Monday, January 25, 2016

Projects are moving forward

Blackwork Knight - Jan 16th
 This week I can actually say that I had a productive week with my crafting and that does make me very happy.

The first project that got my attention was Blackwork Knight as I was looking forward to seeing how quickly I would be able to get it finished.  So after a few attempts this week of sitting down and trying to get it finished, I finally did get it done on the 21st. 

Blackwork Knight - Jan 22st (Finished)
It feels so good seeing that the Knight is finished and now I am onto the next project and trying to see if I can see some progress on it as quickly as I did on the Blackwork Knight.

 The Bluenose Dime is another project that got to see a little bit of attention and that was after finishing Blackwork Knight.  Bluenose is finally got a bit of colour added to it and will see how it goes this week as I would like to get more of it done.

Bluenose Dime - Jan 11th
Yesterday, I decided it was time to start the piece that goes with Blackwork Knight.  Blackwork Princess is also by Jennifer Aikman-Smith and once again is a nice piece to work on when you want to see some quick results.

Bluenose Dime - Jan 22nd
I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked stitching this weekend but at least I was able to see some progress on projects.

This week I am not sure how much time I will find to do stitching but I hope to find a bit of time to make some progress on a project.  Of course, crocheting has been progressing as well but really not a lot to show as even that hasn't been moving along as quickly as I would have liked.

Blackwork Princess - Jan 24th
 I am looking forward to seeing how much time I will find this week to cross-stitch.  Work does come first so that is what I am off to do now.

Hope everyone is managing the weather that we have been having.  We don't have much snow here but there are a lot of other places that are dealing with a lot of it right now.  Be safe and until next time, enjoy some crafting time.

Monday, January 18, 2016

A good crafting week

Bluenose Dime - Jan 9th
 This week I was able to find some time in the evenings to actually do the things that I love to do.

Cross-stitch was seen a little more than it has been which felt very good.  I decided that this past week I was really going to try and find some evenings to work on the projects that I wanted to make some progress on and that is what I did.

Bluenose Dime - Jan 11th
Bluenose Dime didn't seem at much time as I would have liked but at least I was able to make a little it of progress on it.  Maybe this week I will try and work on it and see what progress I can make on it.  I also needed to pick up some of the satin threads for this project and did that on Wednesday evening.

The project that did get a lot of my attention this week was the Blackwork Knight because I would really like to see it finished soon.  I only worked three evenings on this project and can see quite a it of progress on it. The part that I am working on is all the little details of the shadows and his shields.  These do take a bit longer to do as there are a lot more stitches in the areas. 

Blackwork Knight - Jan 7th
I am really hoping that this week I will be able to finish the Blackwork Knight and maybe even make a start on the Blackwork Princess that goes with this piece.  I am not sure if it will get started this week as I would like to spend some time working on getting a few of the other projects moved along as well.

Blackwork Knight - Jan 16th
Crocheting is something else that I found some time to do this week and the baby blanket that I started at the end of December got more work done on it.  I was able to finish this afghan this weekend so now to see if I start another one or finish one of the other afghans that I currently have on the go.

I decided that I was going to try and craft even an hour most evenings and will see how much crafting I can accomplish.  Of course there are going to be times when I can spend more time than that but that is going to be the minimum time I am aiming for.

Cool Blue Baby Afghan - Jan 16th
The cold weather also gives me a chance to curl up and craft a little more.  The cold weather means that we aren't going for walks in the evenings as much as we do in the summer and also we can't sit on the balcony in the winter so I am not watching the neighbourhood as much.

Tonight I am looking forward to spending some time crocheting on a baby afghan and will see how much of it I can accomplish.  Until then, I have work that needs to be done so that is what I will do today.


Monday, January 11, 2016

Making some progress

Blackwork Knight - Dec 31st
This past week I was able to find a few evenings where I could actually sit and work on a cross-stitch for a little while.

The first project that I worked on was the Blackwork Knight and as it is mostly back stitch it is a project that works up fairly quickly.  Most of the piece works up quickly but now I am adding all the little detail so that is going to take a bit longer to do but the basic design has been stitched which makes me very happy.  I am looking forward to being able to finish off this piece and then start the Blackwork Princess.  These are a lot of fun to stitch and something that I enjoy as you can quickly see detail appear.

Blackwork Knight - Jan 7th
After working on the Knight I decided that on Saturday when I had a little bit of time I would try and make a bit of progress on the Bluenose Dime that I am also working on.  I had been a little disappointed with not getting more done during the first week so had to try and see some progress this week.  I was able to work on getting one of the colours mostly completed which is nice as it does add some detail to the pattern.  Now what I need to do is actually spend a couple more
evenings working on this piece and I might be happier with the progress.

Bluenose Dime - Jan 2nd
The group that is working on the Canadian Themed projects post pictures on Saturday's of our progress so my progress for this week was the first little bit that I did.  At least now I have a bit more process for next Saturday already.  I am hoping that one evening this week I will be able to work on this piece and maybe get a bit more done on it.
Bluenose Dime - Jan 9th

The other project that got a little bit of attention this week was the blue baby afghan that I started a couple of weeks ago.  I was able to sit and work on it one evening and am now half way through the basic part of the afghan.  It feels so nice seeing that I am getting things done again.  Hopefully I will be able to continue getting things done.

This week I have a couple of evenings where I am going to really try and focus on crafting and then I will see what the rest of the week is like.

Of course, all the plans that I have for crafting can quickly change but that is what I hope to do as of right now. I am now off to try and get some work done and then will see what I can accomplish tonight.


Monday, January 4, 2016

Final week of 2015 progress

Blackwork Knight - Dec 20th
Holidays are now over and it is time for everyone to get back to work.

I am writing that sentence as a lot of people are getting back to work today after being on holidays which is nice.  I know that we didn't get a lot of a break so my crafting is way down from where I would have liked it to be by today.

Blackwork Knight - Dec 31st
I was able to find one evening/afternoon to sit and work on the Blackwork Knight and was able to see some really good progress.  I like this project as with it being basically back-stitch it works up a lot quicker than having to do full cross-stitches.  What I am doing with this project is getting all the outline done and then I will fill in the areas that need the extra work done on them. Being able to see the basic outline done will be nice and I hope that I will be able to continue working on this during January.

Bluenose Dime - Jan 2nd
 As January 1st came around a bunch of us decided that we were going to start a project with a Canada theme.  Now, I was able to find a couple of projects that I wanted to do but didn't have the pattern so I looked at what I had and decided that I was going to do the Bluenose Dime by Lynne Nicoletti.  I had picked up this pattern while on vacation a few years ago so that is what I am now working on. A lot of the group started their project on January 1st but I didn't get around to starting until January 2nd and was able to find a bit of time to work on it.

2015 Ort container
With the new year rolling around it was time for me to clean out the container that I put all my floss ends in during the year. This is all the floss ends from all the various projects that I worked on in 2015.  It is interesting looking in the container and I can see some of the projects in layers and the one that I notice is Princess Sofia with all the light blues.  The container has been emptied now and while working on the Bluenose Dime I have started filling it up for 2016. 

I am happy that I was able to find a bit of time to craft over the last week and look forward to seeing how much crafting I can do in January.  With it being cold out it means that there is more time at home in the evenings and on weekends so hopefully I can find some crafting time.

The work week has now started so that means I have some work that needs to get done.  Hopefully this week I will be able to find some crafting time in the evenings.  Until next time I am off to do some work.





Sunday, January 3, 2016

2015 in review and 2016 goals

It is the time of year where I can sit and look back at what I actually accomplished in 2015.

2015 Goals 
1.  Blog at least 4 times a month – accomplished, posted 65 times in 2015
2.  Complete three capes for myself – finished one then got into doing more cross-stitch
3.  Get stash to below 360 pounds – stash got below 360 and actually got it down to 320 pounds as I was able to give some of my chunky and bulky weight yarn to charity.
4.  Stitch Blackbird design – project cancelled
5.  Complete 3 cross-stitch that I already have started – finished more than 3 cross-stitch this year but not ones that I had already started.
6.  Get craft items organized  -- getting craft items a lot more organized
7.  Complete 2 Stitching Studio cross-stitch patterns – didn't get these finished as worked on getting projects stitched for Art shows instead.

I am happy with what I was able to accomplish in 2015 and look forward to seeing what I can accomplish in 2016. My cross-stitch items did change through the year but at least I was able to continue cross-stitching and crocheting throughout the year.

2016 Goals
1. Blog at least 4 times a month.
2. Cross-stitch Bluenose Dime by Lynne Nicoletti
3. Finish 5 cross-stitch that I already have started
4. Get stash below 300 pounds
5. Get craft items organized.

I look forward to working on all of these projects and will probably be adding more as the year goes by.  This is just the start of what I would like to accomplish craft wise in 2016. The personal goals are not posted on my blog as they are personal and need to be left as that.



Friday, January 1, 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST IN 2016