Friday 5 June 2020

May challenges - how did I get on?


Hello! How are you doing? Thank you so much for stopping by - observing the correct social distancing of course! After what feels like weeks of sunshine, today is grey and rainy, but the garden definitely needs it so I'm not complaining. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well and managing to cope ok in these strange times.

You may remember that I set myself 9 challenges to complete during May in an attempt to keep focused on my projects and actually finish a few things. And on the whole, I think it worked! Here's a reminder of my challenges ...




I've already shown you a couple of the completed projects, but I hope you won't mind seeing them again as it makes me feel like I've achieved a lot if I repost them! 


*** Challenge 1 ***
Sew flags for the hospital

My local hospital put out an appeal on social media for volunteers to sew flags that could be used to celebrate the International Day of Nurses and Midwives. I was given Greece and Gibraltar and managed to find enough of the right coloured fabrics in my stash to make them. The flags were displayed in the hospital and looked amazing. It was really good to be invoved in a project and a way of saying thank you for all the care that I've had there over the last two years. I think that the hospital has plans to make a permanent display which is a great idea and a way of showing their appreciation for their staff.





*** Challenge 2 ***
Sew safari animals

These cute animals were made from a Moda fabric panel and were pretty easy to put together. I bought my panel from Wool Warehouse and added an extra to each one - crinkly ears for the elephant, a squishy bean bag tummy for the giraffe, a rattle for the lion and a squeaker for the zebra. They have gone to live with Dorothy and I hope she has fun playing with them.




*** Challenge 3 ***
Poppy Treffry embroidery club

I signed up for Poppy Treffry's 6 week embroidery club and was one of the lucky ones to be able to buy a membership that included all the materials too. However, my previous sewing projects had made it obvious to me that sitting at a sewing machine was a struggle. Because I have lost a lot of muscle around my spine and core, sitting upright is very hard work as I naturally want to slump! Until I have managed to see my Occupational Therapist to see if there is something that can be made for me to give me better support, I've got myself a back support - a bit like a corset but with velcro - and am going to give that a whirl to see if it makes me more comfortable. So I didn't tackle any of the projects, but look forward to getting on with them this month. Poppy is planning a Christmas embroidery club too so I'm excited about that!




*** Challenge 4 ***
Finish Rainbow Ripples socks

It feels like absolutely ages ago that I finished these socks! They raised £220 for Myositis UK and I hope to be able to knit some more to raffle later in the year.




*** Challenge 5 ***
Finish the Bellissima chunky blanket

This blanket has been on the needles for almost a year! It got put on the back burner when I concentrated on the Good Striations blanket, but I'm pleased to say that despite Flo's 'help', it's now finished and will hopefully be released over the summer. No real look at it yet, it's a secret! Shhh!




*** Challenge 6 ***
Temperature blanket

I'm delighted to say that I have managed to keep up to date with my temperature blanket. For me, one square a week for both the highs and lows is manageable and it's hard to believe that when the current rows are finished, we will be pretty much half way through 2020! I'm using a Sunburst granny square pattern which is free and hooking away with Stylecraft Special DK which is perfect for blankets.




*** Challenge 7 ***
Write up and publish Mermaids' Playtime pattern

Since this pattern has been released as a free download here on Ravelry, it's had nearly 400 downloads. I'm hoping that this will spur me on to write up the other 3 sock patterns that I've had hanging around for far too long!




*** Challenge 8 ***
Finish Dottie's cardigan

I knit this pretty cardigan using Stylecraft Bambino yarn and even though I knit the age 18 month size, it's only just big enough for Dorothy. So I'll be knitting aged 2 years for the next one!




*** Challenge 9 ***
Finish socks for Stylecraft KAL

I'm releasing a sock pattern next month to coincide with a KAL in the Stylecraft Makealong group over on Facebook. I'm pleased with the design, and it comes with a little bonus in that there are two different designs in the same pattern! More will be revealed in due course! 




I did give myself three rewards if I managed to finish all 9 challenges. I may have celebrated prematurely by allowing myself to buy some yarn (I do seem to be doing rather a lot of comfort buying at the moment) and casting on the yarn to knit a gorgeous pair of stripy socks. The yarn is from Stripey Cat yarns and Sarah has just set up her own website. I managed to finish the socks by the end of May and in doing so, entered a KAL being run by Sarah to knit a pair of socks in May. And guess what? I won! Yay me! So I got to choose another beautiful colourway to come and live with me. I used up every scrap of the self striping yarn (the colourrway is Snap Dragon) and ended up with just a tiny amount of the contrast green.




I've set myself 9 challenges for June to see if I can keep focused, so I'll share those with you now. Several people on Instagram liked the idea and are doing something similar. Let me know how you manage to keep yourself on task, I'd love to know! xxx





5 comments:

busybusybeejay said...

May was a productive month for you and lots planned for June.I love knitting baby clothes but my youngest granddaughter is 12 so havnt done it for a while.
Keep sharing with us.

VeggieMummy said...

Well done on all your challenges for May; you've had a very productive month. The flags look wonderful all strung up and I can hardly believe that you're halfway through your blanket - where has this year gone? Good luck with your plans for June. xx

Cheryl said...

You had a Productive month!! Love your notebook idea. I hope your back problems can be resolved soon. You have not had an easy time lately. I admire your positivity. Keep moving forward, you're doing great!! Cheryl.

Jennyff said...

Top marks for productivity and bonus points for the neatness of your notebook.

Margaret said...

Your blanket assistant is about as good as mine. He was very put out last night when I told him he couldn't sit on my knee because the blanket was there and there wasn't room for both him and the blanket. You have really been very productive in May. Well Done!