Not socks

Contrary to popular belief, I have been making more than just socks this year (mainly socks, yes. But not ONLY socks). One of my best friends had a baby last month so there was a lot of teeny tiny knitting and crochet going on. First up was a love heart blanket with a matching hat, in the colours of my friend’s nursery.

Right now I’m working on a matching hat and mitten set with some self-striping yarn that my mum sent me. I’m using the Barley hat pattern from Tin Can Knits, but I’m really not sure about the sizing. The smallest size, labelled “baby size”, seems way too small, so I tried the next size up and the difference between them is ridiculous. I might have to see if I can fudge the pattern to land somewhere between the two.

Mum also sent me two crochet kits to make this hedgehog.

I struggled with this one. First of all the pattern is in UK terms, and yes I did get more than halfway through before realising this and had to frog it all. Grr. The yarn is quite stiff and hard to work with so that’s not fun. Plus I just don’t like the construction – there are gaps at the edge of the bobble stitches, I had to fudge the spacing of the bobbles on the head so they didn’t end up lopsided, and I just don’t think it looks as cute as it could.

Next up is the beginning of a jumper, using a ball of Melange that I got from Jinty & Baa, the yarn shop in Dunoon. The idea was to use the one ball to make a top for myself, but I was quite a bit smaller when I bought it so there’s a distinct possibility that it will end up as a cropped, short-sleeved jumper. I just stuck the sleeve stitches on waste yarn, so I can do a few body rounds and see how it’s fitting. I am prepared to frog the lot and start again if I can get away with a smaller size, but we’ll see what happens.

I also got a commission for some personalised robin baubles this month. Instead of taking the easy route and finding a pattern to follow, I decided to just make it up as I went along. Mistake. I also left it to the last minute, big mistake. I put everything together, sewed their little hats on…and realised that I absolutely hated them. They were nothing like the happy little robins I’d planned in my head, but I was already running 5 minutes late for choir rehearsal (where I was supposed to hand them over) so there was no chance for a re-do.

During the rehearsal I decided to give my robins a beak, as it couldn’t possibly make them look any worse. And you know what? They somehow changed everything. Suddenly I didn’t hate the robins. In fact they were pretty darn cute. It makes no sense to me, but thank goodness I took the ten minutes to add that finishing touch.

I mean they’re still not perfect; if I were to make them again I would give them smaller bodies, and do a ribbed brim to the hats rather than a rolled brim. But considering how disappointed I was with them before, I’m counting this as a solid win!

So there you go, I do still know how to make things other than socks 😀

Hannah

xXx

WIP Wednesday 10.11.21

Current WIP count: 8 (plus a lot of ends)

So far I’ve cranked out five charity hats in various sizes and one matching scarf, finishing up one ball of mystery rainbow yarn and taking a chunk out of the cream yarn.

Then I did a bit of a stash dive and pulled out these odds and ends.

The blue-green-yellow one was pretty much a whole skein so I decided it could be a hat all by itself, and for the rest I’ll probably stick with the original plan of mixing them with the cream until it runs out.

I have told myself that once I get to ten hats I will sew all the ends in before starting any new ones – who thinks I’ll actually stick to that?

Hannah

xXx

To arms!

I have received the yarnery call-to-arms! My workplace is collecting donations for a homeless charity for Christmas and the wish list includes hats, gloves, scarves, and socks to fit all ages, shapes, and genders. Time to get stash-busting.

I’ve already picked out this mahoosive skein to be used up first, probably with different pops of colour because that’s my jam.

This 400g baby ended up in my stash because I wildly over-estimated how much yarn I would need to finish off my Roses for Grandma blanket, so it’s perfect for quick charity makes. Plus I think Grandma would be pleased that something made for her will lead to other people being kept nice and warm during the Scottish winter.

I’m actually really excited about this – I love making for charity. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to start the first of many hats.

Hannah

xXx

The longest January ever

I don’t know how a month can feel like it’s never-ending and still go by in a flash, but January just managed it. Right now I simultaneously can’t believe it’s February already and don’t understand how it’s not at least 2025 yet.  Isn’t time funny?

There wasn’t a huge amount of making for me last month, but I’m happy that the majority of it was for charity.

I also finished off my baby Flax Light and made some progress with Roses for Grandma.

The reason I didn’t get much making done is because a lot of craft time was spent trying to get my flat into some sort of order. You may remember the hugenormous pile of yarn:

That turned out to be around 400 skeins of yarn.

400!

I Marie Kondo-d that mountain and got rid of all the old, nasty acrylic that squeaks when you use it, any colours I wasn’t in love with, and odd bits of leftover skeins I knew I would never do anything with. That left me with 355.5 total. Yes I counted some as half skeins, not to make the total look better, but to give a more realistic idea of what I’ve used up. No using little 25g balls and patting myself on the back for clearing out whole skeins.

So another goal for this year is to make my stash less ridiculous and use up as much as I can. Even though January wasn’t particularly crafty I still managed to knit and crochet two skeins, one into charity hats and one into Roses for Grandma, leaving me with 353.5 to go.

Wish me luck!

Hannah

xXx

Yarn review: Caron Cupcake

When my brother sent me this photo while on holiday in America,

I messaged him back saying PLEASE BUY SOME IMMEDIATELY!!! I’d seen Cupcakes on Instagram and Facebook for months, but never managed to get hold of any, so you can understand my excitement.

Suitcase limitations meant he could only bring back one for me (and one for mum because he’s smart), but that’s one more than I had to start with so I was happy!

It’s a 100% acrylic DK yarn that comes in a cake with a pompom. The colourway I got is called Peach Sorbet.

I’ve mentioned before that I thought the whole point of these Cupcakes is to have just enough yarn to make one hat, which you can then top with the pompom. But I managed to get two whole hats out of my cake. Two whole adult hats at that.

It seems strange to be disappointed with MORE yarn than expected, but I do so love the idea of essentially buying a deconstructed hat and making it up with no (or at least very few) scraps.

The ball band includes a pattern for various hat sizes, although they’re all children’s sizes, which I now find a bit odd considering how much yarn there is to play with. “You can make hats for all three of your children, and we take no responsibility for the ensuing battle over the single pompom!”.

I followed the instructions up to a point, but then carried on increasing to make both hats adult sized. In the first one I also went with back loop only stitches because I really like that line they make.

I’ve used a lot of Caron Cakes over the last couple of years so I thought I knew what to expect from the yarn itself, but this stuff is unlike any Caron I’ve ever used.

It’s really, REALLY scratchy. Like, making-the-skin-of-my-tensioning-finger-sore kind of scratchy.

I blocked the first hat with some Eucalan and that helped a bit. I’m going to try putting the second through the washing machine to see if that has better results. Either way, it’s really not much fun to play with pre-blocking. Unless you like scratchy yarn of course. To each their own.

On the plus side it frogs really easily and the colours are all super pretty.

So overall my first encounter with Caron Cupcakes was a fairly disappointing one. It’s possible that this was just an off batch with the scratchiness so I am willing to give them a second chance, if I ever manage to get my hands on some more. I am prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

Stats

• 100% Acrylic
• DK weight
• 223m
• 85g
• Suggested hook size 4mm (although I used 4.5mm)

Have you used a cupcake before? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

FO Friday 15.02.19

Hey guess what? I got a whole nother adult hat out of my Caron Cupcake. Here they are together.

What a cute pair.

I have to say I don’t much enjoy sewing pompoms on. How do you stop them flopping all over the place? I tried sewing it as tight as I possibly could and it was still a bit woobly so I took it off.

My first Caron Cupcake experience was not at all what I expected. I will have to write a post about it, but not right now; I need a serious tidy up of my box room so I can make enough space for my very own bow!! I’ve been doing archery for almost a year now and I’m suuuuuuper excited to finally get my own equipment. So I’d better go and get on with it.

Has anyone else got FOs to share? Any fun plans for 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

WIP Wednesday 06.02.19

Current WIP count: 4

It will come as no surprise to anyone that my itchy fingers got the better of me this weekend and I started another 2 projects.

The first is a hat, using a Caron cupcake that my brother bought me. I actually started this project once before, pulling from the centre of the cake as you do, but it came out like this.

When I finally noticed that I was making an accidental boob hat, I stopped and frogged it. This weekend was the first chance I got to start again, this time from the outside of the cake.

It’s turning out much better!

The other new start should make it into the history books to be remembered for all time, because I’m knitting my first ever gauge swatch!

I bought some beautiful WYS yarn last year specifically to make a jumper for myself. It’s my first knitted item of adult clothing EVER, and the yarn is just too pretty and silky soft to mess it up, so I’m determined to do everything by the book. I am aware that I could still make a right pig’s ear of it, but at least it won’t be for lack of preparation!

There has been some progress on the dragon so he now has ears, tail, and a tummy patch.

And I’ve realised why Roses for Grandma isn’t really going anywhere. The border is not an easily memorise-able pattern so it needs constant concentration and stitch counting, which really doesn’t work when I have Angel on in the background. So now I know this, I can schedule in some quiet time and give it the attention it deserves.

So it’s been a busy crafting week, and I’m enjoying having such varied projects to work on. There’s no chance of boredom setting in any time soon.

What’s everyone else crafting at this week? Any handy tips for my first knitted jumper? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah
xXx

FO Friday 01.06.18

So I could have shared my sunhat last week because it was finished.

But…I kinda hate it.

I said I like floppy sunhats, but it turns out you can have too much flop. This just looks ridiculous.

Unimpressed face

 

Yeah I totally hate it. I’m getting rid of this one. On the plus side it’s a WIP off my list so I don’t need to feel guilty about having cast on another knitting project!

Has anyone had a good finish this week? Or even a mediocre one? Give me some good news!

Hannah

xXx

WIP Wednesday 14.01.18

Current WIP count: 6

Oh I am enjoying working on this Tunisian top. Just look at the pretty colours!

When I was planning it out, I actually didn’t understand the construction of Tunisian stitches so I didn’t know it would come out with one colour on the vertical bars and the other on the horizontal stitches. But the more I look at it, the more I like it.

It’s also given me an idea for another one (I have a baaad case of start-itis that I’m trying to resist!) – I would keep the rainbow colours for the stitches, but use black yarn for the vertical bars. I reckon that would look even better.

My WIP count has gone down thanks to some frogging rather than finishing. The grey knitted hat was turning out absolutely massive, big enough to fit a baby elephant massive, so I frogged it and I’ve put the yarn aside for another project. I don’t think it wanted to be a hat after all.

And I haven’t really touched anything else, Tunisian is strangely addictive! So that’s my week so far. What’s everyone else working on? And what do you think of my black rainbow top idea? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

WIP Wednesday 07.02.18

Current WIP count: 5

I managed to cross some WIPs off my list over the weekend, so of course I started a couple more!

Having learned a raft of new Tunisian skills on Saturday, I’ve decided to embark on my first proper item of clothing; a long-sleeved top.

There’s not much to show yet, just the start of one sleeve

Because I’m me and I just love to run as soon as I can walk, I’m making it a rainbow top. You can see that the first section is pink and purple, and I’ve just started the next section which will be purple and blue. The one after that will be blue and green, and so on.

These are the colours I’ll be using

In reverse order because the sleeves are done from the cuff up.

I also started another tube hat, just for something simple to do at choir and on the subway. It’s basic knitting in a rather dull grey colour so no photos yet. I might crochet a bright flower and sew it on, give it a pop of colour.

So that’s what I’m working on. How’s everyone’s week going so far? What are you working on? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

2017 makes

I have no new FOs to share this week – still plugging away at my swirl hat. So instead I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and have a look at all my FOs from 2017.

I’m so, so glad I have this blog to look back on because my memory is not that great, if you’d asked me to guess I would have said maybe 30-40 yarny items and 20 cards. Want to know what I actually made?

1 bikini top

1 cushion cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 custom doily

 

 

 

 

 

2 cowls

2 pairs of fingerless gloves

3 phone/kindle cosies

3 coasters

3 pairs of baby bootees

6 blankets/lovies

6 daisies for Vicky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 hearts for Manchester

8 shawls/scarves

8 octopoms

9 non-octo amigurumis

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12 hats

15 snowflakes

And 35 cards

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That’s (if my maths is working today) 87 knit and crochet goodies in a year! 87!!

I mean, some of them were teeny snowflakes that only needed 15 minutes max, but there was also my friend’s mahoosive flat warming blanket, which took me two weeks of non-stop crocheting.

It’s been really tricky choosing my favourite makes of the year. There are so many different types and I’m proud of them all for different reasons.

The flat warming blanket is definitely up there. I finished faster than I expected, it was huge, the colours suited my friend’s flat, and it just so happened to fit perfectly on the back of his sofa.

I loved the Daisies for Vicky and hearts4MCR, because they helped other people and that’s important to me.

The Seafoam scarves make me inordinately proud. My first knitting that wasn’t just garter stitch, plus they’re beautiful.

Also my hats in the round, which was a new technique for me.

I’m also proud of the couple of items I made without following a pattern, and the fact that Dad looked at my amigurumi pokemon and nearly asked me where I bought them from.

Basically, it’s been a good year!  I can’t wait to see what makes 2018 will bring.

Have you reviewed your 2017 makes? I bet it surprised you too. Do you have a favourite (yours or mine)? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx