A start, a finish and progress

Here it is the start of another week and yes it was a busy week last week with lots of things that needed my attention. The weather here has been once again a week of lots of clouds and cool weather. Hopefully this week we will see some sun as it would be nice to see it as it hasn't been out much since the New Year. I shouldn't complain as we haven't been having the snow like other's are getting.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is the cross stitch project that got lots of my attention this past week. I wanted to see if I could get more of it done and I think I have been able to achieve that. 

What I did this time when I picked it up was worked on the colour with the highest number of stitches left on the piece. It was a nice way to move the piece forward a bit more because it showed me areas that I could work on and at least start to see more of her face come to life.

I hope to be able to work some more on her this week and we will see what I focus on. I haven't decided if I will continue the face or move to a different section to try and get other areas also moved forward.

Snowflake - here is the first small that I worked on this past week. I didn't have a lot completed before this past week but as this piece isn't very large it did work up quickly. 

It is nice having some projects that work up quickly and you can then say I have a finish. I do have more of these snowflakes to work on and I will be working on them when I want that type of stitching. I do have a bunch of different small projects kitted up so that should help me at least see some projects completed this year.

Festive Fox - after I finished the snowflake it was time to start another small project. This time I picked a different project and get it started. Most of the small projects will only be getting a bit of work on them most of the time it means it will take a few days to get any of them completed.

The small project is normally the first cross stitch project I pick up during the day, so it doesn't get a lot of attention as I want to get onto the larger project to see more of it completed. Most days these small projects will only get around 50 or 60 stitches completed but at least I am moving the project forward and that does feel good.

Rainforest Canopy Shawl - here is the knitting project that normally gets some attention and that does feel good. I have been able to continue to move this shawl forward more this past week. I got another lace section completed and am currently up to the last lace section of the piece.

It was nice getting the other lace section completed, and this time without all the issues that I had on the last lace section. We ill see how this lace section goes and hopefully I will be able to get through it early this week and then work on getting the first of the shawl moved forward.

I think it is getting close to figuring out the next project that will get some attention once this shawl is finished. I am not certain when I will get this shawl completed but having the next knitting project figured out would be a good idea.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects and part of that was last week was a busy week and I didn't have lots of time to work on the different things. We will see how this week goes as I think there might be other things that need my attention before I can think of moving any of the other projects forward.

I hope you are finding that bit of time each day to do something you enjoy doing to help you recharge your personal battery. This coming week I hope to continue to move some projects forward, so I have something to show you next week.

 

Progress and a new start

Here it is the start of a new week and the start of a new year as well. It is hard to believe that it is already 2026. I hope everyone had a good holiday season if you celebrate. It was nice having some time to relax but it is now time to get back to work and back to getting things accomplished.

This past week seemed to go back very quickly but at least it was a week where I was able to spend some time focusing on moving a couple of my crafting projects forward. It is going to be very interesting to see what 2026 is like for me regarding my crafting. I have some things I would like to see finished so we will see when they happen.

Silver Anniversary - as it was the last week of December, it was time to pull out Silver Anniversary to see how much progress I could make on it.

I am working hard at moving this project forward and it is just a matter of time before I will be able to see a bigger section of this piece completed. This past week I decided to try and focus on getting the top rows of the piece completed so that I can move the q-snap and get the bottom of the piece to where I can stitch on it. It is nice to see that I have at least got three rows of the piece completed and I will continue to work on it each month so that I can get it finished before our silver anniversary.

By the time I put this piece down I had got to the 70% completed mark so that was a nice milestone and now to see how much I can get completed when I pull it out at the end of this month. I hope to be able to see some more good progress next time I work on it.

Snowflake - here is a New Year New Start and this is going to be one of hopefully many ornaments that I can get made this year. It is a nice and easy piece to work on, and I am currently just doing around 50 stitches a day so yes, it is going to take a bit of time to get it done but I have been enjoying it. 

This year, I am going to be trying to work on some more smalls because it would be nice to have some ornaments for our Christmas tree for next year. I have kitted up a few different ornaments so we will see which ones get completed during this year.

Rainforest Canopy Shawl - here is the knitting piece that got the attention this past week. I had hoped to get more of it finished this past week, but the lace section seems to not like me, so I find it a bit of a challenge to get it done. Hopefully the next lace section that I come to will go a little smoother than the last couple of sections. The pattern itself isn't difficult it is just making sure that you check what you are stitching. I have also figured out that while I am working on the lace section, I need to count the stitches on the needle after each row to ensure that I haven't made a mistake.

I would like to see more of this shawl completed this week so we will see how it goes. I am getting close to another lace section so we will see how this goes. It would be nice to get this shawl closer to a finish, but we will have to wait and see.

Other projects - I didn't work on any other crafting projects this last week other than to continue to work on getting some of the small ornaments and projects ready to stitch. It has been nice seeing that I will have projects ready to go when I want to work on something small.

This year I know that I have three larger projects that I would like to see completed and then I will continue to work on moving some of the other projects that I have on the go closer to a finish. One of those projects hasn't got a lot of attention in the last couple of years so it is time that it gets the attention and hopefully maybe even a finish.

This coming week is going to be a little busier for me at work so not sure what crafting I will get done but I know that I will be ensuring that I at least get a bit of time each day to relax and recharge and that will be with my crafting. Have a good week and hopefully I will have some progress to show you next week.

English Paper Piecing - December Progress

Here it is the first of another month and time to give you a bit of an update with regards to my English Paper Piecing. December wasn't a month where I picked up my projects at all. I was trying to get some of the other things completed so trying to think of working on motifs or joining motifs wasn't something I could focus on.

December was a busy month as there were things that needed attention that did take time away from being able to pick up projects. I am not upset that I didn't get any motifs joined together or made because I know that there are going to be times when things just don't work out as planned. I do know that I have moved my projects forward in other months so now to just see what the new year is like.

The pictures in this post are just a couple of images to show that yes there were months when things got completed and that makes me happy. 

This coming year I hope to be able to spend some more time working on my projects as I would like to see them moved forward. I am also not going to stress when things don't work out.

Hope everyone had a good December, and you were able to get some of the projects that you wanted to move forward done. We will see what January is like and move forward from there.

Happy New Year to everyone and all the best in 2026.

Progress on some projects

Here it is the start of another week, and I am happy to say it is another week where I am going to be able to spend some time crafting as it is a holiday week for us. We have had some snow and the forecast is for cold temperatures so a good time to stay home and relax.

Pandemic - here is the project that I worked on last week. I wanted to see how much more of it I could get completed so I worked on it for an extra week. It was so nice to be able to see more of it done.

This past week I was able to get another page finished and that made me very happy so now it is just spending some more time working on this piece, but it is now going away until January when I will work on it again. I did get a page finished so that is now 4 pages left to go on this piece and then it will be finished. I am happy with what I was able to accomplish last week, and we will see what it is finished. I do want to keep working on it to see it completed but there are other projects that need some attention as well so they to come out for a bit.

Owl Ornament - here is a project that I worked on and didn't show any progress pictures as this was a Christmas gift. I did stitch three of these and gave them to my family as part of their gifts on Christmas day. The pattern for this owl was in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Holiday Issue 2025. As soon as I saw this design I knew it was going to be the ornament for each of us this year. I am happy with the finish and look forward to hanging it on our tree for years to come.

These ornaments were a lot of fun to stitch but I do need to get ornaments stitched earlier in the year so I am not stressing about finishing them up in the last couple of weeks before Christmas. I think I have the ornaments figured out for next year so they may get stitched a lot earlier in the year.

Rainforest Canopy - here is the knitting project that got a little bit of attention this last week. It didn't get a lot of attention but at least I did move it forward a little bit. Hopefully this week I will find some time to work on it a bit more and continue to move it forward.

This is a nice shawl pattern so hopefully I will be able to focus on it a bit more this week and move it forward again. I don't think it will be a finish before the end of this year, but it should be a finish early in 2026.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects as I was focused on getting the ornaments completed and working on Pandemic as much as I could.

This week I will be picking up a different cross stitch project to see how much of it I can get completed and hopefully continue to work on the shawl some more. The other thing on my list for this week is to get some projects all kitted up so that they are ready to get worked on in 2026. I am hoping to have some smalls that I can pick up and cross stitch next year, so I have been working on getting everything ready for that.

I hope you are finding a bit of time to relax and recharge as making sure you take a bit of time for yourself is important. 

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and next week I hope to have some progress to show you on at least a couple of projects.

 

A new start and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and this week is going to be different given we have two days off work with it being Christmas. It is going to be nice, and we will see what I can get accomplished during that time.

Pandemic - will here is the cross stitch project that I worked on this past week. Yes, it remained out and I got some good progress on it which makes me happy. I am enjoying seeing how much of it I can get accomplished because I would like to see this project finished in 2026.

Now, this piece had one week as part of WIPGO for 2025 which was good and then it had a week because I have been trying to work on it during the third week of each month to move it forward even more. Well, as December has five weeks and I normally work on four projects each month, I decided that Pandemic is going to get an extra week worth of stitching on it. That means I get to work on this piece for one more week this month and that makes me very happy. We will see how many more stitches I can get completed as it makes me happy seeing how much I can get done.

Rainforest Canopy Shawl - here is the new knitting project that I started this week. It is making me happy seeing that I have been able to make some good progress on it. I only works on it for a couple of days, so how much I got done makes me happy. I hope to be able to get even more done this week on it given there shouldn't be as many work demands.

Other projects - I haven't been getting a lot of time to work on other projects so that means there isn't much to say. I am going to have to try and work on some English Paper Piecing in the next couple of weeks. 

I hope everyone is finding some time during this crazy time of year to take time to relax and recharge your personal batteries. It can be a bit of a challenge to find that time, but it is important to do that.

Hope everyone has a good week and if you celebrate Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope to have some more progress on things next Monday.

 


 

A finish, and some progress

Here it is the start of another week. This last week seems to go extremely quickly, so now to see how this week goes. Of course, there are things that need to get completed for work and I also would like to see if I can spend some more time crafting.

Pandemic - here is the cross stitch project that got the attention this past week. I picked it up and the first goal I had was to get the border completed on the piece or at least make some good progress on it. Having that as a focus meant that I was able to pick up the piece and work on achieving that goal.

I wasn't certain if I could get all of the border completed by the end of the week but Sunday morning, I could say that the border was completed and now just the inside of the piece to complete and that felt good. There is still lots of stitches that need to be completed but at least I was able to move this piece forward and that make me very happy.

This piece is going to be remaining out for a bit longer as that was the final WIPGO call for the year and now I have the week that I have been working on Pandemic each month. I do hope to be able to continue to move this piece forward even more this week as I am now excited to see the entire piece finished.

Memories of Juneau - this was the knitting project that was going to get the attention until it was finished. I didn't have a lot more to do on this shawl, so it was just a matter of a couple of days before this piece was finished. It was a fun and simple project to work on, and I know that I will be using this pattern again for another shawl as it was fun to work on and something that I didn't need to have the pattern in front of me all the time. 

Of course, now that this shawl was completed, I needed to figure out something else to work on, so I picked up a project that I hadn't worked on for a while as I was waiting to start a new project until this week. There are a few projects that I have been put down for one reason or another so I knew that it wouldn't take me long to figure out a project that I could work on for a bit.

As I am writing this I am sitting and I know exactly what yarn and project that I am going to be working on this week. It is going to be a new start, and I will be using some yarn that was gifted to me. I cannot wait to get it started today so hopefully I can get my work done and then there will be a new start coming up.

Simply Curious Shawl - cotton version - here is a project that I started earlier this year and I put it down when it got hot out and I wasn't enjoying working on. The pattern is very simple to do but it was the yarn that I wasn't enjoying working on, so I put it in some time out and it did help.

I picked this piece up for a little while over the last few days and I was able to make a bit more progress on the shawl which did make me happy. I am still not enjoying the cotton yarn, so I am not going to be forcing myself to continue to work on this piece until it is done. I will work on this shawl a bit at a time, and it will get completed but not at the speed that a lot of my shawls get done.

Other projects - I haven't had a lot of extra time to work on things so that has meant that the crafting time I had was focused on these couple of projects. Being able to spend some time just working on a couple of projects has helped quite a bit as I am seeing that I am getting things moved forward and even finished.

This week I know that Pandemic is going to be getting some more attention and a new shawl will be started. Other than that, I am not certain what I will be working on as there are things that I need to wrap up for Christmas given that is next week.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find some time to do something that you enjoy doing. Also, remember if you aren't enjoying working on a project it's ok to put it in timeout for a little while and then pick it up again.

 

Moving projects forward a stitch at a time

Here it is the start of another week, and this last week seemed to go by very quickly. Now to see what this week is like as there are things that need my attention so need to focus on getting them done. 

The weather has been very cold here in the last week so being able to stay in and enjoy my crafting has been nice. Hopefully this week I will get some more crafting done.

Unleash the Butterflies - this is the project that I picked up and worked on for the last week. I once again picked the colour that had the most number of stitches left to go and worked on it for a while.

It was fun starting to see her face come to life and I hope to be able to get back to this piece in 2026. It feels odd saying that, but it isn't long before we will be writing 2026 on things. It has been nice seeing the progress that I made on this piece since picking it up this year. I hope that next year I can make more progress on it as I would like to see this one on my wall before too long.

It is now time for me to put this piece away and now to pick up my next WIPGO project and see how much of it I can get completed. We will see next week what that project is and how much progress I achieved.

Memories of Juneau - here is the knitting project that I have been working on this past week and the shawl has grown quite a bit. It has been a fun project to work on, and I am looking forward to seeing what it really looks like once it is off the needles.

This pattern is so easy to do which is nice as it means that I can sit and work on it without having to check a pattern to make sure that I am going it correctly. I am not certain how much longer the shawl is going to get because the ball of yarn is getting slower so we will see what it looks like in a couple more days. 

Now that this project is getting closer to being finished, I guess it is time for me to figure out what the next project is going to be and what yarn I am going to be using. It is always fun when I am sitting and thinking about what the next project will be because I have lots of patterns to choose from as well as lots of yarn. I guess that is going to be a project for this week.

Other projects - I have been working on a couple of other projects, but they haven't got enough progress on them to show a picture right now. I will take pictures when the projects are moved forward enough to have something to show.

At this time of year, it is very important that we all make that little bit of time each day where we can take some time for ourselves. It doesn't have to be a lot of time but even a few minutes can make a big difference.

Well, I hope to have some progress to show you next week on the projects that I will be working on this week. Have a good week.