Another finish and some progress

 Here it is the start of another week here.  It is nice that today is a holiday, so that means that there isn't as many things that have to get done, so I think today I will see what stitching I can get done.

 Things in Ontario continue to be the same in regard to the pandemic other than cases have started to rise again, so will see what that means moving forward.

Mini The Forgotten - here is a piece that has got attention each day this week, and I am very happy with the overall progress that I have made on her. 

It is amazing how much stitching you can get done when you focus on just one colour on a pattern.  I continue to work mostly with just black, but have slowly started to add in a few other colours to help with the filling in of the overall dress that I can currently stitching.

 I am going to continue to work on this piece, as I am loving how much I can get done when I just focus on it. It may not get as much attention this coming week, but time will tell.

Pandemic - this piece sits near me in my office as it is a project that I can pick up when I have a few minutes to just add a few stitches in on it.  I hadn't worked on it for quite a while until yesterday when I decided it was time to continue to move it forward.

I am still working on getting the bottom border done and hope that the next time I pick it p I can get more of the border done, and then I will see where I go from there.

Unleash the Butterflies - here is a piece that got a bit of stitching this week, and that is because I decided to have some fun during the Olympics.

Someone in a cross stitch Facebook group mentioned putting in stitches on a project for every medal that your country won. At first, I didn't think I would do it, but after a bit I decided it might be fun to get some more progress on a piece. 

What I am doing is Gold medals equals 60 stitches, Silver medals 40 stitches and then Bronze medals are 20 stitches.  It is a lot of fun as it means that I have to track the number of medals that Canada has won.  I am currently behind in my stitching as we have won 480 stitches worth of medals so far, and I have only put in 160 stitches.  This week I will need to make sure that I can get more of the stitches in while also seeing how many more stitches will be adding to what I need to stitch.

Moonstone - here is the project that was my focus until it was finished.  I have to admit that I really enjoyed working on this piece as once you got into it and figured out the design it was pretty easy.  

The piece measures 3.75 inches square, so it isn't very big, but it was something that I enjoyed working on and will see how I finish it. I know that it is going to be in my office once it is completed as these are some of my favourite colours that are in this piece.  After I got all the white stitches in, it was pretty easy to work on adding each of the other colours.

This week it is going to be busy as it is a short week for work but will see how things go.  I hope that everyone continues to take care and stay safe as we are still dealing with the Pandemic, but hopefully soon we can start to do things out and about again.

 Continue to find that bit of time each day for yourself and do something that you enjoy.  It doesn't matter what it is, but at least taking some time each day for yourself is important, as it gives yo the energy to help others. If things go well, I should have some more progress on things to show you next week. Have a great week.

An old project comes back out and some progress

 Here it is the start of another week and I can say that I hope that this week things will continue to improve here in Ontario.  The case numbers are still not as low as everyone wants them, but at least stores are open again and people are getting back to work.

The Forgotten - I decided to pull out a piece that I haven't worked on for over a year. The Forgotten was put away in March 2020, and I finally pulled it out and have started to work on i again.  

This piece is one that I want to get working on and so far I am happy with the progress that I made on it in just a week.  I hope that I can continue to see some good progress on it as I would like to see how quickly I can get it moved forward.  I know it isn't something that will be completed quickly but at least seeing some good progress makes me happy.

I have other projects that have been put away for a while, and they are all going to be getting some attention as I would like to see that projects I have started or kitted up are now going to be moved forward and some of them even finished up.

The Forgotten will be staying out for a while as I want to make some more progress on it, and then I will see what I get out next.   I am currently just working on some black on the piece as there is lots of black that I need to do.

Moonstone - here is the project that has been my focus piece as I would really like it have it finished soon.  I am now working on finishing a colour at a time and that helps a lot because then I can start to see the entire piece come to life.  I love the colours in this piece and have already decided on the next colour version of this that I will be working on.

 The next piece will be a bigger design, but it will still be based on the diamond pattern.  I don't know when that piece will be started as I have other things that I also want to do so will just have to wait and see.

Other things - I continue to try and figure out the other things that I am going to work on but lately my focus as been on trying to move some of my cross stitch piece forward.  I am finding that when I have a bit of time each day to relax my cross stitch is the first thing that I pull out.

 I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time each day to do the things that you like to do.  Making sure you take the time for yourself is important, as it gives you the energy to be there for everyone else.  Have a good week and hopefully I will have more to show you next week.

A finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week and all I can say is I am happy that things are slowly starting to get back to some sort of normal here.  We are still dealing with some Covid restrictions, but things are slowly starting to reopen and get back to some sort of normal.

For us things are still the same as we are working remotely, and it is something that we will be doing even after things get back to normal.  Working remotely most of the time is what we have been doing for a long time. 

Harriet Gobey - as I said last week this was going to be a focus piece as I was really enjoying it and I have to admit that it did stitch up extremely fast.  I think with it being one colour made it work up fast as well as how much I enjoyed working on it helped.  This is the third Hands Across The Sea piece that I finished in the last little while, and I currently don't have another one that I will be working on. I have another one kitted up and ready to go, but I have some other projects that I will be working on for a while instead.

Pandemic - I picked up this piece for a while on the weekend, but it doesn't look like I got much done.  I worked on the second line of border that I needed to do and of course it doesn't show up very good in the picture.

I would like to continue to work on this piece as it would be nice to see more of it done over the next little while.  It does take a while to get across the bottom of the piece and I still have two more lines of the border to finish, so that will probably be the next thing that I focus on getting done.

Moonstone - here is the piece that got most of my attention after I got Harriet Gobey finished. I worked on getting the first colour totally stitched on the piece, and now it is just a matter of filling in the rest of the colours  This piece isn't very big when it is finished as it means just over 4 inches square, but there are lots of stitches in it.

I will continue to work on this some this week, as I would like to see how much more of it I can get done.   It might not be the focus piece for the week, but I do plan on making sure that it gets some attention as I am now getting to the point where I can see the end of this piece.  It isn't going to be a fast finish, but hopefully soon it will be done.

I hope everyone continues to find a bit of time each day to do something that you love.  It doesn't matter what it is, but making sure that you send a few minutes each day relaxing is very important. Hope you continue to stay safe and hopefully soon we will all be able to do the things that we did before.  Have a good week and hopefully next week I will have some more progress on things to show you.

 

A finish and some good progress

 Here it is the start of another week and if you live in Ontario a start of another couple of days of very hot and humid days.

Ontario is slowly starting to reopen which is great so now to see how things go.  It feels good to see that stores are finally being able to have customers and even just being able to pick something up without having to plan ahead is great.  Yes, curbside pickup was wonderful, but you didn't get to see the item before you purchased it.

Emily Ann Foster - this week I once again focused on Emily Ann as I really wanted to see her finished, and I am happy to say that on Thursday I put the last stitches in on her.  It isn't a very big piece as it is just under 10 inches square.  I am now going to be looking forward to framing this piece and hanging it up in our home. 

Emily was a gift from a friend, and I am happy to have her finished and have already shared the picture of it with the person that gave it to me.

 Of course, once Emily was completed it was time to start figuring out the next project or projects that were going to get attention.  I had one in mind as it is something else that I hope to finish soon.

The next project that was on my plate was another Hands Across The Sea as I wanted to see if I could move this one forward as well.

In Our Garden Many Flowers Bloom - I had started this piece earlier in the year as something to work on while I was also working on Mini Forget Me Not.  It is a rather quick stitch project and something that I have been able to make some good progress on this last week.

I have stitched on this piece since finishing Emily, and I should be able to have another finish before too long. I don't have much more of this piece to finish either so that is great.  I hope to have this one finished before next week.

 It feels so different seeing some quick progress on pieces after working on full coverage for so long. I will be continuing to work on some smaller projects for a while.

Pandemic - this piece hasn't got any attention since December of last year, so it was time to see if I could move it forward a bit as well.  I decided that I would try and get to the other side of the design so that I can see how wide it actually was.  it felt good sitting and just working on one row of this, and now I have reached the right side of the pattern.

 This project is going to be taking quite a while to do because it is larger and something that I can only work on a bit at a time.  I hope to continue to add a few stitches to this piece each month just so that I can see some progress on it before the end of the year.

Moonstone - this is the other piece that got a bit of attention this weekend.  It is like so many other projects hadn't been worked on since last year, so I felt I needed to try and get it moved forward. This is a full coverage design, so it does take a bit of concentration to make sure that I am not making mistakes on it.  I would like to see if I can continue to get more stitches in on this piece as well as I don't think it should take long to get it finished.

 Moonstone will only be around 4 inches square when it is done, so it isn't big, but there are still lots of stitches in this piece

 

I have been having some fun working on different projects this past week and will see what happens this week.  One of the other advantages was last week we had a holiday on Thursday, so that meant that I had some extra time to sit and relax and work on a project.

This week I will see what projects that I want to work on as I do have a new start that I would like to see if I can get moved forward.  I am loving working on smaller projects as it feels great to see a change in it each time you sit and work on it even if it isn't for too long.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well, and you continue to find bits of time each day to do something that you love. If you are dealing with the hot and humid weather take care of yourself and try and stay cool.  Have a great week and hopefully next week I will have more to show you.

Moving projects forward

Here it is the start of another week and yes another week of trying to move things forward even if it is slowly.

We are still in the "Grey" category here in Toronto so that means that most stores are closed other than essential stores.  It has meant nothing has changed for us as we continue to help our clients remotely.

Pandemic - This project got a bit of attention this week but not as much as it has been getting. I have continued to try and get a few stitches in on it most days but there were days that I just didn't want to work on this piece in the last week so it didn't get the normal love that it has been getting.  I will see what I can get done on it this week.

Moonstone - this project got some attention yesterday as it was something a little different and I wanted to see if I could get the left bottom half done.  I am happy with the progress that I was able to make on this piece as it means that I am now able to see what the entire piece is going to look like.  

I am going to continue to work on this piece a bit at a time as I would like to  see how much more of it I can get before the end of the year.  It has been fun working on canvas instead of Aida or Even weave.  The project is nice and small and something that if we were allowed to travel would make a great travel project.  I do have some of these that I want to stitch later on, so I will have to remember that they are great for travelling.

Covid Christmas Snowman - here is a project that is going to be going away for a bit.  I was working on this snowman ornament and noticed that it is very hard to see on the fabric that I picked for it.  I thought that the white would show up more than it does on the Ecru fabric.  I have decided that instead of using this fabric I will use something else for the ones that I would like to make into ornaments for this year.  I may come back and finish this one later or it might just get tossed.

English Paper Piecing - this week I pulled out the runner that I have been working on and decided to start to add more of the motifs to it.  I am still a very long way from being finished but at least it got a bit of attention and I hope to continue to add the rest of the motifs to this piece before too long.

I am not sure how many more motifs that I need to make for it but I think the two colours of blue motifs are finished being made so it is just the white ones that need to get finished up. I had hoped to have this runner finished up before the end of the year but considering everything else that needs my attention it won't be getting finished by then but I will at least have a project that I can work on more next year.

ETSY - the shop is still busy, and I am going to be adding more grime guards into it as we continue to go through our fabric stash, sometimes a custom order can help choose the next fabric or fabrics (Denim coming up).  We have one more month of $1 for every grime guard sold will be given to the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto.

I hope everyone continues to stay safe and home as much as possible.  If your area doesn't have many cases be thankful as there are a lot of areas with lots of cases.  Remember to take care of yourself and try and find a bit of time each day to do something that you love.

Some progress

It is hard to believe it is Monday already, but I have at least been able to make some progress on some items this past week.  Yes, Toronto is still dealing with a lot of Covid-19 cases, so we are still working remotely and trying to stay away from others as much as possible. Being able to work remotely does make it nice as it means that we don't have to go out very often. The city has recommended that we only go out to do essential things like grocery shopping, work and school.

Moonstone - this piece got some attention this week but it was very slow.  I am not sure why I was having such a hard time working on the piece but I continued to make progress on it but didn't get as much done as I had hoped to do.  Now to see what this week is going to be like as I have another project that has come back out of hiding and got quite a bit of attention over the weekend.

I didn't get to the 50% completed but am happy that I have now been able to add all the colours and some colours are actually finished being used as well.

Pandemic - here is a piece that I haven't stitched on since early September, but I figured it was time for it to get a bit of love, and I am very happy with the progress that I was able to get on it over the weekend.  I picked this up on Saturday evening and put some stitches in on it and then yesterday it was my focus piece.

I wasn't sure how much of it I was going to get done this week, but I am very pleased with the progress that I made.  I know that I still have a very long way to go on this piece but it was nice seeing that I was able to finally make some progress on it.  I hope that through the end of the year that I can continue to work on this piece even a bit each week so that I can see more of it done.  It is a nice piece and considering all the different little items it makes it a lot of fun to stitch.  

I am bouncing around on the lower left section of this piece but that didn't bother me.  It was nice to see some progress on something and now to see what I can get done even in the next week on it.  I think it will depend on how things go this week as I do have other things that need my attention before I can sit and work on my stitching.

Kentia Wrap - I can finally say that I have finished the first section of this pattern and am now onto the next section. The second section is very easy so it is going a little faster than the first section.  I am looking forward to getting more of the second section done as it is basically just the little dots that appear so that is a lot faster to knit.

This project is sitting near me in my office area and it is something that I can work on when I have a few minutes.  I also can use this piece when I am attending different webinars where I don't need to take notes.  I figure that this is going to get a bit of attention this week but will have to see really how much I can get done on it.

This week there are a few things that I need to do so that is going to be what I do.  I hope that everyone continues to stay safe and you find some time each day to do something for yourself.  I hope everyone has a good week and I will see what I can get done.
 

Where did the week go?

It is hard to believe that another week is over.  Yes the cases of Covid-19 continue to climb here but we are still working remotely for our clients which is good. The weather for the last week has been amazing and we are continuing to break temperature records because of how mild it has been.

Moonstone - this week I was focusing on trying to make some progress on Moonstone and I have now been able to get to the right side of the design.  The actual design will be just under 4 inches square when it is completed and I am loving how it is turning out.  I worked on getting quite a bit of the white in so that I could have areas to fill in.  It does take quite a bit of time to get the white sections in but at least it means that I then have areas where I can fill in the various colours and that is when I see the entire design start to come together.

I have been able to get most of the middle motif also completed so that gives me an idea of what I need to do in the other sections.  I hope to get the bottom left quarter of the design done this coming week but will have to see how that goes.  Of course, I start working on once section and then I continue to use one of the colours and it takes me in a lot of different directions but I love how this is turning out. It would be nice to see what an entire area looks like so hopefully next week I will be able to show you what the design will look like.

Kentia Wrap - now my knitting didn't get as much time as I would have liked this week.  I think part of it was because I was busy and just didn't have the time to focus on these rows.  Each row does take some time as it involves quite a bit of counting as well as slipping the stitches.  I hope to see more progress on this project this week but will have to see how things go. 

I have now got just over half way on the first section of the shawl and considering there are 10 sections I still have a long way to go but that is while with me.  I am thinking that once this section is done I might be able to work on it a little faster as I will know that I need to do.

I haven't got a lot of progress on my socks either lately so now to see if I can pick them up again and get more of that done as well.

Things around here have been busy which is good in a way.  I am looking forward to seeing what this week is like as I know that there are a few things that will need my attention.  I hope everyone continues to stay safe and you find some time each day to do something that you enjoy doing.  I know for me there have been days when even a couple of minutes of relax time has been great so grab those and relax.

 

A finish and some new starts

Here it is the start of another week and yes we are still dealing with more and more cases of Covid-19 in Toronto.  It looks like some restaurants maybe able to start to reopen for in store eating but will have to see how that goes next week.  For us it doesn't make much of a difference as we continue to support our clients from home.

Blushing - now here is a project that got some love in the last week and I am very happy with the results.  I had been joking around earlier in October that I was going to get it finished by the end of the month but wasn't sure if that was really going to happen but it did.  On October 30th I was able to put the last few stitches in on the piece and am very happy with how it turned out.  I have ironed it yet so the picture still isn't  the best but at least it shows that it is finished and now to start working on some other projects.

Here are some details about this pattern:

Started June 12, 2020

Finished October 30, 2020

Number of stitches: 30,625

# of colours: 90

I really enjoyed this piece and can't wait to see it framed and hanging on one of the walls here at home.  

Of course once this was finished there was another challenge and that was what project I am going to work on. I have some projects that I am thinking about working on but as of right now I haven't decided on the project that I am going to focus on so maybe the next couple of months I will just have some fun and work on some different projects and let January 1st be when I start the next big project.

Moonstone - as I said I wasn't sure what I was going to work on after finishing Blushing so I picked up this smaller design.  Yes, it is full coverage but it is a lot smaller as it is only 81 stitches squares.  I decided that this piece I was going to work on some canvas that I had so I am stitching this on 23 count canvas and it is Moonstone by Carolyn Manning.  The pattern has 1 big piece and 4 smaller versions and I decided to work on one of the smaller versions.

Of course, this piece used a lot fewer colours so that means that I am enjoying working on the larger sections but also seeing some good progress on it quickly. I am not sure how much time this project will get as it will really depend on how it catches my attention and also what else I find that I want to work on.  The piece of projects that I am thinking of working on is a little large but I will see how it goes during the next couple of months.

Kentia Wrap - here is another project that I decided I wanted to work on this week after getting Blushing done. This is a slip stitch design that I saw someone else working on and decided that it looked like a lot of fun so I have picked it up and started working on it.  

I am working on this piece as well as working on the socks so that means that I have a lot of knitting that I also want to work on so now to see what really gets worked on over the next little while.

 

 I hope everyone continues to stay safe and you find the time each day to do something that you enjoy doing.  This week I will try and work on Moonstone a bit more and maybe see if I can get more of the wrap done as well but time will tell.  Please stay safe and hopefully next week I will have more things to show you or at least more progress on these projects.