Progress (or What I Could Have Achieved If I'd Stitched More Last Year!)

The photo above was taken on 9 April, the one below on 8 May.

Over the last month I have made the temperature project my main crafty project from dinnertime on Friday to dinner on Sunday, and its really paid off.

Surpringly, even to me, I have not spent every waking hour of those weekends stitching. I've been out and about, Saturday evenings have been for eating and drinking and I even spent the best part of one weekend on holiday. I did sew over the long Easter weekend when not doing other things. I'm so pleased there's only one row of houses to go (and not a full one at that) and then titles and key. It will be so tempting to work on this on Friday evening rather than my planned project ...we'll see how it goes.

 

A Very Productive Day

 Last Sunday was one of those lovely days when you have no real chores or DIY tasks planned (Saturday was a whole different case). So as I sat sipping my tea I decided that I should really have a look at some of the crafty chores I'd been putting off.

Having finished my crochet wrap (more of that in another post) I was left with a few ends to sew in.

In reality my end sewing in pile looked exactly like the photo above. A wrap and a shawl that can't be blocked until the (surprisingly low number of) ends are sewn in and a pair of socks that will be able to go in the sock drawer. Miracle of miracles the ends were sewn in well before midday so I was inspired to look at what else needed a little bit of work to keep it progressing.

Next candidate for my attention was my temperature project which was languishing around late March. I have to admit this didn't get as far as Friday (last date for which reliable temperature figures were available) but it did move on a little and this is definitely a project which benefits from little and often.

I then worked my second mitten to the start of the thumb gusset, only a handful of rows were ended but this now means that the mitten knitting is back to a relatively low attention section which means it's ideal for listen in work calls, or gripping tv episodes.

This ideal day of crafting was then interrupted by my going for a run. Sunday is generally the day I try and go for my longest run of the week, it's not always a happy experience but I always feel great afterwards. To fit in with the success of the rest of my Sunday I'm pleased to say that my run was very enjoyable, i made my route up as I ran and got quite a way around the town,  and I managed slightly further than I hoped to go and didn't feel completely worn out by it. To cap it all off the weather decided to remain almost perfect for a run while I was out (random snow showers have been a feature of our weather over the last week).

Usually this would signal the end of any chance of Sunday productivity but my partner took part in a online quiz after dinner so I had some more time to myself which I put to use pressing the fabrics for my next two planned sewing projects.

It's recommended that you was fabrics before using them for garment sewing but what no one ever mentions is that after washing you have to refold the fabric and press it ready for the cutting out. I had hoped to progress onto cutting out some of the top fabric but achy muscles after my run persuaded me otherwise.

And as the online quiz developed into an epically long session I had just enough time before bed to cast on for my first Xmas present of the year.

I don't think I've ever achieved so much during a lazy Sunday afternoon before!

Spur of the Moment Project - sort of

 Over the last year or so I have noticed various temperature projects underway, quite a few knitted or crocheted ones and the odd quilted/sewn ones. I have really liked them and wanted to try something similar but couldn't quite find the right thing to make, i didn't want it to be something that just ended up in a cupboard which was likely with blankets and scarves and the idea of making a temperature item that recorded the temps in shades of a colour has only recently become apparent to me, which would have made a quilt an option. Anyway... in my wanders through the internet early this year I came across Jardin Privé who had a couple of cross stitch temperature project designs available and this seemed the perfect option.

As you may be able to tell from the content of this blog I don't cross stitch much, in fact I don't think I've ever completed a cross stitch project that I've started (cue the comment from my sister regarding rescuing a project from my inaccurate counting). So a cross stitch project was the obvious choice.

As I have no cross stitch supplies there was a bit of a delay as I chose fabrics and thread, but I eventually made a start.

And it became apparent from day one that I'd forgot to check how low UK temperatures got in January (the buildings are the daily high temp, the roof the daily low).

But I've persevered and enjoyed the project, sewing a house each morning before work and trying to catch up with the actual calendar in my free time. 

I think this may be the cross stitch project I actually finish (although I'm not sure I'll get round to filling in the doors and windows!).