Progress but a little less this week

Here it is the start of another week and time to show what I was able to accomplish in the last week.  This past week was busy with a few other things, so I didn't get as much stitching done, but at least I made some progress. My knitting has continued to get the 30 minutes a day, so that helps.

Mini the Forgotten - this project once gain was my focus for the week, and I was able to get some stitches in on it. My goal for March was to reach 50% complete on this piece, and I was able to do that yesterday.  I still have a lot more stitching ahead of me, but being able to see that I have got that much of the piece done makes me feel good. Having this as a focus for March has helped me more this forward a little faster than I had originally planned.  

I hope to continue working on Mini the Forgotten as a focus piece for longer, but I do know that I will be adding in some other projects before too long.

Wedding Shawl - this is the focus knitting project for right now, and I have been able to continue to keep working on this shawl for at least 30 minutes a day. It is a nice pattern to work on, but I still need to have the pattern in front of me, so it isn't something that I can do from memory, but it has been enjoyable to work on. I haven't measured the shawl yet because I know that I still have a long way to go. Maybe at the end of this coming week I will finally measure it to see where I am and how much more I have to go on it.

Other projects - this past week I didn't work on a lot of other stuff other than my English Paper piecing did get a little bit of attention. I know that I have at least moved the large motif throw forward a bit in March, but I guess we will find out when I do that blog at the beginning of April.

I hope everyone is continuing to find those projects that make you happy, and you spend a bit of time each day working on them. There may be times when we don't get a lot of time to ourselves, but even making that 10 or 15 minutes a day a goal helps. I know for me, there are days that I don't get a lot of time to do my knitting, but I try and ensure that I take bits of breaks and do something that I enjoy.

Have a good week and hopefully next week I will have some progress to how you on what I have been working on.

 

Focusing on projects

Here it is the start of another week and yes time for another update and what I have been working on. I have been trying to focus on projects for the last couple of weeks and it does make me happy to see the progress that I have made on a couple of things.

I have enjoyed just working on a couple of projects and have been able to see some good progress on both over the last 7 days.

Wedding Shawl - this is my knitting focus, and I must admit that I have been enjoying working on it as it does seem to knit up quicker now. The pattern is 12 rows, and it is easy to work on once you have a couple of the patterns completed. The shawl is getting about 30 minutes each day and it has helped move this project forward. I still have a long way to go on the shawl as it will measure around 70 inches if I knit it as long as the pattern calls for.

This knitting will continue to be my focus for the next little while as I would like to see how quickly I can get it completed by trying to focus on it a bit each day instead of bouncing between a lot of different knitting projects.

Mini the Forgotten - I have been using this piece as my cross stitch focus and it has helped me move it forward quite a bit. Over the last couple of weeks, I have only been stitching on this piece and have loved seeing the progress that I have done on it.

This past week my focus was on trying to get move of the background completed and it has helped me see some of the sections getting closer to being filled in. Being able to focus on a piece has meant that instead of a couple of projects getting stitched on and not seeing a lot of progress I am seeing at least some progress on this piece.

I have another project that I would like to start but there is a lot of me that wants to focus on this piece through the end of March and see how much of it I can get done. I am currently working towards being 50% completed and that I hope I can do this week but will just have to wait and see. 

Other projects - of course, my English Paper Piecing is getting a bit of attention but not a lot. I am continuing to move this project forward as well and, in some ways, having the focus that I have had this month it makes me happy seeing how much I can get done on something.

I hope everyone is finding the things that make them happy. My joy is ensuring that I find that 30 minutes a day to sit and knit and think through what I want to accomplish that day. My knitting is my start to the day, most of the time, and it gives me that time to set up the day so that I can get things done.

Next week I hope to have more progress to show you and I will see if I can continue to just focus on these projects for another week and see what they look like. Have a good week and enjoy your time that you set aside for yourself.

 

Progress, new start and a finish

Here it is the start of another week and I do have a bit of progress from this last week. It has been a good week for me as I decided to focus on just a couple of projects and see how it end.

I was busy doing some other things that wasn't crafting so that took quite a bit of time so didn't have as much time to focus on moving things forward.

Mini the Forgotten - this week I decided to just focus on working on this piece to see how much of it I could get done. It was different than just working on this piece for a couple of days.

There is still a lot of this project to go but I am happy with the progress that I have made on it. I am trying to focus on getting the bottom section of the piece completed so will see how that goes over the next little while.  I am not sure if I will focus on this piece again this week or work on something different. That decision will be made when I go to do the stitching.

Wavy Lace Scarf - it didn't take me long to get this scarf finished this past week. It was a nice change using worsted weight yarn on a knitting project. 

The scarf is a nice length, and I am looking forward to seeing if I can make another one of these scarfs before too long. Theses scarves are easy to knit and don't take too long to make which is a nice change from what I have been knitting and am currently knitting. 

Wedding Shawl - after I finished the Wavy Lace Scarf it was time to start another knitting project so after trying to decide which project, I would start next I picked up and started the Wedding Shawl. 

This shawl has 12 rows to it so that means that I need to make sure that I know where I am on it. It does work on fairly quickly when I can sit and work on it for the 30 minutes. It has been nice continuing to do the 30 minutes of knitting each day as it gives me a bit of time to sit and relax and figure out plans for the day. My knitting is normally done with my coffee after breakfast and before I start my day.

Other projects - my English Paper piecing did get a bit of attention again this past week and I will show you what I got done when I do that blog at the end of the month. 

It has been nice having a couple of projects that are my focus as I am seeing that I can get quite a bit of progress on something instead of just bits of projects for a bunch of projects. I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy helping you recharge your personal batteries. My knitting has been my recharge and focus my thinking project and I have been able to make some good progress on things.

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

A finish and some more progress

Here it is the start of another week and I have been able to make some good progress on things again this week. I hope that I can continue to see things either completed or at least moved forward in the next little while.

Life seems to be getting back to normal, and being busy with work and other things means there is less time to hide and do some of the crafting that I would like to do.

Ruskin's Penguins - here is the project that was my focus for the last little while, as I wanted to get it completed. This past week, I decided to put a lot of effort into it and see if I could get it done. I was able to get all of it stitched which means this is another finish for the year which makes me happy. Now to see what I work on next as I am going to be trying to move projects forward even just a bit.

I did use Anchor floss for this project, and my experience with the white floss wasn't the best. Anchor floss is similar to DMC, however it comes on spools instead of the skeins. The black floss was fine to work with, and I enjoyed using it and felt it was very similar to the black DMC. Some people say the Anchor black covers better than DMC black, but I didn't see much of a difference. The white floss to me felt rougher than DMC white, so it wasn't as enjoyable to work with. It might just be the spool of white that I got, but I am happy to have finished this project, as I will be putting that spool away.

Mini the Forgotten - I continue to work on this piece, and I am looking forward to seeing it finished. Being able to work on this piece each week is making me happy because I do see progress on it.

I have been able to get the bottom right corner stitched, so that made me happy because I know that I have now touched two of the corners. I still have a long way to go before I have reached the other corners, but I am going to continue to work on this piece, as I would like to see how much of it I can get done this year.

Wavy Lace Scarf - after finishing the other scarf last week, it was time to pull out something else that I had started and see how much of it I could get done this week. I had just started this scarf a while ago, so this week I made some good progress on it. The goal with this scarf is to knit it until the ball of yarn has been used up, and I am seeing that it shouldn't take me much longer to get this scarf finished up.

Other projects - English Paper piecing continues to get worked on and at least one of them got some attention this week. I haven't been working on other things as I have been trying to focus on moving only a few things forward at a time instead of bouncing between too many things.

I hope everyone had a good week last week, and you continue to find the time to do something that you enjoy each day.  Taking that little bit of time for yourself each day is important, and it helps you regain your focus.

Next week I hope to have some more progress on something to show you. Not sure what my projects are going to be, but I will continue to try and move projects forward, even just a bit.

English Paper piecing - February progress

Here it is the end of February and the start of March, and it is time for an update on how the throws are progressing. English Paper piecing is still that project that is so relaxing that I try and put some effort into it each week. It may not get a lot of time at once, but even that hour here and there helps move the projects forward.

One thing that I have been working on this month is trying to find the various ways to finish a quilt top once it is done. I have been watching a lot of different videos to see what I like and what I think might work for my projects.

Large motif throw - this project got some time again this month, as I am looking forward to having all of these motifs joined together. I was able to add another 20 motifs to this throw in February, so that isn't too bad. I have got over the 50% joined now so that is good and only have 67 more motifs to go. I currently have 77 motifs joined.

Of course, after the motifs are all joined it is the quilting and finished of the throw, but that is ok. I am looking forward to getting to the point where I am figuring out how many more motifs go in the various sections of the throw, and I don't think that is going to be long, as I am already working on the areas that are getting close to the 12 motifs across and 12 motifs high. I am currently at 10 motifs, so shouldn't be long now.

Scrap throw - this project also got a bit of attention in February, and I attached 16 motifs to it. This project is going to take a lot longer to get done, but I am enjoying it, so I am not going to complain. Being able to see some progress on this project each month is nice, even if it is just getting a few motifs added.

It is fun working on this project, as the joining of a motif doesn't take as long as joining the larger motifs. As I want the large motif throw completed, I have to try and focus on that one and not let this one become the major focus.

The other thing about this project is I haven't finished making all the motifs, so that is something else that I was working on in February. Making motifs is so relaxing and is something that I can do after dinner while sitting and chatting with my husband. 

Most of the remaining motifs that I need for the throw are ready to be made, so hopefully over the next couple of months I can continue to work on getting more of them into the bag of completed motifs.

Bag of small motifs - when I say that I have a lot of motifs still to join on the scrap throw, here is the bag that I am currently working with. Between what I have joined together and what is in this bag, I have about 70% of the motifs ready for this throw. It is a lot of fun working on the various stages of this throw because each part has a different level of relaxation involved. Making motifs are relaxing, and joining motifs are also relaxing. 

I will see what happens in March, as I would like to continue to join motifs to the scrap throw as well. I may not focus on this one as much as the large motif throw, but it should get a little bit of attention.

Fun comparison - here are the two throws, with the scrap throw on top of the large motif throw. Took this picture to show something that I wanted to illustrate. The large motif throw has 77 motifs joined together, and the scrap throw has 71 motifs joined.

The sizes of the motifs are a lot different, with the large ones being 2 inches and the scarp motifs being 3/4" inch. Yes, you can complete a throw faster with the larger motifs, but I do enjoy the smaller motifs a little more.

March is now here, so that means I need to start working on moving both of these projects forward again. I will see what I can get done this month and hopefully will have some progress to show you at the end of the month.