More starts and at least one finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and we did enjoy a couple of days of warmer weather but then the rain and cooler weather decided to come back.

I have been trying to continue to move a bunch of projects forward so we will see how things go in the next week. I would like to continue to move a bunch of things forward so we will see how things go.

Post Office - Mill Hill - here is a project that I decided to try to try and move forward a little bit this week. When I first picked this piece up, I added one thread just to get a bit of a start.

This week I decided to see if I could at least, make some progress on this piece and I picked it up for one day and my goal was to just see how much of it I could get done. I am happy with the progress and hopefully I will be able to continue to move this piece forward but I am not certain how quickly I will be able to move things forward, so we will see how things go. It would be nice to see that I have been able to continue to move this piece forward.

Vintage ABC's ornaments - A - here is a project that I decided that I wanted to work on and it was so nice to see that I was able to pick up this piece and also get it completed. 

This isn't a very large piece, so that makes me feel a little better about things. Just seeing that I have been able to continue to get at least one of the pieces completed. I know that being able to continue to get things achieved so we will see how things go. I am currently trying to figure out how to get all the 26 letters completed so now to figure out how I am going to get all these pieces completed.

I am going to try and see how to move these pieces completed and we will see how things go. I think I have an idea of how to get these pieces done but we will see how things go.

Stained Glass Orca - this is another project that I started this week, and I know that it is going to take quite a bit of time to move it forward. I am someone that love Orca's so when I saw this pattern on a FlossTube video I needed to stop the video and immediately went and checked out the pattern and of course I purchased it. I know that it isn't going to be a project that get a lot of progress quickly, but I know it is something that I am going to be working on over the next while.

Serpentine Pavillion Shawl - here is a project that I purchased a bundle of pattern from Helen Stewart without knowing what the patterns were going to be like.

This is the first of six patterns that are going to be released under the Shawl Society #6, and it didn't take me long before I figured out the yarn that I wanted to use for this project. It is something that I am going to be working so we will see how things go. Of course, this project has cable in it and that is something that I have always found a challenge but this time I decided to use a different cable needle with a bend in it and it seems to be working a little better.

It makes me feel good seeing that I have been able to move this project forward and I hope that through the next few days I can continue to get this project closed to a finish instead of just a new start.

Sophie Scarf - this is a project that I decided to start with some of the yarn that was leftover from the Hedgerow Shawl. I figured it would be great to see if I could at least get another project completed with some of the yarn that was left. This is a very simple scarf that isn't going to be very large but at least I have been able to get it to just over the 50% completed and that makes me feel good.

Button Box Throw - this is a project that I continue to move on as it makes me happy when I can see some progress on it. This week I was able to get one section completed and have also started to work on another section so that makes me happy.

This is a project that I pick up and work on when I just need to work on something but don't need to complete a row or any other part of a pattern. I would like to see if I can continue to get things achieved so we will see how things go moving forward.

Other projects - I didn't work on any other project this week and given the number of projects I did work on I'm not surprised. 

This coming week I hope to be able to focus on moving some of these projects forward and we will see how it goes. I know that I have been enjoying working on the smaller cross stitch projects so we will see what happens this week. I am going to see if I can get more of the scarf and shawl done over the coming week so we will see how it goes.

Finding that bit of time each day to do something that you love is very important. Being able to recharge your personal battery helps you deal with everything going on around you a little easier. I hope everyone has a good week and you do things that you enjoy. If things go well, I should have some progress to show you next week on at least a couple of these projects.
 

A finish, a start and finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and we are back to the cooler weather again. At least we might get some sun this week which will be nice and we should be warming up a bit after today or at least I hope that things are starting to warm up again.

This past week was a busy week as I was trying to get a bunch of things accomplished and I think I might have been able to do that which does make me happy. I do have lots of things that I would like to get done so need to figure out just how to get everything achieved.

Festive Fox - as promised I did get this ornament finished this past week and that makes me feel good. Seeing that I am continuing to move some of the smaller projects forward makes me happy.

This is the second of three times that I will be stitching this piece, and I am happy with how quickly they stitch up when you can focus on it. Of course, I am the type of person that starts it and then puts it down for a while and then I finally work on it until it is finished.

Working on small ornaments does make me happy and I am going to see if I can spend some more time throughout this year working on getting more ornaments stitched up so that I will have a bunch of them ready for our tree.

Antonia Pueyo Sampler Petite - here is a new project that I started on Monday and it was a design by Jan Hicks of Jan Hicks Creates. It was a really nice piece to work on, and I thought it was going to take me longer than it did to stitch it up.

As you have probably figured out, I have also finished this piece and weas able to do that on Saturday. Once I picked this piece up, I couldn't put it down until it was finished. Doing monochromatic designs is something that I do enjoy working on and this one was a joy to do. I did use the recommended DMC colour and that is a very light pink. 

Now to get the next project kitted up and ready to start. I know the next project so hopefully this coming week I can get it started and have something to show you next week.

Button Box Throw - I am continuing to work on getting some more yarn added to the throw. I am going to try and continue to get more balls of yarn added. This past week I only one small ball of yarn added so we will see how things this week. I am thinking that after the next six balls of yarn it might be big enough, but we will wait and see. I will also need to figure out the yarn that I am going to use for the border so that is something else that I need to do.

Other projects - I didn't work on any other project this past week other than to start to kit up my next cross stitch project. This coming week I hope to be able to get a start of it and maybe have something to show next week.

I do have some other projects that I would like to give a bit of attention to so we will have to see how things go. I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy and giving yourself that time to relax. Hope everyone has a good week and hopefully next week I will have some more progress to show you on projects that I have been working on.

Some finishes, a start and some progress

Here it is the start of another week and time to look back and see what I was able to accomplish over the last week. I know that the weather this week is getting warmer so that is great. 

This past week I was able to get some stitching in and that made me happy. I hope to be able to get more things moved forward in the next couple of weeks.

Joy - Red Sweater - here is the first small project that got some attention this past week. It was the project that was closest to a finish, so it was time to work on it.

Once I picked up this project, I knew it wouldn't take me long to get it finished and I was right. It is nice being able to have some small projects to work on because it helps me feel good seeing that I can work on something for a while and then it's finished. I still have to finish this piece into an ornament but at least the stitching is completed.

Christmas Toque - this is a project that I started a couple of weeks ago with just one thread into it and I hoped that I could focus on it for a while and get another quick finish. It feels great when you can work on something and it doesn't take you very long to see how the piece is going to turn out. I should have picked a little darker fabric considering all the white in this piece, but I didn't. I will be using darker fabric for some of the other designs.

I have lots of these projects that I want to work on so we will see how many more of these I can get done over the next few weeks. I hope to finish some of the smalls into pillows and other ones into ornaments. I will wait and see what I do when I have more of the small projects finished.

Festive Fox - this is a project that I started this week as I wanted to make sure that I could get this piece done quickly. It is one that is a lot of fun to work on, and it doesn't take too long when you can focus on it. I hope to have this project finished before too long.

The Festive Fox and Peppermint Pressie are such cute ornaments that I can't want to get them finished into the ornaments. Hopefully by the time I finish these I will have 3 sets of the two ornaments. Of course, that means that I need to stitch some more of each design.

Hedgerow Shawl - now this is the knitting project that I have been trying to focus on as I wanted to get it off the needles by the end of the week. I didn't have a lot more knitting to do but the rows were long and they took some time. By the time I got to the end of knitting the rows I had almost 500 stitches on the needle, so it took a while to get across each row. I was determined to get this shawl off the needles, so I continued to work on it.

Friday afternoon, I got to the point where I could start the cast off and I knew it was going to take some time to do it. I was determined to get this shawl off the needles before Saturday evening, and I was able to accomplish that. The knitting is all completed and now what is left is to sew in all the ends and there are lots and then block it before I can wear the shawl. I am happy with how the shawl turned out and yes, it was a challenge, but I am happy that I knit this project.

Button Box Throw - here is the scrap throw that I have been working on, and I have been enjoying seeing the different colours of yarn get added into it. I still haven't decided how big I am going to make this throw. Right now, I am working on a 40 inch circular needle so still have room as I also have a 60 inch circular needle that I could always change it too.

Once I finished the Hedgerow Shawl, I started to add the grey yarn into the Button Box Throw and that felt good. I didn't have much of the grey left, so it was perfect to just add into the scrap throw.

Other projects - I didn't work on any other projects this week as I think I worked on enough projects. Work on smaller cross stitch projects has felt good. I still have lots of small cross stitch projects to work on, but I think this coming week I might work on something a little bit larger, but we will see how the week goes.

I hope everyone finds that time each day to do something that you enjoy. It does make a difference when you can do something that you love to do even for a few minutes each day.

This coming week I hope to work on the Button Box Throw some more so that I can continue to add different yarns to it. I know the cross stitch project that I hope to work on and then we will see what else happens. 

Hope everyone has a good week and hopefully I will have some progress to show you next week.
 

Startitis was real and making progress

Here it is the start of another week, and I must admit that the last week was a little different for me. The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit, and things are starting to feel a little more organized, so it felt good.

Button Box Throw - here is the project that didn't get much attention at all last week as I was busy doing some other projects. I am still loving how this is turning out and still have no idea how large it is going to be when I finish it. After I finish the ball of yarn that I was currently working with I think I have six more balls of yarn to add to it. It is a lot of fun to work on and hopefully this week it will get a bit more attention so that I can see at least a couple of colours added to it.

Hedgerow Shawl Knit-along - here is the shawl that did get some more attention in the last week as I was determined to at least get it closer to a finish. I am really looking forward to getting this shawl off the needles and finished so that I can see what it looks like.

This past week I was able to spend some time working on moving the shawl forward and am now on the last section which is the border so hopefully before long I will have this off the needles. I had hoped to get it finished last week but as you will see shortly, I had some major distractions which meant that knitting didn't get quite as much attention as I had wanted to give it.

This coming week I hope to be able to give the Hedgerow Shawl enough attention to get it off the needles and maybe even get some of the ends sewn in as there lots of ends still to weave in.

Startitis - now to explain the next part of the blog because this isn't like me normally, but things happen sometimes and you just don't know what you want to work on and a bunch of things call your name and things happen.

For me this past week was looking at a bunch of my smaller projects and not knowing what I really wanted to start first. I also had a project that was close to a finish so that was also something that I wanted to consider so I let things happen and now that I have looked at what happened I think I am going to be busy for a little while trying to get some things finished.

Peppermint Pressie - here is an ornament that I started in late February, and I didn't think it would take me as long as it did to get it finished. It wouldn't take me long to finish if I actually picked it up and worked on it, but I left it sitting for a month before it came back and I finally was able to finish the piece. When I put it down, I just had the squirrel and the border completed.

The candy cane and the berries and leaves needed to be completed so it was time to focus on getting that done. I am happy with how this piece turned out and I am looking forward to finishing it into an ornament that will hang on my tree this year.

Christmas Toque - so it was time to pick up another project and put one thread into it. This project is rather small so shouldn't take long to complete once it gets some more attention.  I would like to get this ornament completed quickly but again it got one thread into it and then the starting of projects continued.

Post Office - Christmas Village - I have wanted to stitch the Mill Hill Christmas Village for quite some time, and I finally put a thread into the first one. The kit comes with perforated paper, but I decided to do mine on fabric, so it gives me a few more options on how I am going to finish all these pieces. I have 12 stores/houses to stitch so at least I have finally started them, and we will see how long it takes to get even the first one finished.

Snowflake - this project started out with one thread into it but by the time the end of the weekend rolled around I was able to say that I had a finish.

This snowflake was a lot of fun to stitch, and I love how it turned out. I am thinking that I might add some beads to it but we will see what happens when I go to finish it. I love the monochromatic pieces because they seem to work on so quickly because you don't have to think about changing colours, you can just stitch.

I now have 2 of the snowflakes now stitches out of 10 so now to see when the next snowflake gets some attention because I know it didn't get started this past week.

Joy - Red Sweater - this was yet another piece that was started with just one thread into it. Once I finished the snowflake I figured it was time to pick up this piece and maybe get more of it completed. 

It is a lot of fun working on this piece as besides doing the trees, I am making a sweater which is something that I am really enjoying doing. I am not certain when this piece will get completed but I hope it is the one that I can focus on and get it completed soon.

Other projects - no other projects got worked on this past week and I am thankful for that. I am surprised at how many things I started so now I need to focus on moving these projects from one thread into them to finishes.

This coming week I am not certain what will get attention other than the Hedgerow Shawl and at least one cross stitch project. It was fun starting all those projects in the past week and hopefully I can continue to turn the starts into finishes quickly.

I hope you find a bit of time each day to do something that brings you joy. For me, my crafting brings me joy, and it is also a means of sitting down and relaxing and recharging my personal battery. Hope everyone has a good week and let's see what I can get finished or at least moved closer to a finish this coming week.
 

Moving projects forward and a finish

It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone already. Time is really moving quickly and hopefully I will be able to make progress on things.

This past week I was able to find some time to work on projects so that was good. Now to see how this week goes as I would like to maybe move some other projects forward.

Junos Garden - here is the project that I got finished early this past week. I didn't have a lot of it to do so it was time to get the remaining stitches in and get another project finished which makes me very happy.

This project was fun to work on, and I am happy that I picked it up and got it done. I am going to have to figure out how I am going to finish this project.

Half the Fun - here is a project that hasn't been touched since June 2024, so it was time to give this project some much needed attention. I am using variegated floss for this piece so it is basically another monochromatic project, so it was nice to pick it up when I had that bit of time to just sit and work on it.

I started this project in March 2024 and then only worked on it a little bit after that trip and then it was put down and I just never picked it up because there was always something else that I wanted to work on so this project has just sat waiting it's turn to come back out and get some much needed attention. We will see how things go as it would be nice to continue working on this piece and maybe get it closer to a finish in 2026.

This project is fun to work on because sometimes when you are working on a section you aren't quite sure what you are stitching until to look at it from a bit of a distance and then you know what it is.

Snowflake - here is a start on another snowflake ornament that I want to do this year. I have been feeling the urge to start things, so I picked up this project and started it on Saturday.  It shouldn't take me long to get this project finished if I could focus on it.

I am not certain but startitis might be happening because I have so many small projects that I would like to do and over the last couple of days I have wanted to start a bunch of them. I guess we will see how this week goes.

Hedgerow Shawl - this project has been getting some attention but not as much attention as I would have liked to give it. Part of the reason it hasn't got much attention is there are times when I need to focus on the rows and I just haven't set aside the time to do that, so the shawl doesn't move forward very much.

I am loving how the shawl looks so hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can give this shawl some more attention and I will get it closer to a finish. I think I might have around 35 rows to go on the shawl so just sitting and working on it would help me get it finished. 

It is rather difficult to take a picture of it given how large it is getting so getting it finished would be nice so that I can actually see what it looks like.

Button Box Throw - here is the scrap throw that I have been working on. It has been a lot of fun to work on and was a great project when I was attending a virtual conference on Thursday. I was able to work on this throw while watching the sessions and it helped me focus on the sessions and not want to pick up the mouse and on my other monitor be checking a bunch of other stuff.

It is always nice when you can find a project that you can have around to work on when you need something to keep your hands busy while you are attending a virtual conference.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects this past week but given the number of things that got my attention I am happy there isn't more. I am not certain what this week has in store with regards to projects because I have the urge to start a bunch of small projects so we will see what happens.

I hope everyone is finding the time each day to do something that you enjoy even for a few minutes. It can be a challenge to find lots of time but at least those few minutes can make a bit difference.

This coming week I am going to try and work on Hedgerow Shawl some more as well as Button Box Throw and there will be some cross stitch getting some attention but right now not certain that the project is going to be. I guess all I can say is I have some projects that want my attention so we will see how this week goes and what ends up getting moved forward.

Hope everyone has a good week and we will see next Monday what got my attention and what didn't. Have a good week and remember, even those few minutes a day helps recharge your personal battery.
 

A finish and lots of progress

Here it is the start of another week and yes, another week of a lot of cloudy skies around here. The month of March seems to be flying by so quickly and now to see what the weather is going to be like for the rest of this month. 

Silver Anniversary - here is the project that I was very close to a finish last time I wrote a post and on Monday of last week I was able to get the piece finished. It is so nice having this piece completed and now I hope to have it framed before our 25th wedding anniversary in September.  

It was nice to see this piece completed and that meant it was time for me to figure out the next project that was going to be a focus piece. It didn't take me long to figure that out.

Junos Garden - this is the piece that I have been working on and yes, it's the next one that I would like to see completed. As I am doing this as a monochromatic piece it is working up fairly quickly because there isn't an issue of working some stitches and then having to change colours.

Last time I posted I had the middle section of the piece completed so I knew that if I could focus on it for a while I might be able to get the outside of the piece moved forward. 

What I didn't think about was how quickly I might be able to get quite a bit of the outside section completed.  With a bit of luck, I should be able to have piece completed within the next couple of days.

It has been really nice working on this piece and yes it was a focus this past week. I just have to complete the two side borders, and it will be done and that should be relatively easy as there are just over 400 stitches left to go.

Once this piece is finished, it will be time to figure out the next project that I am going to try and focus on and move it closer to a finish as well. I think I have the project figured out but we will see what happens once Junos Garden is out of the hoop.

Button Box Throw - here is the scrappy throw that I have been working on and it has been lots of fun to knit. I am slowly working through all the scrap balls of yarn that I have so we will see what this looks like when it's finished.

I am not certain the size this is going to be when it's finished but it has been a lot of fun working on it. This is the project that I pick up and work on when I have those few minutes. I don't have to worry about completing a row or round, I can just knit and then put it down easily.

Hedgerow Shawl - I can finally show you the shawl that I have been working on for the last while. The entire pattern has now been released, and I can show you where I am on the project. This project has been an interesting one to work on and it has been a bit of a challenge sometimes as well. I have learned some new stitches which has been nice and getting more experience working with different colours.

There is still quite a bit of work to go on this shawl, and I have just finished the second out of four clues. I am enjoying working on this piece and am looking forward to seeing it completed. This is a project that takes some focus so it isn't something that I can pick up when watching videos or doing webinars. That means it only gets attention when I can sit and work on it without the various distractions.

Other projects - I haven't been working on any other projects this past week and given how much attention Junos Garden got I am not surprised. We will see what happens this coming week as I know that I have a virtual conference to attention Wednesday morning, and then most of Thursday.

I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy. For me, being able to set some time aside each day to do some of my crafting has helped me be able to focus on some of the other things that I need to get done.

If things go well this week, I hope to have some progress to show you next Monday. I know that I will be trying to get Junos Garden completed early this week and then we will see what I work on after that. Hope everyone has a good week, and I will post again next Monday.

Close to a finish and progress

Here it is the start of another week so we will see how things go. Just being able to continue to get things done would make me feel a little better about things. Just being able to continue to get things done so we will see how things go.

The weather here is a roller coaster as we have been dealing with warmer weather and then snow and colder weather so that doesn't make me happy. I know that the forecast for this coming week is another roller coaster so it doesn't make me happy so we will see what really happens.

Silver Anniversary - here is the project that I have been working on in the last week. This has been a goal for me to try and continue to get things accomplished so we will see how things go. I know that over this last week I have been able to make some good progress on this piece.

When I picked up this piece this week, I have lots of stitches to complete, but when I put it down today, I only have 312 stitches so it should be a completion before too long. I am so happy to see that I have been able to get this piece so much closer to a finish. I started this piece on February 13th, 2025, and my goal was to get it completed before our Silver Anniversary which is September 14, 2026.

This has been the piece that I have been working on every month since I started on it and it makes me feel a little better. It has been a bit of a challenge to continue to move this piece forward. When I started this piece I figured that I would be getting it completed around the 22nd of July of this year however I am very happy to see that I am going to be getting this piece done ahead of my initial goal.

Hedgerow Shawl - this is the mystery sal that I have been working on and I haven't been able to make a lot of progress on this piece. I hope that over the next couple of weeks I will be able to continue to move this project forward.

All the clues have been released, and I am still working on the 2nd clue so next weekend I should be able to share where I am on this piece, and you will what I have been able to get accomplished. This piece has been a challenge for me and maybe what I needed to do is just take each little bit at a time and not stress about the entire piece because I think that would have helped a lot. 

I currently have some mini bobbles to be completed in clue #2 and am not looking forward to them but we will see how things go.

Button Box Throw - here is the throw that I have been able to move things forward and it is making me feel a little better when I can continue to move this piece forward. It has been nice to see that I can continue to move this piece forward even a little bit at a time. I know that I haven't figured out how large this is going to be and maybe that makes me happy. I currently have three small balls of yarn and then have another 6 balls of yarn around 20 grams each so we will see that the throw looks like when I get all that yarn added, I do need to figure the yarn that I going to be using for the border as well so we will see what I can get done.

Other projects - I can honestly say that I haven't work on any other projects this week and a lot of that is because I have been focusing on getting Silver Anniversary closer to a finish and working on my knitting projects.

I hope everyone is finding a bit of time to focus on something that makes you a little better. It doesn't matter what you are able to do but just spending some time to focus on something that makes you happy is what you need to do.

This week coming I hope that I can get Silver Anniversary completed and we will see how things go moving forward. A bunch of things that I would like to move forward so we will see what I can get accomplished and hopefully I will have something to show you next weekend.