Tuesday 30 June 2015

2015 Half-yearly Review



As the 30th of June marks the halfway mark of 2015, I am undergoing a half-yearly review.


Time to tidy, 
Time to assess and reorganise.

On the blog I've added a new search category: 'FO' for 'Finished Objects'. Any posts which show completed projects will be tagged with 'FO'.  
Jodie modelling the purple Belcarra cardigan over black tee shirt and black jeans. The cardigan has three-quarter length slightly flared sleeves with ribbing around the curved hem, front edges and shawl collar. The front corners of the bottom hem are curved.
Belcarra Cardigan

How many 2015 FOs are there so far?

Plainly, the purple Belcarra Cardigan took a lot of my time and effort.  I am sure everybody was getting tired of yet another post about that cardigan!

The Speedy Ripple Blanket was extra special.

Speedy Ripple Blanket on blocking board. Chunky yarn, 6-ripple stripes in grey, beige, blue and red.
Speedy Ripple Blanket







Owl Bib: the bottom half (owl body) is yellow and the top half (owl head) is purple. The bib has a purple border and purple ties.  Purple wings are attached to the side.  The appliquéd eyes are big round circles with smaller purple circles inside. The appliquéd beak is a red triangle.
Owl Bib










The cute Owl Bib was a fun distraction after working on larger projects. 

At Easter, I made some new Mini Baskets and gave away even more as gifts, with delicious chocolate eggs inside them, of course!

These baskets are becoming great 'stash-busting staples' to make and use every year at Easter.


Mini Easter Baskets

Then began the saga of the poppies
Poppies!

… starting with the search for the perfect poppy pattern and ending with a huge pile of poppies, destined for big things.  Their fate will be revealed later in the year.


Slip Slope Scarf
& Silk Mohair Scarf

The most recent projects are turning out like the Mini Easter Baskets and the Poppiesseeming to be another fad, not able to settle for just one: scarves, scarves and more scarves

Just completed in June are another self-designed Silk Mohair Scarf (dedicated blog post yet to come) and a Slip Slope Scarf. The latter is crocheted using short rows and slip stitch technique (also known as Bosnian crochet). I have learned a lot along the way and absolutely love the results. 





So, that's all the finished work, leaving me with the following works-in-progress (WIPs):

WIP Project Bag

  • This will become a little project bag. The official pattern title (by Janet Brani) is "WIP Project Bag".
    The crochet is all finished; it is just waiting on a lining. That will happen next time the sewing machine comes out to play.







Alpaca Tricot Scarf





Silk mohair yarn: Alchemy 'Haiku' in 'Air and Fire' colour - a mix of rich orange, purple and hot pinks and fiery red.
Silk Mohair




A Week in WIPs
including a green baby blanket


Three take-along projects packaged in snap-lock bags. From left to right: red scarf, WIP Project Bag and Blue Fingerless Mitts.
Blue Fingerless Mitts project
in the bag on the right.










 Yes, tomorrow … (sigh) … I will be admitted to hospital for a day treatment and again in a few weeks for some more; but(!)  guess what!  I am naughtily planning a craft circle in the hospital to keep me company, providing circumstances are favourable.  We'll have to wait and see on that one, but it is a happy thought.

Health-wise, the first half of 2015 has been very difficult with lots of challenges–very different to 2013 about which I reported, "success with one goal in 2013: no hospital admissions for an entire year. That's 2 years in a row now. Yay!
My friend Adrienne commented, "I think zero hospitalisations needs more than a one line aside," and she was right!  


Perhaps I celebrated too quickly because June and December 2014 found me back in hospital again. At least this year the admissions are planned so I am not expecting any dramas.


A drawing of an Australian Rules footy field with crochet hooks as goal posts.
Crochet Goals

What to expect of the rest of 2015?

"Not sure," I ponder. At the beginning of this year, I set myself the goal of creating projects that are "altogether new to the world"; that "I have either redesigned in part with modifications or … designed from scratch all by myself."

I am achieving that with a new design of silk mohair scarf which is being worked into a written pattern.  So far I have at least three scarf designs to be put into pattern format.

I have lots of design ideas and my challenge is to make time to develop my own works.

More Finished Objects to Share!

Collage of amigurumi doll project - two views of the doll with long black hair and light skin tones a) wearing black glasses, a red dress and black sandals; b) wearing a christmas hat, black top, black skirt with coloured polka-dots and a red jacket and black sandals. Third picture is a crocheted satchel with buckle for the doll.There is nothing like a review of previous posts to see how I measure up to my own standards!  Not quite there, I'm afraid! 

I still have a list of FOs that need to be blogged on Lupey Loops, most of them from 2013! (That was a busy year.)


Crocheted mesh duster coat in blue, orange, green and purple with bell sleeves and loopy fringe along the edges.
Collage of two photos. Top: Frangipani face washer; bottom: 'Love Scarf' with lengthwise stripes of grey, cream and bottle green.Tricot placemat in a rainbow of coloured stripes with a white herringbone stitch border.

A year ago, my aim was to "revisit tricot" after making a set of tricot placemats (one is pictured above) and I have done that with the previously mentioned striped alpaca scarf. I haven't tried to "work tricot in the round" as hoped yet. That opportunity may come soon as I hope to make a matching hat for that scarf.

Other 2014 goals met include:
  • Maintaining a blog about my crochet adventures
  • Working from existing stash to save money: I'm improving at that, using stash yarn for the Belcarra Cardigan, WIP Project Bag, the Fingerless Mitts, Mini Easter Baskets and Owl Bib.
  • Understanding Twitter: I now have a Twitter account and am learning how to use it. Tweet to me @Jodiebodie2.
  • Understanding Google+:  I have joined Google+ but haven't been able to apply much time or effort to this cause.  I am trying to work out the whole 'communities' thing because I would like to have another online space for Lupey Loops participants to meet and chat in real time, send each other files and photos etc.  Do you think Google+ is suitable or would you recommend something else?
  • I wanted to finish two garments for myself and I wanted a cardigan: the Belcarra Cardigan is one half of that goal met.  I have the materials for two more tops waiting in the wings.
  • Two amigurumi guitars have been mended and I think I have found a better home for my Fab Four–as a fundraiser for a new cause.
  • Ravelry queue: shortened a little bit but there are always new things to add!
The following goals from back in 2013/14 have not come to fruition:
  • A cotton top called 'Helene' by Melissa Leapman which has been patiently waiting for two three summers for my attention. I began swatching but never got any further.  I had hoped it to be ready for summer 2014/15. Maybe this summer?
  • A couple of monkeys! My children fell in love with some toy monkeys and asked me to make them but I never had the right materials in the stash. The children have grown and fallen slightly out of love with the monkeys since.
  
All in all, I am pretty pleased with progress 
but loathe to make any new goals just yet!


How about you? 


Related Posts on Lupey Loops


"2013 Scorecard", 1 January 2014:  http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/2013-scorecard.html

"Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2014: 7 - Looking Back, Looking Forward #5KCBWDAY74", 4 June 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/knitting-crochet-blog-week-2014-7.html

"Blip", 14 June 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/blip.html

"Home from Hospital", 19 December 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/home-from-hospital.html

"Welcome 2015: A Year of New Projects",1 January 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/welcome-2015-year-of-new-projects.html

"Speedy Blankets", 18 February 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/speedy-blankets.html 

"A Week in WIPs", 7 March 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/a-week-in-wips.html

"Better Than a Bought One", 26 March 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/better-than-bought-one.html 

"A Personal Touch", 12 March 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/a-personal-touch.html

"Whoooo's This?", 19 March 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/whoooos-this.html

"Happy Hospitals", 31 March 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/happy-hospitals.html

"Easter Greetings & More Stash-busting Mini Baskets", 5 April 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/easter-greetings-more-stash-busting.html

"Poppy Patterns", 20 April 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/poppy-patterns.html

"Adelaide Stitches & Craft Show", 9 May 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/adelaide-stitches-craft-show.html

"Poppies Shaping Up", 4 June 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/poppies-shaping-up.html

"Scarves, Exhausted with Colour", 18 June 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/scarves-exhausted-with-colour.html

"Slip Stitch (Bosnian Crochet) Scarves", 25 June 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/slip-stitch-bosnian-crochet-scarves.html


8 comments:

  1. Phew, you really have been busy and it looks as though there are lots of goals achieved :-) I hope all goes well at the hospital, I shall look forward to hearing about your craft circle if it works out, enjoy :-) xx

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    1. Thanks, Sharon. I was very surprised at how many things there were. Slowly but surely, I will get there eventually. Meanwhile friends are on standby for tomorrow awaiting the call to craft!
      Have a happy Wednesday!

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  2. Wishing you all the best, and happy to hear you have crafting friends by your side!

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    1. Thank you, Janet. I am so thrilled that you have taken time to visit and say hello!
      I have been taking photos of your darling WIP Project Bag as it's progressed and will blog about it when it is done. Thanks for such a cute and practical pattern.
      Thank you also for your kind wishes. My hospital treatment went smoothly and I was lucky enough to have good company too.
      Hoping this message finds you in good health. Happy hooking!

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  3. I wish the best for the rest of the year ...and many many achieved projects ! Happy hooking dear friend !

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    1. Thank you Géraldine for your good wishes. The next blog post will contain further details of one of those projects achieved recently. I hope you like it. Congratulations on your summer achievements too - both crocheted and in the garden!

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  4. You have done really well with your goals. I hope your stays in hospital go well. It would be great to have crafting friends while you are in.

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    1. Thank you Gillian. This year's list makes a change from previous ones where my goals had been sidetracked for a time. I see this year as an opportunity to catch up on things. I've returned home from hospital only a few hours ago and am happy to report that all is well. Thank you for thinking of me! :-)

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