Check-In Post - April 14th 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: Do you change crafts with the season or stick to the same crafts year round?


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]

More work outside since the forecast rains have yet to arrive. Today was mostly clearing dead leaves from under the hedge / holly tree, and cutting back ivy so I can get at the roots for removal. Also uncovering broken, twisted, and in some places rusty wire mesh from when we had a dog forty years ago. The mesh was to stop the dog getting through the hedge into the surrounding gardens, and I've removed a lot over the years, but there are still patches in the more inaccessible places. The holly and ivy have grown so that the wire is embedded in the roots and branches, so getting rid of it is going to be a job and a half.


Too tired for crafting again. I'm practically falling asleep over my laptop.

[nagi_schwarz]

Just reading about what you've done in the garden is exhausting. Kudos to you!

[badly_knitted]

Thanks! It's exhausting just to think about!

[marinarusalka]

I finished chart #4 on my blanket, and am now 5 rows into chart #5. In a fit of optimism, I also went and filled out the entry form for the county fair, so now I have extra incentive to finish on time. :-)

In addition to knitting, I also did some baking this weekend. I wanted to make something flourless for Passover, and I also had some oranges that a friend gave me from her backyard tree, so I made this recipe. It came out really nice, denser than a regular cake would be but super moist and soft, and with a ton of orange flavor. I did a simple glaze on top, flavored with some orange blossom water, and am very happy with the result.

[badly_knitted]

Excellent progress! Good luck with getting the blanket finished in time for the fair!

Oh my, that orange cake sounds heavenly!

[marinarusalka]

I definitely recommend that cake recipe! It was super easy to make -- my food processor is too small to hold all the ingredients, so I just blitzed everything in the blender, and it worked great.

[badly_knitted]

I'm no baker, I don't even own a food processor, but I might save the recipe anyway.

[viskozni_varhanik]

ooh, I don't know if I'll ever have the courage to enter anything I make into a fair, good luck!

also :0 somehow the idea of a flourless cake never occured to me, but that sounds delicious! will definitely have to take a better look at that recipe later.

[nagi_schwarz]

That cake sounds delicious! Way to go! And kudos to you for signing up for the fair! You can do it!

[viskozni_varhanik]

I've managed to nick a finger with a knife tip yesterday, which should theoretically mean should maybe lay off the stitching for a while, so I don't keep going over it with thread. Because I'm stubborn, practically it means I want to stitch even more, and just figured out a funny way how to hold my work. Anyways, I managed to finish stitching two rows of the shorter edge border and one of the longer. Forecast says it's gonna rain all day tomorrow, so I'll take the lil keychain project with me instead of a book to work tomorrow (out of abundance of caution, considering my current read is a softcover), so I might make some more progress during lunch break. Crafting and other free time is a bit limited rn, as I'm a musician helping out with Easter services, so I'll take any time I can use, hah.

[badly_knitted]

So annoying when something like that happens, but kudos for finding a way to continue crafting anyway. Hope you manage to make progress during lunch. I used to knit on my lunch breaks, crafting during lunch at work is a time-honoured tradition!

Good luck with the Easter services. What instrument(s) do you play?

[viskozni_varhanik]

Thank you! I play the pipe organ! I love the instrument to bits, but most accompaniments written for it are 4-5 voices at once, so it requires some practice time to get them all straight.

[badly_knitted]

Wow! I mean, pipe organs are magnificent, but they look so complicated to play. I'm impressed!

[nagi_schwarz]

Hope you can get some extra crafting time in. Ouch on the nicked finger! (Will that affect playing music at all?) Good luck with the stitching!

[viskozni_varhanik]

thankfully it won't, since I was lucky enough to nick it a little from the side (that I tend to rest my work on), but I play with the fingertip / front finger pad area. :) and thank you!

[nagi_schwarz]

Made some progress on the hanky. Already halfway through this bobbin. Looks like at least two more bobbins before I am done. Baby girl is still sick, but I managed to print and laminate a bunch of writing practice sheets for my oldest girl. Going to sort some old Christmas cards for my big mail scrapbooking project (which is more organizing than scrapbooking but that's okay). Also I made a small rewards jar for my oldest daughter. Very simple, just a printed label and some washi tape to make it cute. But I think the new system will be rewarding for her (pun intended lol).

[badly_knitted]

Hope baby girl recover quickly.

Well done for managing to do so much! I hope Oldest daughter will like her rewards jar and do well with her writing practice.

[malurette]

I'm almost done with the torso! currently into the bottom ribbed part but I'll need more white wool, so in the meantime I've started on the first sleeve.

[badly_knitted]

Excellent progress, you're really flying through this one!