Progress is...progressing

So recently I've been saying that I have no time a lot...which is kind of true, we are either going away or have big plans here almost every weekend, and we are busy almost every evening of the week as well. For example last weekend my friend Mari from Hamburg visited and we went to an escape room (our first, she had done several before) and it was awesome!
But when I look at my weekly crafting progress, that can't be quite true, because I did do quite a lot. On the other hand, I had all the pictures in this post taken by monday and only get to write about them today...something is strange about time. I will investigate.

So, I have been working on my SALs. Since the Coloris thread and some sequins I bought arrived, I could do part 3 of the Lizzie Wallet SAL (also using more of those lovely sparkly beads), and I loved doing this one. Technically I am still one part behind, but it was a two-week-part, meaning I still have this week to finish before a new one will be released.

I also finished part three of the Steochalong, and I'm still pretty clueless what it's going to be! I finished this one on Monday, so actually a day late, but I think I'll get caught up this week.

Then I spent what time I had on the weekend working on my Fire and Ember SAL, finishing the three colours I ran out of last weekend. It was quite a bit of stitching, but I just love how it looks! Not much more left now, so I think I will be able to finish the page this upcoming weekend, just in time.

I've also been stitching on the Puppeteer, one length of black a day - sometimes a little more, since I am still behind on this be almost a month. In any case, I managed another page finish, page 5. The remaining two pages of the first row are, as far as I recall, almost completely black, so it's going to be a lot of stitching but also quick going without counting!

I realize that I do have more than enough SALs on the go already, but when people in a German crochet group I'm in started posting pictures of their first part of the Arke CAL by Maschenzaehler, I just couldn't help myself - it's so pretty! So I got some new yarn (I've been wanting to do something with this particular colour for quite a while) and crocheted the first 14 rows all in one evening - it's a fun pattern and quick going! You can check it out here - the description is in German, but there are also diagrams you can work from.

Another new start I had this weekend...Mari brought my a knitting set for a cat she bought some time ago, thinking she could make it herself, but it has that extremely fluffy yarn that's not easy to work with, so instead she asked me to make it for her. I made a little start on the body of the cat, but this yarn really is a bit taxing to work with, so I'll probably just do a little bit here and there.

Last but not least, I also had a finish! I used the leftovers from the socks for Felix I finished a while back on another pair of wristwarmers, and since I didn't have quite enough I decided to go assymetrical and do one of them stripped. I really really like the look of that and it was so much fun to knit as well! Originally I was doing those for myself, but my grandma saw them and fell in love so have them she shall. I can always make more.

So that's it for today - I'll see you next week with another installment of all those SALs and the CAL and who knows what else!

July Gifted Gorgeousness

Can you believe it's July already? More than half the year is officially over! As usual, my plans are not half as finished as I would like them to be - mostly because I'm way too easily distracted - but that's okay, progress is happening and that is good enough for me.

Now it's time for another Gifted Gorgeousness post, and for a moment I thought I didn't have anything to show, but then I realized that, while I didn't make any new progress on my to-be-gifted projects, I still have quite a few things that will fit!

First, I got this wonderful box from my friend Magical, stuffed with all sorts of wonderful stuff!

The majority of the contents here (the tea, delicious stroop waffles, Jodyri threads, those cute 'shows' (it's a magnet) and plate as well as the coloris pattern) were a prize for a content on dA I won a while ago and both of us had almost forgotten about, then there are the beads and sequin-candidates for my Lizzie Wallet SAL (she had the right beads in stash and generously offered to send me some) and then this adorable little pair of scissors that she got a bunch of and included one - they are sold as phone charms, but are working scissors nevertheless, and so cute and tiny that it should be no problem to take them on a plane too! (the blade is less than 1cm I think).

I then went on and used those beads to fully finish part 2 of the Lizzie Wallet SAL (which I couldn't do the week before dues to the missing beads). I also have the Coloris thread and a few more options on the sequins now, so I can dive right into part 3 and 4 and get caught up!

I also finished the second part of the Steochalong last week (and still have no idea what it is going to be!). As I think I previously mentioned, the pattern is pay what you want, and I will probably donate a little at some point, but it still feels more like a freebie(two way gift than actually buying the pattern so let me just shoehorn that one into the GG ;)

Now for the non-GG part, we were at Felix' parents last weekend, spending most of the time outside camping with a campfire and friends and lots of foods and games. It was quite relaxing most of the time, so I made the most of the daylight I got and worked on page 13 of the Fire and Ember SAL. I was hoping for a page finish actually, but that didn't quite work out - there just wasn't enough stitching time, and I also ran out off a few colours on my thread card and didn't bring extras! Still, I made some nice progress, and I'm looking forward to finishing this page, as it already looks quite cool.

Last but not least, I also brought some knitting along with me - Viajante, a big shawl-loop-hood thingy I started last year and never really got into much. I have done about 35 rows, finishing the triangle start and am now working in the round, which seems to go faster and also looks reallyreally need. Now I just need to continue like this for a looong time, and since the look won't change spectacularly, it will probably be a while before I show her again!

Two SALs and a finish

While I was still a little busy last week (not gaming...definitely not gaming...maybe), I still have some progress to show. First up is the next part of the Lizzie Stitching Wallet SAL - I finished the backstitching and French knots, but I'm still missing the beads (as well as supplies for the third part), so I'll have to pause a little until everything arrives. I still really enjoy this, the colours are so nice and soft and the design is so delicate :)

And since I don't have enough on my plate yet, I started another weekly SAL, the Steotchalong by Steotch - they've done some fun and geeky patterns in the last years, but I have no idea what it will be this time, which is half the fun! It's pay what you want and doesn't need a lot in term of supplies, though, and the parts are really small, so it's worth the 'risk' for me. Here is part 1 all stitched up, I really like the colours used :)

Over the last week (and then some on the weekend) I finished my baby blanket I worked on in Cyprus. It was just a few more rows, but at this stage, one row took me almost an hour! I got it all nice and blocked to, so it's now nearly quadratic in shape and measures about 90x90cm (or 36", if I'm not mistaken).

I've also worked on my second security blanket bunny - the blanket part has been finished for a while, but I finished the head last week and the ears over the weekend. Now I only need the arms before I can sew everything together.

This coming weekend, we'll be at Felix' parents, and mostly outside too - I still hope to make some decent crafting progress to show afterwards!

The Alphabet Club - X

And again we are back with another installment of the alphabet club...this time, in time! We have arrived at 'X', so only two more to go after this post...I'm getting excited for the new 'thing' starting at the end of TAC that Jo has been teasing about. Of course, this is not an easy letter (unless you 'cheat' and count 'x stitch', then it gets really easy!), but I looked through my finishes and found those two. Don't the just look like big, elaborate X's to you?

 

Finding a word for 'X' isn't any more easy than finding stitching - I think all German words starting with an 'X' are Greek in origin and thus almost the same as in English. But we actually have a town (well, at least the one that I know of) with an 'X' name - Xanten. For me it was just one of those towns whose existence I was mildly aware of, without actually knowing much about it, but I did some reading about it - Xanten is in the middle-west of Germany, near Düsseldorf. It plays a prominent role in the Nibelungen-legend (the one that all the operas by Wagner are about) and has a history as a Roman settlement and military camp around the year 0. Maybe I will visit some day!

June WIPocalypse

So...I'm a bit late on the WIPocalypse for June, but I do have excuses! Firstly, I was...distracted last week (okay, they opened a new server for Ragnarok Online, which I played a LOT up until a few years ago, and a few old friends and me started playing again for nostalgia), so I needed to finish something to actually show you, and second, I needed to do some cleaning so I could take pictures for the monthly question!

So let's just start with that question...Show us your stitching space!  Where do you sit, and what is going on around you while you stitch (TV, audiobooks, etc)?

This is my my main stitching space - my corner of the couch in the living room, in front of the TV as I like to stitch while watching shows and movies (mostly with Felix, sometimes alone). As you can see, I have arranged my recent projects around me (and in that pink bag at my feet) and I also have my laptop nearby to pull up digital patterns. I only use that stand for a few of my projects, so it's not always there - I put it behind the couch when I don't need it.

This is my desk in "my" corner of the bedroom - as you can see, I have my sewing machine there and I also use it for everything that needs a bit more surface. Or rather I will be using it now, since this hast been the first time in quite a while that it has been tidy enough to actually use for anything!

Last but not least, this is my shelf for my stash (amongst other things). You can see two cubes of books and patterns, some knitting/crochet WIPs and my DMC boxes, but most of the boxes and drawers also hold craft stuff: the red drawers are needles, beads and specialty threads, the blue ones are for my knitting needles, crochet hooks and small sewing supplies. Then we have the top right yellow box with my (sewing) fabric stash, one of the orange boxes with stitching fabrics, the other orange and one of the white boxed hold kits and kitted up projects, one of the blue boxes is WIPs, the other thread storage (project specific, additional skeins, and leftovers), the second white box is frames (at the bottom) and finished projects (on top), the white box above it has various craft supplies and then the remaining three boxes in the lower right are my yarn stash.

Now for my stitching update, due to the reasons stated above I don't have much to show now, but I did finish this:

Part one of the Lizzie Stitching Wallet SAL by Faby Reilly Designs. And just in time, because today part two was released! I really like this flowers, and part two will add the backstitching, so it will look awesome, but still be finished quicker.  I'm looking forward to it!