Once Upon a Time... A Journey to the North of England

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

WIP Wednesday

Is it really Wednesday again?

Already?

This week really has raced by. It seems like yesterday that I posted my last Wednesday WIP update.

Progress this week exists, but is a bit unspectacular.

I’ve been watching Orange is the New Black (so good!!) and while I was doing that I was mainly working on the Eyelet Yoke, which is at that mindless stage of sleeves knitting. Oh, how I hate sleeves. I should really only knit short-sleeved garments, because I get so bored with sleeves and when I get bored I start procrastinating and progress stalls…

I’ve at least managed to get past the elbow, so I guess I’m on the home-straight with this sleeve at least.

Not exciting, but for the sake of documentation, here it is:

I’ve also taken delivery of a huge (and I mean HUGE – I kind of underestimated how much toy stuffing 1kg was!!) bag of polyester toy stuffing, so I was able to finish Roly’s body. I quite like this project – it’s fussy, but with all the short rows and the counting, and the Kitchener stitch and the 3 needle bind-offs it’s never dull, and it’s the perfect project to become more at ease with the fiddlier aspects of knitting technique.

Picture of the kitchener stitch seam on the belly:

I’m also finished knitting the horns and am now on to knitting 14 (!) little insect legs. Once that’s done and all those tiny legs are sewn onto the body I’ll only have to embroider some eyes on and it’s done!!

I’m also slowly continuing to knit on Black Acer. Even though this continues to be slow, considering that for a few months the project stalled almost entirely this is actually really good progress. As I’m settling into the pattern more it is becoming less confounding as well, which is great, because I’m now not continuously glued to the pattern print-out and can actually enjoy the knit.

Here, have a black blob, so you can admire my work this week (isn’t black impossible to photograph?!):

Last but not least, I've been a bad girl and have bought yarn. This was prompted by boy #2's wish for a hat and scarf for next winter, but really, we all know that this is a feeble excuse - I could easily have found something to use in my stash...

Look at it though, isn't this gorgeous?

This is Manos del Uruguay, Silk Blend, which is a 70% wool, 30% silk yarn, approximately dk / aran weight. I bought it through Ravelry.

The other day it occurred to me that this Year of Projects is drawing to a close. I can’t believe it’s been one year already.

With that in mind I went back to my original project list to see what I’d achieved. At times I’ve ventured quite far from that original list, so not everything is relevant anymore and I’ve knitted and crocheted things that I didn’t even know existed when I first drew up that list, but again, for the sake of recapping the year, here is the original list:

The Garter Yoke Cardi - DONE

Ink Flare - DONE

Ink Flare 2 - DONE

Socks for boys - DONE, DONE and DONE

Bulky Moebius Cowl - DONE

Shalom cardi

Ubernatural - SWAPPED FOR LIESL (DONE)

Dietrich

Socks for me - DONE

Sideways Grande Cloche

Easy Raglan V-Neck - DONE

Granny Square Blanket - DONE

I think I've done pretty well with that original list - and of course I've achieved so much more!!

Projects that I've completed (or at least started) that were not part of the original plan were:

Roly the Roly Poly Pill Bug

The Eyelet Yoke Sweater

Black Acer

The Weekender blanket

Ripples

The Crochet Cushion cover

Boy #3's Handspun Hat

Owls

The Mystery Crochet Blanket

Totoro

I think all in all it’s been a productive year, and despite the fact that I’ve been super busy with work. I guess it’s nearly time to start thinking about next years’ Year of Projects – I’ll better get planning!!

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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

WIP Wednesday...

You know, when teaching finished a couple of weeks ago I really REALLY thought that things were going to be a bit more calm and less frantic and chaotic.

Well, um...

This hasn't really happened. Yes, I am less busy at work at the moment, but that is only because I am MORE busy at home. Not only is it half term this week (and since I am for once not teaching I am taking some time to spend with the boys) but the boys have picked up some virus. First it was boy #2. He's not often ill, so we were surprised how this illness threw him. He was off school for a whole week, which just never happens to him (he's the kind of kid who will get a badge at the end of term for 100% attendance). It was an odd sort of bug - at times he was almost OK, but he got several temperature spikes throughout the day that we controlled through meds. When he was finally over the bug I worried that the other boys would get it. When over a week passed and nothing happened I started to relax.

Well, they've got it now. Boy #3 isn't too bad, although he did run a bit of a fever and now has a nasty cough, but boy #1 has got it really badly. The poor child has been lying on the sofa for 4 days now. Initially it was just the fever, but now he has the cough from hell. I'll take him to the doctor's tomorrow so someone can listen to his chest...

So not only do I have all three boys at home at the moment, two of them are also ill, requiring special attention, plus, boy #2, currently not ill, is bored out of his mind because he'd like to go places. ;)

All this is conspiring against both knitting time and in particular computer time, meaning that updates have been few and far between. That said, here is an update. :)

I've finished the shell of Roly the Pill Bug.

I'm so happy with how the Noro Silk Garden is working out for this project. The colour changes couldn't be more perfect if I'd deliberately chosen them to come out in that way. And that weird set of mushroom-y colours that, in a garment, always looked like something I'd never wear? Perfect for a bug as it turns out! ;)

Progress on this has now stalled, because I got to the point when I need to stuff the body and then kitchener stitch the belly up and I needed to order some fiberfill because I don't think the sewing cut-offs that I stuffed Totoro with would work for this one because it needs to stay subtle and soft enough to curl up.

On the plus side, with Roly on hold I've been making a bit of headway with Black Acer. Progress is still slow, but I've started the cable pattern. I'm a little confused because the order of the different pattern repeats is not all that clear, but I think I've got it right... Or so I hope, but once I've done the first set of repeats and can see the pattern better it should be more obvious if I have it right or not.

I tried hard to get a good shot of Acer, but not only is black really quite tricky to photograph but boy #3 insisted on photobombing every single time I lined everything up. :)

He even got his Spiderman to participate...

I suppose Spiderman is quite photogenic...

There is some minor progress on the Eyelet Yoke and on the Weekender, but I've not had time to photograph either of them. Got to aim to be a bit more disciplined again about taking pictures.

So there you go, that is my update for the week.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

WIP Wednesday - slow progress...

Progress continues to be quite slow and plodding this week. I have been working on all the projects, but I've not got far. Still, I might as well show what I've been up to!

Liesl is still growing slowly but steadily. I've finished the body and have started the first sleeve. These shouldn't take too long because I'm planning on mid-length sleeves that finish just below the elbow. I'm finding it fiddly though, because the cable needle I'm using isn't particularly good for the magic loop method because the cable is so stiff... I may have to invest in a different one because it's driving me crazy!

The Eyelet Yoke Sweater is also slowly growing. I tried it on a couple of times to make sure that it fits and so far it seems OK. I've finished the body decrease (increased a couple of times more than indicated in the pattern) and I have about an inch to go before the increases start. It's not fast, but the yarn is so soft and cuddly, it's a delight to knit with, and the Clover needles that I'm using for this one are so much better than that clunky cheapies that I am using for Liesl. It really is false economy buying cheap cable needles, but I bought them years ago as a student. I'm replacing them as needed because one by one the plastic of the cable seems to go brittle and crack...

The Weekender blanket is still slowly progressing too - I think I might start adding a few of the hexies that I've been working on - I don't want to leave all the assembly work to the end and the boys have already been using the blanket anyway, even though it's only the size of a lap blanket right now!

I've also been working on my Black Acer, but progress continues to be minimal.

Last but not least, I've decided to alter the Ballet T-Shirt that I knitted years ago. The project info is here and I've honestly only worn this once or twice because it's simply too short. Fortunately it's knitted from the top down and I have a bit of the yarn left, so I've unpicked the hem and I'll add a few inches so I can actually wear this!

And finally, I've located the Noro that I want to use for the Roly Poly Pill Bug. I think the muted colours and texture of this yarn will be great for this project!

And what am I reading this week?

D and I are still working on The Long Song, which is wonderful, but we've been so tired the past couple of weeks that we are not making much progress.

I've also started reading The Mist in the Mirror, which is a ghost story set in Victorian England. I bought the book at the theatre when I went to see a stage performance of it last week. The play was great, and, at least to me, pretty spooky! My jumpiness throughout was a source of endless amusement to the friends that came with me.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

It's Wednesday again!

Seriously, where do the weeks go? When I posted my update last Wednesday I thought, 'well, perhaps I get another post out before the weekend...'. Clearly I've been too optimistic!

Right now, we are all enjoying spring - how did it arrive so quickly?

So many flowers! And where flowers are not already out or about to burst open, there are plenty more in waiting...

Can you believe that the bluebells are already almost out?!?

The chicken ladies are enjoying the warmer weather too - dustbaths seem to be the way to celebrate when you are a chicken... ;)

Otherwise, life continues much as it has the previous weeks - busy, busy, busy. Boys #1 and #2 are back at school of course, and I do try to at least keep one day a week free to spend some time with boy #3, but apart from that it's pretty much been all work and no play. I do try to do a bit of knitting in the evening - if I am not catching up on more work, that is - but even that has been slow. Progress is made, but it's so gradual it almost doesn't seem worth reporting.

I've tried to bring spring into the house whereever I can. A few days ago the boys came back from a bike ride and brought me this flower:

Isn't it lovely. Such bright colours!

I've placed it on the mantelpiece of the now unusable fireplace - a pair of crows have decided to raise their numerous offspring on top of our chimney, so warm weather or not, the season for cozy open fires is officially over...

I also got more of these lovely yellow blooms from a shrub at the back of the garden:

Looking at the photographs earlier I realised that I've subconsciously replicated the colours of the flowers and spring decorations and the colours of my knitting. Look at this:

OK, so ignore the mess, but look at the yellow/orange of Liesl, and the pale green of the Eyelet Yoke Sweater, and also the greens and yellows and purples of the mystery blanket in the background and compare them to the flowers? See what I mean?

Clearly I have spring on the brain!

In actual knitting news, I've done some work on Liesl - I've been trying this on as I've been going along, to see if I'm happy with the length and I think another 2-3 pattern repeats and the body will be done. This has been such a joyful and quick knit - big needles, cheerful yarn, interesting but easy-to-remember lace pattern... What's not to like?

I have the sleeves to go of course. I'm planning on mid-length sleeves that end somewhere below the elbow.

I've also done more work on the Eyelet Yoke Sweater. I love knitting with this yarn, it's so soft. I've completed the yoke now and have separated the sleeves off. Right now I've done one of the required body decreases. I've tried it on too, and it seems to fit OK... Hopefully this will continue - will have to try it on again once I reach the end of the decreases I think.

Here it is, amidst all the chaos of our coffee table. :)

Close up of the neckline and eyelet pattern:

I've also slowly worked away at the weekender blanket, but I have no picture this week. I've pretty much given up on the add-as-you-go-along approach because swapping between different yarns all the time was so fiddly. Instead I've gone back to my trusted method of crocheting a few patches in each colour to add together later. This means that there is nothing much to show for, but I have actually finished quite a few hexies. I might try and add a few rows to the blanket this week so I can show some progress for the next update.

With Totoro such as success in our house (he gets a different bed to sleep in most nights), and with little desire to crochet another 2 large Totoros straight away, I've been looking around for other interesting patterns to try out. I've come across the Roly Poly Pill Bug pattern, which looks great. I've shown it to my oldest and he is already requesting one... I'm thinking this might finally be the project that will rid me of my Noro Silk Garden. This has been lying around for years and there isn't enough for a jumper. Plus, I'm not actually that keen on the colours but the different shades of brown and purple would be perfect for Roly!

Anyway, watch this space... ;)

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