Some knitting progress

Here it is the start of another week and now to see what this week has in store. I know that there are things that I would like to achieve so it is going to be a busy week. I also know that I would like to find a bit more time to do some crafting this week so that I can see some more progress on things.

There is no cross stitch progress this week as I didn't pick up any of those projects for the last week. I did however put in some work on my knitting and have results to show for that.

Preemie blanket - here is the project that got most of my attention in the last week. I started the week with 190 stitches on the needle and I ended the week with 55 stitches on the needle. This has been my focus and I am very happy with the progress that I made on this blanket. It has been a bit of a challenge because of the size but at least I am now very close to the end of it.

The picture of me holding it up was taken last night as I wanted to see how large this really was. I will measure it once it is done. It has been fun working on this project, but I am going to be happy to see it completed. My goal is to try and spend some time on it today to see if I can get it done. I started this project on July 15th and would like to have it completed in less than two months. 

I still have quite a bit of this yarn left so I am going to see what I use it for as I have been enjoying working with this yarn for the most part. This current ball of yarn that I have been using wasn't as nice as the first one as this one was very tangled and there were knots in this ball.

Hopefully by next week I will have a finished blanket to show you with all the ends also sewn in. This is the first goal for this week as I would like to see this finished as it is getting rather large to work on.

Curling Mist Shawl - this past week I also started another shawl which has a bit of a pattern in it. You can't see much of the pattern yet but hopefully as I move up on it you will see the small cable sections that are part of the pattern.

This pattern was something that I wanted to try and do so we went, and I got some yarn for it and then quickly started it. It didn't get a lot of attention as I was working on the Preemie blanket but at least it got a start and now to see if I can give this project some more attention once the Preemie blanket is complete.

Other projects - this past week I didn't work on any other projects even though my EPP was calling me. Hopefully this week I will be able to get back to doing some cross stitch as well as some EPP.

I didn't craft every day last week, but I was able to spend some time most days working on my knitting. It also was a means of helping me recharge my person battery which I know I needed to do.

Now, I hope to have some progress to show you next week as it would be nice to get back to working on some of the other projects that I want to do. Have a great week and remember to make sure you take time for yourself each day no matter what you do.

A finish and some progress

Here it is the start of another week and hopefully a week where I might be able to make some progress on a few things. Of course, it will all depend on everything else that I am trying to accomplish, so I guess we will just have to wait and see how the week goes.

Jane Parson - here the project that got a lot of attention at the beginning of the week as I wanted to see if I could get it finished. This project was so different for me, but I did enjoy working on it and seeing it come to life. There were quite a few colours in this piece and one of the things that I enjoyed doing was working on one colour at a time and seeing how much of a difference that made on the entire piece.

I am happy to say that I was able to get Jane Parson finished before the end of August and am happy with how it turned out. Hopefully soon I will be able to figure out a frame or it and get it totally finished.

After completing Jane I haven't picked up my cross stitch at all for the rest of the week but given what else I was able to accomplish I am not disappointed. Now, what I need to do is figure out the next project that is going to be some attention so that I can start moving something else forward. I haven't decided if it is going to be a anew start or if I will be trying to move a project forward that I already had started. I guess that is the next decision that needs to be made.

Hopefully by the time I write my next blog I will have figured out a project that I want to work on and maybe even have some progress on it.

Preemie blanket - after finished Jane Parson the one thing that I was wanted to do was to sit and knit and see how much of the preemie blanket I could get done.  This blanket is going to be a good size when it is finished as I think the one side measures around 42" so it should be 42" square by the time it is done.

This week I decided that working on this blanket was going to be my focus and I am happy with how much of it I could get done. Of course, there were days when I only got the 30 minutes of knitting done and then other days when I could find a bit more time. The biggest accomplishment was being able to get this blanket back onto the straight needles that I prefer to work with.

Now what I need to try and do is focus on continuing to get the decreasing done so that I can get this blanket off the needles before too long. This week I hope to find some time where I can work on this piece and see how much more of it, I can get done. Being back on the straight needle means that I have got enough decreasing done but there is still a long way to go before I can say this project is finished.

Other projects - I haven't do a lot of other projects this last week and even my English Paper piecing didn't get a lot of attention. Hopefully this week I will be able to find some time to work on at least one of my projects to get it moved forward even a little bit.

This last week I made sure that each day I found that bit of time to recharge my personal battery and it felt good. Now as it is a holiday Monday here, I hope to spend some time today recharging my battery so that I have energy to help those around me.

Next week I hope to have more progress to show you and maybe I will have decided on a cross stitch project that I will spend some time working on. I do know that the preemie blanket will continue to get attention and other than that I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Hope everyone has a great week and I hope to have some progress on things to show you. Have a great week and I will post again next week.

English Paper Piecing - August progress

Here it is the start of another month and yes, I was able to spend some time last month working on my English Paper piecing projects. It doesn't look like I did quite as much as I hoped, but at least I was able to work on two projects and make some progress on both.

Table runner - this project did get quite a bit of attention as I wanted to see if I could figure out if I wanted to make it larger or not. By the end of the month, I was getting close to the width of the runner, so decided that I needed to make some more motifs for this project.

This table runner has been a lot of run to work on, and I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once I have added the rest of the motifs. I have been trying to make this project my focus project, but of course some of the other projects are also getting a bit of attention.

Scrap throw - the scrap throw didn't get a lot of attention in August, but that didn't bother me at all. I have started to make the motifs that I will be using for the border, so that was the focus in August. Hopefully during September, I will be able to work on attaching more of the motifs to the scrap throw, as I would like to see the width of the throw before too long.

Other notes - in July and August I was also able to go to two quilt stores and of course, you know when you go to quilt stores you end up with fabric. In July there was a garage sale at Ultimate Sewing Centre, and they had what they called stir-fry containers and what was in them was scraps of fabric and other items. I ended up getting three of these stir-fry containers and just recently decided to sit down and iron all the fabric that was in the containers and see how much fabric I ended up with. It was a lot of fun going through all the fabrics, and I think I have enough fabric to make 772 1-inch motifs or a throw around 40" x 48".

The other quilt store I went to was in August, and it was also a lot of fun, and it was Country Concessions Quilt Shop, and I was lucky enough to go there during their birthday bash. Again, I couldn't leave that shop without adding a little bit more fabric to my pile, so I added a few more fat quarters to the pile that will be for my blue/teal throw that I hope to be able to get started before too long.

So yes, I have been having some fun going to quilt shops and looking at all the different fabrics. The other thing that I have found is that when I have been in these stores, I have been able to gain quite a bit of knowledge just by listening to conversations and sometimes asking questions. The best comment I heard was, "Don't be afraid to ask a question, because we were all new to quilting and English Paper piecing at one time."

Well, I think that is all the update for this month, and hopefully next month I will be able to show more progress on at least a couple of projects. I also have to try and avoid starting to make motifs for another throw. Have a great month and I will see what I have to show you at the end of September.

 

Some good progress

 Here it is the start of another week and yes, a week that is going to be busy, but I will try and make sure that I can find some time to spend a bit of time on my crafting as well.

The weather has cooled down some here so that means that we aren't spending as much time sitting on the balcony and watching the neighbourhood.  Hopefully we will have a few more warm days where sitting on the balcony can still be done as we both enjoy being able to do that especially after working at our desk all day.

Jane Parson - here is the piece that I was trying to work on as much as I could in the last week. I have been enjoying working on it and I am now seeing that I did get a lot of work done on it in the last week.

The border is finally all completed and that did take quite a bit of time to do as those flowers were quite a bit of work, but they were nice to see completed. This project was something different for me to do as normally when I am doing a sampler, I have been doing one with very few colours.

When I am working on a project, I don't see the overall progress that I have made until I take the picture for this blog and start working on writing up about the project. It is great to see that I am getting closer to a finish on this piece and hopefully I will be able to get it done before too long.  I have to finish the one plant on the right side of the piece and then I have to do the same plant on the left and the piece will be done. 

Now that I am getting closer to a finish it is time to start thinking about what I am going to work on next. I have a lot of projects that I could start but for a little bit I think I might try and get some smaller projects finished or at least that is what I am thinking right now.

Preemie blanket - here is the knitting project that I have been focusing on. The best news is I have finally got to the halfway mark on this project. I still have some yarn left from the first ball but after reaching 250 stitches on the needle I decided it was time to start decreasing on the blanket. 

I haven't measured the size of this blanket yet, but I do know that it is going to be a good size when it is done. I am now working on getting all the decreases done and hopefully it doesn't take me as long to complete this half of the blanket. It took me just over a month to get to the halfway mark as I started this blanket on July 16th so now to see when I will get it finished.

Other projects - of course, my English Paper piecing is continuing to get bits of attention as well and I am looking forward to showing my progress on it later this week.

This past week I was able to make some good progress on my projects and now to see how things go this coming week. I hope you have also been able to get things done and have found that time for yourself each day.  The recharging your personal battery is very important as it means you have the ability to help those around you as well.

I hope you have a good week and I hope to have some progress on things next week to show you.

Making some progress

Here it is the start of another week, and hopefully I will be able to get some things done again this week. This last week was another busy week, so it was a little harder to find the time to work on the projects, but I did find time each day to do something for myself, even if it wasn't moving one of my projects forward. This coming week, I am going to try and spend some time working on my craft projects a little bit so that I can maybe see some more progress on them.

Jane Parson - here is the cross stitch project that has been getting the attention. I am continuing to work on this piece as my focus and am happy with the progress that I have been able to make on it. It is fun adding the different elements to this design, so now to see what else I will be adding in the next week.

This project was started along with three other ladies as we are all started it for a friend's birthday. It has been fun seeing the progress that each person is making and now to see how much progress we can all make this coming week. I hope that I can spend some time this week working on Jane as I would like to see how much more of it I can get done.

I am going to try and continue to move this project forward, as I have been enjoying it, and I am looking forward to seeing it done. With this project getting closer to a finish, I should try and figure out what I am going to work on next because I have lots of projects that I have started, and maybe it's time to focus on at least getting something moved forward instead of starting something new.

Preemie blanket - this week I was able to spend some time working on this project, but not as much time as I would have liked. I started the week working on it 30 minutes a day, but that only lasted until Wednesday, and then I didn't pick it up again until Sunday. The one good thing about this week was I moved the project from the straight needle to my circular needle, so I am not worried about stitches falling off the end of the needle any longer.

This project is slowly getting moved forward, and I have decided that I am either going to knit until I have 250 stitches on the needle or until this ball of yarn runs out. I am not sure what is going to happen first, but at least I know that I am getting closer to having this project to the halfway mark. After I get it to the 250 stitches, I will start the decrease, and maybe that will seem to go a little quicker than this last little bit of knitting has been going.

Other projects - of course, this week I was able to pick up and work on my English Paper piecing for a little while and that made me happy. I am continuing to work on those projects as they are enjoyable to do. I should have some progress to show when I write my English Paper Piecing blog at the beginning of September. It always makes me happy when I can sit down and even work on making motifs for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. 

I hope you have been able to find that bit of time each day to do something that you enjoy doing. Those few minutes a day does make a big difference on how you can function and be available and have the energy to help those around you.

Hopefully next week, I will have some more progress to show you. Not sure what is ahead for me this week, so I guess I will see what I can get done. Have a great week and hope to see you next week. 
 

A bit less progress this week

It is hard to believe that another week has already come and gone. I know it was a busy week for us, so it made it a little harder to see any progress on my crafting. I was at least able to spend a bit of time most days doing something so that is good.

This week I am not sure what lays ahead, but I do hope that I can spend a bit of time once again moving projects forward. Just being able to get the work done that needs to get done and then find a bit of time to get other things accomplished would be good.

Jane Parson - this piece did get some attention as I wanted to see if I could at least get a bit more of the centre of the piece completed. I am loving how this piece is slowly coming together and I will be trying to move this piece forward again this week.

Each time I pick up Jane Parson I am now starting to see the different sections come together. It is going to be interesting to see how the rest of this piece comes along because I have wanted to work on this piece a lot lately so now to figure out how I can move it forward a little easier.

Preemie blanket - my knitting also didn't get as much attention this week but at least I was able to move the blanket forward a bit more. I am still working on increasing and have decided where I will be stopping but I still have a ways to go. 

This blanket is something that I have been enjoying working on as it is something that I can easily pick up and work on when I have those few minutes. This week I hope to be able to continue to move this blanket forward and maybe if I am very lucky, I will be able to get to where I have started the decrease on it. 

The one thing that I am going to have to do this week is move this blanket onto a circular needle because I don't have much more room on the needle, and I don't want to start dropping stitches. 

Other projects - I have been able to work on my EPP a little bit as well this week so that has been nice. Finding that little bit of time most days to work on something has been good. 

This past week was a little busier and different for me but at least most days I was able to spend a few minutes crafting. Yes, there were even days when I didn't get any crafting done but I did ensure that I was able to find some time to do something for myself even then. 

I hope everyone had a good week and you have some plans for this coming week. My plans for this week are to try and find some time to move my crafting forward a little bit at a time. If things go well I should have some progress on something to show you next week.

Remember it's important to find that little bit of time for yourself each day. Recharging our personal battery is very important.

 

Making some progress

Here it is the start of another week and of course there are lots of things are require my time so crafting sometimes just doesn't happen as much as I would like. 

The weather was a lot nicer this past week as the extremely heat and humidity has left, which made it a little easier to focus on all the other things that needed my attention. It was a nice week where we were able to sit out on the balcony some evenings and enjoy watching the neighbourhood.

Jane Parson - here is the cross stitch project that got my attention again this past week. I have been working on the lower section of the piece as I wanted to see if I could get all the full coverage area completed. It was a lot of work but finally I was able to add in all the colours. 

This piece isn't moving forward as quickly as I thought it would but at least I am getting parts of the piece completed. Maybe now that I have finished that one section the rest of the piece will seem to move forward a little quicker. I am now starting to add some of the other detail to the piece which is making me happy. Of course, the alphabet still isn't finished but that doesn't bother me. Hopefully I will be able to get it finished shortly when I am using the colours for the last four letters.

The flowers on the border still need to be finished but I will pick those up again when I need to work with that colour for another section of the design. I think the darker pink is going to be needed soon so that means that the border might be getting some attention soon.

Preemie blanket - here is the knitting that I have been doing and I am happy with the progress that I made on this piece over the last week. What I decided to do this week was try and do the 30 minutes of knitting most of the week. I started the 30 minutes of knitting on Wednesday, and it is amazing how much you can get done when you just focus on a project for that amount of time each day. 

It has been a lot of run working on this project and seeing the progress that I can make on it. I am still working with the first ball of yarn, so I still haven't figured out how large this blanket is going to be. The original pattern was for a blanket around 24 inches square and I think I have already passed that. Part of me is wondering how large it is going to be because it just seems to keep going and the ball of yarn doesn't seem to get any smaller. 

Other projects - I have done a little bit of work on my English Paper piecing but not as much as I would have liked. I finally picked up one of the projects yesterday and got a bit of progress done. Now to see how much more progress I can make on these projects.

I hope everyone has a good week and you continue to find that bit of time to do something that you enjoy. There are days when it seems to be a challenge to find that time but it's important to set even 10 minutes aside to take time for yourself.

This week is going to be a busy week so I will see what crafting I can get done. I hope to continue with the 30 minutes of knitting each day as that has made me happy seeing the progress.

Have a good week and hopefully next week I will have a bit of progress on something to show you.