Check-In Post September 26th 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

[badly_knitted]

I've stitched a bit more on the tropical flowers, the first two leaves are done and the next big one is underway.


Last night I made my fingers sore adding split rings to charms for pendants, one of each design, 42 altogether. Don't know when I'll get around to making more pendants, but I've got that far.

[wiseheart]

You produce industrial amounts of stuff. No wonder your poor fingers are sore. But your charms are so very lovely. I still have the one you sent me in a letter many, many years ago. :)

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! Glad you still have it

I wish there was an easier, less painful way to attach the split rings, but it's always a wrestling match.

[spiralicious]

Well done on your progress on your projects!

Split rings are so evil, yet so necessary sometimes. Your poor fingers.

[badly_knitted]

Thanks!

I have a split ring tool that helps, and means less broken nails, but it can still be a struggle. I just need something secure on the charms so that they won't fall off the pendants.

[spiralicious]

That sounds like a very handy tool.

[badly_knitted]

It is, but it's still a lot of brute force involved. Some of the loops on the charms are quite thick and getting a ring onto them is difficult.

[spiralicious]

Ah. That is a bit difficult.

[badly_knitted]

Some of them take a good 5 minutes to attach, and by then the split ring looks more like part of a slinky on its way downstairs.

[spiralicious]

I believe it. I used to do a lot with my charm bracelet and my thumbs hurt just thinking about split rings.

[badly_knitted]

They are fiendish things o_O

[spiralicious]

Indeed!

[wiseheart]

I spent half the day cutting out the pieces to the mini sewing kits and sewing on the little inner pockets, seven out of a total of nine. I hope to make the last two tomorrow, even though I'll have less time for crafting. Then I can go on to the other details. These kits are finicky work.

[badly_knitted]

That's great progress! I'm sure they'll sell well.

[wiseheart]

If not, I'll give them away as gifts later. *g*

[badly_knitted]

Either way, your efforts won't go to waste.

[wiseheart]

Absolutely!

[spiralicious]

Very well done!

[wiseheart]

Thank you. :)

[althea_valara]

...welp.



Oh, it LOOKS good in this photo. The contrast between the colors is great! I actually really like how the triangle insert came out! It also fits well about the body, meaning I chained enough under the arms.

But the shoulders. Dear gods, the shoulders. They are FAR too big and I am getting terrible ruffling in them as a result.

I'm blaming the pattern a bit. There's no schematic in it, and not many projects so I'm not sure it's been tech-edited. Also, the way it's written... my brain doesn't like it. It's written out row-by-row, so like this:

2 dc in first dc, dc in next 5, 2 dc in each of next 2, dc in next 10, 2 dc in each of next 2, dc in 20, 2 dc in each of next 2, dc in next 10, 2 dc in each of next 2, dc in next 5, 2 dc in final dc

(these are made up numbers, but you get the idea.)

This makes my eyes swim. I tried to use stitch markers to make it easier, and I was pretty sure I counted stitches here and there, but somehow I still have way too many stitches in the shoulders.

I am not sure what to do. I could finish the thing and just live with it, but I doubt I'll be happy with it, not with all that ruffling. I might just scrap it all and find a different pattern. I'm disappointed, because this was a pattern I won from Nerdopolis so looked forward to doing it.

[spiralicious]

Oh dear.

I don't know why patterns get written like that. They are so hard to read.

I'm sorry the pattern was disappointing.

Hopefully, someone will have a helpful idea on what to do about the shoulders.

[althea_valara]

Thanks for your condolences. <3 Sadly, I don't think it's fixable. I checked my counts again against the pattern, and my counts WERE correct, which means the pattern grading is way off. I mean okay yeah I did have some gauge issues, but not enough to cause such drastic problems. I'm gonna frog it after a few days, and make something else. Still picking out patterns but right now I'm leaning towards

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/13-central-park-hoodie

It comes in extended sizes and a ton of people have made it, so it should be a good pattern.

[badly_knitted]

That looks like a great pattern. So sorry the last one didn't work out though,. That really sucks after all the effort you put in.

[spiralicious]

Sorry

At least the new pattern is promising.

[spiralicious]

Today was less odd, though I was thoroughly confused as to what day of the week it was most of the day. I'm pretty sure that can be blamed on the general business of late.

I spent most of the day looking for paintings and trying to decide which ones to bring to art change. Some of them also needed dusted and I had to write out label information for them.

During my hunt, I made an embarrassing find. For three years in a row, I was an artist on the garden & art tour. Basically, you set up a little table or booth in your assigned garden and worked on art while people wandered around you, exploring the gardens on the tour and sometimes different gardens might feature lectures on microclimates or composting or something. Anyway, the 3 years I did were the last 3 years and not knowing it was the last year (no one did), I packed up my storage tote with everything for the next year. This many years later, it's still packed! Or it was until I opened it with an inkling that I might find some missing paintings in the strange green tote that matched nothing else in the room. *Facepalm* At least it's unpacked now and it definitely answered some questions.

I also at some point during the day started my post for the madrona info comm about places to find prompt lists and I knitted a bit.

I do think it's time to go to bed and rest my brain now.

[badly_knitted]

I have to think hard most days to figure out what day it is, or check my diary *grins*

Hope you found all the painting you want to take!

That sounds so cool, shame it isn't done anymore. But you left the tote packed for a good reason, and if you'd needed it you would have remembered. At least now it's unpacked and you found some stuff.

I like prompt lists, I have a lot of them, lol!

Goodnight, sleep well.

[spiralicious]

Hehe, at least I'm in good company :)

Thanks! I think we did. It's definitely more than I'll be able to hang in the space, so I'll have options, I guess XD Honestly, if my mother hadn't insisted that I should take a particular painting I had trouble finding, I probably wouldn't have found about half the paintings I'm taking.

It was a lot of fun. I never did hear why they stopped. It was around for 6 or 7 years. Yes! This is the logic I am now applying to the situation.

Lol. Nice. I too like prompt lists. I might actually have a prompt list problem. I collect them like trading cards and the whole reason I co-mod a table comm is so I would have a home for the ones I make up myself.

Thanks!

[badly_knitted]

Yep! Days blend into one another.

Sounds like you have a good selection.

It's sad when things stop for no apparent reason. Covid sadly saw the end of many things I enjoyed,

Prompt lists are gold!

Are you making progress with your spook_me fic? I'm about to plunge back into mine.

[spiralicious]

Indeed!

Oh, I do. It's starting to make me nervous.

Yeah. Same here.

They are!

I am not, lol. I had a good opening line... and it refused to go anywhere. Now my brain is very insistently working on everything but that. I hope yours is going well.

[badly_knitted]

How annoying for you! I hope inspiration and spook_me plot bunnies will pop up soon.

I'm over 3k into the one I'm writing and the monster has yet to make an appearance. The characters are getting closer to it though.

[spiralicious]

Thanks!

Nice :D

[badly_knitted]

Now to see if I can actually finish it in time to write the second one...

[spiralicious]

I have faith in you

[badly_knitted]

Thanks. Wish I had faith in myself, but the one I'm writing now is gonna be loooong.