Check-In Post - Aug 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: Share your favourite crafting tip, if you have one.


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

[wiseheart]

I'm early, it seems. Doesn't happen often, so let's make the best of it, shall we? ;)

Today I had to make the grocery run and cook lunch - all that by 34°C. Gah! I really wasn't up to much crafting after all this. I've finished one of the staircases and sewn on both stripes of border stone, but that was about it. Then I had a hour-long nap, and now I'm about to watch some silly YouTube videos because my brain has melted completely.

[badly_knitted]

Well done, that's great progress in such temperatures!

[spiralicious]

That is too hot to be doing anything. Kudos on being able to get anything done.

[badly_knitted]

I've started the next rose cross stitch, a single large flower with a small butterfly on it. Made good progress, but there's still a long way to go.


Also knitted another 3 pumpkins. I think I'm up to 15 in the DK. I might keep going until I've used the whole of the first ball. I have three 100g balls of the same yarn.

[wiseheart]

Small steps (in stitching) bring you to your goal, too. And the pumpkin farm seems to be growing nicely. You've been very busy.

[badly_knitted]

I managed to fit a fair amount of crafting in. Might not have much time tomorrow since I have an appointment in the morning. I might be out for quite a while.

[spiralicious]

Well done on both!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

[malurette]

My vacation is ending in two days and only now did I decide to tackle that shirt modification. I opened the seams under the sleeves and slotted a little extra piece of fabric so it's roomier on the torso. Tomorrow I'll try to do the same at the bottom on the hips?

[badly_knitted]

Good luck, I hope the alterations work!

[spiralicious]

Good luck!

[althea_valara]

I did some work on the Sylvan Tee today. I am not sure how the cables will look in my yarn, but by gods I'm going to give it a try.

I need to work on other crafting projects too, but I'm kinda busy proofreading a website for a friend these days. It's nice, soothing work for me and I've been enjoying finding the bugs.

I have another crafting tip: the crochet provisional cast-on for knitting. There's two ways to do it. You can make a chain, then pick up stitches through the back bumps... but that is fiddly. I prefer to do it this way:

1. Make a slip knot with waste yarn and put it on your hook.
2. Hold the knitting needle parallel to the hook. If you’re right-handed, the knitting needle will be to the left of the hook. Your waste yarn should be behind the knitting needle.
3. With the crochet hook, reach over the knitting needle and pull a loop through the loop on the hook. You now have one stitch cast on, and the yarn is in front of the knitting needle.
4. Move the waste yarn back around the needle, so it is behind the needle again.

Repeat steps 3-4 to cast on more stitches. Usually when I am done casting on stitches, I make a few chain stitches, then cut the waste yarn and secure the end by pulling the end through the last chain.

Note that the stitches cast on with waste yarn don’t usually count as a row/round. Your first true round is made with the project yarn.

When you’re ready to remove the provisional cast-on, find the tail of the waste yarn that has the chains, and undo them. Then slowly unzip the provisional cast-on stitch by stitch. If you picked the right end, it should unzip easily--that’s why I make some chains, so I know which end is which.

[badly_knitted]

Good luck with your cables!

Glad you have something relaxing to do.

Interesting tip, thanks!

[spiralicious]

Good luck!

[spiralicious]

I did 2 timed sessions of detangling the yarn and more or less actually kept to the allotted time this time. The gnarl has loosened a bit, but I've gained no inches on the spool.

While we were watching Northern Exposure, I decided to pick up my neglected rain tracking shawl and knitted the rows that represent May 22 to May 31.

[badly_knitted]

Well done on the shawl!

That tangled yarn is really fighting you!