Will it, won't it?

So remember I told you I had 20g of the Fyberspates yarn left after knitting the cardi and hat? I really wanted to use every scrap as it is such yummy soft yarn, but what to make with such a small amount? The thought process went kind of:

.....20g can't make much and I don't want to knit away and run out near the end. If I knit something that can be be made in two halves at least I can measure one to be sure I want run out on the second. Mitts with matching card is a bit...hmm...woolly overload, so maybe footwear?"

So I cast on using a very old Woolworths' knitting booklet:

I knitted away and getting towards the leg part realised I didn't have an awful lot left. I decide to leave the pattern and make a little roll cuff finish instead. It looked very sweet but I was a bit wary of how much yarn was left. Still if there was less than half at least I'd only wasted an hour knitting up one, rather than longer and running out. So I grabbed the scales hoping for it to flash up with less than 10g for the weight of the finished piece. And you know what? It weighed...............10g exactly! The length of yarn left weighed exactly the same. Well that wasn't as great as I'd hoped! Now I would have to cast on the second bootee and hope that the finished 10g bootee was just on the 10g, not 10.4g, or 10.5g, but 10g exactly. And of course that the 10g remaining was at least 10g, maybe 10.5g, or even 10.2g,  as long as it was exactly, or more than, the amount used for the first bootee.

So I cast on, knitted frantically, not once daring to look at the dwindling amount, all the while wondering if I could tweak the first bootee further and skip a row somewhere.  And you know what? This is what I ended up with:

Do you want to see what was left? Here you go:

Could it have been much closer? John very kindly asked why I had worried, why not just get another skein of the yarn? Well I couldn't tell him how much just one skein costs, could I? He still lives in the world where yarn costs a couple of pounds for enough to knit a whole jumper, where it's more economical to knit your own than to buy....... He knows I have some nicer yarns, but I don't think he knows what a short distance they actually go. You and I on the other hand, well we know don't we? We know that getting all of these from just one £15 skein of Fyberspates handpainted sock yarn is totally worth every stitch and every penny :)

So the crafting hiatus is over, I'm back with a vengeance. In fact I might even be back in a day or two with a completely different finished knit, something I'm already working my way excitedly through.

-x-

Waving hello :)

Ooh, it's been a long time hasn't it?

I have posted on and off on my other blog, but here? Well there has been nothing, absolutely nothing to blog of creatively! I've had no crafting get up and go at all. Days are spent at work or with the children, evenings are spent reading with the children, watching a DVD, and going off to bed as early as possible. I've thought about making stuff. I've flicked through patterns, other blogs and Ravelry for inspiration, but I just haven't had the energy to do anything. By time the evening meal is out of the way and the dishes washed, children calmed, PJ's on, I just want to relax and then sleep. I haven't had the energy to even walk up the stairs to bed most evenings. You know, I haven't even bought a single knit/sew/crochet/crafty magazine this year! Oh no, I lie, I bought the March issue of Let's knit hoping for a hit of inspiration, but no, nothing. Even flicking through the magazines in the shop has failed to inspire me into actually buying them. I've bought no yarn, not checked out the links in the yarn shop e-mails, not even hopped around Ebay looking for beautiful yarn bargains. Creative crafting has been at an all time low.

BUT, and yes it's a big but (literally and figuratively lol), I did keep the creative flow ticking over in that quiet place in my mind. And so I worked on the mega granny stripe. An odd few trebles here, a few clusters there, whole rows taking days and weeks to conjure up. But I had to keep at it. It needed no thought, no planning, no concentration, it just came out, ticked along, and reminded me that the feel of the yarns, the hook in hand, the growing project, is all good, and not to be let go forever. So far the mega blanket is around 220cms x 100cms, almost big enough for a single bed, and I've stopped for now. The blanket is happily living across the foot of our bed, the days are slowly warming and it is providing just that little extra comfort for chilly morning toes, although it's a little too heavy to work on now the evenings are a touch warmer. I haven't edged it, I'm hoping to work some more on it when autumn returns, hopefully using up a lot more of the acrylic scraps I have lurking around:

But it's ok like this for now, it did it's job, it kept the creativeity ticking along. A few days ago I cast on the King Cole Dolman cardigan. It's very similar to the EZ baby surprise jacket I think? Anyone who has knitted the BSJ please feel free to offer your thoughts :) I wanted to try the BSJ for ages but couldn't find the pattern in the UK. A colleague at work was also trying to find the same pattern and she came across the KC dolman and kindly offered me a copy. So I took this as a sign that I needed to get the needles out and get creative once again. Casting on and starting the jacket was a bit ....hmm...strange? Apparently I was casting on the sleeve edges, shoulders and back of neck. Even looking at the front picture I couldn't work out how that was happening. But then it shows the jacket from the front, the initial knitting is the sleeves and the back I later discovered. Just like I've heard about the BSJ, this jacket doesn't reveal it's true self until you're almost through. There came a moment, about 80% through, that it suddenly clicked, and that was such a blinding moment that I was in awe. I couldn't wait to cast off and before joining I had to share the reverance with anyone who happened into the room - look, a baggy heap of knitted fabric, a quick fold up and ta-dah, a beautiful baby jacket! Stunned faces all around. Even the "not into knitting" passers through were taken back by the sudden transformation.

And so I joined the shoulders, the only joining required, and here it is:

Lovely don't you think?

I knitted it using some of my lovely, luxury stash, one skein of Fyberspates hand dyed Sheila's Sock yarn, and I used such a tiny amount, just about 60g, it's such a soft, squishily smooth yarn that I'm happy to have left overs. I cast on straight away with another favourite pattern - the Aviatrix. A super speedy knit, a couple of hours later I was done:

Ok so the buttons aren't added yet, but I wanted to share and let you know I was back, hopefully, the creative juices flowing once more :)

Both together, beautiful for a newborn don't you think:

And the hat itself took only 20g so I'm hoping there's enough for a little something to complete the set.....

Can I just say, if anyone has actually stuck by me through the drought, that I am so happy to be back, I've still been following so many blogs, but circumstances have just made it impossible for me to stay regular, stay in touch, and let you know I'm around. Thanks for the awards received whilst I've been away, accepted gracefully in mind if not in type. And thank you for coming back again, to share the haphazard creativity. Happy crafting days for all of us.

-x-