FO Friday 27.07.18

I’ve got a bit of a different FO this week. The date is fast approaching when my friend will move to Germany, and I wanted to give her a leaving present. She loves stags so when I saw a pretty silver stag necklace I bought it without a second thought.

A couple of days ago that second thought came along; my friend doesn’t wear jewellery. Even on her wedding day she had to be talked into wearing some. What a rubbish present.

But I don’t give in that easily! I decided to take the stag off the chain and make it into something else, preferably something useful like a keyring. Just at that moment, I noticed a keyring hanging on one of my old bags, a large ring with a big star and a small star hanging on chains: perfect!

I took off the big star and used the chain to hang the stag from, kept the small star, and added a crochet heart. It’s me; there has to be crochet.

And this is the result.

Please excuse the photo quality – it took me 10 minutes to get it lying nicely in the box, there’s no way I was taking it out again!

I also finished up the ginger bootees this week and gifted them to my friend.

I made her cry, which wasn’t the reaction I expected! She said it’s the first ever present baby has received (I’m honoured!) and she loved the colours so much she could just eat them. If she’s going to keep reacting like that I’ll never stop making baby things 😉

And finally, the biggest news: my Tunisian jumper is finished, TA DA!

It’s still blocking right now so I don’t have any photos of me wearing it yet, but it fits and I’m sooooo pleased with it. I don’t want to make another one right now, but I can see it happening again at some point in the future. I just love that stitch pattern.

And that’s been my productive week. I’m off today to help out with a summer camp for a week, so there will be fewer posts from me and probably no likes or comments at all. I shall do my best to catch up with you all when I get back. Hopefully there will be at least a little bit of crochet so I don’t go completely mad, but we’ll have to see.

Has anyone else got some FOs to share? What do you think of my keyring (be honest)? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

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Tangle of the week: Quiltz

So it turns out Knyt is not the only craft-inspired Tangle out there. This week I discovered the amazing Quiltz.
Here is the official tutorial, and here is my step by step:

Make a grid (surprisingly neat for me)

Draw one set of diagonal lines, preferably in one continuous line rather than taking pen from paper for each little box.

Draw the opposite diagonals

Now, here I add in an extra step just to keep myself neat. The official step-out just says to draw a plus sign in the centre of each cross, but I put in all the vertical lines at once

Followed by the horizontal lines.

Then join the tips of the plus signs to the corners of each box. First in one direction.

Then the other.

And it’s done! When I look at the finished Tangle my eyes switch back and forth between seeing the four-pointed shapes I drew, and big stars made by the spaces in between.

It’s quite similar to Hemp, isn’t it? Another of my favourites.

So what do you think of Quiltz? Have any of you made a quilt like this before? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

Tangle of the week: Fassett

A pattern is beginning to appear in my Zentangle preferences; I seem to particularly like those tangles that create shapes without actually drawing those shapes (I’m so good with words today…). Like my favourite, Paradox, which is triangles and straight lines, but produces curved arrows.

And now Fassett, which is only triangles and straight lines, but creates the illusion of flowers or stars.

You can find the tutorial here , along with some variations for how to use it.

I find I do much better using Fassett in a grid, just because I struggle to make the initial random triangles. And by ‘struggle’, I mean ‘make a complete mess, then end up scrapping it and starting again’. So grids it is!

There’s supposed to be no such thing as a mistake in tangling, but when my initial triangles come out so small I’ve got no hope of drawing another inside it, the pattern is really not going to work.

Is there some kind of method for creating random triangles that I don’t know about? If there is then someone please let me know!

What do you think of Fassett? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

Tangle of the week: Hemp

Hemp is in the spotlight this week, because it reminds me of my Grandma.

You can find the tutorial here, and if you’re interested in the story then read on.

Grandma had a wooden puzzle/pattern thing (I really don’t know the technical term) made of triangles and diamonds in bright primary colours. I spent hours and hours sitting on the floor, shuffling those shapes around to make different patterns.

My favourite was putting all the red diamonds together to make a 6-pointed star, and filling in the space between the points with blue and yellow triangles.

As soon as I saw Hemp, it brought back those memories in full technicolour. Hopefully my cards using Hemp will go to people making new memories of their special days.

What do you think of Hemp? Anyone know the puzzle/pattern things I’m talking about? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

WIP Wednesday 23.08.17

Current WIP count: 7

I made it into single figures! WOO HOOOO! But I’m still gonna keep knocking them off until I get to a proper, sensible number. Maybe 3 or 4.

The star blanket has been plodding on for far too long, and I’ve decided I’m going to finish it this week.

This is somewhat helped by the decision not to use a whole second Caron Cake on it. Firstly because it’s already big enough for a baby/toddler blanket, and secondly because the rounds are now so long that the colour sections can’t make a complete stripe all the way around.

So I’m very nearly finished!

It’s mind-numbingly easy now (having half done the stupid thing twice already) so to keep my brain in good working order I’m also piecing together this little celtic knot coaster.

Although it feels more like breaking my brain at the moment, trying to get every over and under in the right order is much more difficult than I remember.

That’s all for this week as I focus on the star blanket. What’s everyone else working on? What’s your ideal number of WIPs? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

WIP Wednesday 09.08.17

Current WIP count: 10

Just a short one today, as I only had time to work on my Lost In Time scarf last week.

I’ve only got this much yarn left now

So I made a start on the border from the pattern, but I got halfway in and realised that I actually didn’t like it. At all. So I frogged that back and now I’m just continuing with the main pattern until my yarn runs out.

I’m hoping it’ll finish on a popcorn row, although it’s such a beautiful pattern it could stop anywhere and still be good.

So, barring any major disasters, this should be ready in time for a FO Friday post.

Oh I also whacked out a really quick star garland as a gift. It’s in serious need of blocking (currently looks like a string of deid spiders), but after that it will be good to go! Yes, this counts as a new WIP. I have no will power…

What’s everyone else working on? Am I the only person incapable of sticking to patterns? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

WIP Wednesday

I realised I have an awful lot of WIPs going on at the moment.  So I thought I’d name and shame, and hopefully that’ll motivate me to get some of them finished!

Camper van amigurumi

My mum asked me to make this, so of course it jumped straight to the top of my WIP list. Isn’t it cute! I really hope mine will actually look like the photo…

 

12-pointed star blanket

After frogging this thing almost back to the beginning twice, I can’t wait to get it done and crossed off the list.

 

Oval star doily

Another commission, which I got by crocheting during my choir rehearsals. Craft in public, people; you never know what might come of it! I’ve waited over a month for the yarn to arrive so this is second on the priority list after the camper van.

 

Amigurumi cactus.

What is this yarn?? It’s terrible! But my cactus is turning out super cute despite my yarny struggles  🙂

 

Puff stitch scarf

I’m still loving the puff stitch, and this scarf is growing super quick. I’ll probably be able to use it as soon as it’s finished if the Scottish weather keeps living up to its reputation.
 

Lacy scarf

Confession: I had completely forgotten about this scarf. I found it at the bottom of my WIP drawer and had an “oh yeah!” moment. Shame.

 

Kindle cosy x2

These are both nearly done, I’ve just been putting off the finishing touches for some reason.
 

Chevron doggy blanket

It was supposed to be a baby blanket, but this is very old acrylic yarn that squeaks across my hook if I go too fast. You know the type. Nobody would put this anywhere near a baby’s skin.

 

Mystery hook

I had an idea, which I’m still trying to work out. Hopefully there will be a post soon where I can declare it an amazing success!

 

Amigurumi octopod keyring

Another idea I had, which is proving somewhat successful. I’ve made two so far, tweaking the pattern each time, and this is my third attempt.

 

Celtic knot coaster 

I also forgot about this. More shame.

 

So there’s my list. My looooong list. I think it’s time to implement a new rule: no new WIPs until this lot is finished!

What’s everyone else working on? Got more than one WIP on the go? Let me know in the comments

Hannah

xXx

April review

Monthly reviews are a really good idea. I didn’t think I’d achieved much in April, what with moving house, having my birthday, and being quite ill for a few days, but looking back at it there’s actually quite a list of makes!

This weekend I started a chevron blanket that will be a surprise flat-warming gift for a friend. I’ve seen the flat (it’s fabulous!) and the colours I’ve chosen will fit right in.

I created a phone cosy with the kit I got for my birthday, which also got me a commission from my cousin to make her a kindle cosy…

Which I have almost finished

This isn’t technically a made thing, but I’m including it because it took me nearly 10 days: turning a lovely skein into a massive bundle of knots and untangling it into a not-very-ball-shaped ball.

I discovered that my muscle memory is pretty darn good and I can still remember how to knit, about 20 years after my Nan taught me

I learned the beautiful Love Knot stitch and made most of a lacy scarf using it

I made my first C2C piece; this loooovely scarf

I finished my first ever star blanket with my first ever Caron Cake

I made this blue flower when I should have been unpacking. Procrastination for the win!

I made up the pic-not stitch on my second ever star blanket.

I started Mr Fox; another kit I got for my birthday

I made a few Sand Swirl cards

I also made a birthday card for my cousin, but didn’t get a photo of it. I was really quite proud of it as well. Sigh.

So that was my April!

I’ve decided to set some goals for May, instead of just meandering from one half-finished project to the next as the fancy takes me:

1. Finish pic-notting the baby blanket and get it sent to my sister
2. Finish the kindle cosy and get it sent to my cousin
3. Finish the lacy scarf and list it in the shop
4. Finish the chevron blanket and gift it to my friend
5. Get all my zentangle cards listed in the shop
6. Make at least one knitted item
7. Have at least 10 items listed in the shop

I’m determined that this will be the month of finishing things instead of getting distracted by the latest shiny new project. Wish me luck!

Hannah

xXx

New stitches: pic-not

I’m fully moved in to my new flat now, but unfortunately the internet is not, and earlier this week I used up my data allowance. So when the time came to crochet a picot border on my star blanket, I wasn’t able to Google ‘how to crochet picot stitch’.

But I’d read some instructions a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t actually try it out at the time, even though I’m definitely a kinaesthetic learner when it comes to crochet, but I was sure I would remember it anyway. It’s a simple enough little stitch.

I mean, my memory never lets me down…right?

Wrong (of course). The only part I remembered accurately was that a picot usually involves 3 chain stitches. So here’s what I did:

Two single crochet

Slip stitch in the next stitch

Chain 3

Slip stitch in the same stitch as before

Which I think looks quite pretty, but is not a picot stitch.

Of course I made it almost halfway round the blanket before getting some internet access at the library and discovering that I was doing it wrong.  So now I’m dithering about what to do; rip it all back and do an actual picot border, or just carry on with my pretty, made up stitch.

What do you think? Picot or pic-not? And has anyone else ever accidentally made something up? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

A first!

**ANNOUNCEMENT**

I’ve received my first ever commission (from my sister, for a friend of the family, but shush – it still counts!) for a crocheted baby blanket.

After wanting to make a star blanket for months, now I get to make two at once as I’m still finishing off my Caron Cake star blanket and my sister liked it so much she asked me to use that pattern for the baby blanket.

Almost finished my first star blanket

I’m not sure whether we don’t know yet if it will be a boy or a girl, or my sister knows that I hate the whole ‘pink for girls, blue for boys’ thing, but the end result is that I’m using green and pale yellow baby merino DK.  The green is a wee bit brighter than it looked online, but the yellow is nice and subtle so I don’t think it’s too garish a combination. I do love working with Spring colours as Glasgow is dragged kicking and screaming into warmer weather.

Look at the lovely colours

So far I’m only on round 7 because it’s been such a busy week I’ve had to squeeze in a few stitches whenever I got a minute to myself.  It keeps peeking out of my bag and giving me the eye, so this weekend I’ll make sure to spend a good chunk of time working on it.

Stop looking at me in that tone of voice

I’m so excited to make something I know will definitely be wanted and go to a good home! 

Hannah

xXx 

Magic Mum

A bit of back-story: Although I live in Glasgow now, I’m originally from Cheshire, where the rest of my family still live. Because my Mum is lovely she sends me care packages now and then with bits and bobs like sweet treats, pretty earrings, cool recipes I might like to try out, and little useful things.

The magic part is that nine times out of ten, the parcels will contain something I need. For example, I notice my deodorant getting a bit low and make a mental note to buy some more next time I go shopping, then a Mum parcel arrives all stocked with deodorant.

When my flatmate moved to London she left behind a massive bottle of fabric softener. The weekend after that finally ran out, guess what Mum said she’d bought me?

So basically my Mum is magic and/or psychic. But this week she really outdid herself.

I follow a lot of yarn crafters on Instagram, and since Monday/Tuesday-ish they started talking about Caron Cakes. They look gorgeous, and when I found out they were 200g of beautiful coloured yarn each, they went straight to the top of my I WANT IT list.  However, I’m in the middle of a pact I made with myself not to buy any more yarn until I have a least 20 items in my etsy shop.

It’s fine. I can wait…

Then a parcel arrived from my Mum

How gorgeous are they?? I’m going to make a star blanket with the one at the back, but no plans for the other two yet.

Making a start on my star blanket

Of course the parcel also included tapestry needles, which I was waiting to buy on pay day, and some cute crochet patterns.

I really don’t know how she does it. My Mum is just magic!

Hannah

xXx