope to have some progress to show you at the end of November but only time will tell. Have a good month and I will post what I was able to get done at the end of the month.