Friday 5 March 2021

Back To The Rotation

I started My Crafting Rotation back in August last year and it was working really well for me. I chose seven outstanding knitting, crochet and cross stitch projects and worked on each one for a minimum of an hour each week. Some of the projects got finished so I added in new ones, others were more long standing projects but I could see each of them getting some regular attention. In November, I put the rotation on hold whilst I got ready for Christmas, and if truth be told, I lost my crafting mojo from around that time right up to a couple of weeks ago. Now that I'm back in crafting mode I've decided to get back to the rotation.

English paper piecing is a new craft to me. I've never done any sewing before, or very little, either by machine or hand, but I just fancied giving this a go. I chose fabric from the Lewis & Irene Botanic Garden range. I've cut out some hexagons and glue basted them and I'm now at the point where I've just started sewing them together. I'm enjoying it so far but it's still early days.

The scrappy blanket I'm knitting from commercial sock yarn was put on the back burner last year as I'd run out of yarn to add to it. I've actually got plenty of commercial sock yarn but I'm only adding one square of each yarn. A lovely reader of the blog got in touch and sent me a huge parcel of yarn for this blanket so I've started knitting it in. There was so much yarn in the parcel that I won't be running out again any time soon.

I'm really enjoying my cross stitch again. This is the Twelve Days of Christmas which was a stitch along on Plum Street Samplers blog back in 2015. I really like the limited colour palette of this design, I prefer a good amount of straight stitching without having to keep changing colours.

I have lots of yarn waiting to be added to my scrappy blanket which is being knit from hand dyed yarn. As well as the mini skeins I received in last year's yarny advent calendars, I still have some to add from the advent calendars which I had the year before. This blanket seems to have grown quite a bit.

There's now 500 stitches on my Twinkle Twinkle baby blanket and it doesn't look anywhere near big enough to be finished yet. I wonder how many stitches I'll get up to before I have to cast off. This project is quite slow going now that there are so many stitches to knit in each round, it's a good job there's no babies on the horizon at the moment so I'm under no pressure to get this finished for a certain date.

This granny stripe blanket has been on the go now for a long long time, in fact, a couple of years ago I nearly abandoned it and gave what I'd already crocheted to the charity shop. I'm glad I had second thoughts as I'm enjoying working on it and it's grown quite a bit since.

I started this cross stitch about forty years ago. Yes, you read that right. It was started in my early teens and then it got put away for about forty years. This is definitely my longest work in progress. I was in two minds about whether to finish it or not and to be honest, it's not the most enjoyable thing to work on. It's got so many half stitches and it's quite fiddly, but I'm managing an hour a week and it's certainly a lot nearer completion now than it was when I first picked it up again.

I'm glad I'm back into my crafting again. When I lost my mojo before Christmas I knew I shouldn't force it, I've just enjoyed doing other things until I felt the need to pick up a craft project again and now I'm enjoying reacquainting myself with all my projects. It's fun.

19 comments:

  1. I have decided not to finish some of my WIP's, as once completed I would not use them, most were started as a gift and I have since found out the person would not want them. I have stopped reading as I have my huge cross stitch on the go. I love all you blankets you are working on, I must do more to my scrappy ones.

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  2. Looks like you'r emaking good progress on all your crafty things, Jo. Well done! 🙂

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  3. Crafting rotation is such a good idea! I have a lot of unfinished projects that need finishing, I think I will try this out and see how many I can finish. Thank you for the inspiration.

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  4. Good to hear you've got your crafting mojo back, you've certainly got plenty to keep you occupied. I remember you posting about the forty year old cross stitch. Did you manage to remove or hide the small rust mark? All your projects are looking good.

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    1. The rust mark has been covered by the stitching. I didn't think I'd manage to cover it but it's well hidden now.

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  5. wow, love all your projects and what a great selection. I'm trying to get some projects done so have picked 3 to try and get done, 1 jumper, 1 pair of socks and a shawly scarf thing... lets hope it works.

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  6. Good to read that your crafting mojo is back!
    All of your projects look and sound good.

    Have a lovely weekend.

    All the best Jan

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  7. All of your projects are lovely. Lots of variety so you won't get bored.

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  8. Congratulations Jo on getting your mojo back! It a wonderful thing when that happens. And you are making good progress on your projects.💖

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  9. I'm glad you've got your crafting mojo back. They are all wonderful but I especially love the scrappy blankets. X

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  10. Everything is looking wonderful, it's a good job your mojo has returned as you've got plenty to keep you busy.

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  11. Wow that's seven lovely projects on the go they should keep you busy and stop you from getting bored. it's awful when you loose your crafting mojo but it happens to us all and the great thing is it always seems to return. I think your idea of rotation is a good one because it means everything will get completed at some stage, I'm trying to do the same. Have a great weekend. x

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  12. Wow! That a lot of WIP’s! I know I could never handle that many at one timeI LOL!
    I’m curious, your scrappy blankets look as if you are attaching each square as you go along. Would love to know how you are doing that (kind of a knitting newbie here). I so want to make one and you have inspired me. Mostly because I would not have to purchase all the yarn at once and because I really love how yours look. Thanks, love your blog.

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    1. Yes, you're right, the squares in the blanket are attached as you go along. You do this by picking up stitches from the square next to the one you're going to be knitting. Do you know about Ravelry? Ravelry is a great resource for knitters, lots of free patterns and somewhere you can keep a note of all the projects you've worked on and the yarn you've purchased. There's lots of forums on there too. I'm using a pattern on Ravelry by Kemper Wray called The Coziest Memory, it's free, and it tells you exactly how to make the blanket. Do let me know if you decide to give it a go.

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  13. What a brilliant idea Jo, and all of your projects are so pretty. I particularly love the hexagons :-)

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  14. So happy you have gotten your crafting mojo back. All of your projects are so wonderful. Enjoy and stay safe.

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  15. Looking at your scrappy blanket makes me happY!!! I have to find a different type of scrappy blanket for me someday! I can see how you could enjoy the straight stitching on a sampler. I think it is cool that your MOJO is back!!! Hooray.

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  16. Each project that you show is more beautiful than the last, Jo. Impossible to pick a favorite. P.x

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  17. What a wonderful variety of projects to be working on.xxx

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