Two and a half finishes!

Woot! I had a really productive (craft-wise) week! First of all, I finished Stained Glass! I am rather please about this, not least because it means that I can get on with my work this weekend, in preparation to not doing anything like enough work next month while I work on my jumper!

Don’t you think that the bottom corner looks like an eye?

Then I managed to finish all the cards I’m sewing, here is the last design

and here is all of them together. I love how much of a set they look like 🙂

So that’s all my Christmas presents finished!!!!!!! I’m uber exciting about this, its the first time that they’ve been finished on time, never mind basically 2 months ahead of time!

So, my half finish was a gauge swatch *mutter mutter*. Before washing, I’m getting 23 stitches over 4 inches…the pattern calls for 21. It’s currently drying

and I’m thinking that’s it’s grown enough that I’m not worried. I’m knitted this on 3.5 mm, where the pattern calls for 4mm, but that’s standard fare for me now. Also, the sizes don’t quite fit me, so I’m going to be knitting the larger version, so as long as I’m not ridiculously tight, I’m not worried 🙂 So yeah, I’m all set to start knitting my sweater (wish me luck for finishing it on time!), except that I’m not going to start on the 1st, because that’s a Saturday, and the new square for November will be coming out and I want to keep up with that more than I want to knit a sweater in November (besides, November is plenty long…I’ll be able to knit a sweater in 2 days less, surely?)

Which reminds me…November’s block. I was (again) too easy on this one, everyone got Cinderella! Well done guys, let’s hope that next months block (which will be written about next Saturday) is a bit more challenging!

September’s OUAT block

So, umm, September’s OUAT block is very well known. Disney recently did a film of it (and the heroine was a bad-ass, despite not having much contact with the world before the story really begins). So, how to give you some clues but not too many… all the characters are human (although in the Disney version they added in a couple of animals, which, while intelligent, do not speak), and the main character (in every version that I could find online) was named after a plant her mother craved whilst pregnant.

It’s also a Brothers Grimn tale, so it can come across as very dark, although naturally Disney glossed over it all. I think that’s enough clues for now, after all, if nobody gets it I can always add in more clues next week 🙂

So, last weekend I managed to finish the Stained Glass SAL as well, so I’m basically completely caught up with everything 🙂 (Ignoring the fact that the next bits of the SALs are out, but eh).

Even more impressive (in my mind!) was that after I finished Stained Glass, I still had a few hours left over so I pulled out the butterfly I had been working on, and did about half the flowers and hearts and things around it! I’ve fallen back in love with this project, and now can’t wait to finish it and show it off 🙂

And then I even got quite a lot of stitching done this week, after breaking my brain (don’t worry, it’s on the mend now 🙂 ) so I’ve finished 4 outlines, pretty much.

This coming week I’ll concentrate on filling them, after I come back from another conference, this time in Cardiff! I’m really looking forward to it (I’m even going to be co-presenting a presentation! Eep!) but it does mean that I won’t have much time to do anything crafty. I’m planning a pair of socks to take with me, as they are the easiest thing to pick up and put down as required 🙂

Camera Found! And plans for the new year

So, I found my camera yesterday. I thought I had brought it home! So here are some photos of the cross stitch kits I got for Christmas 🙂 I have already started the butterfly one

But I haven’t just been working on cross stitch this holiday. Before Christmas I bought an inspiration pack from my local yarn shop, here in Salisbury, and one day I just had to organize the lovely sparkly thread. So I would the 12 lengths I had on a few cut up empty toilet roll holders. Wonderful things those, so much crafty potential. And then immediately afterwards, I had to start crocheting them, it was just too lovely. I should’ve taken a photograph, but I got a little bit caught up. As evidenced by the pile of crocheted stars sitting next to me, waiting very patiently for their ends to be woven in, and string up on a garland. So, the sparkliness! There was only enough yarn in each bit to make 4 stars, so I now have 48 stars waiting for me 🙂 Oh, the loveliness. I’ll finish them off today, and this will be my last finish for 2013!

I have also been thinking about plans for what to make over this coming year. One of my biggest problems is that I have too much to make, and so rather than think about it all and decide, I don’t do anything. Obviously, this plan needs to change… I need to do more crafting things. It’s like a drug. So I thought that by giving myself a general overview for each month this coming year, I should be able to do more. Obviously, I’m not going to sweat it if I want to work on something else, this list is just for when I can’t decide what to work on.

So here is my plan:

January: stuff for my etsy shop. I would really like to get one up and running, and if I keep putting it off, it’s never going to happen!

February: summer things. I have a top on the go, and also several birthday presents this year are for summery things which can be made here

March: crochet. Can be anything, I just thought it would be a good way for me to get more practice at it

April: presents. I have quite a wide range of things planned for presents, and this is a better plan than trying to get a month for each different present!

May: summer things again. After all, summer is nearly upon us by this point

June: stuff for me. After all, it is my birthday in this month 🙂

July: Christmas. It is known as Christmas in July by crafters for a reason

August: finishing little bits and pieces. I have a bad habit of starting things, and then when they are nearly finished getting bored of them and putting them down. I also have a list of little things that need doing (sewing on some buttons, redoing the ribbing on my hat) that I just never get around to doing. This should give me the push to do them

September: big patterns. As in Spirit (it counts as large in my eyes, it was the first thing I’ve started with more than one page of chart!) and Pokemon (yeah, I decided that I do want to finish it, and I know someone who would like it when it’s done!)

October: socks!!!!!! No explanation needed there

November: a jumper for me 🙂 I have the yarn, and the pattern, just need to knit it. And what better month to knit my first jumper than in November?

December: Christmas jumpers. Ok, this almost certainly won’t get finished in this month…I may start it in July too, I guess…

So there we go. Each month I’ll also be putting up any particular aims for the month. They will be more important, like finishing off someone’s birthday present in time to post.

So there we have it. I’m feeling pretty confidant about this 🙂 Bring it on, 2014! I may do another post about what I want to achieve this year, or I may just keep a list with me.