Knyttwytch's Crafts and Stuff

Time to knuckle down

Yep again the lounge is a tip, and this is pretty much my fault as I spend most of the time in there - so the usual before photos and I hope to have some decent post ones!

First top of the filing cabinet

Secondly the sofa

Third up my desk

Finally to the left of my desk

In progress pictures

Firstly the side of the desk, when I have finished drinking the water and there are only the flasks and my knitting bag down there I will be happy!

Secondly the sofa - and yes I have done some work on this - it just doesn't look like it!

Thirdly the top of the filing cabinet, very little done on this so far! This may be my next section

and then a finish!

The desk is done, wiped clear of dust and looks a whole lot better!

Crafting and me

Even with the heat I have been plodding on with my crafting, reading and what have you! This is how my year list looks at the moment (with the breakdown of crafts below)

1. Read 218 books (160/218)
2. Read the Sheila Connolly Orchard series (11.5/11.5) - done
3. Do 13 new recipes (13/13) - done
4. Go to Clinique for a make up lesson
5. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
6. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
7. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
8. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
9. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
10. Cut out patchwork bag
11. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
12. Knit shrug - in progress
13. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
14. Knit 13 sampler squares (5/13)
15. Wear make-up at least 13 times (7/13)
16. Work on Shawlette - done
17. Knit a hat - done
18. Knit a scarf

 

1. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
2. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
3. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
4. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
5. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
6. Cut out patchwork bag
7. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
8. Knit shrug - in progress
9. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
10. Knit a sampler square - done
11. Knit a sampler square - done
12. Knit a sampler square
13. Knit a sampler square
14. Knit a sampler square - done
15. Knit a sampler square
16. Knit a sampler square
17. Knit a sampler square - done
18. Knit a sampler square
19. Knit a sampler square
20. Knit a sampler square
21. Knit a sampler square - done
22. Knit a sampler square
23. Work on Shawlette done
24. Knit a hat - done
25. Knit a scarf

The shrug is nearly done - this was a couple of days back

at this point I had another inch of knitting and the final bit of rib to go, now working on the rib. Hmm not sure what to work on after this - another random pick could be called for!

As well as this I have been pampered and I now have nice finger and toe nails and trimmed hair!

Right on with the Motley (or more accurately the knitting!)

 

Hoo Boy did I let things slip!

I can tell I have been :-

1. Stressed
2. In pain
3. Shattered

as the sofa and my desk (oh and the top of the filing cabinet!) are not so much FLYLady hotspots as a Raging Inferno of STUFF.  So last week I did my customary Before pics and today I started to nibble away at the STUFF and whilst I may not have done much I have done something.

So before

Ooops I posted before I was finished :D

Here are things Mid Tidy - still more to go but a good start

Also the top of the filing cabinet which I haven't even started on yet!

Along with the tip happening pretty much limited reading and NO crafting happened - so although I have started reading again I need to pick up the knitting needles and/or stitching!

Eeep!

Okay not been posting, also not much has been happening crafting wise! The shrug is taking longer than I thought to knit

This is it at 26" and I need to get to 38" in total (and I would really like to wear it this Summer ... err always assuming we get a Summer here in the UK!), I am wondering whether to take a break and do something else off my year list (oh and that looks like this as of today)

1. Read 218 books (81/218)
2. Read the Sheila Connolly Orchard series (11.5/11.5) - done
3. Do 13 new recipes (13/13) - done
4. Go to Clinique for a make up lesson
5. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
6. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
7. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
8. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
9. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
10. Cut out patchwork bag
11. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
12. Knit shrug - in progress
13. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
14. Knit 13 sampler squares (3/13)
15. Wear make-up at least 13 times (3/13)
16. Work on Shawlette
17. Knit a hat - done
18. Knit a scarf

 

1. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
2. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
3. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
4. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
5. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
6. Cut out patchwork bag
7. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
8. Knit shrug - in progress
9. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
10. Knit a sampler square
11. Knit a sampler square
12. Knit a sampler square
13. Knit a sampler square
14. Knit a sampler square - done
15. Knit a sampler square
16. Knit a sampler square
17. Knit a sampler square - done
18. Knit a sampler square
19. Knit a sampler square
20. Knit a sampler square
21. Knit a sampler square - done
22. Knit a sampler square
23. Work on Shawlette
24. Knit a hat - done
25. Knit a scarf

As you can see reading IS happening (I am well ahead of the game on that) and the new recipes - also done well on that, but as I say crafting .... err not so much! Hmm maybe I should challenge myself to get half of the remaining inches done by this time next week? So 6" to get done, an inch a day - that should be doable I hope!

Two snoozing Cairn Terriers, they had their fur hand stripped earlier this week so they look nice and smart again :D

One month in

and things are going well! This is how my year list looks so far

1. Read 218 books (31/218)
2. Read the Sheila Connolly Orchard series (2.5/11.5)
3. Do 13 new recipes (4/13)
4. Go to Clinique for a make up lesson
5. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
6. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
7. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
8. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
9. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
10. Cut out patchwork bag
11. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
12. Knit shrug - in progress
13. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
14. Knit 13 sampler squares (3/13)
15. Wear make-up at least 13 times (1/13)
16. Only have alcohol on a Friday and Saturday nights (apart from when we are away and our Wedding Anniversary, birthdays, Christmas and New Year’s Eve!)
17. Work on Shawlette
18. Knit a hat and/or scarf - done a hat

 

1. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
2. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
3. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
4. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
5. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
6. Cut out patchwork bag
7. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
8. Knit shrug - in progress
9. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
10. Knit a sampler square
11. Knit a sampler square
12. Knit a sampler square
13. Knit a sampler square
14. Knit a sampler square - done
15. Knit a sampler square
16. Knit a sampler square
17. Knit a sampler square - done
18. Knit a sampler square
19. Knit a sampler square
20. Knit a sampler square
21. Knit a sampler square - done
22. Knit a sampler square
23. Work on Shawlette
24. Knit a hat and/or scarf - done hat

This is the hat I knitted for Dr Wytch

As modeled by Dr Wytch :D and next the shrug as it stands so far.

and you may just be able to see Toby taking a great interest in the yarn (I managed to grab it before his teeth did!)

So now I just need to crack on - ideally I would like to have the knitting on the shrug finished this week - a lot depends on my energy levels though.

 

 

A Quick Knitting Update

This is how the shrug stands so far - this is the biggest of the craft projects I have planned for the year (I think!), I am currently 8" out of 38" done - and that was all done in pretty much a week (before I became ill) so hopefully I can crack on with it and get it done soonish - mainly so I can get on with something else but also because it would be nice to wear it this Summer (assuming we GET a Summer lol). It should end up looking something like this

It looks as though there is plenty of give which I will need!

A good start to 2018

This is one of my sampler squares (hmm may not be the best shot but at least it does show up! I did a square using some red yarn and it just became a red blur when photographed!) I decided to use a random number generator for my craft list and the first three that came up were sampler squares! So that gave me a good boost to the start of the year - the fourth that came up was the shrug - so that will take a little longer I fancy :D

So my lists for the year now look like this:-

1. Read 218 books (8/218)
2. Read the Sheila Connolly Orchard series (1.5/11.5)
3. Do 13 new recipes (2/13)
4. Go to Clinique for a make up lesson
5. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
6. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
7. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
8. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
9. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
10. Cut out patchwork bag
11. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
12. Knit shrug - in progress
13. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
14. Knit 13 sampler squares (3/13)
15. Wear make-up at least 13 times (0/13)
16. Only have alcohol on a Friday and Saturday nights (apart from when we are away and our Wedding Anniversary, birthdays, Christmas and New Year’s Eve!)
17. Work on Shawlette
18. Knit a scarf

 

1. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
2. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
3. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
4. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
5. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
6. Cut out patchwork bag
7. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
8. Knit shrug - in progress
9. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
10. Knit a sampler square
11. Knit a sampler square
12. Knit a sampler square
13. Knit a sampler square
14. Knit a sampler square - done
15. Knit a sampler square
16. Knit a sampler square
17. Knit a sampler square - done
18. Knit a sampler square
19. Knit a sampler square
20. Knit a sampler square
21. Knit a sampler square - done
22. Knit a sampler square
23. Work on Shawlette
24. Knit a scarf

 

So plans for the rest of this week are to get as much done on the shrug as possible and to read 3 more books to keep me on track for the reading challenge.

Start of 2018

Not a bad start if I say so myself! I had decided to "shake up" my crafting a bit by listing 24 different things I want to get done (seen in a previous post but I will post again here)

1. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
2. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
3. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
4. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
5. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
6. Cut out patchwork bag
7. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
8. Knit shrug
9. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
10. Knit a sampler square
11. Knit a sampler square
12. Knit a sampler square
13. Knit a sampler square
14. Knit a sampler square
15. Knit a sampler square
16. Knit a sampler square
17. Knit a sampler square
18. Knit a sampler square
19. Knit a sampler square
20. Knit a sampler square
21. Knit a sampler square
22. Knit a sampler square
23. Work on Shawlette
24. Knit a scarf

I used a random number generator and it came up with 14 (so a nice easy start!) and so I promptly cast on and did the first sampler square in ages!

So having finished it I re-did the number generator and got 21 - so another square tomorrow! I am currently working my way through my first book of the year (I need to read just over 4 books a week to hit my target).

Meanwhile a gratuitous dog photo :D

Painting the Forth Bridge with a Toothbrush!

sigh only 2 weeks and I am back to where I started :( I really do need to keep on top of this as you can see it really does look a tip again - the next pictures are after I had a go at it

desk still needs a LOT more work to get it reasonable!

Slight improvement but I really want the top of this pretty well clear so I can use it to rest my Kindle on whilst it is charging!

This isn't too bad, but I do need to put away some of the bags that aren't in daily use.

Finally the dogs!

2018 plans

Just my plans for 2018 - the first list is everything, the second is my crafting stuff broken down into easy chunks!

1. Read 218 books (0/218)
2. Read the Sheila Connolly Orchard series
3. Do 13 new recipes (0/13)
4. Go to Clinique for a make up lesson
5. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
6. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
7. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
8. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
9. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
10. Cut out patchwork bag
11. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
12. Knit shrug
13. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
14. Knit 13 sampler squares (0/13)
15. Wear make-up at least 13 times (0/13)
16. Only have alcohol on a Friday and Saturday nights (apart from when we are away and our Wedding Anniversary, birthdays, Christmas and New Year’s Eve!)
17. Work on Shawlette
18. Knit a scarf

1. Finish red on Winnie the Pooh
2. Finish brown on Winnie the Pooh
3. Finish lavender on Winnie the Pooh
4. Finish pale pink on Winnie the Pooh
5. Finish yellow on Winnie the Pooh
6. Cut out patchwork bag
7. Stitch 1st section of patchwork bag
8. Knit shrug
9. Pick up and do the shawl collar on purple sweater
10. Knit a sampler square
11. Knit a sampler square
12. Knit a sampler square
13. Knit a sampler square
14. Knit a sampler square
15. Knit a sampler square
16. Knit a sampler square
17. Knit a sampler square
18. Knit a sampler square
19. Knit a sampler square
20. Knit a sampler square
21. Knit a sampler square
22. Knit a sampler square
23. Work on Shawlette
24. Knit a scarf