This and that

Baby hats in progress

The best way of explaining what I have been working on the last little while is a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Triangle shawl with glitter

As you can see I have been having some fun knitting which is great.  Now to get a few of the knit projects finished.  I have been working on some baby hats so a friend can take them to a hospital in Sudbury for me.  A lot of my knitting of these hats has been while sitting on our balcony so I haven't felt like sewing hats together so I have been putting the finished hats onto a stitch holder so they are now waiting to be sewn together.  Of course sewing hats together don't take long to do but it just me in the right mood to actually sit and sew them together.

Now the second project that I have been working on is a triangle shawl in basic garter stitch.  I know that the picture isn't the best but it is rather difficult to take a picture of a shawl that is still on the needles. This is another project that I have been working on while sitting outside in the evenings and on the weekend.  I still have two balls of this yarn left so will see how big the shawl ends up.  Currently there is around 330 stitches on my needle so am thinking if I get to 400 stitches I will be happy and then it will be time to cast it off even if there is yarn left.

I am still working on granny squares for an afghan and that is coming along pretty good.  I think I have five more squares to make before I can put the afghan together.  The other issue with putting the afghan together is you have to have a day when it isn't hot and humid out.  I really don't want to be holding an afghan on my legs when it is 28C+ out so that will mean the afghan may have to wait for a while to be assembled.

So, yes I am still working on things it is just that I am working on a bunch of projects so am not really getting much completed right now.  I do want to get some of the items completed very soon because just seeing the hats on the stitch holder is starting to bother me so need to get them sewn up.

Well time now to go and work on something for a while.  Maybe I will work on a baby hat.

Siux finally seeing some time

Siux July 1st

As you can see I have finally started working on Siux again.  I haven't put a lot of time into her but at least I am finally seeing some progress on her again.

Last night I was at Stitch Night at Gitta's and decided that I was going to work on this project so that I could see how much I could get accomplished.  Sure I didn't get a lot done but at least it is something considering I haven't worked on her for a while.

Now besides Siux I have been working on the pieces for the animals as well as some baby hats and granny squares.  I have been trying to focus on a project but have to admit that the bouncing around on the various projects has helped.  Of course it means that I don't have a lot to show for progress but at least I am getting bits of projects done.

Siux July 10th

I am really hoping that through this month I will be able to make some more progress on Siux as I would like to see her completed.  I think if I can sit and work on her for a couple of hours at a time I will be happy because I will then start to see progress on her.  The other thing I have decided is I am going to work on an area at a time instead of a colour at a time.  See when I work on a colour at a time I don't feel like I am making a lot of progress because the colour is all over the piece.

So work is now calling so need to get some of that done and then I will see if there is some time to pick up Siux or another project tonight.

Mid year goal results

Yes it is July so I have decided to see where I am with my goals that I set on January 1st of this year.

2014 goals:
1. Blog at least 4 times a month – 5 out of 6 months blogged at least 4 times.
2. Complete 3 items for myself – finished a shawl for myself so far.
3. Get stash to below 360 pounds – will see what this like at the end of the year as so far not great.
4. Start Cirque des Cercles on Jan 1/14 and finish it by Dec 31/14 – working on it but will see if it is done by the end of the year.
5. Get some of my craft items up onto Etsy and see if they sell – decided I don't have the time or energy for this.
6. Complete 3 cross-stitch that I already have started – working on this
7. Spend more time writing both personally and professionally – writing more 

Considering I have been busy with work and dealing with some challenges I can say that I am pretty happy with my 2014 goals so far.  

The biggest one that is making me happy is spending more time writing both personally and professionally.  This has been a goal that I have wanted to achieve and it looks like this year is going to be a good year for that.

Picking up the pieces

Toy pieces

Yes, I have disappeared again and part of that is because of issues that I have been dealing with and crafting hasn't been part of what I have been doing.

I have slowly started to pick up the pieces and the best way to do that is by working on small pieces of craft items.  The project I am currently working on are a few more animals from the pattern that I picked up last month.  What you see in the pictures are the parts for a pig and some of the parts for a cat.  I know it looks like a mess but considering everything that is the best way to show things right now.

I decided that instead of sitting and knitting each piece and then assembling the animal as I go I would make the pieces all at once and then I will sit down later and sew them together.  Also it means that I can work on the pieces quickly as a lot of them aren't very big at all.  When I have wanted to knit I have enjoyed working on the pieces because I feel like I am getting somewhere.

What is amazing is over the last while I lost most of my interest in crafting and I have been slowly working on getting back to the things that I enjoy doing.  Cross-stitch, knitting and crocheting are things I normally love doing but lately they all have been a challenge.

One of the biggest challenges I have been dealing with lately is being criticized for my choices.  If it had been one person I could have dealt with it easily but it seems that so many people have said something about a project that I have been working on.  All of these criticisms have impacted me and I know that I shouldn't have let me but when that is basically all you hear and nothing positive from these people it gets a little much.  I have now decided that if these people don't like what I am doing that is too bad and I will do my projects the way I want to do them.

The pieces are slowly being picked up and I hope to get back to doing the things that I have loved doing.  My piece of advice to a lot of people is if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything.  Now I am going to go and craft for a while.