Check-In Post April 16th 2023

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


Today's Question: No question today.


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Comments

[obstinatecondolement]

Despite my very ambitious crafting related resolutions I made in December for 2023, so far the only crafting I have gotten done is some crochet for work.

I work in a craft and home furnishings shop and we take turns making displays to decorate the shop/showcase the fabric/yarn/trims we stock and I was asked to make something. I said I would crochet an African flowers motif banner to be hung somewhere and got started on that with a nice 100% chunky cotton that we stock. And then one evening I took it home and... didn't do any work on it for Some Time. My manager asked me on Friday how it was coming along, because she had mentioned it to the Man From [yarn company] and he'd said he was very excited to see it when it was finished and I lied and said it was very nearly done.

On hearing this great news, my manager started to dismantle an existing display on Saturday to make a space for mine, which should probably be done by Tuesday, yes? 💀

I have been working flat out since I got home yesterday evening to make my very naughty fib true. I have so far finished 18/18 flowers (bar the last round—I have one fully finished, which I did so that I could figure out how many I needed to make to get the right finished dimensions) and 0/4 half motifs. I have decided to just do half solid hexagons instead of half African flowers, because a) I think it'll look nicer and more self contained and b) it will let me defer deciding on a final layout for another while. I will probably need to pick up more of the cream colour that I am using for the final rounds, the half hexes and the sewing up, because I only have one ball of each colour currently. I have used the full range of colours minus one grey, which I just couldn't make work—I might do a crab stitch border around the edge in the grey when I'm done? I'm undecided though.

Anyway, here's where I'm at currently:

[badly_knitted]

They look gorgeous. Despite being rather rushed the end result will be worth the effort and make a very striking display.

[obstinatecondolement]

Thank you! My hope is that it boosts sales of this yarn, which hasn't been moving much.

[badly_knitted]

Fingers crossed!

[spiralicious]

The flowers look wonderful and good luck!

[obstinatecondolement]

Thank you! I have finished the last round on 8/18 flowers now and run out of cream yarn, so I'm going to pick up another ball from work (it's my day off today) this afternoon and try to finish the motifs, decide on a final layout, and block them this evening. I miiight get them sewn together and do the border (which I think I will do in yellow rather than grey, because the grey looks very dull next to the bright flowers and yellow is more appropriate for Spring and is my manager's favourite colour) and then just weave in ends at work tomorrow, but I'm not counting my chickens.

[spiralicious]

I hope that it worked out (and yellow does sound like a better choice).

[obstinatecondolement]

They are (as of this afternoon) still in the finishing stages of drying out after getting wet blocked, haha, but it's okay as I am under less time pressure than I had initially thought. My boss was just excited to see how I was getting on, because I hadn't been doing any crochet in the shop itself in a while, as opposed to tapping her watch and prompting me to get it finished.

[spiralicious]

Ahh, well that's good. At least the pressure is off a bit.

[yarnofariadne]

They look absolutely beautiful! Best of luck finishing on time.

[obstinatecondolement]

Thank you! I think I should get it all done by close of business tomorrow, even if I am sewing motifs together and weaving in ends at work on Tuesday. I have run out of the cream, so I am stalled briefly, but I should get going again later this afternoon and will hopefully be done as far as blocking my motifs. I want to steam block them all to the same size before I make my half hexagons, so that I can make sure they fit together as nicely as possible.