A week with some stitching

Joyful World - Feb 5th

This has been a week where I have been able to sit and get some projects moved along and even a couple of them finished.  I was determined to see if I could get some stitching done this week.

Joyful World - Feb 9th

February is always an interesting month for work because there are times that I am extremely busy and then there are other times when things are a little slower as companies figure out what they want to do this year.  This year I have been able to enjoy some time to myself and that has meant that I have had a bit more time to stitch and I have been joying that.

Let's Visit Canada - Feb 5th

The first project that I wanted to get finished was Joyful World - March as I am trying to make sure that I am keeping ahead on this project.  It is interesting to stitch on but March seemed to be one of those months that I really didn't want to work on.  I think part of it was because of the number of colour changes that were involved in some rather small areas. It also meant really sitting and thinking of what colour should be stitched in what order.  I  was able to get March finished this week so now it is time to work on the border for April and see how much of it I can get accomplished.

The next project that I really wanted to get finished was Let's Visit Canada.  I really had hoped that this project was going to be one that I enjoyed working on but after starting it, I wanted to either put it down and not work on it or just sit and work on it and get it finished.

Let's Visit Canada - Feb 10th finished

I decided that sitting and working on it and getting it finished was going to be the best thing and so that is what I did this week. The challenges that I encountered where some of the design elements were across two pages and they made the actual stitching a little more challenges but nothing that I couldn't handle.  It just meant that there were a few elements such as the hockey sticks and the trees in the middle of the pattern that were things that needed a bit more attention. Finally on Friday and Saturday I was able to sit and get the bottom of the design stitched and now it is finished.

Quotes to Live By - Feb 9th

I figured that the challenge for this week was going to be working on Let's Visit Canada but I ended up with another challenge this week and this one was due to the fabric that I had selected for a new project.  This is another stitch-a-long that I have decided to do and it is called "Quotes to Live By".  This is a nine month stitch-a-long and after seeing the start of the project I decided that I wanted to do it so it was off to select the fabric and start stitching the design.  See the project started in January so I am already a little bit behind but that doesn't bother me because I will stitch it at my speed.

The fabric I selected was labeled 28 count evenweave so that means that the stitches should be square when you do the full x's.  Well I started stitching this piece on Tuesday night and discovered that the piece of fabric that I had purchased wasn't 28 count evenweave, but something like 28 stitches per inch wide but 24 stitches per inch long.  Not something that was going to work for my project. I ended up picking up some new fabric on Wednesday evening and then started working on the design to see how it went.  I worked on it a bit and am now looking forward to working on again this week.

Linen and Threads - Mystery Stitch-a-long - Feb 12th

After finishing Let's Visit Canada I couldn't decide which pattern I wanted to start and that was between "Quotes to Live By" and Linen and Threads - Mystery Stitch-a-long.  Well it ended up that I couldn't decide so I ended up starting both of them this week and will see how they go.  The Linen and Threads Stitch a-long is a 12 month project and you get a new band each month.  I am doing this pattern in one colour and it is using 22count fabric.  I am looking forward to seeing how it comes along as it is something else that I am enjoying working on.

At the beginning of this month I decided that I was going to try and work on each of my projects that I have on my list at least once a quarter.  I figured that working on each of the projects even for one afternoon or evening would mean that they got moved along a little bit considering some of them haven't been touched for a while.

Salmon Rose - Oct 2/16

Sunday I decided it was time to pull one project out and work on it for a little while and that was Salmon Rose.  This is one of my designs and I haven't worked on it since October 2016 so it was time to put a few stitches in on it.  It didn't take me long to get some progress on this piece so now to see which projects gets the attention next.  Just seeing that I can get some stuff moved forward even a little bit makes me happy.

Salmon Rose - Feb 12/17

It is now time for me to figure out what work needs to get done this week and focus on getting it done.  I hope that I will be able to get some stitching done most evenings this week and will see which projects get moved forward.

My week was pretty good

Caron Cakes - shawl

This past week I was able to find some time to sit and craft and am happy with the progress that I made. 

My first project that I wanted to see finished was the shawl that I was working on using the caron cakes yarn that I picked up.  During the week I was able to work on it and actually get it finished.  The shawl is just over 72 inches long so I figured it was time to end it.

Caron Cakes - shawl - finished

I do have some more yarn still to go so I am making a narrow scarf with it.  I hope to be able to get the scarf done in the next couple of weeks so that all the yarn has been used up quickly.

I have loved using the yarn as it is so nice and soft and I have had some fun working with it as when I am not really watching the yarn it is a nice surprise when the colour has changed and I am onto a different colour.

Monarch - September 21st

After finishing up the shawl I decided it was time to try and get a bit of cross stitch done. I picked up the Monarch Butterfly design and started to work on it as I figured it would be nice to see some more progress on this design before the end of the month.

Monarch - September 30th

The Monarch Butterfly got one evening worth of work done on it this week so that did make me happy as I was able to see some progress on the outside of the design. This is one of the designs that I am hoping to have finished soon as I am really enjoying how it is turning out. I am going to try and finish at least connecting all the sides of the design so that I will just have the flower and butterfly to finish up.

This weekend we decided that we were going to have a day where we just did some of the things that we have wanted to do and something we haven't done in quite a while. So each of us decided that we were doing to spend one day doing something that wasn't work related to start to recharge our personal batteries.  It felt wonderful having a day like that and yesterday was it.

Salmon Rose - September 7th

My project was to see if I can make some progress on the Salmon Rose that I have been working on. This design was started last year and didn't get any attention for over a year until I pulled it back out at the beginning of September.  Yesterday I enjoyed watching the Blue Jay game and then the preseason hockey game so it gave me some time where I could just sit and stitch. 

Salmon Rose - October 2nd

I am very happy with the progress that I was able to make and am looking forward to seeing how much more of this piece I can get worked on over the next little while. I am how just over half finished the rose and once all the stitching is done I am going to figure out where some of the back stitch needs to go.  That will be after all the other stitching is done and I can sit back and look at the completed piece versus the picture and see where I think some outlining is needed.

Until then I have some work that needs to get done so I am off to do that and will see which evenings I will be able to find some time to craft. Next weekend is a long weekend so that means hopefully I will be able to find some additional time to craft and enjoy the time.

A week and different projects

Salmon Rose - July 2, 2015

 This week I decided that it was time to try and do something different for a while.

The first thing I did was to look at the projects that I have on the go and haven't worked on for quite a while.  The project that got picked up was Salmon Rose which hasn't been worked on since July 2015.  Yes, this project has been sitting for a year without any attention so I figured it was time to try and make a bit of progress on it.

Salmon Rose - Sept 7, 2016

I was able to spend one evening working on it and now to see when I will be picking it up again.  I do hope that I can continue to make some progress on it as I would like to see this one finished as there are a lot of meaning behind the rose. This is based on a picture of a rose that was in a basket for my husband's grandmother's memorial.  I am looking forward to seeing what this one looks like.

After spending a couple of evenings of not getting anything done I decided that I was going to pick up my knitting needles and see what I could get accomplished quickly.  I actually ended up casting on two projects the same day so now to see how both of them proceed.

Green Mindless Shawl

The first project that was started was a shawl and it is called "Mindless" and that is what it should be once I get a few more rows done.  The pattern is very simple as there are only two rows for the pattern so it does work up quickly.  The picture doesn't show the pattern too well but there are columns of either knit or purl stitches.  The columns vary in width so that is what makes it interesting to work.

I hope to be able to make some good progress on the shawl over the next while and will see how that goes as it is using a thinner yarn so it does take some time before you can really see some progress on it.

Diagonal baby afghan

After working on the shawl for a while I decided that I wanted to knit a baby blanket but wanted something easy to do.  The pattern I decided to make is a basic diagonal baby afghan.  You cast on and then increase to the two corners and then you decrease.  It is something that shouldn't take me too long to do but I will see how this one goes.  I started this on Friday evening and was able to spend a bit of time both Saturday and yesterday working on it.  I didn't spend lots of time as there were other projects that I needed to work on as well.

I am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on all three of these projects.  This week I am not sure what I am going to be working on.  I have a busy week ahead of me so will see what time I can find to work on the various projects.

I am happy having the different knit projects on the go as it gives me something different to work on than the baby hats.  The baby hats are still being made and the pile of them continues to grow.  Last month I was able to make 20 baby hats and will see how many I can get done this month.

It is now time to get some writing done for work and then I will see what time I have left today to try and craft.

Yet another crazy week

Erasmus - June 24th

I am really not sure where the last week has gone because I can see from my stitching I haven't been doing a lot of that.

Erasmus - July 1st

I have found a little bit of time to work on a couple of projects and have made a bit of a dent in Erasmus and also Salmon Rose.  I had hoped that on July 1st I would be able to find and do a lot of stitching but that didn't work out as well as I had hoped as things got in the way.

This weekend I had also decided that I was going to spend at least one evening sitting and stitching but that didn't happen either.

Salmon Rose - June 10th

Salmon Rose - July 2nd

Work has been a little busier for me lately so by the time I finish up with the work I don't have the energy or time to actually sit and do the stitching that I want to do.

Schlock with Gun - June 3

One thing I noticed was I hadn't shown off the progress that I made a couple of weeks ago on Schlock with Gun.  Now it isn't a lot of progress but what isn't shown is all the restitching that I had to do because I found an error in it so had to take a lot of the black out and redo it.

Schlock with Gun - June 22

Now this week I am hoping to be able to do a bit of stitching but until the week is over I am not sure how much I am actually going to accomplish.

It's now time for me to try and get some work done so that I feel like I am getting somewhere on all the projects that I have on the go both at work and at home.