Monday make

Despite having to tink and redo the final section THREE TIMES, I finished my Changing Staircases at the weekend and it’s now looking beautiful on my blocking mat.

Also slightly weird because I ran out of pins, but never mind.

I’m looking forward to wearing this baby soon. Although with it being scarf weather in Scotland right now, it might take a while to dry out.

This project taught me that I still have no concept of how knitting uses up yarn. I was sad because I thought it would have to end on a lacy section, which I didn’t want because I can just see it catching on everything. But then I got to the end of that section and still seemed to have a bit of yarn left.

I figured it was better to have a row or two of stockinette than nothing so I skipped the ‘cast off stitches’ step and knit across. Then purled. Then knit. Then purled. I was 6 rows in before realising that the yarn was going much further than I expected and I could get a-whole-nother plain section out of it. So I tinked back, cast off the stitches and did the section again.

And after all that I still had enough left to cast off, with this long a tail to sew in.

I never would have called that in a million years! It seems I need to do a LOT more knitting so I can start to get a feel for these things.

 

ETA: this is Changing Staircases, a free pattern by Dragon Hoard Designs on Ravelry.

Hannah

xXx

September Review

My plan for September was to finally get some WIPs off my list so I could knock it down from eight WIPs to four.

I managed one of those things.

After what felt like forever with nothing, I managed four fairly big finishes:

There was my boyfriend’s Lego blanket.

A baby blanket made with the leftover bricks.

My Changing Tides blanket (nope, I still haven’t sewn the ends in).

And FINALLY my beautiful Flax Light

The baby blanket was a new addition so that got my WIP list down to five, but…then I got a bit of start-itis after being inspired by BonnyKnits, and cast on something new.

This is Changing Staircases by Dragon Hoard Designs, it’s free on Ravelry, and the yarn is Leaf Green Rainbow by Mothy and the Squid. I regret nothing.

So now my WIP list is sitting at six, which is an improvement so I’ll take it.

I think for October I’ll aim for getting it down to four again. A few of the projects are close to finished and should be easy to cross off, but I’m also going to start making for Christmas so I know there will be more added on.  I just have to resist all the Halloween crafts that are popping up everywhere!

Hannah

xXx

Drumrolls and fanfares

It’s FINIIIIIIISHED!!

Almost 9 months after casting on I finally have a complete Flax Light!

It’s kind of hard to tell with my rubbish camera, but this thing is gorgeous! And, more importantly, IT FITS!

This is my ill-but-still-super-happy face

Maybe one day soon I’ll make a friend so I can get a full-length photo of me wearing it…

The pattern is Flax Light, which is a free pattern by Tin Can Knits. I made the Large size, which used up less than 2 skeins of West Yorkshire Spinners Exquisite yarn. I chose the Emerald colourway because…well, look at it!

This is my first ever knitted garment for myself so I’m pleased (and more than a little surprised) that it actually fits me really well.  I learned so many new skills making this; how to put the sleeve stitches onto waste yarn, the backwards loop cast on, how to pick up stitches, how to sew up the massive underarm holes left after picking up stitches, how to recognise whether the previous round was knit or purled, how to undo a cast off, and finally how to cast off loosely.

Undoing the cast off isn’t part of the pattern, I just discovered that my usual cast off is no match for my hips and had to redo it. You live and learn.

I would definitely recommend this as a first jumper for anyone (although maybe go for regular Flax rather than Light if you want it to go a bit faster) – I am not a confident knitter but I managed this with very few problems, it’s easy, it’s comfy, and it looks really good.

I can see this becoming my favourite jumper, and I’m already itching to cast on another one!

Hannah

xXx

Leftovers

In my rush to get the Lego blanket finished on time I left out the ring of bricks around the edge that I had planned.

But that decision was made after I’d finished making all the bricks, plus a few extras because apparently I can’t count, so I had 48 Lego bricks all stacked up on the sofa with nowhere to go. What to do with them?

The stacks were actually slightly smaller than this

There was always frogging, but I couldn’t bear the thought of 1. undoing all my work and 2. adding 48 little scrap balls back into my stash. I had to use them for something. So of course I made a baby Lego blanket!

It was a bit on the small side with just a sc border so I went for an extension of the bobble stitches again, which had the added bonus of using up some of the extra Rose Red I ordered after my yarn mix-up.

Now it’s just the right size, and I have to decide what to do with it. It’s far too pretty to go to the cat charity (and I don’t know if they’d accept the bobbles), but I can’t think of any friends having a baby any time soon. Any suggestions?

Hannah

xXx

I’m on a roll

I finished the final rounds of Changing Tides last night. That’s two WIPs off my list in one week, and it feels goooood!

Yes, I’m ignoring all the ends. Since this is a blanket just for myself there’s a high possibility the ends will never get sewn in. I’m okay with that.

Look at all that texture

In the beginning I wasn’t sure about the mish mash of colours, but they actually seem to work okay, plus I’ve used up a good chunk of the acrylic in my stash so I’m doubly happy.  I’m looking forward to snuggling up under this now we’re in pre-Winter (those outside of Scotland may know it as Autumn), as it’s really toasty and has a nice weight to it. I’ve always wanted a weighted blanket!

Now on to Flax Light and hopefully I can get that finished as well before too long.

Hannah

xXx

At last!

A WIP crossed off my list!!

I found myself with some unexpected free time on Saturday, so I decided to simplify my plan for the Lego blanket and just get it finished.

As you can see it doesn’t have a ring of bricks around the edge as I planned, and the border is just two rounds of single crochet rather than a continuation of the bobble stitches, so it’s not quite what I envisioned.

BUT it is undeniably a Lego blanket, I managed to hand it over on my friend’s actual birthday, and most importantly he loved it! I’m counting it as a success.

Man it feels good to get something finished at last. Let’s see what else I can cross off this week.

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 07.06.19

I have another finish WOO HOOOO!

This poncho has taken me far too long, but it’s done now and looking pretty good if I do say so myself.

It just needs a quick wash to soften it up and then I can hand it over on Monday.

A question for everyone: what would you charge for this? The yarn is all acrylic that I had hanging around in my stash, and I spent about 4-5 hours (ish) making it. My initial thought was £30, but is that too much? Not enough? Let me know what you think!

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 31.05.19

Wow it’s been a while, but I finally have an FO to share!

This little tooth is done and ready to be sent off to my Mum so she can give it to her dentist. Hopefully they’ll like it.

I used this pattern, which is great except for one liiiiiittle thing. At the start of the body it says to work with the right side facing ‘out’. Dunno about you, but I take ‘out’ to mean ‘away from me’ so the first couple of rounds on the body are actually the wrong way round and you can see the back side of the stitches.

By the time I realised the mistake I couldn’t be bothered frogging so I just turned and started working back the other way, and left that slightly awkward line as is. I don’t think it’s massively noticeable!

When it comes to the roots, I had a similar problem to the one I encountered with the teeny tiny llama; the join at the middle of the four points is a bit of a mess.

I mean it’s less of a mess than the llama, but I clearly still need some practice.

So there we go – one little tooth all finished! What do you think?

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 12.04.19

Last weekend I took a wee break from all my massive projects to make something teeny tiny.

It’s a llama!

The pattern is by Ravencraft Designs, who I follow on Instagram. I followed along with every post as Jess worked out the process, and as soon as I saw that the pattern was released I jumped over to Ravelry and bought a copy. Then I made a start with a little scrap ball that just happened to be in front of me at the time.

I can’t get over how small she is, and I’m the one who made her!

The number of ends created a bit of a mess when it came to sewing the legs together, but maybe that was only an issue because I made mine so small, using a thin DK yarn instead of worsted. What a shame, I’ll have to make another one in a thicker yarn and see if I get the same result.

What do you think I should call my little llama? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 29.03.19

I never posted about the second baby blanket my mum commissioned, so here we go. It’s another Irish Wave blanket, this time using Sirdar Snuggly Baby Crofter DK in the colourway Hazel. I followed the pattern right up to the end, when the amount of yarn leftover was just the wrong side of useless. I added two rows of sc and that used up every last scrap.

It came out a bit of an interesting shape, but by the time I realised it wouldn’t be the normal rectangular shape I didn’t have enough time to start again with a shorter chain. Next time I just need to remember what a yarn-muncher it is!

There probably will be a next time, as I love the shapes and it seems to work with all kinds of yarn.

Plus here’s another photo of the lego blanket, because I’m just so proud of it!

Now I’m going to enjoy a weekend of working on every single WIP I have, just because I can! What’s everyone else up to this weekend? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 08.02.19

I was under the impression that a Caron Cupcake was exactly enough yarn to make one hat, hence the single pompom on top.

But I’ve finished my hat and there’s still this much yarn left.

So I guess I was wrong.

I think my idea for the cupcakes is better. One pompom = one hat with no leftovers. It’s just logical, and neat, and satisfies the completer-finisher in me.

Anyway, rant over. Here is my hat!

You may notice that it’s missing a certain embellishment. This is because I’m quite tempted to keep it, and I feel like I look silly enough in hats without adding a furry ball on top.

Luckily there’s enough yarn leftover to make another one so I shall add the pompom to that hat instead.

I’m not sure how big it will be. I don’t think it’ll make another adult sized hat, but also it will probably be too big for my friend’s baby. I’ll just have to make it and see what I end up with!

Probably not this weekend though; my parents are visiting tomorrow so I’ll be busy keeping them entertained. I’m going to take them to archery! Mum has wanted to try it even longer than me so I hope she will love it as much as I do.

And that’s all I’ve managed to finish this week. How’s about everyone else? Got some fun plans this weekend? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 01.02.19

White rabbits!

I have two totally different finishes to show for myself this week.

After a solid weekend of crochet and Buffy/Angel, I finished the Kalinda shawl with only a slight adjustment to the pattern.

It’s such a simple pattern that I didn’t want to add any faff with the border. I planned to end with another row of dc, but halfway down the first side I realised that the yarn was running out rather quickly and I would never win this game of yarn chicken. So I frogged back and went for a row of sc with 3 chains at the point to make it a bit pointier. I think it looks pretty good!

It is suuuuuper tempting to hold on to this beauty, but I already have more than enough scarves and shawls so now I have to decide who to give it to.

Stats
Yarn: Cotton Kings Twirl
Colourway: Brazilian Opal
Hook: 3.5mm
Pattern: Kalinda shawl by Crochetory

My second finish is the Caron Cake project bag I started a couple of weeks ago.

I’m still not a huge fan of the colours so not tempted to keep this one. Would anyone be interested in a giveaway for it?

It was pretty simple to make so I might do another one for myself in prettier colours.

Stats
Yarn: Caron Cake x2
Colourway: Strawberry trifle
Hook: 5.5mm
Pattern: One skein wonder carry-all

And that’s what I did this week. Anyone else got some FOs? Interested in winning the bag? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx