2023 in review

This year has been an interesting one. I had a whole month off in February between jobs, so the first quarter was quiet but since then the new job and moving house has kept me busy.
Naturally that has also meant some big changes to how I make things. I’ve moved away from the pottery studio, so far fewer wonky pots this year. But I found a regular sewing group so Ive done more sewing since October than the first 3/4 of the year. I’ve got a new craft room and it’s delightful but I’m not sure I’ve got the set up right, so I’ll be playing around with the layout in 2024.

Back at the start of the year this is what I said about my crafting plans:

For 2023, I have some big things coming up so my only goal is to enjoy making things. I just want to make sure I keep doing the things I enjoy in a way that doesn’t make me feel guilty if I end up busy or needing to rest. So thats what I’m going to keep reminding myself this year, am I enjoying doing this, if yes then carry one and if no, time to stop or swap.

https://makingshyeni.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/january-2023/

I have enjoyed making things this year. I really did need to be able to rest for large parts of the year. My fatigue is still ongoing although it is improving and I had COVID early on in the year. At times it’s been a bit overwhelming but generally I am feeling better.

Across 2023, I’ve made 17 items, which really surprised me when I counted. I bought 10 items into 2023, and only five of those are coming into 2024. Of the others, I finished 4 and shelved one (the cross stitch). So I partially lived up to the goal of shelving things. I also think I did a pretty good job of finishing things this year.

Some of my finishes

My favourite project of the year was my creativity squares. I really like that kind of improv sewing and I’m going to try and incorporate more next year.

I really miss pottery so I am going to look into this more next year.

I also decided to have a pattern on Instagram where I put all the photos of my mandolin blocks in a row on Instagram. I was roughly posting once a week so I was then posting mandolin blocks approx once a month. This actually gave me a nice incentive to keep up with these blocks. So I’ll have to have a think about what keeps that going while not being too restrictive.

I also got 4 actual blog posts up, which was really lovely, and a reminder of how much I do enjoy documenting my projects.
Rose mallow
Art?
Project Linus
Beaded bauble

All in all I had a good year craftwise and I’m looking forward to next year. I’ll be back tomorrow with 2024’s goals.

Partridge in a pear tree

I am trying to write more full blog posts and one of the projects I want to document this year is my partridge in a pear tree bauble.

The bauble is a kit from spellbound beads. I asked for it a couple of Christmas’s ago and in general I’m trying to work through kits and patterns I have bought or saved and make the things I’ve been thinking about. This has turned out to be pretty productive with me finishing this bauble and a necklace where I’ve had the pattern for probably a decade.

The peacock bauble

I’ve made one other spellbound bauble, the peacock and the patterns are fiddly but beautiful. I struggle with the fact there are more written instructions than pictures so sometimes miss steps – this is easily avoided if you read the pattern which is very detailed.

This does mean my version is slightly different as I slightly messed up the dangles as described in the pattern. However my version looks good, so I’m not fussed about it.

I did 90% of the beading for this bauble at my beading group, with a last minute rush to get it done before Christmas.

I actually smashed the bauble during one of my trips too and from my beading group, but I managed to find a set in Tesco’s that were the right size and included this nice green colour, which matches the pears.

I’m really happy with how it turned out.

December 2023

The temperature has been dropping and November ended up being a social celebratory month. Me and my partner both had friends come and visit and then we went to celebrate Diwali with my family. We also had a mini break with a very relaxing couple of nights in Herefordshire.

I’ve also begun the Christmas activities with a delightful performance of the nutcracker with my sister and a very beautiful and wintery trip to the Munich Christmas markets. So don’t be surprised I haven’t done loads of crafting.

1. Jumper – No change
2. Large mixed media embroidery – No change
3. Clamshell draft excluder – No change
4. Mandolin quilt – I’m working on mandolin 17 (for real this time). All my pieces are basted and ready to go.
5. A beaded Christmas wreath – No change
6. The mixed media quilt as you panels – they’ve been made into a bag and I’ve made a lining. I’ve got halfway through making the top, so I just have to figure out construction.
7. A beaded bauble – another little bit got done.
8. A cherish quilt – No change
9. A beaded star for the star Christmas lights – I unpacked them and immediately wanted to make another star so I did

There haven’t been any finishes but I am making Christmas cards this year. I even managed to get a blog post up on the project Linus Quilts. Let’s see what the last bit of the year brings.

My feature image is from Munich Christmas market