2023 - No Craft Spending - I WILL bust my stash and make pretty things!!!!!

suzeesu2000

As usual, I am late to the party! 

Definitely put the brakes on spending this year. 

I am allowing myself no more than £30 for the whole year. I need to be strict. Am a card maker, sewer, knitter. I fall into the cat agony of having the 2 hobbies: crafting & buying!  

My goals for 2023 are to finish the blanket for the back of the sitting room sofa, it’s been in the ottoman foot stall for nearly 2 years!! Am also doing the 23 for 23 challenge where I am challenging myself on the craft front too.

Biggest issue I have is time. Plus I am very disabled so get tired too. Anyone got any sensible & practical ideas for time management as I struggle with that. 

Looking forward to being part of this group.

sammy_kaye18

suzeesu2000 said:

My goals for 2023 are to finish the blanket for the back of the sitting room sofa, it’s been in the ottoman foot stall for nearly 2 years!! 

Sounds like you will fit in perfectly and you are definitely not late to the party! 
Come on in! 

Fab group of people on the board and they regularly give me the kick up the bum I need to keep going with my crafts. 

Cant wait to see pictures of things you create. 

daisy_1571

Hi suzeesu,  would it be a good idea to set a timer for 15 minutes.   An mse forum saying says 'you can do anything for 15 minutes',  often used when trying to tackle an unpleasant task but if your fitness is affected by overdoing it maybe stopping before you get to that stage will give you more of a straight line rather than dips of tiredness, enforced rest then trying to cram as much in as possible and repeat?   (If that's how it works for you)

Its completely up to you what the time would be 10 mins, 20 mins, half an hour etc, maybe try a shorter time for a week and see how you go.  Then up it by a few minutes for the next week and see if that works?   Keep going till you reach a good time for you. 

Daisy xx

plumduff55

Hi, still knitting the waistcoat. I should have finished the back but discovered one of the balls of wool was a different batch but not until I had knitted 6" so I had to rip it back 😡. I didn't notice until I looked at it in the daylight. Honestly, I really think that wool is jinxed. I've lost count of the number of times I've ripped it back specifically when I was knitting the last waistcoat that I gave up on. Fingers crossed I've got enough in the same batches so finish it.

Other than that the only crafting I've done was to make a scarf into an infinity scarf. It was very easy to do (thanks to Debbie Shore tutorial) and I'll wear it lots more in this style.

I'm now very motivated to use up my stash as I've just booked a holiday to visit my bestest school chum in Australia. I'll be leaving 2 days after my eldest son's wedding in October. It was a very spur of the moment decision and now every penny is a prisoner. I like having challenges and this will definitely be one 😅

Happy crafting xx

Florenceem

I repaired a hole in a jumper today.

old_fogey

I am loving all your beautiful photos and reports. You are going great guns. Your enthusiasm is rubbing off on me, I have done more crafting since Christmas than in the previous 3 years. Nice to be getting in the swing again.

Sorry about the problem with, your yarn colour @plumduff55, and running out of embroidery floss @sammy_kaye18

I have done the lining for my case, need to sew it up, but I am going to wait until I have time in the day as I need my wits about me.

I have now gone through the upstairs stash/WIP.  Is this a record- A whitework sampler dated 1992, finished but not framed! ! A  lovely cross stich clock face, stitching finished, but not made up?  There is a lot of of WIP, both mine and my mums. It will be nice to get some of it finished this year, but I am also looking forward to starting new projects (using stash)

sammy_kaye18

old_fogey said:

I have now gone through the upstairs stash/WIP.  Is this a record- A whitework sampler dated 1992, finished but not framed! ! A  lovely cross stich clock face, stitching finished, but not made up?  There is a lot of of WIP, both mine and my mums. It will be nice to get some of it finished this year, but I am also looking forward to starting new projects (using stash)

I'm sure I have a cross stitch somewhere that I had a similar issue with (ran out of thread) and it was a tiger cub and I remember sitting and stitching it with my dad when I was younger. Being that my parents have been divorces about 22 years now - its still a WIP as I never brought extra yarn and its sat in a bag somewhere. Im not sure where though but maybe Ill get that finished and gift it to my mum for her Christmas since she's the tiger lover and the intended recipient. I think she's forgotten about it tbh! Ill have to try and hunt it out. 

I have been stitching away on my little robin. The end date is in sight now (MIL birthday is the 26th!) and I still have a good few colours to go and I have discovered another colour that I didnt have enough to finish so I really need to get a move on and finish it so I can see what I need to order to get it completed. I will buy the frame ready I think so all Ill need to do is give it an iron and frame it. It may be down to the wire though! 

My daughter has also told me that she has a birthday party next week for her best friend and has asked me to make a card for her with the cricut so I may sit with her later and we can craft that together. 

I also found a pattern that I brought months ago to make a teddy bear as I found an old pillow case - the pattern is sentimental to my MIL so I am going to try and do that for her for Christmas as its tradition that she gets a teddy - but that will be an ongoing project and I have time to perfect it. 

Still havent opened the HC box as Im still using up supplies before the new ones! 

sammy_kaye18

Doh!

Much cursing from me today. 

Sat down to make my grandmother a card as I was sending her a few little bits and pieces and wanted a card to include with it to just write a note in. So found a nice design on cricut design space - spent 15 minutes trying to get the Bluetooth to connect, got the pen in and it drew it out lovely.......but in the midst of my cursing and only when it had finished drawing, did I take the card off to realise I had printed it upside down!!

Ah well. Stuff it. 

I have finished decorating it and have sent it anyway - sure she will see the funny side of it. 

Wish Id taken a picture before I sent it as I was well chuffed with it but didnt want to miss the last post! 

emsi_b

Just two cards to report, but only one picture- so now at 24/200

x_raphael_xx

This weekend I have been mostly watching the Hobbit trilogy & cross-stitching.
Hobbit One - 2 hrs yesterday. Hobbit Two & Three - 5 hours today.

Coming along nicely. & I've now started on LOTR One