Bits of Progress

It's hard to believe that another week has gone by and nothing seems to have changed here in Toronto.  We are still in lockdown and now the entire province of Ontario is in lockdown for at least the next two weeks.  Toronto and southern Ontario will be locked down until around the 24th of January.

For us things haven't changed as we are still working remotely for clients and staying home as much as possible, so I am thankful I have some crafting that I love doing.

Unleash the Butterflies  - I didn't get a lot of stitching in on this project in the last week but at least I was able to add a few stitches to it.  I am not sure how much attention this is going to get over the next week, but it is going to be a project that I will continue to try and move forward in 2021.

It's hard to believe but 2020 is just about over, and now it is time to start thinking of what I want to work on in 2021.  I have found my love of full coverage pieces so I think you will probably be seeing more of them in the next year.

Linen and Threads Mystery SAL 2019 - I was able to pull out this project on Saturday and make a bit of progress on some butterflies.  I didn't get as much done as I would have liked but the project wasn't speaking to me, so I figured it was best not to force myself to work on it too much.

I haven't worked on this project since December 31, 2019 so now to see if I can move it forward in 2021.  It would be nice to have this piece finished, so I will see what happens in the new year.  I would like to see this project finished and framed so maybe if I can figure out a method of getting the butterflies done it might help.  I think that is something that I will try and figure out as I start to plan for 2021.

Covid Santa - well this is a project that I did work on this week and as you can see I got the first one finished.  I still have to do the other one that I want to give away so that might be on the agenda for today.  

I am loving how this Santa turned out and yes his beard and hat are fluffy, and I love how it turned out. The only part that isn't metallic or fluffy is his face and mask. This was a fun piece to stitch and am now going to work on getting the other one stitched up so that I can get all four of the ornaments finished in their hoops before the start of the new year.

Socks - as you can imagine I am continuing to work on making my socks, and they have been a lot of fun.  I am going to be taking a picture of all the socks that I have made using Perfect Pair at the end of the month, so you will see how many I have done so far.  I will admit that there are going to be a lot more socks knit in 2021 as I do have a lot more of this yarn to use.

Plans for 2021

Cross stitch - will as the new year starts at the end of this week I have started to work on ideas for what I want to work on in 2021 and as I said I have enjoyed full coverage pieces so that is something that I will be working on again in 2021 and seeing what I can get done.

Knitting - Socks will continue to be something that I work on as they are something that I can work on a bit at a time and something that is great when I am attending a webinar.  I hope to also work on a shawl for myself in the next while and will see how that goes.

Crocheting - one of the projects that I would like to work on next year is to make some lapghans for a long-term care facility.  I have a lot of yarn that I don't know what to do with so making some lapghans will help the residents.

Other goals - I do have a few other goals that I want to achieve in 2021, but they aren't relating to my crafting, so I won't be posting them here. 

 

As the year comes to an end I have to say that it has been a very challenging year for most of us and hopefully 2021 will be better. We are still going to have to be extremely careful for a while until a large majority of us get the vaccine. 

I hope each of you will continue to find the time to do something for yourself each day even if it is just for a few minutes.  We have to make sure that we take care of yourselves so that we can be there to help others.  I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and let's hope that 2021 is better than 2020.

 

Making progress on things

Here it is the start of another week and yes another week of working from home and staying home as much as possible.  Covid-19 still means that the Toronto area is in lockdown, and it looks like we will be for a while yet.  The cases in Ontario continue to rise and that doesn't look good considering Christmas is also this week. The news is reporting that all of Ontario will be in lockdown again effective December 24th so will see if that is true when the announcement is made this afternoon.  It doesn't change anything for us as it is still the same here.

Unleash The Butterflies - here is a project that I haven't worked on for over a year.  I decided it was time to pull it out and see if I could get a few stitches in on it over the weekend.  I know that I didn't get a lot done but at least I was able to make a bit of progress on it.  I think this project will stay out until the New Year and I will see how much more of it I can get done.

When I pulled this project out I looked at when I last worked on it, and it was November 14, 2019 so yes more than a year has passed since this got the attention.  It is always nice when you pick up a piece after that long, and you immediately start to enjoy it again and wonder why you put it down in the first place.  I know why this was put away for a while, and now I hope to be able to continue to move it forward even if it is a little slower given I have a couple of other projects planned for 2021.

Covid Santa - here is another ornament that I am currently working on and would like to have it done soon.  This is a Covid Santa, and it goes along with the Covid Snowman that I finished up during the week.  I now have two of the three Snowman finished and now to work on getting some Santa ornaments stitched up.  They may not be finished by Christmas day, but they will be finished up soon.  I will try and see how much of this ornament I can get done this week as it would be nice to have the sets completed and given to the people that will be receiving them.

Socks - now here is a project that is continuing, and it is making me feel good.  I have decided that at the end of this month I will take a picture of the socks that I have completed since I started working on these sets in September.  I am happy with the progress that I have made, and it will be fun to see all of them together in one picture.  I know that there will be socks on the needle as well as that is how I work. I currently have three socks on the go, and it is nice when I can sit and work on a sock while attending a webinar.

The yarn I am using for this sock is Perfect Pair - Drive All Night by Loops and Thread.  I have been enjoying most of the colourways of this brand so will be having lots of socks once I finish knitting up all the yarn that I have.

This week is Christmas and I know for a lot of us it is going to be different this year.  If you are like us and dealing with restrictions know that hopefully by being careful this Christmas we will all be able to have a better Christmas next year.  Remember to take some time during this crazy season to do something that you enjoy doing even if it is just a few minutes at a time.  My plans are to continue to work on my projects when I have the time as they all make me happy.

I would like to wish every a Merry Christmas and stay safe.

 

Moving projects forward and finishing socks

Here it is the start of another week and another week closer to Christmas.  It is amazing how things are so different this year but still it is time to sit back and be thankful for what we have.

 

Covid-19 still is keeping up in lockdown but at least we are able to continue to work remotely and that is good.  Now to see what the new year will bring as I know that the vaccines are now starting to arrive here in Ontario so let's see when things can slowly get back to normal.  First we need the number of cases to go down and then it might help everyone.

 

Pandemic - I got a few more stitches in on Pandemic but given everything else going on last week I am happy with the progress that I was able to make. I am not sure how much I will get done on this piece before Christmas as I am trying to get some Christmas ornaments finished up. It is nice to see that I have at least moved it forward a little and that is what is important right now.

Covid Christmas Ornaments - this is what I have been focusing on over the last week when I had some stitching time and I didn't have a lot of that. I was able to get at least the first snowman finished up and that makes me feel good as now I just have two more snowmen and three Santa ornaments to stitch. 

This week I hope to be able to make some more progress on these ornaments and yes I am running out of time to get them all finished up before Christmas.  I am thinking that my goal might be two snowmen and two Santa ornaments and then I can work on getting the two for me done after Christmas.

In the picture of the 2nd ornament it doesn't look like I have got a lot done but at least I know that I have quite a bit of his body finished up and then the rest of it seems to go quickly or at least that is what it felt when I did the first one.

Socks - this week when I had a few minutes I was picked up some of my socks and moving a lot of them forward.  I had a bunch of socks that I just needed to decrease for the toe, so I got two of those socks completed.  It also meant that I had the circular needles ready for another sock to be cast on so one of the needles was used for the second sock of the pair.

The other needle was for a new pair of socks so that was nice and it got cast on as well.  It makes me feel good when I can see some good progress on my socks now.  I have been trying to at least work a few minutes on my socks each day in December and so far it has been going well. I know that sitting and working on these are nice and relaxing until I have to do the decrease for the toe but that doesn't take long to do.

Of course, now that I am starting to get pairs of socks finished it is time to start wearing them and enjoying them.  I currently have two pairs of socks that I have recently knit ready to wear and a third pair and that is getting close to being finished up.  I hope to continue to knit a bit each day for the rest of the month on my socks and I will see what I can get done.

 

I hope everyone continues to be safe and you find a bit of time to do the things that you love each day.  I know that we are all dealing with a year that is so different from we could have imaged but at least maybe now things will slowly start to get better but it is going to take time.  I hope you all have a good week and you get something done that you would like to do.
 

Another week and a bit of progress

Here it is the start of another week with the world still dealing with Covid-19. Cases around Ontario still continue to be an issue with some areas being worse than other areas.  Toronto is still in the locked down state and will be for at least another 2 weeks.  

We are continuing to work remotely and yes there are some challenges but at least everyone is safe when we do it this way.  Outings are limited to the essential trips so staying put is what we are doing and I have been able to continue to get bits of crafting done so that makes me feel good.

Pandemic - I didn't focus on this project very much this week as I had another project getting most of the time.  I wanted to see if I could at least get a couple of strands of thread into this project so that is what ended up happening.  I love this project and all the different sections and can't wait to give it more attention but that will have to wait until some ornaments get stitched up.

Covid Christmas Snowman - this is a project that has been a bit of a challenge for me and part of it has been the colour of fabric that I picked for these ornaments.

Last week I said that I was going to change the fabric that I was using and I did but still didn't like how they were turning out so instead of changing fabric I changed the floss that I was using.  The entire snowman is now stitched in the new Diamant thread by DMC.  It is a metallic thread and I have to admit that I enjoyed working with this thread.  Yes it has its issues like all the metallic threads but it worked up pretty easily once I figured out how to handle it.  As you can see I have most of the snowman now completed and I am looking forward to moving onto the next ornament.  I have three sets of ornaments to make so trying to decide if I am going to work on each set or should I try and get at least two of the snowman done first.  I guess I will figure that out after I get this one done.

Socks - this week I decided it was time to pick up my socks again and see if I could get some of them off the needles.  I am currently looking at the sock pile that I have and there are three socks that are either at the decrease for the toe point or very close to that.  Once the toe is done it means that I can start another sock so that would be nice.  One sock will complete a pair and the other two are the first ones of a pair so that means two socks still need to be knit before I have the pairs of socks that I want.

 

This year everything seems so different as we approach the holiday season and a lot of that is all the running around that we normally do.  This year things are so different for everyone and I know as I have talked to friends they have all said the same thing.  We continue to make sure that we are wearing our masks, social distancing and staying home as much as possible.

I hope everyone continues to find the time each day to do something that you love doing.  It may help a bit as we all need that time to just focus on something happy.  I try each day to find even those few minutes to pick up one of my crafts and forget about everything else that is going on in the world. Hope you have a good week and please stay safe.

Moving projects forward

Here it is the start of another week and yes another week of trying to move things forward even if it is slowly.

We are still in the "Grey" category here in Toronto so that means that most stores are closed other than essential stores.  It has meant nothing has changed for us as we continue to help our clients remotely.

Pandemic - This project got a bit of attention this week but not as much as it has been getting. I have continued to try and get a few stitches in on it most days but there were days that I just didn't want to work on this piece in the last week so it didn't get the normal love that it has been getting.  I will see what I can get done on it this week.

Moonstone - this project got some attention yesterday as it was something a little different and I wanted to see if I could get the left bottom half done.  I am happy with the progress that I was able to make on this piece as it means that I am now able to see what the entire piece is going to look like.  

I am going to continue to work on this piece a bit at a time as I would like to  see how much more of it I can get before the end of the year.  It has been fun working on canvas instead of Aida or Even weave.  The project is nice and small and something that if we were allowed to travel would make a great travel project.  I do have some of these that I want to stitch later on, so I will have to remember that they are great for travelling.

Covid Christmas Snowman - here is a project that is going to be going away for a bit.  I was working on this snowman ornament and noticed that it is very hard to see on the fabric that I picked for it.  I thought that the white would show up more than it does on the Ecru fabric.  I have decided that instead of using this fabric I will use something else for the ones that I would like to make into ornaments for this year.  I may come back and finish this one later or it might just get tossed.

English Paper Piecing - this week I pulled out the runner that I have been working on and decided to start to add more of the motifs to it.  I am still a very long way from being finished but at least it got a bit of attention and I hope to continue to add the rest of the motifs to this piece before too long.

I am not sure how many more motifs that I need to make for it but I think the two colours of blue motifs are finished being made so it is just the white ones that need to get finished up. I had hoped to have this runner finished up before the end of the year but considering everything else that needs my attention it won't be getting finished by then but I will at least have a project that I can work on more next year.

ETSY - the shop is still busy, and I am going to be adding more grime guards into it as we continue to go through our fabric stash, sometimes a custom order can help choose the next fabric or fabrics (Denim coming up).  We have one more month of $1 for every grime guard sold will be given to the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto.

I hope everyone continues to stay safe and home as much as possible.  If your area doesn't have many cases be thankful as there are a lot of areas with lots of cases.  Remember to take care of yourself and try and find a bit of time each day to do something that you love.

Another week and some stitching

Here it is the start of another week and yes I have been able to make some more progress on a couple of things.  I would like to see if I can continue to see progress on projects over the next little while.

Covid-19 continues to be a challenge and Toronto has now gone back into a lockdown so will see how things go.  As of today we are in a 28-day lockdown with most things either closed or with limited access.  It means that we are going to be staying home as much as possible. We at least can still continue to support our clients remotely.

Pandemic - here is the project that has got a lot of my attention.  It feels so good to see some more progress on something.  I feel that just getting more of the different projects moved forward would make me feel a little better.  Pandemic has been the project that I have been working on and am very happy with the progress that I got in over the last week. I still have a very long way to go on this piece but at least I have got one little section moved forward.  I am not sure when this piece will really get finished but at least if I can continue to see bits of progress on it, I will feel a little better.

I do enjoy this piece as I like all the different little items that appear and how even sitting for a little while I can start to see changed in the design right now.  I know that when I get to some other sections it will take a while to see progress but that's ok as I am enjoying the stitching.

Socks - this week I finally picked up my socks to knit on again.  I haven't been working on them for quite a while so figured it was time to see if I could start to get some of these actually finished instead of just sitting waiting to be worked on. 

Maybe the cooler weather is also helping me feel that it is getting time to have some nice new socks to put on. I still need to work on the other socks as well because none of them have had the attention since October so now to get back to working on them.  I hope that now that I have got back to knitting on my socks that I will finally get some of them done considering how much sock yarn I currently have.  I am not sure if I will focus on one sock to get it done or if I will bounce between all of these socks but either way they will get moved forward again.

ETSY - the ETSY shop is also moving along and that is something that I have been loving.  DLKsCrafts is my shop where I can sell grime guards and other cross stitch related items.  Sometimes where are thread drops in stock but that is one item that has been difficult to keep in stock so now to get back to making them.  In the shop we are currently also doing a donation of $1 for each grime guard sold between Oct 22nd and December 31st to the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto.  

 

Crafting has been helping me deal with this pandemic and I hope that everyone has found their own way of dealing with it.  It has been a challenge for so many people to go through this year and know that no matter what you aren't alone.  We have gone to conferences virtually this year and in the last week we even attended a wine tasting session virtually.  Yes, there are a lot of things that can help you spend some time and not feel so alone.

I hope that you have a good week and you find a bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy.  Stay safe and stay home as much as possible and know that things will get better one day.

Some progress

It is hard to believe it is Monday already, but I have at least been able to make some progress on some items this past week.  Yes, Toronto is still dealing with a lot of Covid-19 cases, so we are still working remotely and trying to stay away from others as much as possible. Being able to work remotely does make it nice as it means that we don't have to go out very often. The city has recommended that we only go out to do essential things like grocery shopping, work and school.

Moonstone - this piece got some attention this week but it was very slow.  I am not sure why I was having such a hard time working on the piece but I continued to make progress on it but didn't get as much done as I had hoped to do.  Now to see what this week is going to be like as I have another project that has come back out of hiding and got quite a bit of attention over the weekend.

I didn't get to the 50% completed but am happy that I have now been able to add all the colours and some colours are actually finished being used as well.

Pandemic - here is a piece that I haven't stitched on since early September, but I figured it was time for it to get a bit of love, and I am very happy with the progress that I was able to get on it over the weekend.  I picked this up on Saturday evening and put some stitches in on it and then yesterday it was my focus piece.

I wasn't sure how much of it I was going to get done this week, but I am very pleased with the progress that I made.  I know that I still have a very long way to go on this piece but it was nice seeing that I was able to finally make some progress on it.  I hope that through the end of the year that I can continue to work on this piece even a bit each week so that I can see more of it done.  It is a nice piece and considering all the different little items it makes it a lot of fun to stitch.  

I am bouncing around on the lower left section of this piece but that didn't bother me.  It was nice to see some progress on something and now to see what I can get done even in the next week on it.  I think it will depend on how things go this week as I do have other things that need my attention before I can sit and work on my stitching.

Kentia Wrap - I can finally say that I have finished the first section of this pattern and am now onto the next section. The second section is very easy so it is going a little faster than the first section.  I am looking forward to getting more of the second section done as it is basically just the little dots that appear so that is a lot faster to knit.

This project is sitting near me in my office area and it is something that I can work on when I have a few minutes.  I also can use this piece when I am attending different webinars where I don't need to take notes.  I figure that this is going to get a bit of attention this week but will have to see really how much I can get done on it.

This week there are a few things that I need to do so that is going to be what I do.  I hope that everyone continues to stay safe and you find some time each day to do something for yourself.  I hope everyone has a good week and I will see what I can get done.
 

Where did the week go?

It is hard to believe that another week is over.  Yes the cases of Covid-19 continue to climb here but we are still working remotely for our clients which is good. The weather for the last week has been amazing and we are continuing to break temperature records because of how mild it has been.

Moonstone - this week I was focusing on trying to make some progress on Moonstone and I have now been able to get to the right side of the design.  The actual design will be just under 4 inches square when it is completed and I am loving how it is turning out.  I worked on getting quite a bit of the white in so that I could have areas to fill in.  It does take quite a bit of time to get the white sections in but at least it means that I then have areas where I can fill in the various colours and that is when I see the entire design start to come together.

I have been able to get most of the middle motif also completed so that gives me an idea of what I need to do in the other sections.  I hope to get the bottom left quarter of the design done this coming week but will have to see how that goes.  Of course, I start working on once section and then I continue to use one of the colours and it takes me in a lot of different directions but I love how this is turning out. It would be nice to see what an entire area looks like so hopefully next week I will be able to show you what the design will look like.

Kentia Wrap - now my knitting didn't get as much time as I would have liked this week.  I think part of it was because I was busy and just didn't have the time to focus on these rows.  Each row does take some time as it involves quite a bit of counting as well as slipping the stitches.  I hope to see more progress on this project this week but will have to see how things go. 

I have now got just over half way on the first section of the shawl and considering there are 10 sections I still have a long way to go but that is while with me.  I am thinking that once this section is done I might be able to work on it a little faster as I will know that I need to do.

I haven't got a lot of progress on my socks either lately so now to see if I can pick them up again and get more of that done as well.

Things around here have been busy which is good in a way.  I am looking forward to seeing what this week is like as I know that there are a few things that will need my attention.  I hope everyone continues to stay safe and you find some time each day to do something that you enjoy doing.  I know for me there have been days when even a couple of minutes of relax time has been great so grab those and relax.

 

A finish and some new starts

Here it is the start of another week and yes we are still dealing with more and more cases of Covid-19 in Toronto.  It looks like some restaurants maybe able to start to reopen for in store eating but will have to see how that goes next week.  For us it doesn't make much of a difference as we continue to support our clients from home.

Blushing - now here is a project that got some love in the last week and I am very happy with the results.  I had been joking around earlier in October that I was going to get it finished by the end of the month but wasn't sure if that was really going to happen but it did.  On October 30th I was able to put the last few stitches in on the piece and am very happy with how it turned out.  I have ironed it yet so the picture still isn't  the best but at least it shows that it is finished and now to start working on some other projects.

Here are some details about this pattern:

Started June 12, 2020

Finished October 30, 2020

Number of stitches: 30,625

# of colours: 90

I really enjoyed this piece and can't wait to see it framed and hanging on one of the walls here at home.  

Of course once this was finished there was another challenge and that was what project I am going to work on. I have some projects that I am thinking about working on but as of right now I haven't decided on the project that I am going to focus on so maybe the next couple of months I will just have some fun and work on some different projects and let January 1st be when I start the next big project.

Moonstone - as I said I wasn't sure what I was going to work on after finishing Blushing so I picked up this smaller design.  Yes, it is full coverage but it is a lot smaller as it is only 81 stitches squares.  I decided that this piece I was going to work on some canvas that I had so I am stitching this on 23 count canvas and it is Moonstone by Carolyn Manning.  The pattern has 1 big piece and 4 smaller versions and I decided to work on one of the smaller versions.

Of course, this piece used a lot fewer colours so that means that I am enjoying working on the larger sections but also seeing some good progress on it quickly. I am not sure how much time this project will get as it will really depend on how it catches my attention and also what else I find that I want to work on.  The piece of projects that I am thinking of working on is a little large but I will see how it goes during the next couple of months.

Kentia Wrap - here is another project that I decided I wanted to work on this week after getting Blushing done. This is a slip stitch design that I saw someone else working on and decided that it looked like a lot of fun so I have picked it up and started working on it.  

I am working on this piece as well as working on the socks so that means that I have a lot of knitting that I also want to work on so now to see what really gets worked on over the next little while.

 

 I hope everyone continues to stay safe and you find the time each day to do something that you enjoy doing.  This week I will try and work on Moonstone a bit more and maybe see if I can get more of the wrap done as well but time will tell.  Please stay safe and hopefully next week I will have more things to show you or at least more progress on these projects.

 

An interesting week

Here it is Monday morning and I can actually say that I have been able to make some progress on a few things this week. We continue to deal with large number of Covid-19 cases in Ontario and even in Toronto.  The work continues to be remote most of the time which is good because it means that we can limit the exposure we have with others.

Blushing - here is a project that got some more attention in the last week and it looks like that there is an end in the near future for it.  I am loving how it is turning out and now just have three colours to finish adding to the piece.

Over the last week I tried to get some of the black filled in because there was so much that still needed to be done.  I am now down to the right side of the piece for the black and then two pinks that need to be added to the actual rose.

If things go well this week I am thinking that it might be finished before the end of next weekend.  I know that this will all depend on other demands on my time but at least I am going to try and see if I can get it done.

I have other projects that I am wanting to work on and they have been put aside until this project gets completed.  Now to figure out which project will get some attention once Blushing is finished.  I think I will leave that decision until after I can actually see this piece finished.

Socks - my socks did get some attention in the last week and the attention they got was different than in previous weeks.  One of the reasons that socks got different attention is because there was a two day conference that I was attending this last week. The conference was virtual this year so that meant that I was going to be sitting at my desk for two days watching various presentations.  It was nice to have socks that I could just pick up and work on the main section of them. 

The sock that I was working on before the conference got some attention but of course it still isn't finished.  My goal this week is to get that sock finished and then move these other two socks forward.

It was really nice having something that I could work on without looking at it while I watched the hours of presentations.  There were some presentations that I did take notes but a lot of the presentations were just ones that you sat and listened to them.

For us this is conference season so I am going to try and have socks ready for reach of them so that I can work on knitting the main sections while watching the various presentations.

ETSY - I don't normally talk about my shop (DLKsCrafts) here on my blog but this week I wanted to let everyone know that from October 22nd to December 31st we will be donating $1 from every grime guard sold to the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto.

I continue to work on some other projects but none of them have enough completed to show but maybe if I can find some time this week I might be able to move a couple of the other projects forward.

I hope everyone continues to stay safe and you find a bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing. If you are in an area that has lots of Covid-19 cases please take care of yourself and those around you.  It is now time for me to get some work done so hopefully later today I can work on Blushing and maybe next week have a finish.