Check-In Post September 26th 2021

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, 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.


Today's Question: No question today.


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

[smallhobbit]

I've just started the picture on the right front of the cardigan which means reading the chart backwards.

[badly_knitted]

I've finally finished clearing away the massive heap of ivy that was cut away from the old shed so it could be dismantled. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be turning cold and wet for at least the next two weeks so I needed to get the outside stuff done while the sun was still shining.

Also done the increase row and the first pattern repeat on the sweater front. I haven't finished the back yet, but I've decided to get front and back to the same length, then work my way up slowly on both. I'll have one ball to finish both...

[badly_knitted]

Oooh, tricky! Good luck with that. If I have to reverse something I get out the graph paper and copy the pattern in reverse before I start.

[smallhobbit]

If I find I have real problems I will do, but it should be fairly obvious since the mane will be on one side.

[smallhobbit]

Glad you got all the ivy done and made progress with the sweater.

[badly_knitted]

I'm sure you'll be fine. The ones I reversed were a set of cross stitch bird designs which were quite complicated, so an accurate chart was a necessity.

[badly_knitted]

Thanks, so am I. Once a pile like that gets wet it's ten times harder clearing it up/

[pensnest]

I've started knitting up a pretty pale blue yarn I have had for years, with the tentative intention of giving a broad but laceweight scarf to my daughter for Christmas. I'm making it up as I go along, but it's very simple: mostly stocking stitch, with some traveling lines of yo,k1,yo flanked by k2to and ssk to keep the numbers straight. I think it's working, and I have about eight inches now. It's a good telly-watching knit!

[medievalrosalie]

I finished sewing up both sleeves of the wool gowne and now I have to sew them both onto the body. Hand sewing is slow. Just saying.

[medievalrosalie]

Rather you than me! It sounds tricky!

[medievalrosalie]

One ball, you say... I sense a game of yarn chicken in your near future.

[medievalrosalie]

I love pale blue! It sounds very nice!

[althea_valara]

Two rows on the graduation blanket, and two more small motifs done for the peppermint throw.

[medievalrosalie]

*cheers you on*

[smallhobbit]

Hopefully it shouldn't be too bad, I just need to concentrate on which way the unicorn is facing.

[smallhobbit]

That sounds very pretty.

[smallhobbit]

Sounds like you're making good progress.

[smallhobbit]

Steady progress!

[badly_knitted]

Oooh, sounds pretty! Having something relatively simple to work on when telly watching is always good.

[badly_knitted]

They're 100g balls, so it's a fair amount of yarn, but I might have to work from both ends of it...

[badly_knitted]

Well done, that's very positive progress.

It takes a lot of patience, that's for sure!

[badly_knitted]

Yay! *cheers you on* You can do it!

[annofowlshire]

Put a new spin on the wheel. Enting wanted to get involved so I let him try to treadle the wheel while I sat next to him and drafted out the wool. It mostly worked—he then started going backwards and the thread untwisted and broke, but I know how to fix that and it was fine. It was a sweet few minutes.

In the evening, it was back at the cross stitch. I’ve been trying the ‘sewing method’ for stitching lately ( https://peacockandfig.com/2017/01/cross-stitch-twice-as-fast-the-sewing-method/ ) and it is definitely faster and I like it, although my stitching doesn’t feel entirely even or neat. But I’m sure that will come with practice.

[peaceful_sands]

Good luck! I’d have to write the instructions out so I’m seriously impressed.

[peaceful_sands]

Well done on the ivy, must be a huge relief to see the back of that job!

Close thing with the yarn - hope all goes to plan.

[peaceful_sands]

Sounds perfect for relaxing while you work.

[peaceful_sands]

You’re doing really well with it.

[peaceful_sands]

Great work

[peaceful_sands]

Wow! Learn something new everyday - I had no ideas there were names for the different ways of doing cross-stitch. I mostly use the ‘sewing method’ for my cross stitching but am not a hoop user which is probably why I use that more often, plus most of the kits I’ve got recommend doing a row in one direction and then coming back along the row which has probably also fed into that way of working.

[peaceful_sands]

I’ve been concentrating on the tapestry for the last couple of days. I’ve set myself a goal of finishing in six weeks- I’m not entirely convinced that’s realistic because I can only see the bit on show at the moment and am not 100% how much of the higher areas has been worked on - from memory I started working on this without a frame and I seem to have done a lot more of the left hand side (as I look at it) of the picture than the right. I’m counting a week per colour band at the side. I got enough done yesterday to roll up somewhere between 1.5 and 2 inches (almost 5 cm). I’m exposing bigger gaps each time I move up which makes sense.

[badly_knitted]

Well, at least you can fix things, and Enting has had a try. Not a bad first attempt by the sound of it!

I've tried the sewing method a few times as I mainly work small pieces that don't need a frame or hoop, but my thread still twists, which is my biggest problem. Glad it seems to be working for you, and yes, practice is the way to master any technique.

[badly_knitted]

There's still a lot of ivy still attached and growing, but I got the mountain of it off the grass before this morning's pouring rain, which was my aim.

I hope so too... This sweater is proving quite nerve racking!

[badly_knitted]

That tapestry sounds like a pretty big piece! I hope you can get it finished reasonably quickly. It's so satisfying to complete a long unfinished project.

[wiseheart]

Go you, on both accounts - but will one ball of yarn be enough?

[wiseheart]

I could never hand-sew such large pieces. My limits are stuffed animals. *g*

[wiseheart]

Every little step counts!

[wiseheart]

That sounds really complicated. You have my respect for being able to do all this from memory!

[badly_knitted]

One ball will have to be enough, it'll be all I have left once the front is the same length as the back. It will dictate how long the finished sweater will be.

[medievalrosalie]

Fingers crossed!

[medievalrosalie]

It's just that I'm quite slow.

[medievalrosalie]

Good job, Enting! It's a learning process!
The stitch is much faster? Will it be a bit more even with practice or it is the inherant nature of the technique?

[badly_knitted]

Yeah, although that makes knitting a bit difficult ;)