A week and different projects

Salmon Rose - July 2, 2015

 This week I decided that it was time to try and do something different for a while.

The first thing I did was to look at the projects that I have on the go and haven't worked on for quite a while.  The project that got picked up was Salmon Rose which hasn't been worked on since July 2015.  Yes, this project has been sitting for a year without any attention so I figured it was time to try and make a bit of progress on it.

Salmon Rose - Sept 7, 2016

I was able to spend one evening working on it and now to see when I will be picking it up again.  I do hope that I can continue to make some progress on it as I would like to see this one finished as there are a lot of meaning behind the rose. This is based on a picture of a rose that was in a basket for my husband's grandmother's memorial.  I am looking forward to seeing what this one looks like.

After spending a couple of evenings of not getting anything done I decided that I was going to pick up my knitting needles and see what I could get accomplished quickly.  I actually ended up casting on two projects the same day so now to see how both of them proceed.

Green Mindless Shawl

The first project that was started was a shawl and it is called "Mindless" and that is what it should be once I get a few more rows done.  The pattern is very simple as there are only two rows for the pattern so it does work up quickly.  The picture doesn't show the pattern too well but there are columns of either knit or purl stitches.  The columns vary in width so that is what makes it interesting to work.

I hope to be able to make some good progress on the shawl over the next while and will see how that goes as it is using a thinner yarn so it does take some time before you can really see some progress on it.

Diagonal baby afghan

After working on the shawl for a while I decided that I wanted to knit a baby blanket but wanted something easy to do.  The pattern I decided to make is a basic diagonal baby afghan.  You cast on and then increase to the two corners and then you decrease.  It is something that shouldn't take me too long to do but I will see how this one goes.  I started this on Friday evening and was able to spend a bit of time both Saturday and yesterday working on it.  I didn't spend lots of time as there were other projects that I needed to work on as well.

I am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on all three of these projects.  This week I am not sure what I am going to be working on.  I have a busy week ahead of me so will see what time I can find to work on the various projects.

I am happy having the different knit projects on the go as it gives me something different to work on than the baby hats.  The baby hats are still being made and the pile of them continues to grow.  Last month I was able to make 20 baby hats and will see how many I can get done this month.

It is now time to get some writing done for work and then I will see what time I have left today to try and craft.

A good week

This week I was able to get some crafting done and I am happy with that.

Before I write about the crafting I am going to talk about something that I did on Saturday.

Which hat would you like?

Smiles from the children

Over the last while I have been working on making some children's hats and had a pile of them looking for a few home.  I had been giving them to a local  community service office but then gave that up.  I gave it up when they were calling and asking for lots of hats without giving me any notice.  I was getting a call like this "Hi, we were wondering if you have 45 hats ready, we need them by next Friday for the back to school program."  What the office didn't realize was I wasn't going to just make hats if they didn't need them and have them all sitting around.  I also couldn't make 45 hats in a couple of weeks. When they had the back to school program I tried to help for a while but also normally tried to have hats made that were colour appropriate for the children.  I would ask how many girls and how many boys were going to attend the program.

After I gave up helping the office I still worked on the occasional hat so that meant that I had some sitting waiting for me to find a place where I could give them. A couple of weeks ago we heard about a back to school event that was going to be held in our community.  I was able to contact the organizer and he said he would appreciate the hats and I could give them out myself during the event.

A hug from one little girl.  Great feeling.

Saturday meant that we took the 29 hats that I had and during the event gave them to younger children who were going to be going to school this week. The hats were for the children starting kindergarten and junior kindergarten so that was the group I aimed for. 

A lot of the children really liked their hats and even with the temperature of around 24C put their hats on which was really nice. One little girl gave me a hug for the hat which made me feel so good.

I heard a lot of thanks from the children that received the hats so now I am looking forward to seeing these hats in the neighbourhood when the weather gets colder.

Sugar - August 28th

This last week I was able to get some cross-stitch done and that was also good.  I focused on one project for most of the time that I could spend stitching. I decided that I was going to try and work on the background of this project for a while as I could do this while sitting outside or listening to some podcasts.  The other nice thing about the background of this design is it is only a half cross so it doesn't take as long to do.

Of course as the week was wrapping up I discovered a design that I loved and had to get it charted and ready to stitch.  I was able to get the design charted and have started to stitch it but I am going to leave that project until after I talk to the artist to show anything about it.

Sugar - September 5th

This week I am not sure which project will get my attention.  I also think it will depend on how warm it really gets out because if it is like they say it is going to be I may just work on some baby hats because they are easy to work on while sitting outside.

It is back to school for the children in our neighbourhood so that will mean a new schedule for everyone.  I am happy that I can still sit here and work on my stuff and am not impacted as much with the new routine that others have.  For now, it is time to get a bit of work done and then I will see what project I pick up this evening.

Finally getting a bit of cross-stitch done

Monarch - August 16th

The weather has finally cooled down just a little bit and I have been able to find a little bit of time in the evenings to work on some of my cross-stitch projects.

One piece got the most attention this week and that was Monarch Butterfly.  It really didn't get a lot of attention but at least it was the one that I can say that the focus on it for this week.

Monarch - August 27th

What I wanted to accomplish this week was to get to the right side of the project so that I knew how big the project was going to be.  I am happy now that I know that I have reached all four sides of the project so now it is just filling in the various areas.  I am not sure how I am going to work on this project but I hope over the next while to see some more progress on it as I am looking forward to getting it done.

The Tiger Lily did get a little bit of attention this week and that was one evening when I found that I just wanted to sit and work on it.

Tiger Lily - August 21st

The Tiger Lily is being worked on in areas instead of in colours.  I am trying to finish a block at a time with this project so that is nice as well.  What it does mean is I am not going to be seeing a lot of the design show up at a given stitch time but at least I am seeing that I am getting this project worked on.

Tiger Lily - August 24th

I have passed the half way mark on the bottom of the design and I think I am close to the half way up on the left side but will see when I check the pattern next time I pick up this project.  I think that I will now start to see more of the Tiger Lily appear as it is on the right side and upper part of the design.  This one is a lot of fun to work on because just by filling in a few blocks at a time I can see the design slowly come to life.

Sugar - April 17th

What both of these designs are showing me is I can work on projects differently depending on what I feel like.  Tiger Lily is being worked on more at a block at a time while Monarch is being worked on either a colour at a time or a section at a time depending on what I feel like on that stitching time.

One more project got a little bit of attention this week and it is Sugar.  I haven't picked this project up since Aprils so I figured it was time to try and at least put a few stitches in on it.  What I did was work on getting the outline done of the total project because this one is 10 inches square so yes it is going to be a rather large project when it is finished.  I have quite a bit of background to work on so am figuring that I am going to try and get Sugar outlined and then depending on what I feel like I can either work on the background or the actual full stitches in the design. 

Sugar - August 26th

The red threads on the design are showing me the center of the design.  It also gives me an area to show me how much of the total design that I have got done.  I would love to get the bottom of this design stitched soon but will see what happens over the next few weeks. 

A lot of my projects are being worked on slowly right now and that is because of how many I have on the go.  Blackwork Dragon didn't get any attention this week and I hope to be able to get some more of it done in the next couple of weeks.

There are some projects that haven't been worked on for over a year so I am thinking that maybe they will slowly start to see some work on them as well.   I have a list of 7 cross-stitch projects that I would like to work on over the next while so now to see which one actually gets the attention when I feel like stitching.

I am continuing to work on some baby hats and afghans and will see how many I was able to stitch in August on Wednesday of this week.  I have a pile sitting that will be going to the hospital later this fall but I haven't sat down and figured out how many hats I have completed this month. 

There are now some things that need my attention so I am going to go and do them and see if this evening I can work on one of the projects that I have sitting waiting for those few stitches to be done on them.

Progress on projects

Blackwork Dragon - August 14th

 This week I am happy to say that I was able to get some stitching done and saw some changes on three different projects.

The weather wasn't as hot this past week so it meant that I was able to spend a bit of time sitting inside and cross-stitching.

Blackwork Dragon was one project that got a bit of work early in the week and then I didn't work on it again.  It does take quite a bit of time to get the detail work done so this is a project that won't be progressing very quickly.

Blackwork Dragon - August 15th

I am going to try and work on it a bit at at time so that I can continue to see bits of progress on it.  I know that just sitting and working on this project is a little harder so at least being able to work on it on and off would be great. All of the dragon is filled in with various patterns so that is another easy it takes a bit of time.  You have to check to see which pattern you should be doing in an area and they change in different spots on the design so that is also a challenge.

Monarch Butterfly - August 9th

Another project that got a bit of work this week was Monarch Butterfly which I decided that I was going to try and work on one day and that is what I did.  Of course this project is being stitched a little different so it really doesn't look like I got a lot of stitching done on it.

Monarch Butterfly - August 16th

The Monarch Butterfly will be around 4 inches square when it's done so there isn't a lot of stitches let to get to the right hand side of the project.  I had decided that I was going to try and at least get to each side and I was able to do that on the top, bottom and left side so now to work on getting the stitching over to the right side.  I am thinking that being able to see the total size may help me get this project done quickly as it really isn't that big.

The Monarch Butterfly is again a project that I converted to cross-stitch so there isn't a completed project to compare my work with. It is fun looking at the original picture I am using and seeing how much of the design that I have been able to stitch so far.

Tiger Lily - August 14th

One more cross-stitch got the most attention this week and it was the Tiger Lily that I have been working on. This is the project that got the most attention but once again it didn't get lots of time due to the weather.

Tiger Lily - August 21st

The Tiger Lily is a bigger picture so I have just reached the half way mark in the bottom of the design but that doesn't bother me as I am slowly starting to see this design appear.

Cake Cakes yarn - Pop

Hopefully the weather will cooperate now and I will be able to spend some evenings working on these cross-stitch designs. I am happy with the progress that I have been making on all three of these designs and am thinking that instead of all of them getting attention each week I am going to either just work on one of them or two of them.  I think of lot of what stitching I do really depends on how I am feeling each day because sometimes working on the Dragon just feels like too much of a challenge so the actual x's on the other designs are a bit easier to do.

Pineapple Shawl

There is now some work that need my attention so will try and get that done so that this evening I can curl up and work on a project.  The baby hats are still being worked on and yesterday I started a shawl using some new yarn so am trying to see what it looks like.

The new yarn that I am trying to Caron Cakes and the colour I am using is Pop so it is interesting to see how it is going to work up.  I didn't get a lot of the shawl worked on yesterday but so far I am enjoying how soft the yarn is to handle and how quickly this shawl is working up.  I am not sure  how long it will take to get this project finished but at least I was able to make some progress on it quickly yesterday after getting home with it. The shawl pattern is called Pineapple Peacock Shawl and it uses worsted weight so it is something that is quick to make.

It is now time to get to work so that maybe tonight I can work on t least one of these projects that I have on the go.  I look forward to seeing how each of these projects progress this week.

Cross-stitch progress

Blackwork Dragon - Aug 8th

The heat has finally broken so I think I am going to be able to get back to doing some crafting in the evenings now.

This last week I didn't get a lot of anything done as the heat was just too much and I just couldn't get motivated to pick up a crochet hook for most of the week.  I think yesterday was the first day that I crocheted and of course I ended up working on a couple more baby hats which is great.  I continue to get them done but this month the progress as been very slow on them.

The projects that did get a little bit of attention this week were two different cross-stitch projects that I am working on.  The one that I could work on outside was the Blackwork Dragon by Jennifer Aiken-Smith.  This is one that I started in April and it was put down until this weekend when I was able to get some stitching done on it.  Having a project with just one colour was great while sitting on the balcony.

Blackwork Dragon - Aug 14th

This project was working up quickly as I did the outline but now that I have all the detail to complete it is going to take a bit more time.  I am hoping that this week I will be able to get a bit more of this done. 

The detail is going to take me some time but even getting a little bit done will make me very happy.  I am thinking that if I can get into the routine of working on this project for a while I should be able to make some progress on it.

The second project that I worked on was a Tiger Lilly design that I have.  This project was started in July but didn't see much attention until this week.  It was stitch night on Wednesday so I took this piece with me and that was the focus while sitting in a nice air conditioned area for a while.

Tiger Lilly - July 27th

Tiger Lilly - Aug 14th

During stitch night there are times when I don't seem to get much done and then there are the times that I can get quite a bit done.  Of course it looks like a large area was worked on but this is a small area but at least I am seeing some colour and that is nice.  This is another project that I hope to be able to work on this week.  I am thinking that just being able to work on it for a while would help me start to see more of the flower appear.

This week I am hoping to be able to get some more crocheting done as well as some cross-stitching.  I am not sure which project will get the most attention but will see how things go. I also have a Monarch Butterfly cross-stitch on the go so will see which projects get the attention this week. 

There are a few things that I need to get done for work this morning and then I will see what I can get done on my various projects. 

Crafting and the heat

more baby hats

This past week I have to admit that the crafting has been way down.  Of course work is part of the reason and then the heat is another reason.

The hot and humid days and evenings has meant that I really haven't wanted to do anything other than try and stay cool.  I have been trying to get a least get a few stitches in each day but crocheting has been slow.

Over the last week I was able to finish a few hats which is nice and I have a few more that are partly done so hopefully I can get some of them finished up this week.  I think most of the hats currently on the go are white which is very different for me.

I want to see if I make a dent in some of the yarn that I have to work on.  I received a little bit of yarn last weekend from a girl who's grandmother passed away.  I have promised that I would make some baby hats with the yarn so that is what I have started to do.  I am going to be keeping these baby hats separate as we are going to try and get her to drop the hats off herself in memory of her grandmother.

Santa hat

The first hat that I made with some of that yarn was another Santa hat because I saw the red and white yarn and immediately thought of a couple more of these hats.  I enjoy making these hats and figured it would also be a little different.

I am not sure how many hats that I will get out of the yarn that I received but am looking forward to seeing them come tonight in the near future.  The hats from this yarn has taken a bit of a priority over my other baby hats as I want to get them back to the grand-daughter as quickly as I can. It feels so good working on these hats because I know it made her happy when I said that I would make the baby hats with the yarn.

I have a few more projects that are on the go but have to admit that with the hot and humid weather that we have been having I haven't wanted to do much.  This week is another hot and humid week so I will see what I can actually get accomplished.

There are a few work things that need my attention today so I am now going to try and get them done.  Hopefully this evening I can get a bit of crocheting done but will see how things go.

Weekly update on hats and more

More hats in July

After writing the last blog about reaching 335 hats I tried to finish a few more hats before the end of the month and there is a picture of the remaining hats.  The final total for the period from September 1st through July 31st is 348 hats so I am happy with that total.

Over the weekend I was able to get a few rounds done on an afghan that I wanted to start.  This is how much stitching I was able to complete on Sunday afternoon while sitting chatting with some friends.

Cotton Candy Afghan

With all the heat and humidity I haven't been crafting like I normally do but hopefully soon I will be able to get back to stitching and enjoying getting some of my projects finished up.  I am really looking forward to being able to spend a bit of time cross-stitching soon as I would like to see what a couple of the projects that I am currently working will look like.

This week the weather is still suppose to be hot and humid so will have to figure out projects that work will when I am sitting outside in the evenings.  Of course, I know that the baby hats work well because they are nice and small so that will help.

Cotton Candy Afghan Yarn

Last Friday I was able to drop off a pile of baby afghans and the baby hats at the hospital.  It was wonderful being able to talk with the Manager of the Birthing Centre, as she was able to tell me what size hats work best so now I am really do better at helping them meet their needs.  I thought one size I was making was a little large and that is the size that the hospital likes the best so that is what I will be working on more often. The baby afghans can be various sizes so that is also nice as I will work on getting a few more of them finished up so that they are ready for the next drop off.

It is now time to get some work done and then I will see what the weather will allow me to work on.  At least I have projects of various sizes and complexity so depending on what I feel like doing I have something that fits that need.