Check-In Post - March 1st 2025

[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 kind of crafting supplies can you never resist buying?


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]

The first sleeve is finished! Tomorrow I can start the second one =)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Congrats!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[peaceful_sands]

Woo hoo - well done!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[wiseheart]

Go you! :)

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[darkcedars]

Huzzah!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[nagi_schwarz]

Woohoo! Way to go!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[spiralicious]

Woot!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Answer to Question: I have difficulty resisting washi tape! A kind friend gave me a gift card and I bought some new materials, including a lovely pack of pastel colors lace-looking washi tape. Perfect for spring. It's great when something you buy online meets expectations when it arrives. The green one is in the middle of this Alice in Wonderland spread which is the frontispiece for March in my planner.

[wiseheart]

Finding nice decoration items is always a win.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Yes indeed!

[darkcedars]

That's really cute. Yeah, it's great when it is as expected. I bought some yarn a year ago that I thought was navy and was more teal. It worked out fine BUT I did not see that coming.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ha, yeah, I learned everything is 100x smaller than it looks 🤣

[badly_knitted]

That's pretty! Both the tape and the collage.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!

[nagi_schwarz]

So pretty!!! I love your journal layout.

Also washi tape is so much fun...

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! One DW friend said washi tape was invented to separate people from their disposable income 🤣🤣🤣

[spiralicious]

What a great find!

The Alice in Wonderland spread looks great!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!

[spiralicious]

:D

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

😊

[wiseheart]

I've finished another lavender sachet and sewn on the felt appliqués to another two. So, now that I'm slowly running out of them - 10 finished, the last 4 in various phases of completion - I've started thinking about the next big project. A twin one, most likely. The idea is still somewhat vague; I'll tell more when I've figured out what I actually want to do with it.

[darkcedars]

will be interested to see what that vague idea turns into!

[badly_knitted]

Excellent! Good luck with the next big project, whatever that might be!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ooo! Sounds intriguing!

[nagi_schwarz]

Ooh, look at you go! So many made! That's so cool!

[spiralicious]

Well done!

[darkcedars]

I realized that since the purple one has a different color of purple for the foundation rows I should take a photo both before and after felting. I did not quite have enough of the pale purple.



I went to the Joann's crafts which is closing yesterday. I bought some scrubby yarn and some yarn to make a runner for my brother's mantle.

[badly_knitted]

It's very pretty!

Yay for getting yarn!

[wiseheart]

Looks lovely😌

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Pretty!

[nagi_schwarz]

The trivet looks so pretty! And honestly the multiple shades of purple look good!

I feel you on going to Joann's to get more yarn...

[spiralicious]

It's so pretty!

[nagi_schwarz]

I worked on the tatted bookmark for my mother a bit, am about a quarter of the way through. Trying a new technique on a familiar pattern has been an adventure, but it is working out and I am liking it. I also measured and cut some paper for some more cube popup books (I do need to pay attention to the recommended weights of papers). I tried an origami lotus and it didn't go well, but found a different version and need to give that a try. Also I spent an embarrassing amount of time going through my yarn drawers and turning scrap yarn into massive multicolor yarn cakes for...some kind of future project.

Also because I am AWFUL at resisting the urge to buy patterns and my older daughter mentioned wanting a mermaid tail while she was playing pretend at the beach, I found a nice pattern for a knitted mermaid tail blanket.

So. Gift thinky thoughts keep on happening.

[spiralicious]

Very nice :D

[badly_knitted]

You've been busy! Good luck with the pop-up books and the origami lotus. All that scrap yarn is going to make something very interesting!#

Ooh, a knitted mermaid tail blanket sounds fun!

[spiralicious]

Today I caught up on the 2 tracking shawls (the rows that represent Feb 22-28) while I watched Midsomer Murders & Poirot. I also did some culinary crafting trying to recreate a chicken & mushroom soup I haven't made in 15 years & lost the recipe for. It tasted good.

Friday, I finally bought the storage bin to house my in process tracking shawls after work. (Mother had been preventing me from doing this for reasons unknown since December.) I also broke down and bought the last 3 jumbo skeins of claret colored yarn in the clearance bin.

Wednesday, I had a gel plate printing for beginners workshop at the library. I like what I made, even if I haven't finished the intended project we were supposed to make with our prints yet. The vibes for the workshop were weird though, but that could have been me. I was clock watching while I worked because I had to leave early.

Monday was card making with Lynne. It was more springy cards with birds. The cards I designed for a future season are unfortunately still birds, but this time they are chickens, so the vibes are a little different than just "springtime with birds."

But Monday's session was honestly more me helping Lynne with things than card making.

[badly_knitted]

Well done with the shawls and the soup, it sounds delicious!

The claret yarn sounds lovely.

Never heard of gel plate printing, so I'd be interested to know more, it sounds intriguing!

Chickens are very Easter, I always think.

[spiralicious]

Thanks! The soup was leftover shredded chicken, sliced mushrooms, a very large chopped leek, shredded spinach, minced garlic, peas, a bag of frozen soup veggies (carrots, potatos, sweet corn, green beans, baby lima beans, okra, celery, & onions) and for liquid, a mix of sour cream, half and half, powdered mushroom "bouillon," and chicken stock, all thrown together in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Served topped with squares of puff pastry. I had wanted to add fresh carrots, but we didn't have any. Mom added more potatoes and made up a white sauce to add to the leftovers, which was also quite good.

It's very lovely. I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks, which is why I finally broke down and bought it XD

Gel plate printing is actually pretty simple, but the gel plates are a little spendy. The plates themselves are the consistency of extra firm gelatin. You just spread a thin layer of acrylic paint with a brayer on the plate, then quickly lay whatever you are marking off the negative space with (we used cut up pieces of file folders). Then you press whatever you are printing onto on top (we used "wet tissue", it's not actually wet, that just what it's named. It's like an extra slick, clear deli paper). When you pull back your paper, if you have been fast enough, all the paint comes with it and you have your print and a clean gel plate. You can also easily print lots of layers on the same print. I'm sure I'll have more info as time goes on. We'll be doing gel printing projects every other month at the library this year. (Even months will be gel printing, odd months, miniatures)

I can see that. Mostly, I did chickens because Lynne's son was complaining we hadn't done anything with eggs yet. But if he wants to get a jump on trying to sell Easter cards online, he can design his own, thank you.

[badly_knitted]

Delicious! Sadly not something I could eat thanks to the onions and garlic though.

You were clearly meant to have it.

That sounds complicated to me, and probably requires a steady hand. What do you do with the prints once you've made them? Making miniatures sounds like it should be fun!

Hah! Yes, he can design his own Easter cards.

[spiralicious]

Thank you and :(

Indeed. Now if only the cable throw I'm making with it will continue to behave *finger crossed*

Actually, the steady hand is less of an issue because the gel plate is sticky, especially after the paint goes on. Once something is on there, it's not moving, until it is carefully and forcefully peeled off. With these prints in particular, we were/are supposed to make little sun catcher/fake stained glass things to put in your window. I have the 2 frames I was given, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and select 2 4x4 inch squares of my finished prints to put in the frames. Next gel print workshop we'll be making cards by printing directly onto some glossy cardstock, it looked like. I love miniatures so much. Last time we made the extra tiny paper doll houses that fold up. This month we will be doing something with tiny bottles and drift wood.

Indeed!

[badly_knitted]

Oh, that sounds like it will be lovely! Not something to rush, you need to pick the right sections to use.

That sounds so cute! Driftwood is beautiful, and the tiny bottles...

[spiralicious]

Yes! It's going to take some thought.

Yes, I saw the sample picture, but I'm still a little unsure of what we will be doing exactly. You can't go wrong with tiny bottles though. (Driftwood is also fun to play with.)