Check-In Post April 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: We all make mistakes - what's your most memorable crafting disaster?


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 completed the border on the next Delft tile design. I had hoped to get further, but I switched to a smaller needle, which is a lot better than the one I was using, but I lost it twice. The first time I found it pretty fast, second time I couldn't find it at all so I had to go looking for another needle, couldn't find my small ones, ended us using the only medium sized one I could find, and the eye was bent. >.< It worked well enough though, and after I finished the border I started looking for the lost needle again. Eventually found it by chance, dug right into the carpet where even my magnet had failed to locate it. I'll have to be careful in future, the needle is only an inch long, very easy to lose.

[yarnofariadne]

Oh no! I'm glad you found it in the end.

[wiseheart]

Oh dear, what a hassle! But a really good needle is a treasure indeed. I once bought two packages of short but thick needles with a large eye, for the use of my students. Of the 20 needles only some 6 or 8 are left, which I've rescued and took home - a good thing as they are best suited for my felt work. I never found this sort of needles again, no matter in how many places I've looked.

[illariy]

Yay, some lovely progress! Sorry to hear the better needle was trying to run away from its job. Happy to hear you found it again the second time, though!

[spiralicious]

So glad you found the needle, and not with your foot!

You are doing great :)

[malurette]

OK so forget my very first scarf or the minor fuckups I did on more recent scarves, my biggest crafting mistake happened just earlier tonight: I'm at my parents for the holidays, I picked up that top-down jumper where I'd left it last time, took the stitches from the thingie they were waiting on and went my merry way on to knitting that second sleeve. I don't know what I did wrong. My mother doesn't know what I did wrong. But two rows in I had to carefully tink everything because the stocking stitch was happening wrong side up. Obviously I must have somehow taken my knitting wrong side on or something but how exactly, anyone's guess' as good as mine!
(Also, I totally forgot to pack that additional #5 double-pointed needle I have at home so I'll have to do that second sleeve same as the first one: cramming everything on my mother's four needles and trying not to drop stitches every now and then when everything fatally slips along the points.)

[wiseheart]

That must have been maddening!

[badly_knitted]

Oof, that would be a nightmare if you don't want to go for a new look! Glad you caught it quickly!

[illariy]

Wow, that is some awesome mistake! Especially intriguing that both you and your mother don't know what you did wrong. Huh. I haven't done much knitting at all, only scarves and one simple jumper and all that decades ago but the mistakes intrigues me. Let us know if it ever occurs to you what happened, please!

Very annoying, in any case. I hope tomorrow's crafting goes better. :-)

[althea_valara]

Oh no! I'm glad you caught it and fixed it.

I can think of a reason why this might have happened. I explain below; feel free to skip if you're not in the mood to read why.

Were you using circular needles or DPNs? Either way, imagine your knitting is a tea cup. Most people knit with the front side facing them, so their needles are on the close side of the tea cup -- the spot you sip from. However, it's entirely possible to knit while holding the needles so that the work is in between you and the needle tips - aka, knitting off the FAR side of the tea cup. Often when people have the problem of stockinette on the wrong side, that's what they're doing.

[spiralicious]

That is impressive. Glad you caught it fairly quickly and correct it.

[yarnofariadne]

Life got insane again, but I've picked the baby blanket back up. Row 12/119 done!

[wiseheart]

Yay for progress!

[badly_knitted]

Life does that sometimes. Yay for progress!

[illariy]

Yay, some rows added! \o/

[althea_valara]

Woohoo on progress! Hope life calms down for you. <3

[spiralicious]

Hurray for progress! Sorry life is so crazy.

[wiseheart]

Today was fairly crafty. I've seamed the spine/outer binding of the felt songbook with blanket stitch while watching TV. That was quick and easy work, but I decided to give my fingers a break before starting on the actual book-binding, which is a painful thing to do. Instead, I've made another page for the (paper) baby book; this time just improvised, without any template, but I think it turned out rather pretty.

Take a look:



The background was actually the cover of the "Shabby chic" paper pad one of my friends gifted upon me at least six or so years ago, but it fit the general theme of the book fairly well, so I used it. Being a hoarder does have its advantages... occasionally.

[badly_knitted]

Never waste anything if you can avoid it. It looks very pretty!

Well done with the binding progress!

[illariy]

Wow, that is really pretty! I love that style so much. Very cool that you were able to incorporate the cover of a paper pad, too.

[yarnofariadne]

It looks great!

[jupiter2932]

I'm resting my hands this weekend because of a flare-up (brought on, ironically, from running all over a couple of cities to get a medical excuse for jury duty sorted out xD), so no crafting, but I'm making a mixed berry cobbler tonight--my first time using matzoh meal to bake so a friend of mine can have some, which I'm excited to learn to bake with :D

[badly_knitted]

Ugh, just what you didn't need, I hope you got it sorted.

That cobbler sounds so delicious!

[althea_valara]

So I decided against Torgal, at least for now. It's some rather extreme double knitting which is slow, but also I didn't like how it was coming out. Instead, I started crocheting a headband with thread this morning. I should be able to finish it tomorrow. It's red thread, so will still fit in the Love What You Do theme, as Final Fantasy XVI features two Eikons of Fire, both of which are fiery red like my thread.

I also did some rows on nephew's blanket, but I'm a bit annoyed because I had started crocheting in the wrong direction so made an inadvertent short row. I had to pull out a row and a half and re-crochet it, argh.

That's it for today. I spent a good amount of time cleaning my room, so didn't have much time to craft.

[spiralicious]

*hug* you are making progress.

[spiralicious]

Yesterday, I didn't get any crafting done, unless you count starting to make an anime themed get to know you meme/questionnaire to share at anime_manga. I wasn't feeling well and the board president is making some unhinged decisions that is making work more miserable than usual. I was only in for an hour yesterday and it just fucked up the rest of my day. The store manager did share his pizza with me though. That was nice.

Today, I was determined to do some stitch-n-scream catch up. I started strong with today's movie, The Grudge, and I finished the hat! Then things started to go a bit sideways.

Knitting wise, I moved on to a very late gift for someone - a wingspan shawl. I've gone over the pattern and tutorial numerous times, but trying to knit it was something else. It was written very oddly and the video tutorial that goes with it went VERY fast. And I had to learn a new stitch. To top it off, for some reason, I had to change knitting needles several times. I was knitting too tight with the first set. The second set had the best feel, but were way too short. Then I found my wooden circular needles in that size and they are doing okay.

By the time I got all that sorted out, it was time to switch movies. First, I tried the day 4 movie. Sort version, it needed to be streamed, but it didn't work out and for reasons I don't understand, the process of trying to get it running got my anxiety up so high, I was physically shaking for quite awhile.

Once, I made dinner and calmed down, I moved on to the day 5 movie, one I ordered from the library. The DVD will not play at all. It shows the Sony logo, then nothing.

I already did day 6, so I went to day 7 and it's the movie I ordered from the library that isn't here yet. I already did day 8, which brings us to day 9, The Blair Witch Project. Luckily, that DVD was fine and back to happily knitting what it shaping up to be a very pretty shawl.

Also, in the very wee hours of the morning, I drew the pumpkins for the moods I was missing for moodthemeinayear.

[badly_knitted]

Yay for completing the hat, and good luck with the shawl! People who make tutorials really need to take it slow so people can follow.

Argh, how infuriating! And I can see how trying and failing to get something working set your anxiety off. That happens to me as well, full-blown panic attacks because something that SHOULD work isn't working and I can't figure it out. It's horrible *hugs* Hope you're feeling better now.

[illariy]

Yesterday, after replying to a bunch of comments on here, I finally gathered all my courage and wrote a short letter and decorated 3 more envelopes, yay!

Today, I just did some household tasks and hope to write another letter with those newly decorated envelopes. :-)

[badly_knitted]

Woohoo! That's great, and I hope you get time for more letter writing =)