Check-In Post January 27th 2024

[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.


This Week's Question: Looking back at last year, which of your completed projects (or WiPs) were you most pleased with?


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]

20 rows knitted last night!


Not much done in the way of knitting today yet though. I've cast on for a sleeve and done the first two rows so I can pick that up tomorrow night while Dancing on Ice is on and carry on with it if I can't manage the front. After I post this, I'll go grab some food and then do some knitting while watching a DVD.

[wiseheart]

Progress is progress! I wish I could craft while watching a DVD but
a) I don't have a TV in the study/workroom, and
b) I need to see the (English) subtitles to actually understand spoken English.

[badly_knitted]

I can imagine how difficult it would be to have to rely on subtitles.

[wiseheart]

My English basically exists in written form as I only have the chance to *speak* it once in a decade... if I am lucky.

[badly_knitted]

That's sad. I imagine speaking a language would help. I'm crap at languages myself though. I can only speak English because I learned it from birth.

[wiseheart]

I pick up languages fairly easily - or, at least, I used to. Perhaps basically growing up with German as a second language helped with that. German is a fairly... organized language; learning other ones afterwards seemed easier. Especially as my native Hungarian has a completely different grammatical structure than all other European languages, with the possible exception of Finnish.

[badly_knitted]

I find that very impressive!

[wiseheart]

Well, the only other language I learned semi-properly was English. My Russian is history, despite having it for 10 years at school, and I never got too far with French, which is a shame. I find French beautiful. We get one single French channel from Vodafone and sometimes I switch it on, just to hear the language. Too bad the programmes are crap.

[badly_knitted]

I took French in school for 5 years and I was dreadful at it, barely scraped though my exams. My Latin was even worse, but thankfully I only had to take that for a year or two.

[peaceful_sands]

Forward planning for crafting during DoI - I approve. Hope you got something good to eat and found a good DVD to watch.

[badly_knitted]

I'm rewatching Season one of Stargate SG-1, so yep, very good. Shouldn't have watched 3 episodes in a row, but I did, and got 30 rows knitted.

I like to make sure I have something I can do during DoI. Keeps me from getting twitchy.

Food was good, mostly just nibbles.

[celli]

I started a new crochet piece at random last night, AND I figured out a framing for an embroidery piece. Unfortunately for me it requires a hot glue gun, which I have warily acquired. It's a "low heat" one, so maybe I won't hurt myself too badly.

[wiseheart]

I'm not a fan of hot glue guns myself, but they can come in handy sometimes. Just be careful!

[badly_knitted]

Good luck with the glue gun! I've never tried one.

[peaceful_sands]

Good luck with the glue gun - my niece still laughs at how careful I was to make sure she didn't burn herself on it when I first got one (she wasn't using it, but it was in the vicinity) - while simultaneously burning myself!

[wiseheart]

In spite of a day full of chores I managed to finish the back cover insides of both baby books, out of sheer, pig-headed stubbornness. Behold the results:



The one on the left is the boy version, the one on the right the girl version. Obviously. They are similar, though not entirely identical, due to the fact that I didn't always have the exact same paper pieces, but I like the outcome.

[badly_knitted]

Well done! They both look lovely =D

[wiseheart]

Thank you. Needless to say that the blues aren't this intense in reality. The mini always goes wild with blues, even making originally white things appear blue-ish.

[badly_knitted]

I'm sure it's still pretty even if the colours are paler in reality.

[peaceful_sands]

They look great - well done.

[wiseheart]

Thank you. :)

[althea_valara]

More work on the commission! I have now done the body, face, and cap of the Santa applique. It's coming along! Just not looking forward to having to make four more of these.

[wiseheart]

Making the same thing repeatedly takes a lot of fun out of a project. *voice of experience speaking here*
Still, you're doing great progress.

[badly_knitted]

You can do it! I know it can be tedious making repeats of the same thing, but you'll get there. *cheers you on*

[peaceful_sands]

Sounds like you are making steady progress.

[readera]

I did 4 rows on my shawl today while watching a movie. Consider I'm on a fairly long part of the shawl & I was watching Everything everywhere all at once, that's quite an accomplishment.

I also worked on my red velvet cake colored hat last night. I need to pull out my double point needles so I can finish it up.

[badly_knitted]

That's excellent shawl progress! Garter stitch and stocking stitch (stockinette) ae easy enough to do while watching TV, but anything with a pattern require more attention so to get 4 long rows done is a big achievement.

Hope you can find your needles.

[peaceful_sands]

Well done - sometimes progress sounds like than it is in reality when you take in the part of a project you are working on.

[m_findlow]

Nothing exciting to report. Just darning a pair of jeans where the inside seam has worn through (like they always do).
Downside is it makes them slightly smaller each time and they're always a snug fit to start with. Hard to find good comfy jeans in my size, thus the darning. Sigh.

[badly_knitted]

I hope the darned area lasts a good long time. Comfy jeans that fit are a blessing, but they can be very hard to find, no matter what size you wear.

[peaceful_sands]

Frustrating to not be able to easily get things that are comfortable and fit well - well done on darning the jeans and giving them a bit more life.

[wiseheart]

It is always a pain to find clothes that would fit comfortably is you don't look like a starved rat. I've struggled with the problem all my life. Here is the hope that the darning will hold for a long time.

[tielan]

Nothing is happening for me. Although it will have to this week. I need to get some borders on two quilt tops (ones that I swore were going to only be backings) and then I need to get some backings on them to deliver another load of quilts to my quilter.

[badly_knitted]

Good luck with the borders and backings! Hopefully the backings this time won't turn into more quilt tops...

[tielan]

I gotta do something tonight. TONIGHT, I TELL YOU.

[badly_knitted]

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

[peaceful_sands]

Good luck hope all goes well.

[tielan]

Thank you! I just have to do that thing where instead of fretting about the things I'm not doing and putting them off, I actually just DO them. (And then wonder why I vacillated so long about doing them.)

[peaceful_sands]

I got some work done on the tapestry while watching the Mr Bates v the Post Office series (and crying at some of the sad bits which slowed progress down a little)

[badly_knitted]

Excellent progress. Getting teary does make crafting difficult, everything goes blurry.

[wiseheart]

Perhaps, but a good cry can be cathartic sometimes. :)