Progress and a new start

Here it is the start of another week, and it is cold here in Ontario.  I am glad that we are able to work remotely as it means that we don't have to go out in this weather.  At least, we aren't currently getting the snow like they are in Texas, but it looks like we will get some later this week.

Covid-19 is still impacting us, and we continue to be in lockdown, but that could be changing next Monday but will see what really happens.

Mini Forget Me Not - here is the project that I worked on again this week.  What I decided to try and do was to work on some larger sections of colour and see how much of it I could get done.  I am liking the progress that I have been able to make and think I will be continuing to work up the side of the pattern for a while.  I know that there is going to be a lot of sections that I need to do later but at least getting some larger sections done and some the areas that aren't as interesting does help some. There are some colours that when you are siting you can't see much of a difference so that doesn't help.

I am going to continue to work on this piece each day as it makes me feel good to see that even with just trying to put in a few stitches each day that I am able to get the progress in that I want. I would like to see that I have been able to continue to move this piece forward and maybe after a couple more weeks of working on the bigger sections I will go back to filling in some other smaller sections of colour again.

Mary Jane Fry - this weekend I decided it was time to start something that wasn't full coverage.  I have a few projects like this, so I picked up Mary Jane Fry and started in on the border.  It doesn't look like much yet and considering it will be 8 x 12 when it is finished it is going to take some time.  I wanted to see if I could get some border done because then just knowing that I have that correct means that I can get the rest of it done without too much trouble.  The border is two different sections, and I am currently just working on the outer border now to see what I get done this week.

English Paper Piecing - this weekend I decided it was time to work on getting more of the motifs added to the throw, so I sat down yesterday and continued to make some progress on it.  I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once all the motifs have been added.

I don't have all the motifs made yet, so I bounce between making more of the motifs and adding them to the throw.  I am just over 25% complete, and it is making me feel very good.  I have had to remember that given the colours of shirts that I have it isn't going to be perfect and that doesn't bother me.  I have also had to remember that as long as two of the same colour aren't beside each other that is all that really matters.  I was overthinking this project for a while so now that I have changed my thinking it is starting to move forward a little quicker.

Socks - I continue to move a couple of my socks forward and that is making me happy as well.  I don't have a lot of progress on either of the socks but at least they are slowly moving forward.  I love having projects that I can pick up and work on while I am relaxing in the evening.

I hope everyone is staying safe and if you are in lockdown like we are you follow all the rules.  If your area is opened up a bit please also remember to be extremely careful as we all would like to get back to doing the things that we did in the past.

This week I hope that you will find a bit of time each day to do the things that you love doing.  It doesn't matter how much time you can find it is just important that you remember that you need to ensure that you take a bit of time for yourself each day.

 

Another week and some progress

It is hard to believe, but February is here, and we are still dealing with the lockdown, but I think we might finally be getting to the point where the province is going to start opening up parts of the economy again.  I hope that is true because it has been such a crazy three months for us.  Toronto has been in basically lock down since November, so it is going to be nice to maybe see things start to slowly get back to normal, or at least that is what the news is reporting this morning.

 

Mini Forget Me Not - this project once again got a few stitches in each day and that is making me feel good.  I am slowly starting to see that I am getting the bottom section moved forward now.  I am trying to work on the larger blocks of colour so that I can at least have areas where I can start and stop the colours that are only a few stitches. 

I hope to be able to continue to move this forward even if it is just a few stitches each day.  I know that I would like to get more of this project done, so it means that I need to focus on it a little more than I have been doing.

English Paper Piecing - here is something that did get a bit more attention this week.  I was able to get some more of the motifs added onto the throw, and it is starting to make me very happy.  I have even marked one of the corners so that I know where I am going with the overall piece.  The orange clip is a corner so that helps me to ensure that I am not adding the motifs to the wrong side of the throw.  I have all the squares cut out for the rest of the motifs so n ow to work on getting more of the motifs made and then added onto the throw.

 

The actual cutting the shirts into the squares does take quite a bit of time, so I have been doing that slowly but at least now I have the squares for this throw done and will see how things go moving forward.  I do hope that this week I can get some more of the motifs made as I am looking forward to seeing what this will look like once I have finished attaching all the motifs to it.   

Socks - I can finally say that I have finished another sock and this one is the second one of a pair.  I am looking forward to seeing how much time I can spend on knitting this week as I would like to see if I can get the other socks that I have on the go moving forward again.  I have been working on them a bit at a time, but I haven't been getting them done as quickly as I would have liked.

This week I am going to try and see if I can move all of these projects forward a bit, but only time will tell.  I have a bunch of things that I need to work on, so that means that I will have to see what I can get done on my crafting.  I would like to see that I can continue to move my cross stitch forward a bit each day and I really want to get more of the throw done so will see how things go.

I hope everyone has a good week, and you stay safe and find a bit of time each day to do the things that you enjoy.  It doesn't matter how long you have to do what you enjoy as even a few minutes each day does move things forward, and it also helps you relax.  Have a great week and hopefully next week I will have more progress to show you.

 

Progress and a new project

 Here it is the start of another week and also the start of another month.  I can honestly say that the months seem to be going by quickly, but things are still the same around here.  Covid-19 still means we are working remotely, and we are basically in lockdown and not sure when that it's going to end.

Mini Forget Me Not - I have continued to work on this project a bit each day, and it makes me happy to see that I am making some progress on it.  I didn't get as many stitches in on it this week but at least I was able to move it forward again.  I will see what this week is like as I would like to continue to work on this and see if I can make some more progress on the bottom section.  

I have been trying to work on some larger sections of colour so that it is easier to have spots where I can start and ends threads when I have the sections that only have a few stitches of one colour.

Socks - now my socks are continuing to get a bit of attention each day but again not as much as I had hoped that I would do.  I have been at least making sure that both of the socks gets some attention and I didn't even take a picture of either of them as there hasn't been much progress on either of them.  Maybe next week I will have some progress that is worth showing.  I know that making sure that I can continue to pick them up makes me feel a little better.

English paper piecing - now here is where some of my attention has gone in the last week.  Yes it looks like it is a bunch of random pieces of fabric being put together, and I can say that is so true. Now the fabric that I am using for this throw has a very special meaning to my mom, my sister and me.  Each of these pieces of fabric that I am using are from shirts that belonged to my dad.

I decided that after my dad passed away that I was going to work on making a throw for my mom using some of his shirts.  I felt that at least then she would have something to keep her warm, and it would also be a reminder of my dad.  I have started this project and one thing I did realize that a lot of his shirts were plaid or versions of plaid.  We have had some good laughs while going through all of his shirts looking at them and remembering.  I am happy with the progress that I have made on this as I just started putting the motifs together yesterday, and now I am looking forward to seeing how many more that I can get done.

I continue to try and make progress on some of my other projects a bit at a time and now to see what this week is like.  I hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time each day to do something that you enjoy.  It doesn't matter how long you do one of your favourite things as long as you take that time for yourself.  Hope the weather is good where you are, and you aren't dealing with lots of snow or other storms.  Take care, and we will try and be back next week with some more progress on things.

Progress and some finishes

Here it is the start of another week and another week of lockdown for us.  Things haven't changed too much other than the case numbers are slowly starting to come down here in Ontario. The weather has gotten colder but working remotely means that we aren't out in the weather too much.

Not sure when Toronto is going to be able to do much given our Covid-19 case numbers, but they are slowly starting to come down.  Hopefully  schools will be able to open up again soon and life will slowly start to get back to normal. 

 Mini Forget Me Not - here is the project that got quite a bit of my attention this week.  I am very happy with the overall progress that I made on it.  I was able to focus on getting some larger sections of colour done and right now it is looking a little different.  I was able to stitch over to the right-hand side of the piece and have completed one page of the pattern out of the 9.

I don't have a lot of the flowers or the fairy done but at least I am slowly starting to get some background done, and I had to admit that there is a lot of background.  I am not sure which way I will head now but at least I know how wide the piece is going to be.

Socks - I finally was able to make a bit of progress on two of the socks that I had on the go.  I continued to work on these and finally over the weekend I was able to get the two of them finished.  I am happy to know that I have two more socks finished, but the problem is now that I have one sock of two different colours so of course that means that I needed to start the other sock to go with each of these.  I cast on the socks yesterday and both of them got a bit of attention so now to see which sock gets finished first. 

I still have one other sock that I have been working on and hopefully this week it will get some love and maybe even get to the point where it is finished.  That sock is the second of a pair so that will mean that I should soon have another pair of socks that I can wear.
 

I have a few other projects that I am slowly working on but as you can imagine there isn't much to show, so I haven't taken any pictures of them.  I am starting to get back to having some time when I can craft and get a few things done so that is making me feel good.   The weather here is cold, but we haven't had much snow yet this winter, but they are calling for some tomorrow, and then we will see what happens after that.

I hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time when you can do the things that make you happy each day. It doesn't matter if it is 5 minutes or hours as long as you can take a bit of time to yourself and do what makes you happy.  Have a great week and stay safe.

Projects moving forward

Here it is the start of another week, and I am happy to see that I was able to make a bit of progress on some projects.  We are still in lockdown here in Ontario but that doesn't change the work for us.  We continue to work remotely with our clients and that works pretty well.

Mini Forget Me Not - here is the project that got some attention this week.  It feels good when you can see a bit of difference when you post the two pictures.  I was able to focus on getting some larger sections of colour moved forward.  I wasn't able to concentrate enough to work on all the little bits of colour changes, so I decided to just work on the larger sections and that worked well for me.

I am not sure what I will be working on this week on this piece, but I am looking forward to seeing if I can get more of this piece accomplished. I look at this piece and there are still lots of large colour sections so will see if I continue to work on them or if I will start working on the little bits of colour. Each day I try and get a few stitches in on this piece and that makes me feel good.  Some days I don't get very many done and then on the weekends are the times that I can make the best progress on this piece.

Poem about Alzheimer's - here is a project that has been sitting without getting any work done on it since March 2020.  I decided that it was finally time for me to get back to working on it so will see how it goes moving forward.  I am not sure how much I will get done on it, but I think I can now work on it with a total understanding.

This is a poem that I charted myself and of course now that I am back working on it, I am making modifications to the pattern. I would like to get this finished so now to figure out how to move it forward quickly while also working on other projects.

Wellington Worksock Shawl - here is a picture of a shawl that I started just before Christmas and have finally been able to get some progress on it.  This is a very simple project so once again something that I can pick up and work on without getting frustrated with it. Of course, the pattern called for grey, white and red, but I decided to do it in teal and cream so will see what it looks like once it is finished.  It is easy to work on so that is something that I am going to be trying to get done over the next little while.

Socks - as you can imagine the socks continue to get attention as I do work on them a bit each day. I haven't finished any of these socks yet, so now I need to focus on getting some of them finished so that I can start either the 2nd sock of some of these or a new colour.  I hope that I can get some more of these socks moved forward and will see what happens in the next little while.

I am working on some other projects as well as I am finally able to focus on things a little easier.  Maybe, I am also trying to keep myself busy instead of dealing with all the emotions that keep bubbling up inside me.  I hope that before too long I can see that I am able to get back to doing all the things that I really love to do without not being able to focus on them for too long.

I hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time each day to do something that you love doing.  I will continue to work on my cross-stitch and knitting and will see what projects get my attention this week. 

 

Moving projects forward

Another week and this week I am feeling a little better.  We are still in lockdown, and it doesn't look like we are going to be getting out of it anytime soon.  I know that the number of cases keeps going out, but I think right now that is due to people gathering together.

We continue to work remotely for our clients so that continues to be the same as even before Covid-19.  I know that we will be working like this for a while as we still aren't sure when we are getting the vaccine.

Mini Forget Me Not - here is the project that I have been putting a lot of energy into it.  Part of this project has been helping me deal with the death of my dad.  I am loving how this piece is turning out and yes it is a full coverage piece, so it is going to be awhile before it is done. I am currently at 7.94% finished on this piece and right now I am loving to see how the picture is starting to appear now.  

This weekend I decided to add some different colours as it made me happy to see part of the flowers to appear.  I look forward to seeing how much I can get done on this piece in the next week as well.  I am working on getting the first page finished on this and I think I might be able to get it done in the next couple of months but saying that will depend on how much time I can spend on the project.

I am not sure if this project is going to be what I work on this coming week, but I will see how things go.  I know that I have other projects that I want to work on as well as I will see what actually gets my attention this week.

Socks - these three socks continue to be on the needles, but I know that if I can sit and focus on one of them I will get it done and then be able to start to work on another sock.  It would be nice to wear more of these socks so the only way I can do that is if I actually get pairs of socks knit.

 

I didn't get a lot of anything else done last week but considering I was busy with work and personal stuff I am happy that I was able to find some time each day to sit and put a few stitches in my socks as well as my cross-stitch.  I hope that this week I can continue to move things forward even if it isn't as fast as normal.

 I hope everyone has a good week, and you find a bit of time to sit and do something that you enjoy doing each day.  Maybe next week I will have something else to show you but that will depend on how things go.

 

What a week

Here it is the start of another week and a start of a new year.  We are still in lockdown and if the number of Covid cases doesn't go down we will be in lockdown for a while longer.  Our lockdown is in effect until Jan 23rd at the earliest.

We continue to work remotely and given the last couple of weeks have meant a lot of businesses slowed down for the holidays it was good.  It meant that I had a bit of time to do things that I wanted to do and yes stitching was something that got attention.

Socks - here are the socks that I finished in 2020 and there are 3.5 pairs of socks finished and that makes me feel good.  Now I need to get back to working on socks so that I can continue to finish up socks and end up with matching socks instead of just single socks.

I am also going into 2021 with some socks on the needs and at least one of them is to finish off a pair so that is good. It is nice to have socks on the needles as it means that when I need something to work on I can quickly pick them up and work on them. I am looking forward to seeing how many socks I end up knitting in 2021. I hope to get more socks made and more of the inventory of sock yarn reduced.

Northern Patrol - As it New Years it was time for a new start, so I figured out a couple of projects that I wanted to do. The first project that I started was Northern Patrol and is a full coverage piece which makes me feel good.  I didn't get a lot of stitches in on this piece but that doesn't bother me.  I am looking forward to seeing how much of this I can get done, but it will depend on how the other project that I have on the go proceeds.

I am looking forward to seeing what this project looks like and that will depend on how much time I can spend on this project.

Mini Forget Me Not - this is a project has got a lot of attention since I started it.  I would like to see how things go moving forward in the next little while.  This project means a lot to me and part of it is because it has Forget Me Not flowers on it.  Forget Me Not flowers are also a symbol for Alzheimer's and that cause is very close to my heart.

I hope that I can also spend some time working on this project as it helps me feel better about other things that have been going on.  I lost my dad to both Dementia and Alzheimer's, so I am going to be stitching this piece as a way to remember him.

This is another full coverage piece so that means I am going to be working on this piece for quite a while.  I look forward to seeing how much of it I can do while also dealing with the death of my dad.  I know I won't have this piece completed quickly, but it does feel good having something that I can work on and just hide from the world with.

Covid ornaments - I was able to get four ornaments completed before the new year and that made me feel good.  These were given to my mom and sister, and they were able to hang them on their trees before it was time to take the tree down.

I am going to now try and get my two ornaments done, but they won't be on our tree this year, but I still want to get them made as a way to remember what 2020 was really like.

ETSY and Personal update - as a lot of you know I was raising funds for the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto by selling my grime guards.  I am making this 104 dollar donation,  as my dad had both Dementia and Alzheimer's, so wanted to do something to help one of these organizations.

My dad did pass away on January 3rd, but I know that he is now in a better place and is no longer having to deal with these crazy diseases.

I hope everyone can continue to find time to spend a bit of time each day to do the things that you love doing.  It is important that we all remember to take a bit of time for yourselves each day and do something.