Check-In Post - Oct 22nd 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 (courtesy of cora): What was your last project that got put into "time out" and why?


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]

6 bee bodies are now stuffed. They did resist a bit, but not too badly. Also crocheted 6 pairs of bee wings.

[fadingfootsteps]

frogged the Big doily back to like a quarter of the way through row 53 because of non trivial mistakes. Not even a perfectionism thing, I can put my hook somewhere else if I miss one stitch but if I miss an entire cluster... not so much.

So redid row 53 and then got about halfway through 54, and hopefully will not do that again any time soon.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Much of my summer and fall activity has been visiting craft shows and street fairs to see what other folks have made! :D

We've also hit a lot of different farmer's markets, so I've been experimenting with food. A friend who does freeze-dried things just started offering lemon powder, so I put that in blueberry muffins with excellent results. A nearby orchard has tiny, very sweet butternut squashes, which I've used in a bean stew and a pureed soup. We also got apple cider from them, and I made apple cider caramel.

Today's project is a garden one -- I want to clear a space to put down the two wormstones I found this spring, as stepping stones around the barrel garden. I need to do that before I plant the new tulip bulbs in that area. I just finished placing the first wormstone.

I'm still working on terraria too. I got the lantern one cleaned out, but I couldn't find a diversity of air plants to put in it, so I had to order those. They should arrive in early November.

I've gotten out to the food forest and community garden for seed gathering, and posted pictures of that. I hope to get one more round there in November; the asters are in full bloom and haven't set seed yet.

[badly_knitted]

Yikes, hope you can keep going right this time!

Re: Yes ...

[badly_knitted]

It's always fun seeing what other crafters have created.

All of that sounds tasty!

Stepping stones are handy. What exactly is a wormstone though? Sounds interesting.

Looking forward to seeing the lantern terrarium once it has its air plants in.

The food forest sounds awesome.

[wiseheart]

That’s it! Show them who’s boss!

[wiseheart]

Minor embellishments on the recipe book. Almost there…

[nagi_schwarz]

You’re making excellent time on those bees! Way to go!

[nagi_schwarz]

Ouch on the frogging and redo but I feel you; some errors are easier to gloss over than others…

Re: Yes ...

[nagi_schwarz]

Sounds like a fun and busy summer and lots of progress in the garden! Way to go!

[nagi_schwarz]

Way to go! You’ve got this!

[nagi_schwarz]

Halloween costume accessories almost done! Just need a pole for the polearm.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQIdbq7jFYB/?igsh=MW1xdG02MXNlZ3NrZw==

The kiddos tried them out and were pleased, and that’s really all that matters.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It has been fun.

I got the wormstones placed around the barrel garden today, and one bag of 20 'Flaming Beauties' tulips planted there and in the tulip bed.

The drought hammered my container gardens, but I've made some progress on things. I got the whole new picnic table garden assembled, which involved some crafting, and I have more ideas for next year. I may buy a sprinkler now that I have a hose, so I don't have to stand out in the heat so much. Even if it only works in certain places, that's better than nothing.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Stepping stones are handy. What exactly is a wormstone though? Sounds interesting. <<

They are beige flagstones with trace fossils of squiggly worm tunnels, some concave and others convex. I went looking for fossils at a nearby garden center that has a large rockyard, and found these.

>> Looking forward to seeing the lantern terrarium once it has its air plants in.<<

I hope to take pictures of that process too.

>> The food forest sounds awesome.<<

It is one of my favorite local resources. I keep hoping that if more people know about the concept, they'll launch more in other places.

[spiralicious]

Today was unnecessarily stressful.

Outside of that, it was also the miniature haunted house workshop. We made tiny haunted houses, and by tiny, I mean the house, tree, and landscaping all fit on the top of a battery powered tea light (the house goes over the light bulb, this lighting the house when you turn it on) and the whole thing is covered with a shot glass. My mother also came to the workshop. We both had fun. One of my friends there also gifted me a "comfort chicken" she'd had a friend of hers crochet for me, in rememerence of summer of chicken tending. It's adorable.

Tonight after dinner and during movie time, I finished painting and glueing eyeballs on my pumpkin for the library display. I have to turn it in tomorrow and I don't know how well some of those googly eyes are going to stay attached.

Now I just wish the anxiety would go down enough to finish the stuff I need to do before my trip.

[spiralicious]

Very nice!

[spiralicious]

Oof. I wish you luck with the rest of your rows going smoothly.

Re: Yes ...

[spiralicious]

A lot of wonderful progress. Good luck with the rest :D

[spiralicious]

You can do it!

[spiralicious]

Wonderful!

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Thank you! I'm having fun with it. I did get the wormstones positions by the barrel garden today, and some tulips planted.

[badly_knitted]

Yay, well done!

[badly_knitted]

One needs to be firm with them.

[badly_knitted]

Woooo! Looking great!

Re: Yes ...

[badly_knitted]

Those sound great, I do love fossils and stones with fossil imprints.

Yes, I think there should be more. Food forests teach as well as provide.

[badly_knitted]

Thanks! I figure if I have a dozen ready I can take a break for a bit. Halloween is almost upon me and there are things to sort out.

[badly_knitted]

Sorry for the stress and anxiety, you really don't need any of that.

The miniature haunted houses sound fun but very fiddly to make.

Aw, comfort chicken! Hope it is providing appropriate comfort.

Good luck with the pumpkin, may your googly eyes stay put!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you!

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

The front sign says, "This is your food forest. Come in and try the produce. What could grow in YOUR yard?"

That's exactly how I've been using it. Some things I already know that I like, and will nibble if they're ripe, like the raspberries. Others are new. I tried the scarlet goumi berries this summer and was surpremely unimpressed -- they had almost no flavor -- so that's one I don't need to plant. I got the crosne knotroots to grow in pots this year but haven't tasted them yet. They're supposed to resemble water chestnuts, which we like. Some things I haven't seen fruiting yet, like the hardy kiwis and the pawpaw. I've had hardy kiwis before and they're pretty good. I haven't gotten to try pawpaws yet. I've been trying to grow them for years. This summer my two seedlings survived, so hopefully they'll leaf out in spring.

[wiseheart]

Impressive!

[wiseheart]

Awww, sorry about the stress, but the miniature hunted house sounds awesome.

[wiseheart]

I've made 24 50m-bottles of spiced oil for the fair today. Filling them was a real pain with my sausage fingers, but I did it. I also made two more bottles of ginger syrup, so I declare this day a success.

Re: Yes ...

[badly_knitted]

That's so great!

It's good to try new things and then if they appeal, try growing them yourself. I hope your pawpaws will be a success!

[badly_knitted]

Lovely! I'm sure they will be snapped up quickly.

[spiralicious]

It's very cute. I haven't had an opportunity to turn on the light in the dark to see it at it's most spooky yet.

[spiralicious]

Thanks.

So very fiddly, but it was worth it.

Comfort chicken is trying its hardest!

Thanks! Miraculously, the eyes did stay put, which is now a problem as I need to pry them off and peel the pumpkin before I throw it out in the yard to be reclaimed by nature. XD

Re: Yes ...

[spiralicious]

:D

[badly_knitted]

I didn't realise it was a real pumpkin! I thought it was an artificial one! Good luck removing the eyes!

[spiralicious]

Yup! I got all the painted pumpkins peeled and put out back, except Mom's princess pumpkin. It shows no sign of rotting yet and she's become kind of attached to it. I also managed to not only remove the eyes on mine, but repurpose them for part of my Halloween village.

[badly_knitted]

Yay, well done! I hope the Princess pumpkin doesn't deteriorate suddenly.

[spiralicious]

Thanks! Yes, my fingers are crossed.