yet another blanket...

Another (very old) FO - I made another blanket!

This was some time ago, but somehow I never managed to take pictures and blog about it. 

I made this one in thin strips, with alternating colours, then edged each strip with dark blue and finally sewed all the strips together. 

It was a stash-buster project because I'm still sort of drowning in acrylic and I don't use it for anything other than blankets (they do work best with acrylic yarn  because they need to withstand a fair amount of wear and tear and also get washed frequently). 

It's not a favourite and I don't consider it a particularly good-looking blanket. The strips were awkward, there was far too much sewing in of yarn ends, and the sewing together creates ridges that never look quite as good as you hope they will. 

It's OK, though, because it's soft and warm, and it's on rotation with all the other crochet blankets in the living room so it gets used all the time. All is well. 

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A Year of Projects

Little Things Thursday

FOs and WIPs and such... A Year of Projects...

... Well, in my case more like half a year of projects. Not that I have that much to show for.

I have, however, steadily been working on and I do in fact have one FO. It's been a FO for some time now, but I never got round to posting about it. It's the Scheepjes CAL Dancing in the Rain blanket. I joined the CAL on Facebook and, apart from a few lapses, kept up with the pattern pieces pretty well. Some were tricky, others were not favourites in the making, but mostly they were fun to make, and always challenged my crocheting skills. It's been good to make this blanket, yes, and it's very rewarding to see it used by the boys every day. They really do love their blankets. The first thing they said when we got to our flat when we went on holiday a few weeks ago was 'but there are no blankets on the sofa!!'. I think my enduring love of blankets may be to blame. Clearly it's rubbed off on them...

Anyway, here we go - 'Dancing in the Rain', all complete and such:

The yarn is acrylic, which, considering the near-constant use this blanket is receiving, is probably an excellent thing, and after some initial teething problems I actually got on with it very well. There was a significantly more expensive Merino option for the kit, but I'm glad I stuck with the acrylic - it's soft, and light, and the blanket feels very snuggly.

I'm also slowly making progress on two projects that I've had on the needles for ages - Black Acer, and the Boneyard Shawl. 

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Yarn Along

WIP update - on a Thursday!

I normally try to update on a Wednesday, but this week is kind of getting away from me. I don't really quite know why, but I feel frazzled and tired and sort of drained. Perhaps I'm coming down with something? Or is it the colder weather that's getting me down? 

On the upside, I do have some progress to report on. I'm still crocheting the Spice of Life, but the fifth pattern piece is a bit of a monster, because it's basically a repeat of all the previous pattern pieces in order to add length to the blanket. Well then... this may take me a while! I'm plodding on with it, but in the meantime I've also been dividing my time between this project and my Christmas present plans, so I've made a pair of fingerless mitts (I'll introduce those tomorrow) and have already cast on for another pair of mitts, this time not fingerless. I am using aran yarn, which makes these projects satisfyingly quick and I'm hoping to crank out this other pair by the end of the week. I'm planning on knitting another pair after that, but I'll stick with these first so I can add them to the 'done' pile and feel good about my progress. :)

The pattern I'm using for these is 'Maize'.

I've also got a whole lot of glazed pottery back this week. Honestly, I had forgotten how much of it there was. I was pleased to see that a lot of it came out looking OK, despite the fact that I'm learning something about myself - I don't enjoy glazing. I find the process kind of tedious but nerve-wrecking at the same time, because you can ruin a perfectly good pot by applying glaze haphazardly. Overall I think I might be more interested in shape than in colour... 

That said, here are a few examples that I felt had turned out well:

And last but not least, the bowls that the boys made and told me to glaze according to their instructions were finished too - they are absolutely thrilled with them. :)

If I continue at this rate I'll run out of room soon, even if I give gifts to family and friends, so my plan is to set up a folksy shop to sell some pieces. 

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Stitch Along Wednesday

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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Stitch Along Wednesday

WIP Wednesday - general crafting update

Life got busy again and I've not been able to update. It's funny how that works, because I still manage to knit, but somehow when it gets that busy I just don't feel like dragging the camera out to photograph anything that I'm working on. Knitting, and crochet, and weaving... well, that happens in the little spaces in-between the busy periods, but somehow photography and blog writing requires more brain space and more dedicated time, and hence get pushed to the side.

In any case, I am back (for now) and since I'm now in the much-needed and awaited teaching-free period around Easter updating should become much more regular again.

I haven't really done a proper update for ages, so I've spent some time in the past few days trying to find the right light to photograph what I've been up to.

First of all, there is the peg-loom rug:

After the initial mad dash I slowed down quite a bit, but the project is now truly approaching completion. I anticipate another two or three lots to thread on, and then I'll call it finished. Tidying up, of course, may take a while longer, because there are loose ends to weave in, little bits of fabric and thread sticking up, etc., and I've also not quite decided if I want tassels or if a clean edge might be preferable, in which case I need to thread the warp through to hide it.

Doesn't it look fabulous, though? It's HUGE!

Next on the list - the Weekender blanket.

This is progressing quite nicely. I only work on it when I'm sitting down in the living room because adding pieces as you go along makes this a pretty non-portable project, not only because of the bulkiness of the blanket as it grows, but also because of all those balls of yarn.

Talking about balls of yarn... we have a problem:

There have been complaints (from D), and the boys have been playing football with the yarn, which led to more complaints (from me).

I also have a confession to make... That's not all stash yarn...  I've been buying yarn. Yes, I hang my head in shame, but it was unavoidable (or so I tell myself...).

I initially wanted to make the  blanket completely from stash, but quickly realised that unlike with the granny square blanket, where I was able to mix yarns from sock-weight to aran quite freely, with hexies you can't really do that. This means that I don't have enough yarn with the same or similar weight to complete an entire blanket. I am still using bits of stash, and I intend to use up as much of the mountain of cheap acrylic that I've acquired as I can, but I tell myself that since it will be a big family blanket and the acrylic was very very cheap it wasn't too bad a purchase, even if I broke my own rules about stash enhancement...  

It's funny about the acrylic, though. I really used to loath the stuff, and even now I don't think I'd want to knit any garment from it, but for blankets it's great, because it wears and washes well and it's not scratchy or tickly. Plus, it's so cheap. I bought most of those huge 200g balls for £1,20 each! 

Anyway, enough self-justification, moving on to the next project - the Acer cardi. 

This is very slow-going. I really think I'm going to love the finished cardi, and I love how the yarn knits up, but I don't love knitting with it. It's splitty and it's black, making it almost impossible to knit in the evening or when I can't give it my full attention. In our household that means almost never! Then my old (and cheap) cable needle broke and I had to go out to get a new one. 

I splashed out a  bit on that one, but they didn't have the cable length I wanted in any of the cheaper versions so I ended up with an interchangeable cable needle. Oh well, at least I can add to it whenever I need another cable needle and it does look quite pretty!

Last but not least, I've started a little Amigurumi pattern. Do any of you know the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbour Totoro? It's a Japanese anime film and the boys love it (and so do I), and this little fellow is Totoro, who is a kind of forest spirit. I think boy#2 and boy #3 in particular will like this one. :) 

I am truly crocheting this one from stash - the blue/grey is a bunch of Rowan All-Seasons Cotton that i still had lying around from a project years ago, and I have some off-white recycled yarn that I am using as the accent colour. 

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Stitch Along Wednesday

WIP Wednesday - still in the middle of a crocheting frenzy...

This Scheepjes Mystery CAL, it's taking over my life! Seriously, I've not got round to any of my other projects because this is literally taking up all the free time I can muster. I've been crocheting during my lunch breaks, and when the kids are watching telly, when I'm waiting in the car or at the doctor's, when I need five minutes of peace, and every single evening. My poor Garter Yoke Cardi is languishing in its bag on top of the sofa, untouched. There is only one sleeve left to do so I should really push ahead with it, but this CAL, it's far too addictive.

I've finally finished the fourth pattern piece. See the little flowers in the middle? Aren't they adorable?

Because I missed last week I also didn't get round to showing off the pattern pieces for week three:

I actually think I found the week three pattern the most enjoyable so far. They were quick, and fun, and I did them in only a few days, which enabled me to catch up a little.

I'm still two weeks behind, though. Tonight I'm going to start on Week 5, but the pattern for Week 6 came out last Friday, so aaaaaahhhh, please stop the bus, I want to get off!! 

There is nothing for it, I will have to persevere!

Here are the pieces so far, in all their glory. :) 

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Keep Calm, Craft On

Well, I've gone and done it now...

I've signed up for the Scheepjes CAL 2014.

This is a mystery crochet blanket CAL and it will start on 3rd October - just in time for the new teaching term! What on earth was I thinking?!? The end date is just before Christmas, on 19th December. It's all pretty terrible timing, but the idea that I'd manage to end up with a new blanket in such a short space of time was too much to resist.

And to be honest, I think it was also the vibrant colours that tempted me - so pretty! You can see them better HERE. The link goes to the kit that Deramores sells for the CAL (yes, it has it's own kit!).

In order to stick with my plan for this year of NO SPENDING on yarn I even planned this one. I sold a number of things that I'd been meaning to sell for ages, and waited until I had the funds together to buy the kit. See how I'm tricking myself into thinking that I haven't actually spent any money on this? See?

I almost convinced myself too!

In any case, there you are - more starteritis. I'd better finish some of these WIPs before the beginning of October now.