Check-In Post February 16th 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: Who do you most enjoy making things for: family, friends, yourself, a special someone?


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]

No crafting yet today, but I'm hoping to finish that sleeve in a bit...


Already had a blackbird on the new bird table!

[wiseheart]

You know how to cajole your customers to the table, don't you? :)
Good luck with the sleeve!

[badly_knitted]

With birds, all I need is to put food where they can see it. This blackbird is especially bold though, he was looking at me through the kitchen window this morning when I was cutting up plums to cook. Possibly he was hoping there'd be some for him, but there wasn't. He can have my pear cores.

Finished the sleeve, although I still might add a few more rows.

[meridian_rose]

Good luck with the sleeve!
I love seeing blackbirds :) And robins. We mostly get sparrows but have more bluetits this year and the occasional robin. We do seem to have a mated pair of blackbirds but only seeing them occasionally at the moment, hopefully they'll be around more once they're nesting.

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! I did the 10 rows and cast off, but I still might add another 10 rows... I'll decide when I have the second sleeve the same length.

At this time of year I generally have four male blackbirds and a couple of females. Their territories are next door to each other, so there are some squabbles between the interlopers and the male who claims my garden. There seem to be fewer robins at present. I was thinking the other day how much the kinds of birds I see in the garden have changed since I was kid. So many people have had their roofs re-done that I hardly ever see sparrows these days. Starlings are starting to make a comeback, along with collared doves, and I still get blue tits and great tits, but now there are more coal tits. Also getting black caps now. The best for me though are the jackdaws. Last year was the first time I ever saw them in the garden.

[sister_raphael]

Bird table success!

[badly_knitted]

Yep! It's very close to the house at the moment though, so not popular.

[wiseheart]

I'm currently on constant Mum duty, so that doesn't leave much time (or energy) for other things. I did bake a cheesecake today, though, so I chalk that up as culinary crafting.

[badly_knitted]

Yum, cheesecake, culinary crafting at its yummiest!

[wiseheart]

You get no argument from me. :)

[badly_knitted]

*grins*

[meridian_rose]

Cheesecake sounds great! Vanilla? It was on my list for last year "make a cheesecake" but I didn't accomplish that goal. There are so, so many varieties of both baked and no-baked cheesecake that it's a bit overwhelming but I'm hoping to make one this year :)

[wiseheart]

It is the German version of it, called a Quarkkuchen. I made it with frozen cherries and flaked almonds on the top - it turned out excellent. The recipe itself is idiot proof, I'd share it with you, but I'm not sure you can get the kind of diary product - Quark - where you live. But it would probably work with cream cheese as well, I think.

[meridian_rose]

Yes, I don't think we have Quark. The recipes I've looked at suggest cream cheese, often Philadelphia brand cream cheese, or marscapone depending on other flavours. I'm glad it turned out well, there's great satisfaction in making cake and then enjoying eating it :D

[sister_raphael]

Cheesecake is so yummy and it totally counts. You're still creating something from other things. :)

[badly_knitted]

I got the rest of my sleeve knitted. Well, unless I decide to add another 10 rows. I might. I have slightly long arms and I hate sleeves riding up.

[sister_raphael]

Hooray for the finished sleeve!

[badly_knitted]

Thanks! (Unless I decide to add another ten rows).

[malurette]

Forgot to tell, I've finished my black blue and white striped scarf and the red heart pattern on it is an acceptable level of wonky. I've only frogged the beginning of my next scarf twice--first because a circle was too wonky, then because some chevrons made the whole thing too narrow--but I've gotten the hang of it and am going on with the full stripes now.

[badly_knitted]

Congratulations on finishing the scarf with the hearts, and good luck with the new one. I hope progress will go more smoothly now you've got the hang of it!

[meridian_rose]

That sounds lovely!

[sister_raphael]

It sounds really nice! The colours are lovely!

[sister_raphael]

Over the last two days I've cut out and almost completely sewn on the two crowned A's on the surcote panels. I am almost finished on the second one but was feeling a bit over it so I stopped.

[badly_knitted]

Well done, that's great progress!