Startitis was real and making progress

Here it is the start of another week, and I must admit that the last week was a little different for me. The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit, and things are starting to feel a little more organized, so it felt good.

Button Box Throw - here is the project that didn't get much attention at all last week as I was busy doing some other projects. I am still loving how this is turning out and still have no idea how large it is going to be when I finish it. After I finish the ball of yarn that I was currently working with I think I have six more balls of yarn to add to it. It is a lot of fun to work on and hopefully this week it will get a bit more attention so that I can see at least a couple of colours added to it.

Hedgerow Shawl Knit-along - here is the shawl that did get some more attention in the last week as I was determined to at least get it closer to a finish. I am really looking forward to getting this shawl off the needles and finished so that I can see what it looks like.

This past week I was able to spend some time working on moving the shawl forward and am now on the last section which is the border so hopefully before long I will have this off the needles. I had hoped to get it finished last week but as you will see shortly, I had some major distractions which meant that knitting didn't get quite as much attention as I had wanted to give it.

This coming week I hope to be able to give the Hedgerow Shawl enough attention to get it off the needles and maybe even get some of the ends sewn in as there lots of ends still to weave in.

Startitis - now to explain the next part of the blog because this isn't like me normally, but things happen sometimes and you just don't know what you want to work on and a bunch of things call your name and things happen.

For me this past week was looking at a bunch of my smaller projects and not knowing what I really wanted to start first. I also had a project that was close to a finish so that was also something that I wanted to consider so I let things happen and now that I have looked at what happened I think I am going to be busy for a little while trying to get some things finished.

Peppermint Pressie - here is an ornament that I started in late February, and I didn't think it would take me as long as it did to get it finished. It wouldn't take me long to finish if I actually picked it up and worked on it, but I left it sitting for a month before it came back and I finally was able to finish the piece. When I put it down, I just had the squirrel and the border completed.

The candy cane and the berries and leaves needed to be completed so it was time to focus on getting that done. I am happy with how this piece turned out and I am looking forward to finishing it into an ornament that will hang on my tree this year.

Christmas Toque - so it was time to pick up another project and put one thread into it. This project is rather small so shouldn't take long to complete once it gets some more attention.  I would like to get this ornament completed quickly but again it got one thread into it and then the starting of projects continued.

Post Office - Christmas Village - I have wanted to stitch the Mill Hill Christmas Village for quite some time, and I finally put a thread into the first one. The kit comes with perforated paper, but I decided to do mine on fabric, so it gives me a few more options on how I am going to finish all these pieces. I have 12 stores/houses to stitch so at least I have finally started them, and we will see how long it takes to get even the first one finished.

Snowflake - this project started out with one thread into it but by the time the end of the weekend rolled around I was able to say that I had a finish.

This snowflake was a lot of fun to stitch, and I love how it turned out. I am thinking that I might add some beads to it but we will see what happens when I go to finish it. I love the monochromatic pieces because they seem to work on so quickly because you don't have to think about changing colours, you can just stitch.

I now have 2 of the snowflakes now stitches out of 10 so now to see when the next snowflake gets some attention because I know it didn't get started this past week.

Joy - Red Sweater - this was yet another piece that was started with just one thread into it. Once I finished the snowflake I figured it was time to pick up this piece and maybe get more of it completed. 

It is a lot of fun working on this piece as besides doing the trees, I am making a sweater which is something that I am really enjoying doing. I am not certain when this piece will get completed but I hope it is the one that I can focus on and get it completed soon.

Other projects - no other projects got worked on this past week and I am thankful for that. I am surprised at how many things I started so now I need to focus on moving these projects from one thread into them to finishes.

This coming week I am not certain what will get attention other than the Hedgerow Shawl and at least one cross stitch project. It was fun starting all those projects in the past week and hopefully I can continue to turn the starts into finishes quickly.

I hope you find a bit of time each day to do something that brings you joy. For me, my crafting brings me joy, and it is also a means of sitting down and relaxing and recharging my personal battery. Hope everyone has a good week and let's see what I can get finished or at least moved closer to a finish this coming week.
 

Moving projects forward and a finish

It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone already. Time is really moving quickly and hopefully I will be able to make progress on things.

This past week I was able to find some time to work on projects so that was good. Now to see how this week goes as I would like to maybe move some other projects forward.

Junos Garden - here is the project that I got finished early this past week. I didn't have a lot of it to do so it was time to get the remaining stitches in and get another project finished which makes me very happy.

This project was fun to work on, and I am happy that I picked it up and got it done. I am going to have to figure out how I am going to finish this project.

Half the Fun - here is a project that hasn't been touched since June 2024, so it was time to give this project some much needed attention. I am using variegated floss for this piece so it is basically another monochromatic project, so it was nice to pick it up when I had that bit of time to just sit and work on it.

I started this project in March 2024 and then only worked on it a little bit after that trip and then it was put down and I just never picked it up because there was always something else that I wanted to work on so this project has just sat waiting it's turn to come back out and get some much needed attention. We will see how things go as it would be nice to continue working on this piece and maybe get it closer to a finish in 2026.

This project is fun to work on because sometimes when you are working on a section you aren't quite sure what you are stitching until to look at it from a bit of a distance and then you know what it is.

Snowflake - here is a start on another snowflake ornament that I want to do this year. I have been feeling the urge to start things, so I picked up this project and started it on Saturday.  It shouldn't take me long to get this project finished if I could focus on it.

I am not certain but startitis might be happening because I have so many small projects that I would like to do and over the last couple of days I have wanted to start a bunch of them. I guess we will see how this week goes.

Hedgerow Shawl - this project has been getting some attention but not as much attention as I would have liked to give it. Part of the reason it hasn't got much attention is there are times when I need to focus on the rows and I just haven't set aside the time to do that, so the shawl doesn't move forward very much.

I am loving how the shawl looks so hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can give this shawl some more attention and I will get it closer to a finish. I think I might have around 35 rows to go on the shawl so just sitting and working on it would help me get it finished. 

It is rather difficult to take a picture of it given how large it is getting so getting it finished would be nice so that I can actually see what it looks like.

Button Box Throw - here is the scrap throw that I have been working on. It has been a lot of fun to work on and was a great project when I was attending a virtual conference on Thursday. I was able to work on this throw while watching the sessions and it helped me focus on the sessions and not want to pick up the mouse and on my other monitor be checking a bunch of other stuff.

It is always nice when you can find a project that you can have around to work on when you need something to keep your hands busy while you are attending a virtual conference.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects this past week but given the number of things that got my attention I am happy there isn't more. I am not certain what this week has in store with regards to projects because I have the urge to start a bunch of small projects so we will see what happens.

I hope everyone is finding the time each day to do something that you enjoy even for a few minutes. It can be a challenge to find lots of time but at least those few minutes can make a bit difference.

This coming week I am going to try and work on Hedgerow Shawl some more as well as Button Box Throw and there will be some cross stitch getting some attention but right now not certain that the project is going to be. I guess all I can say is I have some projects that want my attention so we will see how this week goes and what ends up getting moved forward.

Hope everyone has a good week and we will see next Monday what got my attention and what didn't. Have a good week and remember, even those few minutes a day helps recharge your personal battery.
 

A finish and lots of progress

Here it is the start of another week and yes, another week of a lot of cloudy skies around here. The month of March seems to be flying by so quickly and now to see what the weather is going to be like for the rest of this month. 

Silver Anniversary - here is the project that I was very close to a finish last time I wrote a post and on Monday of last week I was able to get the piece finished. It is so nice having this piece completed and now I hope to have it framed before our 25th wedding anniversary in September.  

It was nice to see this piece completed and that meant it was time for me to figure out the next project that was going to be a focus piece. It didn't take me long to figure that out.

Junos Garden - this is the piece that I have been working on and yes, it's the next one that I would like to see completed. As I am doing this as a monochromatic piece it is working up fairly quickly because there isn't an issue of working some stitches and then having to change colours.

Last time I posted I had the middle section of the piece completed so I knew that if I could focus on it for a while I might be able to get the outside of the piece moved forward. 

What I didn't think about was how quickly I might be able to get quite a bit of the outside section completed.  With a bit of luck, I should be able to have piece completed within the next couple of days.

It has been really nice working on this piece and yes it was a focus this past week. I just have to complete the two side borders, and it will be done and that should be relatively easy as there are just over 400 stitches left to go.

Once this piece is finished, it will be time to figure out the next project that I am going to try and focus on and move it closer to a finish as well. I think I have the project figured out but we will see what happens once Junos Garden is out of the hoop.

Button Box Throw - here is the scrappy throw that I have been working on and it has been lots of fun to knit. I am slowly working through all the scrap balls of yarn that I have so we will see what this looks like when it's finished.

I am not certain the size this is going to be when it's finished but it has been a lot of fun working on it. This is the project that I pick up and work on when I have those few minutes. I don't have to worry about completing a row or round, I can just knit and then put it down easily.

Hedgerow Shawl - I can finally show you the shawl that I have been working on for the last while. The entire pattern has now been released, and I can show you where I am on the project. This project has been an interesting one to work on and it has been a bit of a challenge sometimes as well. I have learned some new stitches which has been nice and getting more experience working with different colours.

There is still quite a bit of work to go on this shawl, and I have just finished the second out of four clues. I am enjoying working on this piece and am looking forward to seeing it completed. This is a project that takes some focus so it isn't something that I can pick up when watching videos or doing webinars. That means it only gets attention when I can sit and work on it without the various distractions.

Other projects - I haven't been working on any other projects this past week and given how much attention Junos Garden got I am not surprised. We will see what happens this coming week as I know that I have a virtual conference to attention Wednesday morning, and then most of Thursday.

I hope everyone is finding that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy. For me, being able to set some time aside each day to do some of my crafting has helped me be able to focus on some of the other things that I need to get done.

If things go well this week, I hope to have some progress to show you next Monday. I know that I will be trying to get Junos Garden completed early this week and then we will see what I work on after that. Hope everyone has a good week, and I will post again next Monday.

Close to a finish and progress

Here it is the start of another week so we will see how things go. Just being able to continue to get things done would make me feel a little better about things. Just being able to continue to get things done so we will see how things go.

The weather here is a roller coaster as we have been dealing with warmer weather and then snow and colder weather so that doesn't make me happy. I know that the forecast for this coming week is another roller coaster so it doesn't make me happy so we will see what really happens.

Silver Anniversary - here is the project that I have been working on in the last week. This has been a goal for me to try and continue to get things accomplished so we will see how things go. I know that over this last week I have been able to make some good progress on this piece.

When I picked up this piece this week, I have lots of stitches to complete, but when I put it down today, I only have 312 stitches so it should be a completion before too long. I am so happy to see that I have been able to get this piece so much closer to a finish. I started this piece on February 13th, 2025, and my goal was to get it completed before our Silver Anniversary which is September 14, 2026.

This has been the piece that I have been working on every month since I started on it and it makes me feel a little better. It has been a bit of a challenge to continue to move this piece forward. When I started this piece I figured that I would be getting it completed around the 22nd of July of this year however I am very happy to see that I am going to be getting this piece done ahead of my initial goal.

Hedgerow Shawl - this is the mystery sal that I have been working on and I haven't been able to make a lot of progress on this piece. I hope that over the next couple of weeks I will be able to continue to move this project forward.

All the clues have been released, and I am still working on the 2nd clue so next weekend I should be able to share where I am on this piece, and you will what I have been able to get accomplished. This piece has been a challenge for me and maybe what I needed to do is just take each little bit at a time and not stress about the entire piece because I think that would have helped a lot. 

I currently have some mini bobbles to be completed in clue #2 and am not looking forward to them but we will see how things go.

Button Box Throw - here is the throw that I have been able to move things forward and it is making me feel a little better when I can continue to move this piece forward. It has been nice to see that I can continue to move this piece forward even a little bit at a time. I know that I haven't figured out how large this is going to be and maybe that makes me happy. I currently have three small balls of yarn and then have another 6 balls of yarn around 20 grams each so we will see that the throw looks like when I get all that yarn added, I do need to figure the yarn that I going to be using for the border as well so we will see what I can get done.

Other projects - I can honestly say that I haven't work on any other projects this week and a lot of that is because I have been focusing on getting Silver Anniversary closer to a finish and working on my knitting projects.

I hope everyone is finding a bit of time to focus on something that makes you a little better. It doesn't matter what you are able to do but just spending some time to focus on something that makes you happy is what you need to do.

This week coming I hope that I can get Silver Anniversary completed and we will see how things go moving forward. A bunch of things that I would like to move forward so we will see what I can get accomplished and hopefully I will have something to show you next weekend.

 

Making progress and a challenge

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully the weather will continue to improve, and we will start to enjoy the nicer days. We have seen the sun a little more than we were seeing so that is nice and now to see if the weather will continue to improve and we can enjoy temperatures like we have seen the last couple of days for more days.

Junos Garden - here is a project that I worked on over the last week. I am happy with the progress that I made on it. There is still quite a bit to go but at least I have been able to move it forward this past week. I know that spending a week on a project is helping me move things forward a little more.

Before I picked up the piece this week, I had the outline of the centre completed a little bit of the instead done but this week got me to a point that I am happy with how it is turning out. This pattern was a charity chart by Modern Folk Embroidery, and you had the option to do it all in one colour or 5 colours. I decided that I would do the one colour version and have been enjoying working on the piece. The project will be going away for at least this week as I have another project that I want to move forward.

Button Box Throw - here is a project that I worked on quite a bit this last week as I have been enjoying it. This is a square throw that I started doing the magic loop method. I had wanted to try the magic loop technique for a while so when I saw this pattern I figured I would give it a try. 

I had never done the magic loop before and after watching a really good video I decided that I would give it a try and see what happened. As you can see, I have been able to make some good progress on this throw and am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. This is going to be a scrap throw, so the colours are going to be changing anywhere within the rows. The pattern does call for some eyelets, but I decided to leave them out and just work it plain. You may see three needles right now and that is because I was in the middle of changing the needle length when I took this picture.

Hedgerow Shawl - I am continuing to work on this shawl a bit at a time and am hopefully this week I can get more of it done. The entire pattern has now been released but it is still a secret until the 19th of March when the pattern is released to the public. I am just starting the second clue, so I am still way behind but at least I am moving it forward slowly.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects this past week as I was trying to focus on getting stitches in on the two main projects that I worked on.

This week I hope to be able to find some time to work on my Hedgerow Shawl as well as continue on the Button Box Throw and work on my cross stitch. This week Silver Anniversary will be coming out, and I will see what I can get done on it. 

Hope everyone has a good week, and you take some time for yourself each day to do things you enjoy doing. 

 

What Nashville Needlework Market means to a stitcher

Of course, if you are a cross stitcher and follow some designers you are going to hear the term “Nashville Needlework Market”. This is an in-person market for designers, dyers and accessories supplies to have the chance to show their projects in person to shops. This is an opportunity for you to support your local cross stitch ship or online shop and purchase the various projects that are going to be made available at this show. It isn’t a market where individuals can attend but it is a great way to ask your local shop if they are going and if they can pick up the various projects that you might be interested in.

Shops will travel from distances to be able to see the products in person and be able to purchase the items and bring them back to their shops. Designers, and dyers are going to the market so that they can show their products in shops to leave the show with no products remaining because the shops have purchased all their products. As designers and dyers say prior to Nashville Needlework Market, we go to the show with cars and boxes full of products and we hope to leave the show with empty cars, etc. because all the shops are will with full cars and boxes. 

If you are a shop that is going to be attending the Nashville Needlework Market, make sure that you communicate on your site and with your customers that you are going and will do preorders for the various patterns that designers are making available. What I have seen is that there are shops at the last minute say that they are attending Nashville Needlework Market but don’t let their customers know how they can either request patterns to be picked up or what patterns are available for preorder.

For local shops that are attending the Nashville Needlework Market you need to ensure that you have communicated with your customers so that when you go down you have an idea what your customers are wanting to you to bring back. Sure, you might think you know what your customers want to see in the shop, but you also need to figure out what they want from the various designers. There are designers that never release a pdf version of their pattern so being one of the first people that get the pattern would be nice.

Something that you have to think about is maybe last time you went to the Nashville Needlework Market, your customers wanted a certain set of designers but have times changes and the designers wanted are different. The only way you are going to be able to determine this is by asking your customers what they would like to be made available in the shop right after the Nashville Needlework Market. The other thing that you need to do is have a special event the event after you return to showcase the projects that you brough at the Nashville Needlework Market for those that didn’t have a chance to preorder the charts that they liked and hoped you bought back.

 

Pandemic

Released in spring 2020 when we were all dealing with having to stay home and isolate because of the Pandemic. When this pattern was first released it was a free chart so that people had something to stitch while having to stay home.

Pattern name: Pandemic

Designer: Long Dog Samplers

Size: 365 x 429 stitches

# of Stitches: 77,265

Fabric: 18 count Aida

Floss: DMC 816

Started: August 20, 2020

Finished: February 21, 2026

Finished size: 20.28 inches x 23.83 inches

This project was a journey for me, and it was something that I started in 2020 as I had fabric at home and had some floss so it was something that I could work on. I had picked up this floss for a different project, so it was an easy change to make. Now, I just need to figure out the project that this floss was going to be for because I still have lots of floss remaining.

When I look at the stitching that I did each year on this piece I see that I really didn’t focus on it until 2025 when I decided I wanted to get it finished.

            2020 –  5,655 stitches

            2021 –  1,797 stitches

            2022 –  8,021 stitches

            2023 –  8,605 stitches

            2024 –  3,761 stitches

            2025 – 39,967 stitches

            2026 –  9,459 stitches

This piece was a journey for me and there were times that I just wanted to give up and not finish the piece, but I was determined to try and get it done. The project was difficult sometimes to work on given everything that was going on through the Pandemic and even after and other things that were also going on in our lives. It was something that helped me deal with some of the stress that the Pandemic brought to everyone, but it also reminded me of all the stress, so I think that is why I put it down for as long as I did. Last year, I also finished “Mini the Forgotten” and after that piece was finished, I decided that Pandemic needed to be my focus piece and that is how I got it done.

Yes, Pandemic was a journey for me, but I am happy that I decided to continue to work on the piece and get it finished. I hope to be able to continue to move some of my other projects forward now that this piece is now just waiting to be framed.

Moving projects forward

Here it is the start of another week and yes, the weather looks like it is finally going to be improving or at least that is the forecast. This past week did go by quickly and it was different as I wasn't working on Pandemic like I was doing over the last few weeks.

This past week I wanted to spend some time just working on a couple of projects so that is what I did. Now to see what this week is going to be like as I would like to continue to move things forward.

Silver Anniversary - here is the project that I picked up and work on this past week as I wanted to see if I could get it moved forward a bit. It has been nice to focus on some with a few more colours for a while and see the progress that I was able to make on this piece.

I am going to be trying to get this project completed soon but I don't think it is going to be out this week as I would like to see if I can focus on something else and make progress on it. It is nice trying to focus on a project for a while and not have all the other projects demanding attention at the same time.

This week I will probably continue to work on some of the small ornaments that I have been working on, but I will pull out one of the other projects that I would like to maybe get completed soon as the main project that gets the attention this week.

Peppermint Pressie - here is a small ornament that I have been working on and have had some fun with. It is nice having these small ornaments that I can pick up and work on when I have those few minutes to sit and work on something.

Having a bunch of small projects that I want to get done this year is helping because it gives me some time to just focus on it

Hedgerow Shawl - this is the knitting project that I have been working on this week and I have finally been able to make some progress on it.

I have been taking pictures of this project each week so that I can show you the progress on this shawl once the pattern has been released to the public. I am going to say that this project has been a challenge for me as I have been doing stitches that I haven't done before. Clue #3 has been released so we are getting closer to having the entire pattern to work on. I am no where close to being caught up as I just finished clue #1 on Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to move this project forward some more this week and maybe get it closer to being caught up.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects enough to have something to show. I have been attempting to learn how to do magic loop knitting but that has been going very slowly so nothing to show for that effort yet.

I hope everyone is finding a bit of time to do something that you enjoy doing each day. It doesn't matter what it is or how long you spend doing it. Just being able to spend some time focusing on taking some time for yourself is important. This coming week I hope to be able to work on a different cross stitch project and we will see how it goes. If I can get some stitching time in I should have at least something to show you next week.

 

Three finishes, is that really possible?

Here it is the start of another week. The weather has been a little crazy this last week with rain, freezing rain, ice drizzle and even some snow. It has also meant that the temperature has been fluctuating quite a bit. Hopefully the weather will improve soon, and we will be able to see some of the snow melting.

Pandemic - here is the project that I have been trying to focus on, as one of my goals was to get it finished before too long.

This past week I decided that it was time to just push through and get it finished. It did take quite a bit of time this last week to finish up the top section and then get all the backstitch that I needed to do on the bottom row of 5 pages. I am happy seeing this piece completed and it wasn't until I took the piece off the scroll frame that I realized how large this piece really was.

I started Pandemic on August 20, 2020, and it was finished on February 21, 2026, so yes it did take quite a while to do but I also didn't work on it much some years. Last year and this year were when I put the focus in on it and I went from not having much of it done to having a finish. It is nice having this piece completed so now it is time to try and pick up another project and get it finished.

Argyle Sweater - this is another project that I wanted to see if I could get it finished up because there wasn't much more of it to do.  Just sitting and focusing on it would get it finished and while watching the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics I was able to finish it off. It feels so good seeing another ornament finished.

So, here is the second finish for this week. It has felt good getting some projects finished and hopefully this will continue as I would like to see some more things off the list.

Talisman Shawl - here is the knitting project that I have been working on. As you can probably guess by the title of the blog, I was able to spend some time this last week getting it finished.

This shawl does need some good blocking before I will be able to wear it but at least it is now off the needles and ready for some blocking. It was a nice project to work on and now I need to figure out another project that I can work on.

Hedgerow Shawl - this shawl didn't get a lot of attention this past week,so I need to sit down and focus on it for a while and see how it goes. I know that I should be able to see progress on it if I just sat down and worked on it for a little while.

The second clue was released this past week, and I haven't even finished the first clue, so I need to spend some time trying to get caught up. Maybe this week is the week that I will focus on it and move it forward a bit.

Other projects - I have been playing around with a couple of other things, but they haven't got far enough for pictures, and they might not even work out.

I have been able to make some good progress on some projects and yes, I got three finishes this last week. I won't be getting three more finishes this week, but I am going to try and make some progress on things. Hopefully you are finding some time each day to recharge your personal battery. If things go well, I hope to have some progress on something to show you next week.

Getting closer and some good progress

Here it is the start of another week and at least today is a holiday for us so that means another day where I might be able to make some progress on projects that I would like to get moved forward.

Pandemic - yes, this project came back out for another week as I wanted to see how much more of it, I could get completed. It has felt good seeing the difference I can make in a week when I can sit and focus on just sitting one piece. 

This piece is now not going away until it is completed as I have one section to finish stitching and then a bit of backstitch to complete at the very bottom of the piece. I am happy seeing that it is getting closer to a finish, and I know that I am going to be working hard this week to see how much of this I can get done. I have around 3,200 stitches left on it besides the backstitch so hopefully before long this piece will be finished.

Argyle Sweater - this little project got a bit of progress on it as I wanted to make sure that I picked up something else for a little while and get some progress in on it. I am now down to adding the last colour to the piece so that might be a finish before long as well.

I do have some other sweaters that I want to stitch so getting this done completed would be nice. I will see if I can find a bit of time to work on this piece during this week, but we will have to see how things go.

I am really enjoying having some small projects to work on and I am thinking that once Pandemic and Silver Anniversary are completed the smaller pieces might get some more attention for a little while.

Talisman Shawl - this shawl did get some attention this last week as I have been trying to work on getting it finished up as quickly as I can. I am now down to knitting the last two rows of the shawl and then the cast off so hopefully this will be a finish before the end of this coming week. The completion of this project will be based on how much time I have to actually pick it up and work on it. It would be nice t see this shawl finished up before long so hopefully I can find that bit of time needed to get the rest of it done.

Hedgerow Shawl (Mystery Knit Along) - the pattern for clue 1 of this shawl was released on Thursday and yes, I have started it, but it hasn't got a lot of attention but at least it has been started.  I do know that this shawl is going to challenge me a bit so I will be taking my time working on it so that I don't have to rip some rows because I made mistakes. As this is a mystery knit along, I won't be showing any pictures of my progress until the overall pattern has been released. 

Other projects - considering the number of projects that I have talked about here I haven't had a lot of time to work on anything else. I am going to be trying to at least continue to focus on getting these projects completed over the next little while. This week I know that Pandemic and the Talisman Shawl will get some attention and then after that I will see what grabs my attention.

I hope everyone has a good week and you find that bit of time where you can relax and recharge your own personal battery. If things go well, I should have some more progress to show you next Monday. Until, then have a good week and take time for yourself.
 

The Red Box - All Creatures Great and Small - a treasury of samplers volume II

This is my story about the order that I made on Jan 31^st, 2026, at 7 am.

The box is curated by Nicola Parkman of Hands Across the Seas, and it contains 14 sampler charts and 7 items that Nicola personally selected to do along with the patterns. I am looking forward to this box arriving after it leaves England and arrives here in Canada. This is the fourth box that Nicola has done but the first one that I finally decided to get, and I am looking forward to receiving it.

The experience of getting this box was a bit of a roller coaster because of course everyone was trying to get their box ordered as quickly as they could, so it meant that the system was rather slow. Also, because I was making a foreign purchase, I had an issue with my credit card but that was resolved quickly (needed to reply to text from bank asking if I was making this purchase). Once the credit card number was entered (after the text confirmation) it did take a while for the order to be processed but by 7:40 am I had received an email that my order had gone through.

Now the waiting really begins because it needs to be shipped and arrive at my door. Here is the timeline of how things went:

• Feb 3^rd – receive email that the order is now complete and receive the tracking number for the order.
• Feb 4^th – the box is received by Royal Mail and now the actual tracking begins
• Feb 5^th – the box leaves England so it is getting closer.
• Feb 6^th – the box arrives in Canada and now must go through customs so more waiting and of course it’s Friday, so more waiting is going to have to happen.
• Feb 6^th – checked the tracking and now the system says it will be delivered on Monday, Feb 9^th between 1:30 and 5:30 pm. I really do hate weekends but otherwise it might have been here on the 7^th.
• Feb 9th - the status changed to out for delivery at around 10:30 am and then the waiting began. Of course, it said it should be delivered by 5:30 pm so that was a long wait. Well, at 5:30 I still hadn't received the knock on the door so was getting a little worried. Well at 5:34 the knock came and I immediately ran to the door yelling, "I know who this is and he is holding a box for me."

So, the box has arrived and I have gone through all the contents but it is going to take me some time to actually looking at everything that I received and figure out which charts I want to stitch immediately and what patterns I will do a little later.

As this is a box that was a mystery I cannot show you anything that I received yet, but I can say that I am so happy with the contents of the box and am looking forward to figuring out which patterns I will stitch in which order.

Making progress and lots of focus

Here it is the start of another week, and we have had another week of very cold temperatures and wind chills, so it has made it a little harder to go out and enjoy things. Hopefully the temperature will improve this coming week so we will see how things go.

Pandemic - believe it or not here is the project that came out this week and instead of focusing on getting a lot more of the full crosses in I worked on getting quite a bit of the backstitch completed on this piece. You won't see the entire area that I worked on because I did scroll the piece down so that I could continue to get things done. 

It is nice seeing quite a bit of the backstitch completed and now I am going to be focusing on these last three pages that I need to finish up and then it is scroll to the bottom and add that remaining backstitch to the piece. There is still lots of stitching remaining on this piece but it feels good seeing that it is getting closer to a finish.

Argyle Sweater - this project got a bit of attention as well as week as I wanted to see if I could make some good progress on it.

I am going to see if I can continue to move this piece forward because it would be nice to get this piece finished soon but we will see how things go. If I can get more of this sweater would be nice so we will see what happens. I am thinking that being able to at least spend a bit of time working on this project over the next week would be good so we will see what happens. 

Talisman Shawl - here is the shawl that I have been continuing to work on as much as I can. It has been nice seeing that I have been able to continue to move it forward. I have finished the first ball of yarn and am now working on getting the second ball of yarn into this shawl and finished.

I am going to try and get more of this shawl completed before the middle of this week when I have another knitting project that will be getting my attention. Hopefully I will be able to get quite a bit of this done.  We will see how early this week goes as I know that I want to get more of this shawl done.

Hedgerow Mystery Knit Along - here is the project that I am going to be starting as soon as the pattern is released. I am going to be looking forward to seeing what this shawl is going to look like.

Over the last couple of weeks my biggest decision was to figure out the yarn that I wanted to use for this piece. We were told we needed three colours and the name of the design but that was it. It is always interesting to try and figure out your yarn colours.

I won't be able to show my progress on my shawl until the pattern is released in March, but I will let try and talk about any of the issues or challenges that I am having each week.

Other projects - this last week I haven't picked up any of my other projects, but I am happy with the overall progress I have made on things. 

If you are like me and enjoy the Olympics, I think I know where your attention is going to be for the next couple of weeks. I know that I have been enjoying what events that I can watch. The time difference is making a bit difficult to watch the events that are of interest to me. There have already been times when I turn on one of the events and all I get to see are the medals being awarded. We will see how things go over the next two weeks but at least I am getting to see some of the events so far.

I hope everyone has a good week and you are continuing to find that bit of time to do something you enjoy each day. If things go well this week, I hope to have some more progress to show you next week. I will be working on the Talisman Shawl as well as Pandemic so we will see how the week goes.




 

Making some good progress

Here it is the start of another week, and I am going to stay that it has been a crazy week given the snow that we received last weekend and just trying to dig ourselves out of this mess. We are also dealing with some really cold temperatures so that isn't us at all.

Hopefully things will start to warm up here and we will be able to enjoy some time without feeling like we are going to freeze every time we go outside even just for a few minutes. For me it's been time where I can find some time after getting the work that needs to get completed where I can curl up and work on a project to see how much of it, I can get completed.

Silver Anniversary - here is the project that I picked up this week as I wanted to see how much more of it, I could get done and I am happy with the progress that I was able to achieve. Hopefully I will continue to make some good progress on it each time I pick it up.

I am now at just over 80% completed and that was so rewarding to see that I was able to achieve that this week. What I have also been able to do is making sure that I could continue to move this piece forward and getting rows and columns completed this week was really nice.

This week I was able to complete three rows and three columns and that was great. It is showing me that just being able to focus on areas of this piece helped get it moved forward. I am not certain how much longer it is going to take me to finish this project, but I must admit that I am now seeing that before long this piece will be completed and that is what makes me happy.

Argyle Sweater - here is the project that gets bits of attention when I have those few minutes to pick up something and see what I can get done. It isn't a big piece so that helps as well and just seeing that I can get colours completed on this piece has been good. I have now finished two of the four colours, and I am looking forward to seeing how much more of this piece I can get completed.

Being able to continue to move this piece forward even a little bit at a time is great and we will see when it is completed. I am not pressuring me to finish this piece quickly because it is nice to just work on it when I have those few minutes where I just want to work on something.

I would like to see if spending a bit of time over the next week or so could help me get this ornament completed. There is no pressure or not deadline and that is what makes this project so much fun to work on.

Talisman Shawl - here is the knitting project that I have been working on as I would like to see how much of it I can get completed in the next little while. I do have reasons for wanting this project moved forward quickly so we will have to see how it goes.

I haven't figure out what size that I will be making with this yarn because there are three sizes and it will depend on how big the shawl is when I have finished up using the first ball of yarn. I haven't figured out if it is going to be the medium or large shawl but at least, I know that I have enough yarn to make a shawl that I am happy with. 

Hedgerow Mystery Knit Along - for those of you that have been falling me for a while you may have realized that I really enjoy working on knit patterns by Helen Stewart (link to pattern). So, in the last couple of weeks Helen let everyone know that there was going to be a Mystery Knit Along and it didn't take me long to purchase the pattern so that I could immediately start it when the pattern is released. All I know is the amount of yarn that I need as well as the shape of the project and rest of it will start to come alive on February 12th. If you are interested in joining me making this shawl, I have attached the link for the pattern and just a heads up the price of the pattern will go up on February 12th.  

I haven't figured out the yarn that I am going to be using yet for this piece but hopefully by the time I post next week you will see the colours that I picked but we aren't going to see any progress on this shawl until the final pattern is released by Helen Stewart in March of this year.

Other projects - well, I haven't been able to work on any of the other projects that I have on the go because I have been trying to focus on getting things completed. I am trying to stay focused on the projects that I currently am working on, but we will have to see how things go in the next little while.

I hope everyone has a good week and you are able to focus on your projects no matter what they are. Being able to focus on things that make us happy is extremely important. I know that I try each day to ensure that I spend a bit of time making sure that I do something that makes me happy and helps recharge my personal battery.