A week with some progress

Mini The Forgotten - Feb 15

Here it is Monday morning, and I have a bit of progress on a couple of projects. It continues to be busy around here, so that isn't a lot of time to craft, but at least I am trying to make some progress on things a bit at a time.

Mini The Forgotten - Feb 23

Mini The Forgotten - this is the cross stitch project that has been getting the attention.  I was able to spend some time over the weekend stitching and am happy with the progress that I was able to make on the piece.  I was working on filling one section, and it does take quite a bit of time, but at least now, I am starting to see one corner of the pattern getting closer to being finished. 

I really love the app Pattern Keeper as it makes it so much easier to see where the various colours are in the pattern.  I also like that the app shows me how many stitches I complete each day and also the percentage of completion that I am at.  As of last night, I am 9.14% completed on this pattern, and that makes me feel good.

I know that I am not close to getting this project finished, but at least I am seeing that I am slowly marking progress on it, and that is the main thing. 

Diagonal Garter Shawl - Feb 13

Diagonal Garter Shawl - this is one project that I can pick up and work on even I have a few minutes and see some progress on it.  Before this week, I had just finished getting one edge of the shawl stitched, and now I am really working on the main section of the shawl. I need to stitch the longest edge until it measures 60 inches and I am now around 27 inches, so I still have a ways to go.  I love how the yarn is working with this pattern.  I am using Meandering, which I picked up at Michaels.  It is a nice soft acrylic yarn with a bit of variegation in it.

Diagonal Garter Shawl - Feb 23

This week I hope to be able to work on this shawl a bit as it would be really nice to see that it is getting closer to being finished.


I do have another project that I am working on, but I will not be showing it until it is finished as it is a gift. 


I have a lot of other things that I am working on and am keeping busy.  I hope everyone has a great week, and you can find little bits of time each day to do something that you love doing.

I now have to get the work done that is on my desk and then will see if I have some time this evening to do something that I love doing.  Have a great week.

A new tool for sewing

Pot Holder

For those of you that have hardwood floors and you sew, I have found something that works great to control the foot pedal of your sewing machine or serger.

I have been looking all over for something that would prevent the foot pedal from slipping, and I finally found something in a kitchen section of Ikea. What I found was a potholder made of silicone, and I can put it on the floor and then put the foot pedal on it, and it stays put.  It is a 7" square and is something that is easy to move, especially considering I don't have a standard sewing spot.

Here is the potholder that I picked up, and for $3.49 Cdn, it is so worth it.  We had picked up one a while ago for around the kitchen, and I love it because it prevents mixing bowls from moving as well.

I know I probably could have found an actual sewing machine pedal pad at some store, but this was a lot easier to find considering we were at Ikea the other day picking up a couple of other little things that we wanted.  I would recommend if you are looking for a pedal mat for any of your machines, it is worth going to Ikea and getting this one.

Progress and a finish

Mini Forgotten - Jan 11

Here it is Tuesday morning this week, and I am going to try and show you a little bit of what I have been working on in the last week.

Mini Forgotten - Feb 15

Mini Forgotten - this project has come back out and got some attention this weekend.  I decided that it was time to see if I could make some good progress on it. I worked on filling in some of the areas for a while and then decided that considering there is a lot of black in the piece that I would try and focus on it for a while.

The project is still a long way from looking like much, but at least I know that I am 7.35% finished on this piece.  I am using Pattern Keeper App for tracking my progress on this piece, and it makes me feel so good when I can see where I am on the project and also the number of stitches that I have completed.

I look forward to seeing if I can get some more of this project worked on in the next little while as it would be nice to see more of the areas filled in that I need to work on and then I might start to see the different areas of the design start to come to life.

Diagonal Shawl - Feb 10

Diagonal Garter Shawl - I worked on this piece again to make sure that I could get to the point where I was able to see the actual width of the piece.  I am now at the point where I increase at one end of the row and decrease at the other end to keep the overall size of the shawl the same.  I am now going to be working on the overall length of the shawl so, that means that I will be working on it for a while as I need to get the one side to measure 60 inches before I do the decrease for the other side of the shawl.

Diagonal Shawl - Feb 13

The yarn that I am using for this is Meandering by Loops & Threads.   I had been looking at this yarn for a while, and then I saw it on sale, so I figured I would pick it up and work on this shawl. The label says it is a worsted weight yarn, but I think it might be slower to a double knitting or sports weight yarn, but for this project, it is working up fine.

Fidget Blanket - this is a project that I have been thinking about making for a little while now, and finally, this weekend, I sat down and worked on it.

Fidget blanket - A fidget blanket is a lap-size quilt that provides sensory and tactile stimulation for the restless hands of someone with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, such as ADD, or an autism spectrum disability.

Fidget Blanket - Feb 17

I have to admit that it was interesting to work on to make sure that the different items fit into the areas that I had but also that they were all working, and none of the pieces are not attached.  I am now going to see if I make any more of these in the future, but at least I know that it does take a lot of planning to make one of these.  I know that I could have added probably a couple more items, but I also didn't want to make it too complicated.  


I am happy with all the progress that I made over the last week on things. I do have another project that I am working on, but I won't be taking a picture of it until it is finished as it is a gift.  

I hope everyone has a great week and you find little bits of time to do the things you love to do each day.   I am now going to get the work done that I need to get done and then will see if I can find some time to work on some of these projects this week.

Some progress and a finish

Linen and Threads Ornament#1 - Feb 8

Here it is the start of another week and, I can say that I was able to get some crafting done even if it was just a few minutes each day.

Linen and Threads - this year, Linen and Threads decided that along with the monthly section of the big project, they would include an ornament that we could also stitch.

I haven't started the big project for this year but, I decided that I was going to try and make some progress on the ornaments.  I started the January ornament, and after one day of stitching, I was able to see some good progress on it.  I hope to continue to work on this ornament and get it done soon.

I do love the patterns that Brendon Kirk puts out and now to see if I can get the ornaments done as well as the 2020 project before the end of the year.  I also need to finish the 2019 version of his stitch along, so that means that I need to get working on these projects again.

Simple Shawl - Feb 9

Simple Shawl - Feb 2

Simple Shawl - last week, I said that I was going to try and get the 29 increases done this month to make sure that I could get the shawl moved forward.  Well, the 29 increases ended up to be 45 increases, and it meant that the shawl was done.  I am happy to stay that over this last week I finished knitting that shawl which I didn't think I would finish as quickly as I did.

I still need to sew in the ends on this shawl, but at least it is knit, and I should get the ends sewn in either tonight or tomorrow night.

Diagonal Shawl - Feb 9

Diagonal Garter Shawl - after finishing up the simple shawl, I decided it was time to start something else that I wanted to work on.  This shawl is worked on the diagonal, so it is a little different, but I love it.  I am still working on making the increases done for the edge of the shawl, but I hope to have that done within the next couple of days.

The yarn that I am using for this shawl is a little marbled, so it is giving some nice colouring on the overall pattern.  It is another simple pattern, and I am enjoying working on it as I can quickly see some results on it or at least right now I can.  I might not see the fast results once I am working on the center section of the piece.


I continue to be busy with several things, so I am not getting lots of time to sit and do the things that I love.  I have been trying to at least find a few minutes each day to do something for me, and I am happy with the progress that I have been seeing.

I hope everyone has a great week, and you find the time to do the things that you love to do each day. You don't need a lot of time to do something for yourself, so remember it is important for your personal care that you look after yourself as well as looking after others.  I am now off to get some work done that needs to get done and will see how the rest of this week goes.

Busy week

Poem about Alzheimer's - Feb 2

Here it is the beginning of another week and now to try and recap what I worked on over the last week.  I have to admit I didn't have a lot of time to do anything, but at least I was able to find a few minutes each day to do something.

Poem about Alzheimer's - this past week, I decided that after finding a poem about Alzheimer's that I would chart it and then stitch it.  The actually charting of the poem didn't take too long to get done, so then it was time to start to stitch it, and I did that.  I am using one colour of silk to stitch the poem in and so far have been liking how it has been turning out.  I still have quite a bit of stitching ahead of me, but so far, it seems to be moving ahead as a fairly quick speed.

Simple Shawl - Feb 2

Simple Shawl - now this project sure doesn't look like I have done much work on it, but I was able to find time to get a few more rows added to this project.  I am now thinking that my goal for the month is to ensure that I have increased the number of stitches by 29 before the end of the month.  I don't think that will finish off the shawl, but it should mean that I am getting closer to having a finish.


This past weekend we were helping at the Walk for Memories organized by the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto.  It was a wonderful event with over 1,400 walkers participating and around 300 volunteers.  There was a Friday evening event as well as the walk on Saturday morning, and both of them were enjoyable to be involved in.  We haven't heard the final total of money raised, but on Saturday, they announced it was around $600,000, and there are still two weeks left to donate.

It is now time for me to wrap up here and maybe find a few minutes of crafting time before I call it the end of my day.  I am happy that I have found a few minutes to do something for myself most days and will try and continue to do that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I hope that you also find a few minutes each day to do something for yourself that makes you happy.