Check-In Post February 19th 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: Which craft that you don't already do would you most like to try?


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 for me today.


I'd love to be able to make amigurumi (because I want to crochet a prawn, maybe even a whole fleet of them — I have a book of designs), but I can't get my head around crochet charts, they're just a bunch of lines and squiggles.

[wiseheart]

They confuse the living highlight out of me, too.

[badly_knitted]

I'm sure some people understand them, just not me.

[jupiter2932]

I usually get really lost with those too. I tend to watch youtube tutorials for new patterns, honestly.

[badly_knitted]

One day, maybe I'll sit down with my book and try to figure it out. I've got some yarn that would be perfect for a crocheted prawn.

[jupiter2932]

That sounds adorable :D I've never made amigurumi, but some of them are so cute.

[badly_knitted]

It's my firm belief that we all need a crocheted prawn, lol!

[sister_raphael]

I admire anyone who can do that!

[badly_knitted]

Me too!

[wiseheart]

Me, three! *g*

[spiralicious]

I hope one day you'll be able to make your amigurumi prawn army (navy?). Those charts are extremely confusing.

[badly_knitted]

Thank you. I really would like to.

A fleet of prawns, I think would be the correct term ;)

[spiralicious]

Fleet does make the most sense

[badly_knitted]

*g*

[meridian_rose]

Yes, they look soooo cute. But I can't seem to get the hang on basic crochet (tension) so I'm sticking with basic knitting for now. The patterns do look confusing especially with the UK/US double crochet/triple crochet complication! I love your icon :D

[badly_knitted]

This one? It's one of my knitted meeces *grins*

I can do VERY basic crochet, the meece ears are crocheted, but not much beyond that. I may need to learn if I'm ever going to have a crocheted prawn, lol!

[wiseheart]

Big cleaning day + cooking + Mom duty = no crafting today (either).

Forgot to add: I'd love to learn proper crocheting; and to relearn knitting. Small chance either of them ever happening, though.

[badly_knitted]

*hugs to you and your mum* Sounds like a very labour-intensive day.

Maybe youtube videos might help you with that.

[wiseheart]

I doubt it. I can follow YouTube tutorials when they're about paper or felt - or baking - but anything more complicated than those, not to mention anything involving maths, I'd need a live tutor for. One who'd regularly keep an eye on my pitiful attempts. *g*

[badly_knitted]

Ah well, it was an idea.

[jupiter2932]

Hope you get the chance to kick back and get some rest as well soon :)

[sister_raphael]

Another big day for you. Take care. *hugs*

[spiralicious]

*hugs*

[tellshannon815]

Crochet. I keep getting crochet kit presents, but have never actually started.

[badly_knitted]

Maybe you could open one of the kits and see if you can figure it out. Let us know how you get on if you do!

[sister_raphael]

My Grannie crocheted but I can't wrap my head around it and don't have time.

[sister_raphael]

I did some potting of plants this morning before work and made the ad for my presentation in April, so feeling successful about that!

The craft/s I'm keen to learn are nahlbinding which is a historic form of knitting with one needle different to crochet. I'd like to learn decorative leatherwork too and already have projects in mind for that.

[spiralicious]

Excellent!

I've never heard of nahlbinding and am now intrigued.

[sister_raphael]

It's great! One of my Finnish friends, Mervi has a book called "With One Needle."

It has socks and gloves and more in it!

[badly_knitted]

Sounds brilliant!

[spiralicious]

I am going to look that up!

It's kind of funny, the day after I read your comment, on a different device that has no connections to the one I do DW on at all, on Instagram, my feed decided I needed to see a video about nalbinding.

[badly_knitted]

Wow, coincidence can be a bit scary!

[spiralicious]

I know! And it was the second one like that in the same week. The day before this one, I saw an out of context Red Hood comic panel referencing the new Struts song and then later that day, someone on DW did a post about the new Struts song.

[badly_knitted]

You never know when a coincidence will sneak up on you!

[spiralicious]

Indeed!

[badly_knitted]

Yay, well done!

Oooh, that sounds fascinating! Decorative leatherwork would be cool too.

[meridian_rose]

I hadn't heard of nahlbinding before! Ohh decorative leatherwork is a great one to try but quite a big cost outlay to begin with I'd think.

[spiralicious]

Today was mildly unsettling, though I'm not entirely sure why, as it went about as expected. For the first time in several months, I'm back to doing Monday crafting with Lynne. It is very different now. Her dementia has progressed to the point where it is more like babysitting than visiting an old friend, but I knew that. I'd thought I had picked something low pressure enough, but I guess I hadn't. Making cards without a kit and preset instructions was going to be impossible (though it is her default craft she wants to do). Instead, I thought I would cut out big paper eggs out of scrapbooking paper and we would decorate them with her vast collection of markers, pens, stickers, and stamps. Overall, I think it went well enough, but it was too unstructured for her. She also forgot how stickers worked, which created some tense moments.

This was made a little worse because the housekeeper was there and Lynne was trying to craft with me and micromanage the housekeeper at the same time. And Lynne's moods regarding her son, who is her 24 hour caregiver, swing wildly between he is a saint whom she couldn't live without to he is worthless and lazy and doing nothing to earn his keep. The mood was not positive today. Every time he checked on us to see how things were going, it got her all riled up.

They expect me to come back every Monday. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do.

I also exchanged phone numbers with her son so I could better coordinate visits and when I will be caring for the animals, but I'm not sure what good it's going to do as he told me afterwards his phone's been shut off.

I also took the time to read through posts here to see what all you've been up to in the days I've missed.

[badly_knitted]

That's so hard *hugs* There's a feeling of helplessness watching someone you care about slip away like that, and there's also grief because the person you know is disappearing. Her son is very brave to be taking care of her, and at such a young age, and you're being a very good friend, but you need to take care of your own mental health too. Don't take on more than you can handle.

[wiseheart]

You've taken the words out of my mouth. I can second everything you've said.

[spiralicious]

*HUGS*

[meridian_rose]

My brother in law's mum has been diagnosed with dementia and when I tell people they all have a story of someone they knew or friend's relative and how hard it is. It's important everyone involved get support and prioritise self-care, so agreeing with this reply about taking care of mental health. I hope her son has support. I know BIL's father was in denial for a while but once there was some support in place and he started going to a dementia cafe where he could relax a bit and talk with other carers it really helped. It's a lot to go through.

[spiralicious]

*HUGS* I hope he's getting some real support too. I know there are some other family members that are doing what they can from a distance, but I'm not sure it's really enough.

[spiralicious]

*hugs* Thanks. Sadly, this is not exactly my first rodeo with this, but it does not get any easier. He is very brave, especially since it's been less than a year since his wife died in a very similar situation. (He is in his mid to late 60s.) I am doing my best and trying to take things day by day. I am hoping I have it in me to say no, if things get to be too much.

There is some hope on the horizon. She got a bad infection about 2 years ago and apparently, it never actually went away. The ongoing infection can cause dementia like effects, which are reversible once the infection is taken care of and she is going in for a series of surgeries to fix that.

With that though brings the anger that no one realized that she still had that infection despite being under regular and frequent doctor care AND that no one realized that could be a possibility before now. Also the inherent risk of multiple major surgeries. especially on someone over 85. And the reality, that given her family history of dementia, the infection might not be the cause and the surgeries might not help with that issue.

But it's something and one step at a time, and all that.

[badly_knitted]

Her poor son, he's had such a rough time and now this.

Oh, that's both awful and hopeful. I hope your friend comes through the surgical treatments well. If the infection is behind her symptoms, or even just contributing, she might be more herself afterwards.

[spiralicious]

I know! He has had a hell of a string of horrible luck, honestly.

Indeed. Thank you. That is our hope.

[badly_knitted]

*hugs*

[spiralicious]

*hugs back*