Monday, February 26, 2024

A finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and another month has almost come to an end. It has been a busy month and I know that the next couple of months are also going to be busy so will just have to see how things go.

If someone told me, it was still February when I look at the temperature I would laugh because it sure doesn't feel like that here. We have had temperatures above freezing most days and the forecast for this coming week is once again warm weather.

Red Rose - here is the cross stitch project that got the attention this past week. It was started quite a while ago but over the last week I decided to focus on it and see if I could get it finished up quickly.

Being able to focus on just this piece it made me happy, and I was able to get it finished. So, a project that was started over 10 years ago is finally finished. It would have been nice to finish this project years ago, but at least now it is one more thing off my list of projects to finish.

This project was Red Rose by Linda Overduin Designs and it was a kitted project, so I didn't have to find floss or fabric for it, so it was a fun project to get back to working on. By focusing some time on this it means that other projects that I have on the go, got very little attention but now that this is done it is time to start working on another project and maybe see how much of it I can get done.

Star Touched Meadows - January - here is a very small start on this project. Being able to at least get the border completed was good and hopefully this coming week I can spend a bit of time working on this and maybe get some progress done on it. 

I hope to at least get some more work on this before end weekend as I would like to see what the colours are like on this piece. The flower for January is Carnation so I think the colours are a lot lighter so will see how they turn out.


Asymmetrical Lace Knit Shawl - this is the knitting project that has got some attention over the last week, and it has felt good. I am still working on the increases and hopefully this week I will be able to start the pattern section of the shawl. It is fun having something that I don't need to look at a pattern for a while. 

I have been trying to spend a bit of time each day working on this shawl, and I think that has helped me see some good progress on the overall project. This week I would like to once again try and add some more rows to this and get into the lace pattern. Time will tell how much of it I can get done before next weekend.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects this past week and I do know that I would like to make a bit more progress on my English Paper Piecing before I write that blog on Friday. Maybe that is going to be a focus for at least one day this week and I will see how things go after that.

I hope everyone has had a good week and you have found that bit of time each day to do something for yourself. It can be a challenge some days to get that time but at least if you can find that time most days that is what is good.

This week I have things that I need to get done so it is going to be a busy week, but I also hope that I can find some time to sit and recharge my own personal batteries by picking up one of my craft projects and work on it for a little while.


Monday, February 19, 2024

2 finishes and some good progress

Here it is the start of another week and for us the winter cold is back, and it might be here for a little while. I hope that it warms up a bit because I am getting tried of the cold weather. We did have snow this week but not much at all.

Hopefully we will start to warm up just a little bit so that we can enjoy going for walks outside. Right now, with the minus temperatures I don't feel like going out for a walk. I know that it is the middle of February so I shouldn't be expecting really warm weather.

Star Touched Meadows Stitch Along - December - here is the cross stitch project that I was giving my attention to. I have been working on this project for a while and was at the point that I wanted to see it finished.

After some good effort this week I am happy to say that I have got this section of the stitch along finished. The December block is now finished and that means it is almost time to get the January block out and see if I can get it started.

I now have two of the blocks completed and already have the pattern for the January and February so I better get moving on at least the January block and hopefully I will feel good about it.

Red Rose - here is a project that I don't have a starting picture for because I forgot to take one when I pulled it out this weekend. This is a project that I started quite a few years ago and figured it was time to pull it out and see how much I could get done. I worked on this for one day and am happy with how much of it I was able to get done. Now to see if I can get this project also finished up soon so it will be one of the many old projects finally completed.
Beach Haven Shawl - this is another project that this week got the attention that it needed. I had started to cast off the shawl before the beginning of the week, so it just meant spending some time working on getting the rest of the stitches off the needle. 

I am happy with how this shawl turned out and I had given myself to the middle of March to get it done and I was able to get it done by the middle of February so that made me feel really good. The only thing that is left to do is to block it a bit so that the edge lays nice and flat. Of course, after finishing the shawl it was time to figure out the next project that I was going to put on my knitting needles and it didn't take me long to do that.

Asymmetrical Lace Knit Shawl - here is a new project that I started this week as I had some  more of that yarn available and wanted to try it on a different shawl. This pattern is an easier pattern than Beach Haven as the pattern is only at the top of the shawl so that makes the initial section of knitting easy to do.

I am looking forward to working on this shawl and hopefully it will knit up quickly. Seeing that I have been able to get a bit of kitting done most days is good. What I try and do is spend 30 minutes a day working on my knitting, and it seems to help me make progress on the different things. 

Other projects - this week I didn't work on any of the other projects that I have on the go as I was trying to keep a focus on just a couple of projects.

This week I am going to be trying to make some progress on my new shawl and I am not certain which cross stitch project will get most of  the attention. I may try and focus on Red Rose for a little while longer, but I also want to start working on the January section of the Star Touched Meadows Stitch Along. I guess I will decide what gets the attention when I do to pick up my cross stitch this week.

I hope everyone has been able to find that bit of time where you can do something for yourself. It does make a difference because you then have the energy to be there for the ones around you.

This week I will see what I do and hopefully next week I will have some more progress to show you. Have a good week and take that time each day to recharge your own personal batteries.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Some good progress this past week

Here it is the start of another week and yes, I have been able to make some progress on a few things this week. It makes me happy to see that I have been able to continue to work on a couple of my projects and move both of them forward.

The weather here was really nice for a couple of days but now it is getting cold out again so that means it is time to hide here at home and maybe continue to make some progress on my projects during the next week. This coming week is going to be busy, so that also means that I might not have as much time to hide and work on my projects, but I will see have to wait and see how things go.

Beach Haven Shawl - this is the project that seems to have got most of my attention this last week. I have been trying to move this forward, so that I can get it closer to finish. 

The good news is that by Sunday evening I have started to do the cast-off on the shawl so that means that I should be able to get this shawl done before the end of this coming week. I am so happy with the progress that I have been able to make on this shawl. I have been trying to move this shawl forward and this last week I ended up spending most of my free time working on getting the rows done that I needed to get done. 

I have now started the cast off edge on the shawl and given that there are 517 stitches on the needle it is going to take a bit of time to get all of them off, but I will continue to work on it a bit at a time until it is done. I wanted this shawl completed by the middle of March and I should be able to get it done by the middle of February, so that is one month before I said I wanted it done so yes, I have been really working on getting the rows done when I could. Hopefully, next week I will have picture of this shawl finished and all the ends sewn in.

Star Touched Meadows - December - this is the cross stitch focus and I must admit that this past week it didn't get as much attention as I would have liked. I have now at least got this piece to the 75% completed mark so will see how things go in the next couple of weeks. Maybe, now that the knitting is closer to a finish, I will be able to get back to focusing on getting this piece completed.

I was able to add some stitches to the piece this past week and now to see if I can continue to move it forward again. I would like to see if I can get this section of the project finished so that I can start the January piece.

This coming week I am going to try and spend a bit more time working on this cross stitch so that I can get it finished. Seeing it done would make me happy so maybe this is going to be my focus moving forward until it's done. 

Other projects - I haven't worked on many other things as I have been focusing on getting my shawl finished. I did work on my English Paper Piecing for a little while this week so that was nice but not much to show yet.

I hope everyone is finding that little bit of time to do something that you enjoy so that you can keep your own personal battery charged. I know for me being able to sit and work on a project even for half an hour makes me feel so much better. 

This week I hope to be able to get the shawl finished up and then see how much I can get done on my cross stitch. Hopefully next week I will have some more progress to show you.

 

Monday, February 5, 2024

Making some good progress

Here it is the start of another week. It is hard to believe that we are already in February. Yes, January seemed to be a long month but now that it's over it's back to getting lots of things done. After a month of lots of clouds it was nice seeing the sunshine for a while this weekend.

Work is keeping me busy, so I haven't had as much time to work on my crafting but at least I have been able to move a couple of projects forward.

Star Touched Meadows - December - here is the cross stitch project that got the attention this last week. I decided it was time to see if I could at least get this piece moved forward so that was the focus.

It feels good seeing that I have been able to move this project forward and now to just get it finished. I am trying to finish sections of the piece so that I can get some more of the white stitches in instead of leaving all of them to the very end. Maybe this week I will try and put a bit of focus on adding more of the white stitches instead of just working on all of the colours.

I would like to get this section of the stitch along completed as I have received the February section so that means that I am currently two months behind. Early on in this project I figured I wouldn't be keeping up but that doesn't bother me because I know that I can work on these pieces when I have the time.

Beach Haven Shawl - here is the knitting that got all of the attention over the last week. I am very happy with the progress that I have made on this shawl.

The rows are getting a lot longer now, so it is taking me long to get reach row done. I now have 354 stitches on the needle and this week will probably have another big increase so will see how it goes. I do want to get this shawl completed soon so that is why I am trying to focus on this as much as possible.

Other projects - I haven't spent time working on other projects this last week. It has felt good being able to focus on just a couple of projects and seeing that I can move both forward.

This week I am not sure what will get my attention other than the Beach Haven Shawl as I would like to continue to move this project forward. The stitch along will probably get some attention and other than that I am not certain what I will pull out and work on.

I hope everyone has had a good week and you continue to find the time for yourself each day. It's important that we all take that bit of time where we can  recharge our own personal battery. This week I am not certain how much crafting time I will have but hope to be able to show you a bit of progress next week. Until then, have a good week and if you get some sunshine where you are making sure you enjoy a bit of time in it.


 

Thursday, February 1, 2024

English Paper Piecing - January progress

Here it is the end of another month and yes, I have been able to make just a bit of progress on my English Paper Piecing.

Scrap Throw - this month I worked on just one project and didn't even get a lot of progress but at least I got some. I was able to spend one evening working on making some more of the motifs that I need for the border of the scrap throw so I am continuing to move this project forward. I hope to get back to joining the motifs onto the throw as I would like to move my projects forward again.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any of the other projects for a while so that means that I need to get back to working on them again. Hopefully before long I will get back to finding that time where I can sit and sew things together and move a bunch of the projects forward. 

I know that I didn't make a lot of progress in January on the various projects but at least I can say that I did make a bit of progress and that is better than no progress at all. It would be nice to start moving all of my projects forward again and maybe February will be the month that I do that but I'm not sure. I will just have to see how it goes and maybe I will have some progress to show you at the end of February.