A Year of Projects Update - week 4

 And breathe!  The summer holidays are here.

I've made a good start in terms of crafting.

I have done quite a lot on Call of the Sea. 

This is by Susan Crawford and I am knitting it in Catona by Scheepjes - I haven't got much more to do on this  but I'm unlikely to finish it before we go away.

I also finished another Butterick B4790 

I think that is the last one for a moment  - I now have 3!

That's all the projects  - me and Daniel are going to go to see mum today for a few days and then return for a wedding next weekend. 

I'm taking some older projects with me to see if I can put some time in on those. 

Anyway will see what I can do by then - I hope everyone has a cracking week!!

My Mighty Hike - prep week 1

 Of course, we all know someone that has been touched by cancer.  My great aunt had pancreatic cancer some 45 years ago and there was little that could be done.  My mother in law died 10 years ago and although treatment had moved on, she still succombed. In recent years, I lost 2 good friends far too young, and 1 that defeated it and is doing well 3 years on.  This year, we learned my mum had cancer - a blow as she had always been the strong one - she is undergoing chemo right now with the aim to give us more time.  And now  in the last few weeks, another good friend has revealed she has cancer and is about to start treatment. 

I  saw the Tamara Way on Countryfile a while ago (a couple of years ago) and thought one day I would like to walk it.

So, next year I am going to walk the Tamara Way for Macmillan. 

Thr Tamara Way is an 87 mile walk from Plymouth to the North Devon coast.  There is a 7 day route that I will follow - it involves daily walks of 10 to 15 mile walks.  So although I like walking and do longer walks, I don't regularly do such long walks and certainly don't do 7 days on the trot!  So a training plan has to happen and that starts now.

This is week one - I  have done daily walks of 2 to 3 miles - trying to improve my fitness to begin with.  I have been trying to walk at 4 miles an hour for these walks.  I have also been battling Plantar Fascitus, which isn't great tight now, but I have a range of insoles to help and hopefully,  it will start getting better.  So, I hope to document my progress here - though, to be fair, I say that about a lot of projects! 

A Year of Projects Update - week 3

 So we are nearly there!  Two more days and I am on my summer break!

I have made some good progress this week!

Firstly,  the dress I had all but finished last week.

I love this pattern - it is called the Walkaway dress and is Butterick B4790.  This is the second one I have made and.. having finished this one, have started a third 

Usually  I like to hide the tops of my arms, but having hit 50 last year I don't care!

I have also made progress on the Call of the Sea. 

Sorry, I didn't turn the photo!  This is a vintage swim suit by Susan Crawford.   I shall decide when I have finished whether I wear it as a swimsuit or just as beachwear  but I'm loving it so far - I am using Scheepjes Catona.

And so, that is about it on the making front.  I did a tiny bit of gardening but only some weeding - even though I have done more this year than ever, everything seems to be doing much worse than ever! But it has been very weird weather  - first very wet  then cold for months.  Oh well, there's still a bit of time, and there is always next year!

Anyway  I hope everyone has a great week. 

A Year of Projects Update - week 2

 I have made decent progress over these past three weeks!

I finished my Maywick sweater from The Shetland Trader. 

I knit this in various stash yarn and I love it!  I have already worn it lots as of today our temperatures are not that hot!

I have also started a second dress.  It's the same pattern as before - Butterick B4790.  I think they used it in a previous sewing bee and called it the Walkaway dress (so called as you can start it in the morning and walkaway with it in the afternoon!)

No photos yet as am just finishing it - it wi be ready for next week!

I also started a swimming costume!  A knitted one - I saw it on a Facebook group and fell for it -it is a vintage pattern by Susan Crawford called Call of the Sea.  I am knitting it in 100% cotton.

Despite loosing a little motivation in the garden, I  have been out this weekend and brought a lovely little selection of flowers in.

And I think that is it for this week.  Hope everyone has a great week.

A Year of Projects Update - The List!

 How can it be that time again?

It is the start of my Year of Projects year - I do July to July and have done for (I think) 11 out of the 13 previous years it has been running.  Everyone is welcome and, of course you do not have to do July to July - you can make the year of Projects what you want ot to be.

I have created my list in generally the same way every year although it has been  evolving to being what I would like to do this year.

This year there will not be a list as such (shock - horror!)

This year I want to really focus on producing my home-made wardrobe.  I will be doing this with a mix of knitting and sewing - supplemented by some acquisitions from Vinted (a growing addiction at present!)

So I have a few pieces to start me off and then I'm hoping to have a wardrobe cull  to make way for the next batch of makes.

At the moment I have a swimming costume, a dress, a wrap/poncho and a pair of socks on the go.  In the future I definitely want a red and a lacy Tolsta, a big red bag and at least one dress from the Gertie book I got for Christmas.

So there we have it - that will be my year of projects  and I am looking forward to it!