Where did the week go?

It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone.  I know that a lot of that has to do with how things have been for all of us for almost the last year.  One day seems to be like the next without much of a difference. Lockdown is finally being lifted here but there still doesn't mean much change, so we will continue how we have been working for the next while.

Mini Forget Me Not - once again this week I was able to spend some time working on Mini Forget Me Not and have seen more progress on the left side of the design.  I would like to see this section finished before the end of March, so that is going to be my focus.  I am looking forward to seeing how much I can get done as just sitting and working on it a bit each day really helps me see the progress.

I still have the bottom section of the design to fill in, but I am happy seeing that I am able to get some larger sections of colour filled in, and it will make adding the other colours so much easier when I get to them.

Mary Jane Fry 1861 - I decided this weekend that I need to spend some time working on getting the border moved forward.  I wanted to make sure that the border matches up before I started working on the rest of the design.  Yes the border is a simple pattern, so it is pretty quick to stitch when you can sit and focus on it.

Yesterday, I sat down and decided that at least getting more of the outer border done would make me happy, so that is what I focused on, and I am pretty close and the good news is it matches up. I will now finish up this outer boarder and I think I will get the next border section done as well because that is a fast border as well.  I know that seeing some good progress on this piece over the next little while would make me feel very good.

After I get the two outer borders complete I will then start at the bottom of the design and start to fill in all the other motifs and such.  I don't think this design will take long to stitch but once again it just means sitting and working on it for a while.

English Paper Piecing - I continue to work on adding more motifs to this throw but this past week it didn't get a lot of attention.  I would like to see if this week I can focus on getting a few more motifs added to this.

I know that after getting this throw done I will still have three more to make, so that means that sitting and focusing on getting this one moved forward quickly would be a good idea.  I know that it doesn't take long to attach each of the motifs.

Of course, while I am sitting and working on this project I am thinking of all the other projects that I can work on later.  I have a pile of fabric that is going to be turned into motifs, and it makes me happy to know that I have lots of ideas that will help use up a lot of the bits of fabric that I have.

The purpose of English Paper piecing was a means of using up small bits of fabric easily, and I have to admit that I am enjoying this method of using the remnants that I have left after making all the items for our ETSY shop.  This project is using my dad's shirts and I know that there will be additional items made even after the four throws have been completed.

Socks - I continue to work on the socks that I would like to have finished and this week I was able to get one sock finished up.  It is always nice when I can finish up another sock and especially when it means that I have another pair of socks to wear.  This sock is the second of the pair, so it is now ready to be worn.  I still have two socks on the needles and a trying to figure out which colour will go onto the third circular needle that I have.

Land of Sweets Cowl - last weekend I started this cowl and I figured it would work up quickly and be something that I enjoyed working on with the yarn that I had chosen. I had picked a variegated yarn which I thought would work nicely but after working on it for a couple of days I found that I wasn't loving it anymore and something was wrong.  I knew that the pattern was really nice, and I wanted to knit it, but this yarn wasn't making me happy.

The funny thing was that even when I wasn't sure if I liked the pattern with the yarn I continued to knit and figured maybe it would work out if I just kept knitting on the cowl. This second picture is after I had completed two different patterns on the cowl and had just started the third pattern.  Yes there are three different patterns, but you couldn't see much of a difference.  After taking this picture and talking it over with both my husband and mom, I decided that the yarn wasn't for this cowl and there was no point continuing to knit it if I wasn't going to like it in the end.

I was able to find another ball of yarn that I thought might work well for this cowl and have started to knit it.  I think that the patterns are going to show up a lot better with this yarn, but I haven't got very far.  I have just about finished the first section of the pattern and now to see what the next two look like.  I hope that this time I will be happier with the outcome.

Yes, my crafting is helping me deal with the lockdown and all the different challenges that we have been facing.  I would like to say that things are getting better quickly but until we get a lot of people vaccinated we are still going to be dealing with some sort of restriction.

I hope everyone finds a bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing.  It can be only for a few minutes or longer but making sure that you do something that makes you happy each day is very important.  Stay safe and remember that we are going to get through this challenging time, and hopefully we can start to get back to some sort of normal again soon.  Take care and have a great week and I will see what I have to show next week.

Progress, new start and close to a finish

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully after this week we will be moving out of lockdown due to Covid-19 but will find out later this week.

We continue to work remotely and that is good and now to see what changes will happen once we are able to move around a little  more.  The vaccine are finally starting to be given to the public in parts of Ontario, so that is good.

Mini Forget Me Not - I have been working on getting more of this piece done and each day I am getting bits of it done.  I am working on the two sides of the design right now and will see when I actually get back to adding more of the brighter colours.  I am enjoying working on the outside of the design as it gives me an idea of how big this piece is, and it also means that I am getting areas filled in quickly.

I am not sure which area I will be working on this week, but I know that I have been enjoying seeing the progress on this piece each week.  I hope to continue to see the good progress and maybe that is what I need.  I will see what I can get done this week, and maybe I will get closer to having another page finished, but that will all depend on how things go.

Socks - finally there is a picture of one of my socks and that is because it is now close to a finish.  I have been working on this sock as well as another sock a bit at a time, but finally I just need to decrease for the toe of this sock, and it will be done.  I hope to have this finished up in the next couple of days, and then I will have another pair of fun socks that I can wear.  

I did start the ribbing on another sock, but there isn't much to show for that sock.  I am going to try and continue to move all of my socks forward as I would like to have more of them finished up quickly.   This year is so nice to work with and as always I love seeing how each of the socks may be the same in some ways but the white and black areas are always different.

Land of Sweets Cowl - well I had been doing very good and not starting new projects and just working on things that I had on the go until this past week.  I have been watching a lot of people knit this advent cowl called Lands of Sweets and after avoiding it for a while I finally gave in and went onto Ravelry and purchased the pattern.  Yes, it is a pattern that can be done using mini skeins of yarn, but I currently don't have any of those.  I know that I will be getting some soon, but I just couldn't wait.  I guess after DH helping me get the needles and yarn out I just couldn't help but start it late last night.  This pattern is 192 rows, so I will see how quickly I can get this done.  I would like to have most of this cowl knit before my mini skeins arrive, so I better get knitting.

English Paper Piecing - I am continuing to work on this throw a bit each week and this week I hit a milestone.  The milestone was getting all the motifs finished.  Yes, 144 motifs have now been basted, and now they just need to be added to the throw.  It feels good seeing that I have been able to move some of this throw forward as well and now that the motifs are finished I hope to move it forward a little quicker.

I am really enjoying working on motifs and I have a bunch more fabric that will be going into various projects hopefully soon.  First this throw needs to get completed, so I am going to be trying to focus on getting more of the motifs added.  This project is now something that I can't be taking with me very much any longer as it is just getting too big and awkward for that.  I can't fold this piece up any longer, so that means it is going to be staying home until it is done now.

I still have a lot of other projects that are slowly getting worked on when I find I have a bit of time.  The lockdown does mean that there is more time to do various projects but after almost a year of dealing with Covid-19 I think I am like most people, and I am getting very tired of the same routine most days.

I hope everyone continues to find the bits of time each day to do the things that you love doing. I hope to see some more progress on my projects this week, but only time will tell.  No matter where you are please stay safe and take care of yourself and your loved ones.  Life is slowly starting to return to what is going to be our new normal, but it is still going to take a few more months.

Take care and hope you have a great week and find some joy each day.



 

Progress

Here it is the start of another week and now to see how things go.  We continue to be in lockdown here in Toronto but at least with the weather that we have been having makes it a little easier.  We are still working remotely most of the time with our clients.  Our lockdown is scheduled to last at least another two weeks, but we will see if that changes.

Mini Forget Me Not - I continue to work on this piece a bit each day and am happy with the progress that I have been able to achieve. I am still working on completing some larger sections of colour.  

 

I am now almost 30% finished this piece but still have a lot of large blocks of colour to complete, but I think it is time to continue to work on getting some smaller colours added into the design. Not only that, but I am looking forward to seeing more of the overall design appear, so that is one of the reasons why I would like to start adding some other colours.

Mary Jane Fry 1861 - here is a piece that got some attention last weekend and hasn't got any attention since then.  I am still working on the border.  I started to add a bit of the inside design, but I will want to make sure that the border meets up before I do too much of the overall design.  I would like to get back to working on the border so that I know everything will work out on the overall design.  

If I can spend some time on this piece this week I might be able to get more of the border done, and then I will be able to focus on getting the inside of the design stitched.  I don't think the border will take me much longer to do.  It just means that I need to focus on doing it instead of working on other projects.

I like this piece as it only have 6 colours in it, so there isn't a lot of colour changes which makes it a nice piece to sit and work on. The border is two colours so that works up relatively quickly and after that the inside doesn't look too hard.

English Paper Piecing - here is a project that got some good attention over the weekend.  I didn't get a lot more motifs added to the overall throw, but I did get a lot of the other motifs made.  I decided that I was going to focus on getting most of the motifs made so that I can just sit and work on adding them to the throw.  I still have another 38 motifs to make, but at least now when I sit down to sew the motifs on I can just work on that.

I am hoping to be able to get a lot of these motifs added to the throw before too long but will see how things go. If I can get back to adding the motifs I think I might be able to get this done quickly, but I seem to keep getting distracted with other projects, so that doesn't help.

Socks - there is no picture of the socks this week as I didn't get a lot done on either of them.  I continue to try and work on them a bit each day but haven't got much completed.  I hope this week I can find some time to work on at least one of the socks and get it closer to being finished.  I love working on my socks when I have a webinar that I need to watch and this week I know of at least one that I will be watching, so that should help move the sock forward a bit.

Please stay safe and remember to take care of yourself and those that you love.  Find a bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing as it does help a little.  If you are in the areas that are having crazy weather please take care and stay warm.  

I will see what I can get done this week and maybe there will be some more progress next week on some of these projects.  Until then have a good week and find some crafting time.

Progress and a new start

Here it is the start of another week, and it is cold here in Ontario.  I am glad that we are able to work remotely as it means that we don't have to go out in this weather.  At least, we aren't currently getting the snow like they are in Texas, but it looks like we will get some later this week.

Covid-19 is still impacting us, and we continue to be in lockdown, but that could be changing next Monday but will see what really happens.

Mini Forget Me Not - here is the project that I worked on again this week.  What I decided to try and do was to work on some larger sections of colour and see how much of it I could get done.  I am liking the progress that I have been able to make and think I will be continuing to work up the side of the pattern for a while.  I know that there is going to be a lot of sections that I need to do later but at least getting some larger sections done and some the areas that aren't as interesting does help some. There are some colours that when you are siting you can't see much of a difference so that doesn't help.

I am going to continue to work on this piece each day as it makes me feel good to see that even with just trying to put in a few stitches each day that I am able to get the progress in that I want. I would like to see that I have been able to continue to move this piece forward and maybe after a couple more weeks of working on the bigger sections I will go back to filling in some other smaller sections of colour again.

Mary Jane Fry - this weekend I decided it was time to start something that wasn't full coverage.  I have a few projects like this, so I picked up Mary Jane Fry and started in on the border.  It doesn't look like much yet and considering it will be 8 x 12 when it is finished it is going to take some time.  I wanted to see if I could get some border done because then just knowing that I have that correct means that I can get the rest of it done without too much trouble.  The border is two different sections, and I am currently just working on the outer border now to see what I get done this week.

English Paper Piecing - this weekend I decided it was time to work on getting more of the motifs added to the throw, so I sat down yesterday and continued to make some progress on it.  I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once all the motifs have been added.

I don't have all the motifs made yet, so I bounce between making more of the motifs and adding them to the throw.  I am just over 25% complete, and it is making me feel very good.  I have had to remember that given the colours of shirts that I have it isn't going to be perfect and that doesn't bother me.  I have also had to remember that as long as two of the same colour aren't beside each other that is all that really matters.  I was overthinking this project for a while so now that I have changed my thinking it is starting to move forward a little quicker.

Socks - I continue to move a couple of my socks forward and that is making me happy as well.  I don't have a lot of progress on either of the socks but at least they are slowly moving forward.  I love having projects that I can pick up and work on while I am relaxing in the evening.

I hope everyone is staying safe and if you are in lockdown like we are you follow all the rules.  If your area is opened up a bit please also remember to be extremely careful as we all would like to get back to doing the things that we did in the past.

This week I hope that you will find a bit of time each day to do the things that you love doing.  It doesn't matter how much time you can find it is just important that you remember that you need to ensure that you take a bit of time for yourself each day.

 

Another week and some progress

It is hard to believe, but February is here, and we are still dealing with the lockdown, but I think we might finally be getting to the point where the province is going to start opening up parts of the economy again.  I hope that is true because it has been such a crazy three months for us.  Toronto has been in basically lock down since November, so it is going to be nice to maybe see things start to slowly get back to normal, or at least that is what the news is reporting this morning.

 

Mini Forget Me Not - this project once again got a few stitches in each day and that is making me feel good.  I am slowly starting to see that I am getting the bottom section moved forward now.  I am trying to work on the larger blocks of colour so that I can at least have areas where I can start and stop the colours that are only a few stitches. 

I hope to be able to continue to move this forward even if it is just a few stitches each day.  I know that I would like to get more of this project done, so it means that I need to focus on it a little more than I have been doing.

English Paper Piecing - here is something that did get a bit more attention this week.  I was able to get some more of the motifs added onto the throw, and it is starting to make me very happy.  I have even marked one of the corners so that I know where I am going with the overall piece.  The orange clip is a corner so that helps me to ensure that I am not adding the motifs to the wrong side of the throw.  I have all the squares cut out for the rest of the motifs so n ow to work on getting more of the motifs made and then added onto the throw.

 

The actual cutting the shirts into the squares does take quite a bit of time, so I have been doing that slowly but at least now I have the squares for this throw done and will see how things go moving forward.  I do hope that this week I can get some more of the motifs made as I am looking forward to seeing what this will look like once I have finished attaching all the motifs to it.   

Socks - I can finally say that I have finished another sock and this one is the second one of a pair.  I am looking forward to seeing how much time I can spend on knitting this week as I would like to see if I can get the other socks that I have on the go moving forward again.  I have been working on them a bit at a time, but I haven't been getting them done as quickly as I would have liked.

This week I am going to try and see if I can move all of these projects forward a bit, but only time will tell.  I have a bunch of things that I need to work on, so that means that I will have to see what I can get done on my crafting.  I would like to see that I can continue to move my cross stitch forward a bit each day and I really want to get more of the throw done so will see how things go.

I hope everyone has a good week, and you stay safe and find a bit of time each day to do the things that you enjoy.  It doesn't matter how long you have to do what you enjoy as even a few minutes each day does move things forward, and it also helps you relax.  Have a great week and hopefully next week I will have more progress to show you.

 

Progress and a new project

 Here it is the start of another week and also the start of another month.  I can honestly say that the months seem to be going by quickly, but things are still the same around here.  Covid-19 still means we are working remotely, and we are basically in lockdown and not sure when that it's going to end.

Mini Forget Me Not - I have continued to work on this project a bit each day, and it makes me happy to see that I am making some progress on it.  I didn't get as many stitches in on it this week but at least I was able to move it forward again.  I will see what this week is like as I would like to continue to work on this and see if I can make some more progress on the bottom section.  

I have been trying to work on some larger sections of colour so that it is easier to have spots where I can start and ends threads when I have the sections that only have a few stitches of one colour.

Socks - now my socks are continuing to get a bit of attention each day but again not as much as I had hoped that I would do.  I have been at least making sure that both of the socks gets some attention and I didn't even take a picture of either of them as there hasn't been much progress on either of them.  Maybe next week I will have some progress that is worth showing.  I know that making sure that I can continue to pick them up makes me feel a little better.

English paper piecing - now here is where some of my attention has gone in the last week.  Yes it looks like it is a bunch of random pieces of fabric being put together, and I can say that is so true. Now the fabric that I am using for this throw has a very special meaning to my mom, my sister and me.  Each of these pieces of fabric that I am using are from shirts that belonged to my dad.

I decided that after my dad passed away that I was going to work on making a throw for my mom using some of his shirts.  I felt that at least then she would have something to keep her warm, and it would also be a reminder of my dad.  I have started this project and one thing I did realize that a lot of his shirts were plaid or versions of plaid.  We have had some good laughs while going through all of his shirts looking at them and remembering.  I am happy with the progress that I have made on this as I just started putting the motifs together yesterday, and now I am looking forward to seeing how many more that I can get done.

I continue to try and make progress on some of my other projects a bit at a time and now to see what this week is like.  I hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time each day to do something that you enjoy.  It doesn't matter how long you do one of your favourite things as long as you take that time for yourself.  Hope the weather is good where you are, and you aren't dealing with lots of snow or other storms.  Take care, and we will try and be back next week with some more progress on things.

Progress and some finishes

Here it is the start of another week and another week of lockdown for us.  Things haven't changed too much other than the case numbers are slowly starting to come down here in Ontario. The weather has gotten colder but working remotely means that we aren't out in the weather too much.

Not sure when Toronto is going to be able to do much given our Covid-19 case numbers, but they are slowly starting to come down.  Hopefully  schools will be able to open up again soon and life will slowly start to get back to normal. 

 Mini Forget Me Not - here is the project that got quite a bit of my attention this week.  I am very happy with the overall progress that I made on it.  I was able to focus on getting some larger sections of colour done and right now it is looking a little different.  I was able to stitch over to the right-hand side of the piece and have completed one page of the pattern out of the 9.

I don't have a lot of the flowers or the fairy done but at least I am slowly starting to get some background done, and I had to admit that there is a lot of background.  I am not sure which way I will head now but at least I know how wide the piece is going to be.

Socks - I finally was able to make a bit of progress on two of the socks that I had on the go.  I continued to work on these and finally over the weekend I was able to get the two of them finished.  I am happy to know that I have two more socks finished, but the problem is now that I have one sock of two different colours so of course that means that I needed to start the other sock to go with each of these.  I cast on the socks yesterday and both of them got a bit of attention so now to see which sock gets finished first. 

I still have one other sock that I have been working on and hopefully this week it will get some love and maybe even get to the point where it is finished.  That sock is the second of a pair so that will mean that I should soon have another pair of socks that I can wear.
 

I have a few other projects that I am slowly working on but as you can imagine there isn't much to show, so I haven't taken any pictures of them.  I am starting to get back to having some time when I can craft and get a few things done so that is making me feel good.   The weather here is cold, but we haven't had much snow yet this winter, but they are calling for some tomorrow, and then we will see what happens after that.

I hope everyone has a good week, and you find some time when you can do the things that make you happy each day. It doesn't matter if it is 5 minutes or hours as long as you can take a bit of time to yourself and do what makes you happy.  Have a great week and stay safe.