FOs all over

Remember that test knit cowl I was doing the other day (or maybe ten years ago. I really can’t tell) with all the cables? Well I finished it.

Then I kept going and made an ear-warmer.

And then there was just a teeny bit of yarn left so I finished up with a headband.

They are SO warm and cosy.

I also managed to finish the jumper in time for posting tomorrow, and I love it.

Although I was mad at myself when I got to the end and realised there were 32 ends to sew in. Single-colour jumpers from now on!

And finally, my Diagon Ally socks are finished. The pattern isn’t as obvious in the darker yarn, but I still love them.

Blocking to follow when I’ve sewn in the ends and we’ll see what effect it has on this cottony sock yarn.

This brings my WIP list down to a slightly more sensible 6. I feel like I might have given myself a case of finish-itis; crossing all these WIPs off the list felt good and I really want some more of that. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hannah

xXx

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Cable test

I love me a good pattern test, and I love knitting cables, so when Cinna Knits put out a call for testers I jumped at the chance.

This is just over half of a mini Chaos Cables cowl and I’m loving it. I’m already mentally digging through the stash for another yarn to use in the middle of a larger version.

You guys better get your hands on this when it comes out – it’s awesome!

Hannah

xXx

A good old FO Friday post

Finally posting about the pattern test I did, whenever the heck it was.

It was the Baby Bear Bonnet pattern by A Yarny Robin, and I believe there’s a discount code on it until tomorrow (the 4th) if you fancy it.

I tested the newborn and age 6-9 months variations. First up – the newborn, which looks more like a monkey than a bear to me but still cute.

For the 6-9 months version I used some darker yarn, but after a while it started to look a bit too dark for a cute baby item so I edged it and made the ears with the same light brown used for the newborn bonnet.

I think that worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

So there’s my finishes for this week. It’s nice to cross things off the list again, but I really must focus on getting some of these old WIPs done too. Fingers crossed for some lockdown finishes.

Hannah

xXx

March review 2020

Stash used this month: 4 skeins

Total stash used this year: 15.5 skeins

Stash remaining: 340 skeins

Not too much progress this month. The boyfriend got frustrated with purl stitch and took a break from knitting, so he hasn’t knocked any off the stash this time. But I know how addictive knitting is – I’m sure he’ll be back at it soon.

As for me, I’ve been working on some bigger/more complicated projects so there aren’t many FOs to go on the list.

 

Charity makes

I made two baby bonnets to test a pattern, and they’ll both be going to charity.

They’re not makes for this month, but I finally sewed in all the ends of a bunch of items that have been lying around for months (years?) that will also go to charity.

 

Makes for myself

A COVID-19 stress ball.

The beginning of a pair of socks. At least I think they’re for me. We’ll see if they fit.

 

Makes for others

It looks like this Flax will be for the boyfriend. Or charity if he doesn’t like it. But really, what’s not to like??  I’ve found that I really enjoy making things for him so this probably won’t be his only jumper from me.

 

It’s not been too bad a month, considering everything that’s going on at the moment.  My work is looking to furlough me (is that how to say it? Nobody seems to know) pretty soon, so I’ll have all the crafting time I could ever want. And then some. Let’s see how much I can get made next month!

Hannah

xXx

All of the WIPs

Current WIP count: 9

Yes, actually nine, but I can explain!

I’m doing a wee test knit of some baby bonnets. They took less than an hour each and as soon as I stitch the ears on they’ll be done and off the list.

I do so love cute baby makes.

I’ve also been chugging along with Flax, and you can already tell it’s going to be a jumper.

Turns out miles of stockinette is still miles of stockinette, even with a thicker yarn, and I’m starting to get a bit twitchy with it (hence the pattern test). But just working on it a little bit at a time throughout the day will get me there eventually, and at least it won’t take me 9 months like the Flax Light!

How’s everyone doing? I hope your yarn is keeping you happy and less anxious 🙂

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

May’s end

Not news of the current PM’s resignation (sadly), but a review of my goals for May.

 

1.Finish pic-notting the baby blanket and get it sent to my sister

I get half a point. The blanket is finished and ready to go, but it hasn’t actually gone yet.

0.5

 

2. Finish the kindle cosy and get it sent to my cousin

No points whatsoever. I didn’t even pick it up!

0

 

3. Finish the lacy scarf and list it in my shop

Well the scarf is finished, but currently still sitting on the blocking mats right now.

I’m letting myself off with this one because the stitch was causing me so much wrist pain I couldn’t work on it as much as I was planning to.

1

 

4. Finish the chevron blanket and gift it to my friend

DONE!  I finished in two weeks (much quicker than I expected) and gave it to my friend. He loved it, and it just happened to fit exactly on the back of his sofa!

1

5. Get all my zentangle cards listed in the shop

Yet another half point. Although I finished up all my zentangle cards, I hit a snag with my photography.

I thought I’d found the perfect set up; the sun was shining on the back of the house, but not coming directly through the window, I had a pale coloured sheet and off-white walls in my bedroom. It looked great!  So I took about 50 photos, really getting into it. I loaded them onto my computer and…

Blurry. Every last one.

0.5

 

6. Make at least one knitted item Work at least 2 rows of knitting every day

It’s a good job I modified this goal, because  last week there was a disaster. I tried to move the stitches a bit closer to the tip of the needle so I could knit them better, and this happened

I don’t even know what counts as a stitch in there, so I had to frog the entire thing and start again from scratch. I may have cried a little bit.

1

 

7. Have at least 10 items listed in the shop

Like… a quarter point for this. I have more than 10 things ready to go, which is a much better situation that the start of the month, but they’re never going to sell if I don’t actually list them!

0.25

 

Total: 4.25/7

It’s over half, I suppose.

The thing is, I know exactly why I didn’t meet my goals – I was too busy doing other stuff!

I did a few rows on this star blanket

before realising it was wrong all the way back at the beginning. So I frogged the whole thing and started again, doing about 20 rounds.

I tested a gorgeous pattern for Ocean’s Originals

I did Some face painting

Had my first go at blocking

 

Joined in with #aheart4mcr

And just basically had fun rather than getting down to business.

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – having fun is important, and even if I hadn’t completed a single goal I still would have dropped everything to make hearts for Manchester. But I do need to work harder on getting the fun/focus balance right.

So with that in mind, here are my goals for June

1. Have at least 10 items listed in my shop (for realz this time!)
2. Finish the kindle cosy and send it to my cousin
3. Post at least twice a week on this blog
4. Work at least 2 rows of knitting every day
5. Create a logo (more on this in a later post)

And that’s it. Totally doable!

How was everyone else’s May? Productive, not, or halfway between the two like me? Got any goals for June? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx