Two New Starts

Here it is the start of another week and this week is going to be a busy week so I am not certain how much crafting I will get done through the week. I hope to be able to find some time to at least work on my projects a little bit as I have two new projects that I want to move forward.

Let Flowers Grow - here is the new start that I did this week and it is another Jan Hick's Creates piece and it is also a stitch-along that we started on October 15th. I am happy with the progress that I was able to make on it.

I decided to work on the border first to make sure that I had the outline of the piece done. It has been a lot of fun to work on and I am looking forward to adding some more of the design to the piece. 

I did add the line that goes through the centre of the piece as I wanted to make sure that I knew what the top of the design was and also give me something that I can stitch from as I start to add some of the other parts of the design.

Little Meg Shawl - here is the new shawl that I started this week. It has been a lot of fun working on it and I have made some good progress on it as well. I am already 40% complete and I only started it on Wednesday.

This pattern is by Helen Stewart, and she is one of the shawl designers that I really enjoy. Her patterns are easy to follow, and she gives you the percentage completed along the way which is nice.

The yarn I am using for this project is by Windswept Fibres and Design who is a dyer from Newfoundland, Canada. The yarn is so nice to work with and am loving how it is turning out.

Other projects - I have worked on my EPP a little bit in the last week, so I have been able to continue to move it forward some as well. I am trying not to bounce around too much with my projects as I would like to at least see progress on the projects that I do touch each week.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find a bit of time to recharge your personal battery. If I can find some time to work on some of my projects this week I hope to have something to show you next Monday. Have a good week and I will try and post again next week.

Another finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully I will be able to spend some time working on my projects this week as I would like to see if I can move some of them forward a little bit.

Things have been a little crazy this last week so I wasn't able to work on my projects as much as I would have liked but at least I was able to move some of them forward a little bit. I hope that this week I will be able to continue to move things forward.

Pandemic - here is the cross stitch project that came out this last week and got some attention. I decided that I was going to try and focus on just the bottom pages of the pattern and see if I could move them forward.

All of the pages have lots of stitches in them so that means that it takes quite a while before you see either a page finish or sections of the page done. Last week, I ended up finishing three pages and have two more pages to go before the bottom of the design is down. There is 20 pages in this pattern, so I now have 17 pages to finish. Yes, it is a long way to go but at least moving it forward a little bit was better than nothing.

Pandemic won't be seeing much more attention this coming week as there is a Stitch-along that I am hosting on the Jan Hicks Creates - Stunning Cross Stitch Designers Facebook page. It does mean that I won't have a lot of time to focus on Pandemic but at least I moved it forward again.

Beige Shawl - this is the project that probably got the most attention because I was trying to get it finished. I worked on this as much as I could and by Saturday evening, I was able to see that I would have a finish. It felt so nice seeing that I was able to get this shawl done and it is now waiting to be blocked which I hope to do later this coming week.

I have enjoyed working on these simple projects, but I am thinking that it is now time for me to figure out a different pattern to work on so that I have a bit more of a challenge. It is now time for me to go through all of shawl patterns and yarn and figure out which one is going to be the next project that I work on. I do have some ideas but need to sit back and look at all the different yarns and patterns and see what pattern calls to me right now.

Other projects - I haven't work on much else over this last week other than finding a little bit of time a couple of evenings to get some more work done on the EPP project that I am trying to focus on this month.

This coming week I am not certain how much time I am going to have for crafting, but I am going to try and at least find a bit of time each day to do something that I enjoy. I hope that you find a bit of time each day to also recharge your personal battery because it is important to ensure you are ready for what life throws your way.

Next week, I hope to have a bit of progress to show you and given there is a new start October 15th, I might have something to show next Monday. Have a good week and I will post again next week.

 

A finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and I can honestly say that I was able to make some progress on my crafting this past week and that makes me feel good. 

The last week was a little quieter workwise, so I was able to spend a bit more time relaxing and trying to focus on getting things moved forward. It does feel good to be able to say that I saw progress on my different crafts in the last week so that makes me happy.

I am not certain what this week is gong to be like, but I am going to try and see if I can continue to get things moved forward even if it is just a little bit at a time. Seeing progress makes me feel good so that is what I am going to be trying to see this week.

Arabesque - here is the cross stitch project that I have been focusing on and it did get a lot of attention in this last week. It feels great seeing that I have been able to at least move it forward enough to get it finished.

This past week I decided that it was going to be the project that got the attention as I was working on pushing it to a finish and by yesterday afternoon, I was able to add the last few stitches to the piece and it is now completed. I really enjoyed working on this piece and am looking forward to finding a frame for it and then getting it frame and ready to hang on my wall.

It is now time for me to figure out the project that will get some attention now that Arabesque is done. I do know that there is another stitch along starting on October 15th, so the project I work on this week will be one of the projects that I already have on the go as I don't want to start something this week if I can't get it finished before the 15th of this month.

Beige Shawl - this is the knitting project that I have been focusing on as I would like to get it finished before too long. I have been trying to spend at least 30 minutes a day working on this project, and it has helped move it forward quite a bit in the last week.

The ball of yarn is starting to look smaller which is good and now to see how quickly I can finish up this project as I have a few other projects that I would like to start and work on. I have been trying to only have one knitting project on the go at a time so that means I need to finish this before I put something else on the needles.

Other projects - this past week I was able to pick up and work on my EPP a little bit and that made me happy because I was able to at least get some work done on it. Of course, I will show that progress at the end of the month.

This last week I didn't work on anything else because I was focusing on getting Arabesque completed so that is where most of my attention went. Now to see what this week is like because there are a few projects that I might pick up but will have to wait and see how things go.

I hope everyone has had a good week and you have been able to find that bit of time each day to relax and take time for yourself. Being able to focus on something that you enjoy does make a difference because it helps you regain your focus so that you can be there for others.

If things go well this week, I should have some progress on at least something to show you next week. I am not certain other than the beige shawl what I am going to be working on, but I will be picking up something. Have a good week and I will hopefully see you next week with some progress.

 

English Paper Piecing - September progress

Here it is the start of another month so that means it is time to talk about what I was able to get done with regards to my EPP. Well, I can honestly say that September wasn't a very productive month for me. Through the month of September, a lot of my crafting wasn't done so I am not surprised that I didn't get a lot of EPP done either.

Scrap Throw - this did get a little bit of attention as I was able to join one flower together so that is at least moving it forward so that is good. Hopefully I will be able to find some time and energy in October to try and move it forward a bit more.

Popsy's Throw - I was able to get four flowers joined together this month so yes, it is moving it forward but not very quickly at all. It was a different month for me, and I hope that I will be able to get back to working on my EPP a little more and maybe even see progress on things through October.

Other projects - I didn't pick up anything of my other EPP projects this past month so let's see how October goes. If you have been working on your EPP projects I hope you were able to make more progress than I did. 

In October I hope to be able to spend some time working on moving my projects forward, but time will tell. If things are good, I might be able to move something forward and feel good about that. Now I just have to wait and see what happens so I will post the results for October at the end of the month.
 

Moving things forward

Here it is the start of another week and yes it has been busy around here, so I haven't had as much time to sit and do my crafting.

The weather has started to cool down, so it is easier to focus on things and actually try and get things done. There are still lots of things to do around home so that is also taking some of my time, but I am happy with the progress that I am seeing on everything.

This past week I didn't get as much crafting done but at least I did find a bit of time most days to work on my projects so that is good. Now to see what this week is like.

Arabesque - I was able to pick up and work on it for a while and am happy with the progress that I was able to make on it. I only worked on this twice in the past week and have now got over 75% of it complete and am going to be trying to see when I can get it done.

I am loving how it is turning out and maybe I will be able to finish up the alphabet before too long. I only have three more letters to go and then I have the top section to do. I know that being able to focus on this a bit more this week would be nice and maybe then I might get it even closer to a finish. I had hoped to have it finished by the end of September but that isn't going to happen, but I will just continue to work on it and see how quickly I can get it finished.

Beige shawl - this is the shawl that I have been working on and am happy with the progress that I have made on it. The pattern is very simple as I am just increasing a stitch at the beginning of each row. I am not certain how large this shawl is going to be because I am just going to work on it until I have used up the ball of yarn that I have.

It does feel good having a project that I can just work on without having to look at a pattern. This has been fun to work on and when I have a few minutes I can at least get a couple of rows done on it. This project I hope to get more done on it this coming week as I would like to see how quickly I can get it done.

Other projects - I haven't worked on much of anything else this past week as I have been trying to get other things done. Hopefully I will have some progress again this coming week as I would like to see things moved forward. I did pick up my English Paper Piecing a little bit so at least I have some progress to show for this month when I write that blog tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find the time to recharge your personal battery each day. Making sure that you can spend some time doing something that you enjoy is important for your mental health. We all need to take that bit of time for yourselves so that we can be there for those around us.

Have a good week and hopefully I will have some progress on things to show you next week.

Slow and steady

Here it is the start of another week, and it looks like it is going to be another busy week for me. The weather has been pretty nice here, so that has meant that we have been able to sit on the balcony some days before having dinner. It is always nice when we can do that because it gives us a chance to talk over the day and figure out what is ahead for the next days.

It is always nice when we can spend some time sitting and talking things over because it means we both know what the other one is working on and what our schedule looks like.

Arabesque - here is the cross stitch project that got a little bit of attention this past week. I was able to roll the piece up and have now reached the top left corner of the design.

I hope to be able to continue to work on this piece as I am excited to see what it looks like when it is all done. I am almost at 70% complete but there is still a lot of stitches left to go on this piece. Hopefully this week I will be able to find some time where I can work on it and move it forward again.

Simple Shawl - here is the project that did get quite a bit of attention this last week. I was able to work on this quite often and have just about finished the shawl. I had hoped to finish the shawl this weekend, but it didn't happen.

I have started to cast off the stitches now so it should be done within the next couple of days if I can just sit and work on it for a little while. You can see what a difference in colour that this piece looks, and it all depends on the lighting when I take the piece. The second picture is more like the colours of the yarn. It has been a lot of fun to work on and once this is finished, I will be picked up and working on another shawl. 

Other projects - I haven't done a lot of other things this past week as it has been a littler busier for me than normal. Hopefully this week I will be able to find some time to sit and work on my English Paper Piecing for a little while as it hasn't got much attention this month.

I hope everyone finds that bit of time each day to do something for yourself. It doesn't always have to be your normal things but at least taking that bit of time each day to recharge your personal battery is very important.

This week I am not certain what crafting I will be doing but I do want to finish the shawl as I am so close to having it done. I will also try and work on Arabesque as getting more of it done would be great.

If things go well, I should have something to show you next week. Have a good week and I will write again next Monday.

Some good progress

Here it is the start of another week, and I have at least been able to spend some time working on my crafting. I know that this last week was a little different so now to see what this week is like as I would like to continue to get more crafting done but there are work things that also need my attention.

We have had some nice warm days lately and that has been nice but we are going to be getting rid of the humidity after today so things should get back to normal on that front. It has been nice to spend some time sitting outside and enjoying the weather.

Arabesque - here is the project that I focused on again this week and am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on it. It has felt so good being able to work on moving this project forward even if I don't get a lot of time to work on it. 

I am looking forward to seeing what I can get done on this piece over the next week because it would be nice to continue to move this project forward. It has been a lot of fun to work on and each time I work on it I am getting closer to the top of the design. 

It is now time for me to scroll the design up again so that I can have more room to work on it and hopefully I will be able to get more of this piece done. I know that the left side of the pattern is getting closer to the top and maybe that is what I will try and achieve this week. If I can at least get part of the pattern up to the top I will then know the area that is left to stitch.

Simple Shawl - here is the knitting project that I picked up and work on this week. It is nice moving this piece forward and I am looking forward to having it finished.  

I still don't know how much bigger this shawl is going to get because I am just working on the ball of yarn and will use it all up on this project. It is fun not knowing the actual size it will be because it helps me want to continue to work on it to see what it looks like and how big it is once it's done.

Of course, I am thinking of starting another shawl so that I can have two on the go. It would be a different pattern but again it is using up some of the yarn that I have which is one of my goals for this year. I am enjoying working with the fingering weight yarn as a ball of yarn does last a lot longer than a ball of worsted weight yarn.

Other projects - I haven't been working on a lot of other projects lately as I have been trying to stay focused and get things done. Hopefully if I can continue to stay focused, I will get these projects finished up and then be able to work on some of the other things that I would like to do.

This week I am not certain what I have to try and get done but I do know that I am going to try and stay focused on my crafting projects to see if I can get them moved forward again. If the weather is still hot and humid I may take my knitting out onto the balcony and see if I can move it forward some.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find some time to do the things that you enjoy doing. Being able to spend that bit of time each day doing things that you enjoy is important as it does help recharge your personal batteries.

Next week I hope to be back with a bit more progress on my projects if things go well. 

 

More progress and a finish

Here it is the start of another week, and I am looking forward to seeing how things go. It is going to be a busy week, but I hope that I can continue to find time to work on some of the projects that I currently have on the go. We are dealing with the roller coaster of weather right now, so that means one day it is warm, and then the next one is quite a bit cooler. Hopefully this week, the weather will warm up just a little bit, as I would like to find some time to sit outside.

Arabesque - here is the cross stitch that I picked up and worked on this week. I am happy with the progress that I was able to make and hope that this coming week I can add more to this piece. I have reached the 50% complete, and now I am looking forward to seeing how much more of it I can get done.

If I can focus on this piece for a while I might be able to get it closer to a finish but will have to see how it goes. I do know that I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like when I can see the piece finished.

Easy Goes It Shawl - this is the knitting project that I have been working on and am happy with the progress that I was able to get done this last week. I was determined to see if I could get the piece finished by the end of the weekend and with some focus, I was able to accomplish that. This shawl was nice to work on and now I just need to block it and then it will be ready to wear. The yarn was nice to work with and now to pick up the next project and see how it goes.

I think I have figured out the next project that I will work on but that could change when I go to pick it up. I have been enjoying working on the various knitting projects and am looking forward to working on the next one. I do have lots of fingers and sports weight yarn that is waiting to be made into something so now to pick something up and get to work on it.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects this past week and will have to see how this week goes. I do know that I have things that I would like to work on, but I am trying to keep a focus so that I can get things done.

The one thing that I have made sure I have done even when I have been busy has been to ensure that I take those few minutes each day to do something that I enjoy. It doesn't have to be a long time but even those 15 - 20-minute escapes can make such a difference.  This week I will see what I work on and hopefully next week I will have some progress on at least one project. 

 

Fox and Rabbit Mystery Sampler Box

Here is a blog that I have been looking forward to writing as I was fortunate to be able to get a Mystery Box from Fox and Rabbit when they came available on June 30th here in Canada.  I have delayed this post to make sure that most people that ordered the box should have received it and opened it.

Karen and Brendon Kirk are the owners of this company and they had been mentioning this box quite a few months ago on their Youtube channel. When they told us about the box, they had said that there would be a sampler pattern, fabric and floss in the box along with some other surprises.  

You can probably guess how excited I was when they went on sale, and I was able to purchase the box before they were sold out. It felt wonderful to be able to order the box but then there was the waiting until the box shipped. As the box was coming from Australia, I knew that it was going to take some time once it was actually mailed. The box was mailed on Friday August 12th, and I received the box on Monday August 19th so that didn't take too long to get here. I was tracking the box all the way on its journey and was excited to see it was out for delivery.

The box couldn't have arrived on a better day and when the postal carrier knocked on our door, I was quickly there to receive my box. The box was so nice to see with the Fox and Rabbit logo on it and on the side, it says Mystery Sampler Box 1. It was then time to open the box and see what we received and there was a lot of stuff in this box. Here is a list of everything that we received:

• Half yard of Vintage Sand aida (colour created especially for this box)
• Elizabeth Cheavins 1869 chart
• Fat quarter of Baked Clay linen for chart
• Elizabeth Cheavins Pinkeep chart and finishing instructions
  
• Piece of Baked clay linen, finishing fabrics and LadyDot trim for the Pinkeep.
• Cardboard templates for Pinkeep.
• Pin pack for the Pinkeep.
• Thread pack for both projects
• Embroidery scissors
• Fox and Rabbit enamel needleminder
• Elizabeth Cheavins thread ring and charms
• Bee wax waxer
• Caramello Koala chocolate
• 20% off voucher for PDF charts from Fox and Rabbit
• Fox and Rabbit sticker

As you can see there was a lot of stuff in the box, and I am looking forward to working on these projects. The half yard of Vintage Sand aida will going into your fabric stash for now and it will be used for a special project or two in the future.  

I am excited to start working on some of these projects, but I am going to be good and wait for a little while to make sure that I can give these projects that attention they deserve.

Progress and a start and finish

Here it is the start of another week and yes, I was able to make some progress on some projects in the last week. It was a nice week when I was able to spend some time working on projects and seeing progress on some of them. Now to see what this week is like as I would like to see if I can move at least one project forward a bit and then see what else I can get done.

Arabesque - here is the project that got a bit of attention this weekend as I wanted to see if I could move it forward a bit. I haven't spent a lot of time on this cross stitch in the past week so now hopefully I can get back to working on it as I would like to see how quickly I can get this piece done. I am loving how the colours are turning out on the piece so now to spend a bit more time working on it and maybe get those two missing letters done before too long.

I will see how much of it I can get in the next week because seeing some more progress on it would make me very happy. The only way I can see progress is if I pick it up so that is what I am going to have to try and do in the next little while.

Chew Magna Project #1 - here is the project that I did work on this week. This is a cross stitch that I did based on a picture of this pattern that was in St Andrews Church in Chew Magna, England. My sister saw two cross stitch pieces in the church and immediately thought that it would be nice to stitch it. We couldn't find any pattern, so I charted the piece from the pieces she had. This piece was quick to stitch up as it only took me three evenings to get it done. Now, I need to chart and stitch the other cross that she saw because it would be nice to have both. This church is where our grandfather went as a boy in England.

Easy Goes It - I have been able to make some progress on this project in the last week. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked but at least I have been able to move it forward and that is what is important. Now to see if I can continue to get more of this shawl knit as it would be nice to have it finished before too long.

I am enjoying working on this shawl and it is a pretty easy pattern so just being able to focus on it for a little while would be good so will have to see how it goes in the next week. Being able to sit and knit for even an hour a day is good and I do need to get back to doing that as it moves projects forward and it also helps me regain a focus when things are busy.

Simple Shawl - this past week we were doing some driving so I wanted a project that I could work on in the car as a passenger. I was able to get some of this knit last week and it will be a project that I will pick up and work on either when we are driving somewhere or when I just have a few minutes and don't want to worry about a pattern. This didn't take long before it was growing and now that the rows are a bit longer it does take more time to see progress, but it is still very enjoyable to work on. I am not certain how large this shawl is going to be because I have 115 grams of this yarn, and I am going to just knit until it is finished. I love patterns like this because it means you don't end up with little bits of a colour. 

Other projects - I haven't been working on anything else and given what I was able to accomplish last week I am happy that I had a focus. Now to see what this week has in store as it is a holiday here today so that means that I might be able to find a bit of time to craft, but I also have some other things that I also want to accomplish.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find the time each day to recharge your personal battery because that helps you focus on the things that you need to do. My goal this week is to try and make some progress on a few things and then see how things go. It is going to be a busy week for me so I will see what crafting I can get done. If things go well, I should be back next week with at least a little bit of progress on something.

 

English Paper Piecing - August Progress

Here it is the start of another month, and I have been able to spend some time working on my different English Paper Piecing projects. It feels good to see that I have at least been able to make some progress on things and that is great. Being able to pick up a project and work on it for a little while is always nice and these projects are the ones that do work when you have just a little bit of time to work on something.

Table runner - here is the project that was my focus as I was trying to get all the motifs added to it so that I could say that the top of the table runner is finally complete.

In August I was determined to get the rest of the motifs joined onto the runner and I got it done. It is nice to know that I have the top of the table runner completed and now what I need to do is figure out the backing that I want to use and then do the actual quilting on it. 

Popsy's throw - I am continuing to work on getting more of the motifs made for this throw. The pile of completed motifs is growing so that means that I also need to get back to joining these into flowers so that I can work on moving this project forward.

Other projects - I haven't picked up any of the other EPP projects as I have been trying to focus on just working on one or two projects at a time. Once the weather was cooled down a little bit I may try and work on a couple of the projects that are further along so that I can see if I can get them moved forward and closer to a finish.

In September I haven't decided what the focus is going to be, but I do know that I want to continue to move my projects forward so will see how that goes.

 

Progress and a new/revised project

It is hard to believe that another week has come and done. Things here have been busy, so it has meant that the week has gone by so quickly and am not certain what I really did.

There are still so many things that I would like to accomplish that I need to make a list of them and start working through that list. Hopefully once things are back to normal once summer is over, I can get that list written out and start working through everything.

Arabesque - here is the cross stitch project that got the attention this week. I am happy with the progress that I was able to make on it. I do know that this week I am not going to have as much time to work on the piece, so hopefully next weekend I can work on moving it forward again. It does feel good seeing that I have been able to get some of the letters done. If things go well, I might be able to roll the scroll bars a bit later this week and have a bigger area to work on again.

This project is still a lot of fun to work on, and I think with it being one colour floss it makes it so much easier to do. Using hand-dyed floss can be a bit of a challenge, but once you get into the habit of how you want to do things it makes it pretty easy to do.

Easy Goes It - here is the current knitting project that I am working on. It is a nice shawl that doesn't take too long to do, and it is something that I am enjoying doing. This shawl was started on Wednesday after I made a decision on the shawl that I was working on before. The Miss May Mystery Shawl has now been stopped and all the yarn wound into balls because I wasn't enjoying how it was looking. The yarn that I had picked to use for the shawl has a lot of character in each ball, and the shawl just wasn't looking like I wanted it to look.

It can be hard to make a decision to scrap a project after you have worked on it for quite a few days but if you don't think you will ever wear it, it's better to stop making it then spend all the time working on it and then just not wear it. I know that I will make the Miss May Mystery Shawl at another time, but it will be with yarn that is a lot plainer than the yarn that I was using.

This decision that I made was a little disappointing in some ways but then now instead of having two shawls that I might not have worn I will have four different shawls that I should be able to wear and that makes me feel a lot better.

Other Projects - I haven't had a lot of time to work on other projects this last week and hope that I can at least get a couple of other projects moved forward in this next week. I have also been working on charting some piece so those are things that I hope to stitch up soon if I can just find the time to do them.

I hope everyone has a good week and you continue to find that bit of time for yourself each day to recharge your personal battery. My crafting does bring me join and then life gets busy, I know that if I can spend those few minutes doing something that brings me join.

If things go well this week, I should have something to show you next week, but time will tell what project I can get done. Have a good week and I will hopefully post again next week.

 

Progress on a couple of projects

Here it is a start of another week, and it is starting out cooler than it has been, but that is fine with me. It looks like this is going to be a busy week, so I am going to see what I can get done, but I will try and at least move a couple of projects forward a bit before the end of this week.

Arabesque - here is the cross stitch project that got some attention this week. It didn't get as much as I would have liked to have given it, but at least I was able to move the project forward and that is what is important. It does feel good being able to work with one colour of thread. When I want to work on this project, I just have to grab the one variegated thread that I am working with and I can just stitch.

I hope to continue to move this project forward some again this coming week because it is nice to work on when I pick it up. Now that the large motif is completed some of the other parts of the project should move forward a little quicker or at least that is my hope.

Miss May Mystery Shawl - here is the knitting project that I am currently working on. I started this shawl at the beginning of last week and took a picture of it. This is how much I was able to get done on the Sunday when I started the project, and I was happy with how much I had done but it wasn't worth sharing it then.

Now you can see that I have been able to work on it for a while and yes there are different colours in the shawl, and it is working up at a good pace. The rows are getting longer so that means that I think it will take longer to see progress on the shawl, but I am going to continue to work on it as I would like to know that I have been able to move the shawl forward.

Other projects - I have been able to pick up and work on my EPP a little bit so that is making me happy, and I should have some progress to show at the end of the month on that.

Of course, there are always other projects that I want to work on, but I have been trying to keep a focus and limit the number of projects that I have on the go. It is sometimes so easy to start something but being able to see the progress that I have on my projects makes me feel good.

I hope everyone as good week and you find the time to do something for yourself each day. For me, it is trying to make sure that I have picked up my crafting even for just a few minutes each day as it helps me regain a focus and manage everything else that goes on around me.

This week I hope to continue to move my projects forward and hopefully will have something to show you next Monday. Have a good week and make sure you take time for yourself.

 

Some progress and another finish

Here it is the start of another week, and the weather has cooled down some here, so that makes it that being able to focus on things is a lot easier.

Work has been busy, but I have been able to find some time to make some progress on things and that also makes me happy.

Arabesque - here is the cross stitch project that got the attention and I am very happy with what I was able to get done in the last week. This project has been enjoyable to work on and having the different sections to work on does help. This motif that I am working on has taken quite a bit of time and now I just need to finish off the middle of it and then it will be finished.

This coming week I am going to continue to work on this piece and will see how much more of it I can get done. I am looking forward to getting into some of the other motifs and the alphabet and I should be able to start the alphabet before long.

Forage Shawl - this is the knitting project that I have been working on and it has been something that I have enjoyed working on. The yarn that I have used was from Arcane Fibre Works and it was nice and soft to work with. This shawl called for 100 grams of fingering weight yarn or approximately 400 metres. I was working on the shawl and at one point I did weigh the yarn that I had because I wasn't sure if I was going to have enough to finish the shawl.

The good news is on Saturday I was able to cast off the shawl and then I blocked it yesterday so now the shawl is done. I did have enough yarn to finish the shawl and even had 3 grams of yarn left so that was good. Of course, once I finished knitting this shawl it was time to figure out what I was going to work on next.

Yesterday I did start another shawl but there is no picture of it as there isn't much done on it so I should make some progress on it this coming week and will have a picture of it next week.

Other projects - this past week I was able to pick up and work on my English Paper Piecing for a little while so that is a bit of project on that this month. 

It has felt good being able to see progress on things and I am looking forward to seeing what else I can work on through the next couple of weeks. A lot of what I work on depends on how I am feeling but I do enjoy having different things that I can pick up and do.

I hope everyone is finding the time to do things that you enjoy doing. It doesn't matter what it is as long as there is a little bit of time each day spent taking care of yourself. I have found that when I am busy and don't take that time for myself it makes it harder to deal with the other things that happen that I can't control. Have a good week and I hope to have some more progress on things to show you next week.

 

A finish and a new start

Here it is the start of another week, and I am hoping that I will be able to spend some time working on a few of my projects as I would like if I can move things forward again. Being able to focus on things this last week was a little difficult, and part of that is because of the heat and humidity we were dealing with.

The weather here is supposed to be a little cooler, or at least a little less humidity, so that means it might be easier to focus on things. I do have some work things that also need my attention this week, so will have to see what I can get done.

Ramsay - here is the first project that I picked up and worked on this past week as I was trying to get him finished. It didn't take long once I could focus on it, and I worked on the piece until it was done. I had set a goal for myself to finish it in July, and I was able to finish it on July 31st, so that was good.

I still have one more Ramsay to stitch, as they are going to be Christmas ornaments when I fully finish them. I am thinking that I will try and pick up and work on the final Ramsay during August because having the three of them finished would make me happy, so that is what I am going to be trying to do. These are a lot of fun to stitch, and they don't take long to do if I can focus on moving it forward.

Of course, there are other projects that I am also working on, so that means the next Ramsay is going to be fitting in when I want a bit of a break from working on the other things.

Arabesque - here is a project that I started on August 1st as it is a stitch-along that I am hosting through Jan Hicks Creates - Stunning Cross Stitch Designs Facebook group. We decided that it was a piece that a lot of people wanted to do, so why not do a stitch-along. Arabesque is a monochrome piece by Jan Hicks and I have been having a lot of fun working on the piece. 

I started the piece in the bottom left corner and by the time I put it down last night I had got over to the bottom right of the design. I hope that I can continue to move this project forward because it is a nice piece, but that big motif has a lot of detail in it, so will see how that goes. I am going to have to try and focus on getting it done because if I don't get it done, I wouldn't be able to scroll up the piece if I get all the other parts completed before the motif is done.

Other projects - I am trying to focus on getting a few more motifs done for my English Paper Piecing, so will see how that goes over the next couple of weeks. I know that being able to move a bunch of things forward would be nice, so will see what happens.

I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that they enjoy and recharge your own personal battery. It can be a challenge some days to put that time aside and relax, but it is important overall. 

If things go well, I hope to have something to show you again next week, but only time will tell. I have lots of things that I want to work on, but I need to try and focus on just a couple, otherwise I don't feel like I am getting anything done. Have a good week and will be back next week with another update.