Some progress and a couple of finishes

 Here it is the start of another week and yes, it's going to be a busy week for me but at least I know it before it starts. Hopefully I will be able to find bits of time where I can at least get a bit of crafting done but we will just have to see how things go.

The weather here is warming up a little bit so that is also a good thing because now I think we might be able to enjoy the spring after have about 6 inches of snow a week ago. The snow quickly melted so we are back to seeing the brown grass.

Alzheimer's Poem - here is a project that I wanted to get finished as when I wrote the last blog, I was getting a lot closer to a finish. This last week I did pick it up and it only took me part of a day to get it all done.

I am happy to have this piece finished as I did start it in 2020 so it's been hanging around for quite a while. I am not certain what I am going to be doing with it now but at least it is one project off the to-do list which does make me happy.

I started this project just after we were told my dad may have dementia or Alzheimer's and I wanted to do it for him. He never got to see it finished as we lost him in 2021. It is something that I will have to remember the journey that we had with him.

It is now going to be into the finish drawer for now and I will figure out what I will do with it later on. I am happy that I did finish it even if it did take me quite a while to do.

Las Vegas Sign - here is a start and finish in the last week. I started this cross stitch while sitting in the Toronto airport waiting to board a flight to Las Vegas. This piece got a bit of attention when we were away. I worked on it in the airport and then on the flight there and got 299 stitches in on it which made me happy. The next time I picked it up was sitting in the airport in Las Vegas waiting to board our flight home. As you can guess I didn't have a lot of energy or time to work on the piece while we were there. While waiting to board the flight home I added another 44 stitches to the piece.

I did want to get this project finished quickly and the piece isn't very big as it is roughly 2 inches by 2.75 inches. It was a fun piece to work on and it is another memory of our vacation to Las Vegas and walking the entire length of the Las Vegas Strip.

Half the Fun - here is another project that I wanted to start on vacation, and I did. As you can tell it didn't get much attention at all. This project was started while waiting in Las Vegas Airport for our flight home and I added an entire 28 stitches. This piece should get some more attention now that I am home and finished the Las Vegas Sign. Half the Fun is an Ink Circles piece and I am looking forward to working on it for a while.

Twelve Birds MKAL - here is the knitting project that I have started since getting home. You aren't going to be seeing my progress until after May 7th when the actual pattern is released but I can tell you that so far I am enjoying the project and am looking forward to seeing if I can keep up with this knit along.

I was originally going to do the Twenty Four Birds MKAL but last week Helen Stewart released the Twelve Birds MKAL so I decided that I would work on that one instead. It is a project that I think I am going to enjoy and hopefully I will be able to get it done quickly and then be able to show you what it looks like.

Other projects - I haven't worked on any other projects in the last week. It was a good vacation, and I took time to really recharge my personal batteries which I needed to do. Now to see what this week has in store as there are a lot of things on my list of things that I need to work on. 

I hope everyone has a good week and hopefully I will be able to make some progress on other things this week and will have something to show you next week. Remember to take that bit of time each day to yourself as it is important to ensure you are recharging your personal batteries so you can be there for everyone else.

New starts, 2 finishes and Happy New Year

Here it is the start of a new year, and it looks like more Covid-19 restrictions are going to be put into place today, so now to see what happens. For us, we will continue to work remotely like we have been doing, so that is one thing that isn't going to be changing for us.

This past week was a week when I decided to spend some time trying to figure out what projects would get attention and what projects might be put away for a little while.

Queen Elizabeth I - now here is a project that I started on December 31st because I figured it wouldn't take me long to finish it, and I was right. I finished this piece on January 2nd, so it is my first finish for 2022 which makes me feel good.

This project is a full coverage piece, and it is 1.5 inches x 2.25 inches, so not very big at all. It was a fun stitch, and I know that I have other patterns this size that I will be working on throughout this coming year. It was nice to have a project to have something that worked up quickly and also being able to see a finish before too long.

I haven't decided how I will finish this piece, but it will probably be something very simple where I can hang it on my magnetic board and display it.

Ruskin's Penguins - here is a project that when I saw it shown on a video, I knew that I had to stitch it. It is by Modern Folk Embroidery, and it looks like it shouldn't take too long to stitch. 

I decided that before I started with a lot of the detail, I was going to get the border done so that I knew that it matched up, so that was my first priority. The inner board had the detail, so that is what I worked on, and I am just about finished with it, and then I can start adding in the details of the overall piece. 

I am looking forward to seeing this piece moved forward, so it might be one of them that gets attention in the next little while.

Ruth Gibb - I have fallen in love with reproduction samplers, so of course I had to have another one on the go.  This is by Hands Across The Sea, and it is my New Year start for 2022. I always said that I wouldn't do red samplers, but now they are something that I really enjoy doing. I have more of the Hands Across The Sea samplers on my wish list, so that will be more of these getting stitching in the next while. Yes, another red sampler, and I am happy with my one day of work on it.

This is Home - I enjoyed worked on this piece, and it was another project that didn't take long to complete. I started it December 22nd and finished December 28th. It is going to be finished, and we are going to be hanging this in our front hall. 

It is nice to see a project that you can get finished quickly and hopefully this year I will be doing more of this style of project.  I will still be doing the larger projects as well, but these are a lot of fun to work on.

Other projects - I did work on the Pashmina shawl a bit in the last week but not enough to take a picture of. It is a project that I hope to get finished soon so that I have another finish before too long.

I have lots of different projects that I want to work on this year and I have some goals that I want to achieve, but I will be keeping them to myself for now until I figure out if they are realistic or not.

I hope everyone continues to find that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy. I know that making sure that I have that bit of time at the end of the day makes a big difference. I have the time to stitch my mind back together, and I start the next day feeling so much better about things.

Please stay safe and take care of yourself. Happy New Year and all the best in 2022.