A finish, new starts, and progress

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully things will go smoothly again this week. The weather can't decide if it isn't going to be hot and humid or if it is going to cool down a bit. I think this week we are going to have another mix of weather.

I continue to work on getting a lot of things done around here as well as getting all the work done, so that means that I do the crafting when I can find some time.

Turquoise - here is the project that I had as my focus, as I wanted to see how much of it I could get done before the end of August. I hadn't worked on this piece since early February and of course had a lot of work to go on it, but I am very happy with the progress that I have been able to make.

Turquoise was completed over the weekend, and it makes me very happy to see that I was able to get it finished. You may think that this is a large piece, but it measures 4.5 inches square, but it is full coverage, so there are lots of stitches in this piece.

I am happy with how it turned out, and now I am trying to figure out how I am going to finish it as I would like it displayed in my office area before too long. It is always nice when you finish a project, and given this hadn't got a lot of attention until this month, I am happy to see it finished.

Summer Bower - as soon as I finished Turquoise, it was time to start another project, and this one is a lot smaller or at least as a lot few stitches in it. I hope that I can get this piece done a lot faster than Turquoise. 

As Summer Bower is a single colour, I decided it was time to work on another red project. This week I hope that I can make some good progress on it.

Pine Forest Baby Blanket - here is a project that I started this week and of course I love the pattern, so it does work on quickly. This yarn is sports weight, so this blanket should end up a little smaller than the last one I made, but I am loving how quickly it is working up. I am now going to put a marker on it, so I can see how much I can get done in the next week.

Wavy Lace Scarf - I am still working on my scarf and I try and work on it a little bit each day, and it is a great project to work on when I have those few minutes to just focus on something, but it is easy to put down when I need to.

I did put a marker on this piece, and I was able to make some good progress this week. I hope that this coming week I will once again be able to make some good progress on it. I am still working on the first ball of yarn so now sure how long it is going to be, but it is a lot of fun to work on and now to see how things go this week.

Other projects - as you can see, I was working on a few projects this week, so other projects didn't get a lot of attention. I am not sure what this coming week is going to be like, so will see what gets the attention.

I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you like doing, I know that there have been days when I haven't had a lot of time, but at least I take those few minutes to pick up a project and relax.

Next week I would like to have more progress to show you, so that means that I am going to have to find the time to work on some of these projects and maybe get them moved forward. Have a good week and I will show you what I was able to get done next week.

 

Progress and a new start

Here it is the start of another week and yes another week when things look like they are going to be busy for me. I like it when I have a busy week, because I am a lot happier when there are things that need my attention.

This last week was a little crazy as well, so that means that I didn't have as much time to work on projects that I wanted. Also, to be honest I had a knitting start that turned into a knitting failure so will be restarting some with that yarn hopefully this week. Yes, I do have knitting and other craft failures, and that least this was only about 20 rows into the overall afghan.

Turquoise - here is the cross stitch that I decided to pull out and see if I could make some progress on it during the week.  This week I was able to make some good progress on it as I got just over 1,500 stitches on it.

The piece moved pretty quickly once I got into a routine of how I wanted to stitch the overall piece, and now I think I just have another 1,600 stitches to go on the project. I completed the lower left corner of the piece and then decided that I would work on stitching all the complete diamonds first, and then I just have to fill in the other colours. I only have one more colour of complete diamonds to go, and then it will be just a matter of filling in the other spaces with the remaining three colours. 

This is a project that I would like to see finished soon, so that means that I need to continue to work on it to get it done.

Wavy Lace Scarf - so after having the knitting failure and considering a possible restart with a different pattern, I looked around and found some yarn that I wanted to make into a scarf. I love this scarf pattern because it works up quickly. The pattern is just four rows, so that means that it is easy to figure out where you are. I also try and complete each of the four rows so that I ensure that I know where I am when it comes time to work on it again.

I hope that I can continue to make some good progress on this piece over this week as I would like to see if I can at least get the first ball of yarn finished, and then I will determine if it is going to be two or three balls of yarn in length.

Other projects - well, I haven't been able to spend a lot of time working on other projects, but that is fine with me. I do have a writing project that has been taking some of my time and this week it is something that I am going to try and work on again. It isn't anything that will be public for a while, but I am trying to gather all the information so that it is easier to work on.

This week I hope to be able to spend some more time on Turquoise to see how much of it I can get done, and I also want to work on the wavy lace scarf. I might also try and do the restart on the afghan using a different pattern than I originally tried.

I hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time each day to do something that you love to do. Making sure that you spend those few minutes relaxing does really help. It might only be 10 or 20 minutes, but I know that it helps. Have a good week and I hope to have something to show next week.
 

A couple of finishes

Here it is the start of another week and the area coming in my window is a little cooler, so that does feel nice. We continue to be busy with a lot of things, so now to figure out how to get everything done quickly, and then also see if I can continue to move some of my craft projects forward.

This past week, I have had a pretty good week of focusing on projects and moving them forward. I hope that this coming week will be similar.

Sewn in Friendship - I picked up this piece again this week as I wanted to see if I could move it forward and get it closer to being finished.

By Saturday, I was looking at the piece and figured that I could get it finished by Sunday, so that was my goal. I decided that after doing some knitting, this was going to be my focus to see how much I could get done. So, Saturday afternoon I decided to enjoy sitting out on a balcony and I took this project with me to work on. After a couple of hours, I was very happy to say that I finished this project. I love how it turned out, and it didn't take me too long once I picked it up and focused on working on it.

Now I have the issue of what project will I be picked up next. I am not sure what I want to work on, as I would like to pick up something that I haven't worked on for a bit.

Pine Forest Baby Blanket - I have continued to work on this baby blanket over the last week and have been loving how quickly it works up. I continued to work on it with a goal of a minimum of 4 rows a day on it, and it worked, as I was able to move the project forward quicker than I originally thought.

Saturday, I was getting close to getting this project finished, and so I picked it up first thing in the morning and started to work on getting the last 4 patterns completed. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a finish on Saturday or Sunday, but my goal was to get it done before the end of the weekend.

I did work on it for a while on Saturday, and I was very happy to see that I got all the rows done that I wanted, and I was able to finish it. Yes, the pine forest baby blanket is now finished, and the ends are also sewn in.

Now, my goal is to find another baby blanket that I can work on and see how quickly I can get the next one done. It made me very happy to see the blanket finished.

Other projects - this past week, I didn't work on any of my other projects because I was focused trying to get these two projects done. I am now sitting with both of the projects finished and now need to figure out what I am going to work on now.

I have lots of projects that I started, so now to figure out what I want to work on so that I can move something else forward quickly.

I hope everyone has been able to find those few minutes each day to take time for yourself. I know that being able to have something that I want to get finished helps me focus on taking that time for me. Some days it is only 15 - 30 minutes, but at least I have that little bit of time when I can relax and recharge my own batteries.

Hope everyone has a good week, and now my goal is to figure out my projects that I am going to be working on this week. Please let me know if you have any suggestions as to what I should pull back out and work on.

Getting things moving forward

Here it is the start of another week and yes I have been able to get more progress on a few things. I hope that this week I can continue to see more progress on things. The weather here is currently hot and humid, so it is making it difficult to get a lot of stuff done, but I have at least been able to spend a bit of time working on a couple of projects, so that makes me feel a little better.

Sewn in Friendship - this week I pulled out a project that I had been working on a bit at a time. I don't think I even had shown this one before. I am enjoying seeing how quickly I was able to make progress on this piece. It is a lot of fun when you can quickly see something come to life after only working on it a thread or two at a time.

I am going to try and continue on this piece over the next couple of weeks, as I think I should be able to get it finished if I just focus on it.

Pine Forest Baby Blanket - I have continued to work on this baby blanket, and I am loving how it is turning out. I am currently working on getting the rest of the pattern rows done, and hopefully this will also be done very soon.

I have now finished two balls of yarn for this blanket and am onto the third ball and this should finish the blanket. I still have about 13 more patterns to knit on this blanket, so hopefully once it cools down a bit I will be able to get back to making progress on this. 

Other projects - I am continuing to work slowly on my English paper piecing motifs and sewing them together, and over the last couple of weeks I haven't made a lot of progress. Again, once the weather cools down a little, and it is easier to hold onto things, I hope to be able to continue to make good progress on a bunch of the projects that are currently sitting and waiting to be worked on.

I hope everyone is able to spend a few minutes each day doing something that you enjoy. You might not be able to get a lot of something done, but at least those few minutes helps you recharge your own person batteries, and it makes dealing with everyone else a little easier.

This week I hope to continue to find bits of time when I can sit and work on my various projects, and maybe I will have more to show you next week. Have a good week and if you are dealing with the extreme heat and humidity, please take care of yourself and try and stay cool.

 

Some progress this week

Here it is the start of another week and yes another week of seeing if I can spend some time each day doing a bit of crafting.

Life seems to be getting into a new normal and that is good, so now to see how my crafting time may change, but at least I know that I have been able to make some progress on things over the last week.

Magic of Books - this week I continued to work on Magic of Books and most days I was able to get a couple of lengths of black added to the overall piece. I did make some good progress on filling in the black, but I am now going to at least take this week as a break from black. I am happy with how much I was able to get done, as I was able to almost 1,000 stitches in black over the last week.

Pine Forest Baby Blanket - I am continuing to work on this blanket and trying to get at least 4 rows completed each day.  I have now passed the halfway mark on the project, so that makes me happy, and I am going to be working hard to see how quickly I can get it done.

The pattern is a nice simple pattern and once you have memorized the pattern you can simply pick up the project and work on it. I know that seeing more of the rows completed would be nice, as it is starting to get a little harder to keep in my lap. I know that if the weather gets back to the hot and humid weather that they are calling for, I might not be able to get the four rows done each day, but I will try.

I have been wondering what this pattern would look like using sports weight yarn because I think it would have a nice and lacey appearance, so maybe that is something I might try later on. First I need to get this blanket finished, and then I can think about trying it in a different yarn.

Other projects - I have picked up my English paper piecing and have been making some slow progress on both the small motif project and the throw. Neither of the projects looks like I have done much, as I have been working on some little bits of sewing that is usually needed at some point in the project. I hope to be able to show some progress on both of these projects before too long.

I hope everyone continues to find those bits of time each day to do something for yourself. It doesn't matter what it is but making sure that you have spent some time doing something that you enjoy is what matters. We all need to take some time for yourself so that we can regain our own energy so that we can be there for those around us.

I hope to have some progress on at least a couple of projects next week. I am not sure what I am going to be working on, but I will figure that out later today. Have a good week.