Check-In Post June 5th 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: What's the most complicated project you've ever tackled?


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 finished the backstitch on both of the coneflowers and one of the pansies. Hoping to do the other one while I'm watching TV. The light is still good enough.

ETA Done it!


I would have finished them this afternoon, but the sun was shining, which might be the last time for a few days, so I went out for an hour and a half, most of which was spent cleaning a path down the steps. Between the rampant honeysuckle and a perennial geranium, plus brambles and bindweed, I couldn't even see where the steps were. Had to curt away a lot of the geranium, even though it's flowering, because it had flopped across the steps, making them hazardous. Tried not to cut off honeysuckle flowers though, just stems with no flowers.

[wiseheart]

Another battle in the never-ending war against vegetation. Go you!
And congrats to finishing the backstitch on both patterns.

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! The backstitch has really brought out the detail in the pansies.

There is so much that needs doing in the garden. I wish I could make some decent progress but the weather is against me. It was okay when the sun was out today, but it was cold every time the sun vanished behind clouds.

[jupiter2932]

Good job on the backstitch *and* the ongoing garden war. We don't have tons of honeysuckle down here, I don't think, but it's such a funky looking plant, in a cool way :D

[badly_knitted]

Thanks! Honeysuckle is my favourite because it smells divine, but being a twining climber means it gets everywhere and can be a huge nuisance. I love it, but it's a constant battle to keep it from taking over.

[spiralicious]

Well done! X2

The war may be unending, but today was a victory for safety?

[badly_knitted]

Thanks!

A minor victory, until more of the geranium (Wargrave Pink) decides to collapse across the steps...

[wiseheart]

I did some culinary crafting in the morning: made pizza out of leftover stuff. The rest of the morning was spent processing the bouquet of lavender flowers I was given at school yesterday. It was long and fiddly, but now I have some necessary ingredients to the little lavender bags I intend to make for the Christmas fair, using a linen tunic I never really wore because of its unflattering cut.

[badly_knitted]

A productive day! Yay for a new batch of lavender bags!

[wiseheart]

This time I'm gonna make them look like miniature flour bags, approximately 10 cm by 15 cm. I hope the idea I saw on YouTube will work, even though I'll sew them by hand.

[badly_knitted]

That sounds intriguing! Good luck!

[jupiter2932]

Oh, leftovers pizza sounds good :D Those lavender bags sound really nice!

[wiseheart]

Assuming that I get them right. ;)
And leftovers pizza - including canned tuna, canned sweet corn, tomato paste and spices was yummy indeed. My yeast dough rose beautifully, which is always a joy.

[spiralicious]

Excellent work. I bet both projects smelled very nice for different reasons :)

[wiseheart]

They really did. :)

[althea_valara]

My needles came yesterday -- a day later than they were supposed to. I immediately cast on for Plumentis and started knitting it. I made an executive decision to NOT do a swatch because the pattern has you knit 4 small-ish triangles to start, and I figured I could just use a triangle as my swatch.

I had ordered US size 1 and size 2 needles, and cast on the size 2 needles. Alas, the fabric I am getting feels a little loose, and checking the gauge I'm getting confirmed it. So I need to start over. I likely will try the size 1 needles and hope that works. I do have size 0 needles if the gauge is still too big, but I had STARTED on size 0 for my initial "swatch" (with yarn held single... my gauge was tighter than pattern gauge but looked like GAUZE, so now I am holding yarn double because I have plenty of it).

I'm kinda a bit annoyed at having to start over, so I switched gears and did a few diagonals on a C2C crochet pillow.

Tomorrow is Stitch Club, which happens to be at my local library. I'm picking up a book from inter-library loan: 100 Pin Loom squares (weaving). I plan to use my stash of acrylics on my Zoom Loom to make a sampler blanket. Should be fun!

[jupiter2932]

Oh, that's aggravating about starting over. Hope it goes well tomorrow! :D That Stitch Club sounds like so much fun!

[spiralicious]

Sorry the Plumentis project is giving you fits.

Have a good time at stitch club. The book and the blanket sound like they will be fun :)

[badly_knitted]

How annoying! Fingers crossed the size 1 needles will give you a better gauge.

Great progress on the pillow, and I hope you have fun at stitch club. The loom sampler blanket sounds like it will be a fun project!

[jupiter2932]

Well. Today I put together a floor lamp that was meant to give me more light specifically for crafting in the TV room. And then, picking it up to move it, I smashed it into the ceiling fan and broke it. ;_; I was actually able to get a ride to a store to buy a replacemnt--found a decent one for cheap, so it's not as pretty, but it should do fine XD.

[spiralicious]

So sorry the lamp broke, but glad you were able to get a replacement.

[badly_knitted]

How annoying for you! I hope the replacement lamp will do the job.

[wiseheart]

Really shame for the lamp. Let's hope the replacement will work out.

[spiralicious]

There was no crafting today. My cleaning project (the desk drawer time forgot) took longer than I thought, and was interrupted by my aunt needing help with her phone, the niblet trying to work some personal stuff out, and my friend needing to vent, all more or less at the same time.

I'll try again tomorrow.

[badly_knitted]

Why do people wait until you're busy to need something, all at the same time? Good luck with clearing the drawer out!

[spiralicious]

I know right? Thanks. I was able to get it tackled eventually.

[wiseheart]

Sounds depressingly familiar!

[malurette]

I've finally decided against taking on a prettier jumper--I need to clear up headspace not to fuck up my rows etc and at the moment my job is eating all my brain and I don't want to risk it--and stuck with another easy scarf for the time being.

[badly_knitted]

Probably wise if you don't have the concentration for something more complicated, but you can still look at patterns for when you're in a better headspace.

Good luck with your new scarf!