Let's try this again

 Ahhhh, another Friday off.  The extra hour during my work day does sometimes seem unending (I work 8 9-hour days, one 8-hour day and have every other Friday off) but having a 3-day weekend every other week is so nice.  Today, in my craft rotation, is a sewing day so once I get this all written and posted, I'll be sewing/making something with fabric (probably storage or project bags - either knitting or stitching).

I've missed a lot of check-ins but am only late for  this month.  Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  This is a wonderful SAL that gives us a chance to thank people that have gifted us stitchy goodness, to show things we're making for someone else or whatever else we can make fit.  It's a wonderful no pressure SAL that only requires you to post and link-up on the 15th of each month (or there abouts, Jo leaves the check-in open through the end of the month).  This has been an easy SAL for me the last few years as just about everything I've stitched has been for someone else.  The last month, I finished Winter Hearts by Shepherd's Bush:

and started Baby Bug Ball also by Shepherd's Bush:

These are both gifts for the new littles.  I need to finish the satin stitch border and add an alphabet and lots of do-dads on this.  There are also some beads and small buttons.  I'm optimistic that I'll have a finish this weekend.  I think I'll use the alphabet - it's very quirky, but fun -  and put the baby's name and birthdate under the satin stitch border and make this into a pillow.  My other thought was to finish it as a drum and put the baby's name on the "back" - his name on one side of the seam and birthdate on the other, with some sort of decorative stitch over the seam.  

I've mentioned my new rotation the last couple of posts.  In order to give myself time to get a few of the other WIPs I have finished and to just take some of the pressure off myself (in the past I've scrambled the last minute to get things done or finish things up and it's just not fun), I came up with a crafting rotation.  Saturday, Sunday and Monday are stitching days, Tuesday is papercrafting, Wednesday is knitting, Thursday is crochet and Friday is sewing.  These are general and I don't get too upset if I feel like doing something on the "wrong" day - as long as I'm seeing progress on things.

Monday, I cut and stamped and now have a stack of cards to put together.  Tuesday, I finished Elli's hat:

This is the Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure in Licorice by SplashofColorYarnsUS on Etsy.  I had enough yarn left that I decided to give baby socks a try.

This is the first pair of socks I've made using double pointed needles (and yes it is a bit like how wrestling a hedgehog would be).  It's getting a bit easier as there's more fabric, but these are VERY fiddly. I think I started them three times. I'm using the Cozy Little Toes pattern by Judy Kaethler - it's a free download on Ravelry and making the 3 months size.

Last night I crocheted:

This is the baby blanket for the new great-nephew.  The pattern is Tiny Basketweave Baby Blanket in Bernat Baby Blanket Tiny "Pebble Path".  The pattern was free on the Bernat website (I think).  This is that wonderfully soft, chenille-style yarn but in a worsted weight.  It's a really simple pattern and once past the first couple rows is only front- and back-post double crochet.  I like this so much that I'm going to rip out what I have on The Hubs' blanket and restart it in this pattern.  So easy but very dramatic.

As I mentioned, sewing today. 

And before I forget again

This was our sunflower patch a few weeks ago.  These are all volunteers and grew from seeds the birds scattered from the feeders. The flowers are all gone now and the seed heads have been stripped by the gold finches but it was very pretty while it lasted.  The house is actually grey - it's been so humid this summer that we're having an awful algae/mildew problem on the siding - definitely need to wash it this fall.

I'm off to sew.  Hope you're all well and safe.

My solution wasn't great...

 In my last post, I said I wasn't sure if I would be posting my next scheduled day.  I didn't and my solution was to just not post at all for two!! months.  We are well into summer and zooming to autumn.  We have trees starting to drop their leaves, but I think it's more stress from lack of water (although today should help a lot, it's been raining since early this morning) rather than seasonal change, but one can hope (I am not a lover of summer).  

So, grab a cuppa and hang on, this one's going to be long...

I mentioned I was planning to go to Michigan the end of June for Cassie's birthday.  I made it!!  I had a wonderful time and it was so good to see everyone again.  Here's the "card" I made for her and a picture of a one year old eating cake:

To save space, I made up collages, some things were cropped a bit but think you can see everything.

When I got home, I did a lot of sewing and knitting.

I saw a YouTube video on these bags and decided to give it a try.  I love them! The size is perfect for large gifts (I used the animal one for a baby shower (more on that later) gift), and storage (the other two have sweater quantities of yarn).  I have fabric ready for a few more that I will use for general yarn storage. The nice thing about this bag is that it takes minimal supplies - 2 fat-quarters for the outside, some interfacing, a zipper and lining fabric.

I enjoyed sewing so much that I did some rearranging in the guest room and brought my sewing desk up from the basement, so my machine is now out  all the time and my sewing things are all in one place again.  When I decide to work on papercrafts, I just move my sewing machine to the floor and have the desk for my work surface - it's so much better than the dining room table.

The majority of my knitting was on the blanket for my niece's baby (my other niece texted that she was going to host a baby sprinkle the same weekend as the family reunion so I needed to get it finished).

Here's the finished piece and a close up of the bubbles:

I needed a card and made this:

So July 23rd, I bundled the blanket into the animal bag and took the card and headed back to Michigan for the family (my dad's side) reunion, a baby sprinkle and to see everyone again.  I had a wonderful time and it was so good to see the extended family again.

The baby sprinkle was not a minute too soon as on July 31st, Miss Ellidae (Elli) Louise was born.  

She was 10 days early, but she seems pretty happy to be here:

She's named after a maternal great-great-grandmother (her nonno's grandmother) and shares her oma's middle name (which is my dad's mother's name).  Everyone is doing well and settling into being a family of four.

I am hoping to get to Michigan over Labor Day weekend to meet her.

With the arrival of Elli, my focus changed to her birth piece.  Here is the finished Winter Hearts by Shepherd's Bush

and a close-up of the hearts:

There is hardanger (lower left), pulled thread (upper right), and cut work (upper left) in the piece.  It is stitched from the kit on white Belfast using Au ver a Soie and white #12 perle cotton.  I'm going to finish as a wallhanging, but need to get a few more specifics from my niece before starting.  

So after getting things finished up for Elli (well, except for the hat I'm knitting for her for Christmas), I started on things for the next baby (my nephew and his wife are expecting a boy the end of October).  I started a blanket (crochet this time, I'm not sure I'll knit a blanket with a time limit again), but there's not enough for the pattern to appear, so will show it next time.  I also started:

This is Baby Bug Ball by Shepherd's Bush.  It's stitched on Light Sand Belfast with the silks and beads from the kit.  I'm waiting for the fabric so I can get started on his Christmas stocking.

In the few minutes between sewing or working on baby things, I've been knitting.

This is the Neutra shawl by SweaterFreak.  I started the make-along, but I'm rubbish at them so didn't keep up, so am just doing a bit when I can - this is all of part 1 and a bit of 2 (the slanted ribbing).  This is not as dark as it's showing up here.  It's also hard to tell, but the blues are a gradient set, I think they will show up better in later parts.  While I do have to pay attention to what I'm doing, this one is only knits and purls.  I'm very tempted to do another one with a light gray main color and a burgandy gradient.

With all the different knitting projects I have started and planned, I have a small but growing needle collection.  To keep them all separated, I made this:

This is the Flip Pocket Portfolio by comfortstitching.  When you open it, there are six zippered pockets:

I had some difficulty with the binding as the directions were very different from what I'm used to.  I'd never stitched with vinyl before, so I'm sure that didn't help the process any.  This wasn't a complicated sew but it did take good chunk of an afternoon and evening.

We were notified that we won't be called back to the office until at least October 1st, most of us are thinking it will be closer to the end of the year, and that my boss is pushing for either remote or maximum telework for her staff, so I finally felt comfortable enough to start a craft rotation.  While I'll be crocheting and stitching to finish up baby things, I'm making time for other crafts.  I don't know how long I'll keep it up but it's nice to be able to get some other things started and finished.  That announcement also helped me realize that I don't have to save up all my housework for the weekend, so I've finally started spreading it out during the week so that my weekends are usually fairly chore free and truely relaxing.

Hope everyone is well.