Check-In Post - May 5th 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]

Another chilly day, so I nipped out for a quick caterpillar hunt and found 32.


I finished backstitching the leaves on my cross stitch, and the largest rose, so that just means I just have a bit of backstitch on the small rose and a tiny bit on the rosebud still to do.

[wiseheart]

Great! You're almost done. Isn't it nice when things come together?

[wiseheart]

I've finished the little felt plaques and started sewing on the buttons. Six done, sixty-plus more to do. It's boring, but at least it's easy on the fingers, so I'm not complaining.

[badly_knitted]

It is! I started this one last summer though, so it really is about time I finished it. It's the last of a set of 6.

[badly_knitted]

Well done, hopefully you'll get through this stage quickly.

[peaceful_sands]

I look forward to seeing the finished piece. I hope you get a good crop of gooseberries with all the fighting off of caterpillars that you've had to do.

[peaceful_sands]

That's a big job you have ahead of you!

[peaceful_sands]

Just starting work on the cushion now. Spent a couple of hours earlier starting on the study package - Got through the first lesson but it then redirected and said there was some further reading that had to be done before going on - I ran out of steam before finishing all of the reading (there is still about another hour of reading and a 30 minute podcast to get through before I can start on lesson 2 - it's looking like there will be more to this than I expected - maybe the times were for the main lesson and not all the background reading that's also expected).

[marinarusalka]

Ive fallen behind a bit, due to having to travel for work, so for a week I could only knit for a couple of hours every evening in my hotel room. I had hoped to finish chart #5 on the blanket by Friday night, but I only finished it this morning. Gonna have to work really fast for the next two weeks...

I do love the design, now that it's all finished except for the top border.

[viskozni_varhanik]

impressed by the patience and perseverance you have with this project!! may you glide through the button sewing!

[viskozni_varhanik]

oh that pattern is super cute! good luck with catching up with your time plan

[badly_knitted]

I will hopefully get enough to cook up, but I'm not expecting a huge crop because it's been very dry out and the bushes are straggly, they could do with a proper pruning.

Once I get the last one finished I'll try to get photos of the set.

[badly_knitted]

Good luck with the cushion.

Yeesh, that's a lot of reading on top of the lesson, and a podcast too! They should have listed everything involved in each module, including estimated time, so students could allow themselves sufficient time for each one.

[badly_knitted]

It really does look wonderful! Good luck with getting it finished in time!

[marinarusalka]

Thank you! This blanket has consumed my life for the past two months, but the design totally makes it worth the effort!

[marinarusalka]

Thanks!

[viskozni_varhanik]

I've been traveling a bit this weekend, so I got through a fair bit of crossstitch in the train - still got a lot to do, and it's my main focus during free time at the moment and will have to stay that way, since I'm a bit nervous about possible shipping time, but. getting there. once I finish this, I'm excited to swap into writing for a bit,but gotta finish this first.

tried to learn crochet basics today, as on Wednesday id finally have my first opportunity to join in a crochet club, but I'm struggling with anything more than a chain, so I might just give up on that for now. wouldn't crochet much in this state, sigh. at least it looks like the books in learning from are decent.

tomorrow I'll go pick up the package with Mysterious Plastic Canvas! goodness I hope it turns out suitable for cross stitch.

[peaceful_sands]

It was a bit of a rabbit hole because the further reading has further reading (that I'm not going to tackle at this stage) - I don't have access to the books in the further further reading, but it does give links to some of the journal articles. I get the feeling it could go on and on - I'll do the first round of further reading for now and just bookmark the list of the rest for if I want or need to pursue that line of enquiry later.

[peaceful_sands]

It's looking fantastic.

[badly_knitted]

Well done with the cross stitch progress, and I hope the Mysterious Plastic Canvas turns out to be suitable.

Have you tried watching crochet tutorials on youtube? Seeing someone actually demonstrating the stitches can sometimes make it more understandable than just looking at diagrams in a book, no matter how good the book is. Also, people at a crochet club would probably be happy to help you learn.

[badly_knitted]

That sounds like a sensible plan.

[nagi_schwarz]

Excellent progress on the cross stitch! I think the smaller numbers of caterpillars each day means that you’ve taken out the vast majority of them and now they are cowering in terror whenever you approach.

[nagi_schwarz]

Sixty-plus more buttons? Wow. I am impressed for reals. You can do it!

[nagi_schwarz]

Good luck with the cushion! That sounds a lot of studying for reals, but you’ve got this! You can do it!

[nagi_schwarz]

That looks amazing! Kudos to you for getting done what you did despite traveling for work. That blanket is so cool for reals.