Check-In Post October 20th 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]

Oops, forgot I hadn't posted!


No crafting today. It's been absolutely miserable weather, thick clouds and heavy rain, very overcast.


I got attacked by a mosquito in my bedroom. I heard that annoying whine, then I saw it flying between me and my computer screen, then it bit me on the shoulder. Then I flattened it. HA!

[wiseheart]

Well done! It deserved what it got!
Sorry to hear about the miserable weather. *hugs*

[badly_knitted]

That'll teach it!

The weather today reminded me of last Halloween, although at least this time it was forecast so I was expecting it to be bad.

[darkcedars]

I hate when they get in the house. Only upside to cold weather for me.

[badly_knitted]

I knew there was one in the house earlier this year, but it's been so cold and wet this year it must have gone dormant. Now I have the fire going, I must have woken it up. At least now it's dealt with, and it didn't get so much as a sip from me. I felt it sink its nose into me and just grabbed. Wound up with a handful of mosquito mush. It was quite satisfying.

[m_findlow]

Ack! Dreaded mozzies! I hate them too because they eat me alive, and it's just coming into mozzie season here. I did however see a dragonfly zipping about the other day which is good because they eat mozzies. Probably the last good season of dragonflies we'll get now that El Nino has started. Dragonflies need two or three years of rainy conditions to breed.
The best mozzie is a flat mozzie! :)

[badly_knitted]

I should have plenty of dragonflies next year then. Curiously enough, my indoor mozzie is the only one I've seen this year despite the wet summer, and I only got bitten once. Then again, I haven't been outside much this. I've had some years when my bites have swollen to 2 or 3 inches across, but my antihistamines seem to help these days. I don't get as many bites as I used to.

Hope you don't have to deal with many mozzies this year.

[spiralicious]

At least you flattened it! Too bad it got you first.

[badly_knitted]

I got it before it could do more than poke its nose in, so I'm not itchy. Yay!

[spiralicious]

Yay!

[wiseheart]

Another doughnut-shaped keyring is finished, the remaining four are fully decorated and equipped with all necessary parts. There wasn't time for much else today.

For tomorrow, the plan is to finish at least one more keyring and perhaps design some really nice labels for my freshly made winter jam jars. (The jams are freshly made, not the jars, just to make it clear. ;))

[darkcedars]

Nice labels would be good, especially if you're making some of them gifts.

[wiseheart]

Not this time. This is my first attempt at the things; this year I'll stick to gifting cookies, as always. :)

[badly_knitted]

Excellent progress, you'll soon have the keyrings finished!]

Yummy jam!

[wiseheart]

Pssst! One day later and I already have. Don't tell anyone!

[badly_knitted]

Yay!

[m_findlow]

Sounds like you're making good progress!

[wiseheart]

I'm trying to finish these things in October, so that I'd have some time left for writing in November, when picowrimo is in session.

[badly_knitted]

Good luck, both with the crafting and the writing.

[spiralicious]

You are making excellent progress!

Mmm... Jam.

[wiseheart]

Weeell, the jam didn't quite turn out the way I hoped it would, but we'll ate it nonetheless. *g*

[badly_knitted]

It was experimental jam, a learning experience.

[spiralicious]

As long as it was tasty. That is the important part :)

[darkcedars]

I put away my delivered yarn today and re-rolled yarn from ripping out things I didn't like.

I did some fiddling with random yard projects as well.

One weird thing - I was coming out the door, a guy had stopped at the curb. He was leaning out his window pulling up a handful of the still blooming cosmos. Drove off quickly when he saw me. Just....???

[wiseheart]

Some people are just idiots. And, as M. Poirot once said, it's difficult to protect a town full of sane people from a single madman.

[darkcedars]

Some humans are so strange!

[badly_knitted]

Oooh, new yarn! And re-usable yarn!

How rude! Why do people think they can just come along and snatch something growing in someone else's yard without even asking?

[darkcedars]

I don't really expect the flowers at the edge of the road to go undisturbed, but this was a grown man, not a child.

[badly_knitted]

Most people don't pull up handfuls of plants that don't belong to them.

[m_findlow]

Yay for your new yarn delivery. Always exciting to have new goodies to play with.

[spiralicious]

Hurray for new yarn, re-rolled previously used yarn, and getting it put away!

What the... ? What is wrong with people? Very rude of him.

[m_findlow]

My cross stitch is finished. Just need to carefully wash out the printed pattern before I can take pictures and organise framing for it.
Working on my crochet squares for a blanket I'm planning. I've done about ten squares in various greens and blues (will also be some cream). Each takes a bit over an hour to make now that I'm familiar with the pattern. Only three thousand squares to go!
On a whim I dropped into the local two dollar shop near work on my way home. There were some cute stick on jewels in diamond shapes and I was going to resist until I saw silver and gold pearl stick ons as well, so bought all three, plus found some cute Christmas ribbons, so came out of there $20 poorer. Only went in to see what frames they had! Doh.

[darkcedars]

Three thousand squares!!!

Your mistake was letting your eyes look at anything but frames. :P

[m_findlow]

Okay, so maybe not three thousand! Just feels like it! Lol.
You're right. Shouldn't have gone down the craft aisle!

[badly_knitted]

Congratulations on finishing the cross stitch! I hope the washing goes well.

3000 squares? Seriously? How big is this blanket going to be? o_O

Stick on jewels are so tempting! You deserved a treat.

[m_findlow]

Yeah maybe not that many squares, ha ha. Just feels like it. I. Actually don't know how many it is. A rough guess might be between 250 and 300, or 15 by 20ish squares (that's sounds up there with your quantities of things!)
I'll probably just keep making them and laying them out until I have a size I'm happy with.

[badly_knitted]

Phew! Yes, that sounds a more manageable number.

Sometimes that's the best way to do it. Then when you think you have enough, join them together. You can always add another row or two after that before doing a border.

[spiralicious]

Congrats on the cross stitch! And good luck with washing out the pattern.

That is a lot of squares O.O

The shiny things, it's how they get you ;)

[wiseheart]

Craft supplies are addictive. And you always discover some you don't have yet that are impossible to resist. *sigh*

That blanket sounds like it would be really beautiful once you are done. But so many squares...

[spiralicious]

Work is kind of kicking my butt. I think I do more napping and trying to nap than anything else of late. Today, I also made soup and stress knit for awhile.

[badly_knitted]

Work sounds busy, so napping is a good idea while you're adjusting to the workload.

Hope the soup was tasty and the stress knitting helped relieve stress.

[spiralicious]

Yeah, I did not know what I was getting into and it's looking like it's going to be be temporary. Naps are vital.

The soup was very tasty and the knitting was helpful. :)

[badly_knitted]

Does that mean you'll have to start job hunting again? =(

Yay for tasty soup and helpful knitting.

[spiralicious]

Yes and no. I wasn't actively job hunting when this fell in my lap and was living off my savings, which I can still do for awhile, but not forever. And even if this had worked out long term, after I got done with the part I am doing right now, it would have only been 2 hours a week going forward.

So eventually yes, but not right away.

:D

[badly_knitted]

Ah, you can hopefully wait for the perfect job to find you =)

[spiralicious]

I am hopeful :)

[badly_knitted]

Stay positive!

[wiseheart]

Work has the unfortunate tendency to get in the way of things we actually *like* doing. Napping is very important in such times.

[spiralicious]

So very true.