Oooh, that's Zingy.

I'm sure you've all seen the ad, and know someone who's fallen for this little guy. Owen definitely had, especially when a flyer came through the letterbox in the shape of the mascot. He really, really, really wanted his own Zingy to cuddle. So mama set to work - scrap yarn from the "oh my - why did  ever buy this colour? Oh yeah - knitted carrots!" bag, a pattern found free on Ravelry (not that it isn't easy enough to make up on the hoof), a few scraps of felt, and a spare hour whilst the littlies park themselves in front of a Tom and Jerry DVD.

So here he is - Zingy:

Owen loves him, Cain wants one too. Whoever thought that a little orange blob on an energy suppliers advert would be such a big hit?

Mind you if you would have seen the price these knitted mascots were selling for when they first hit EBay I' sure you would have knitted up a few yourself. They were originally selling for up to £10+!! For barely 10g of acrylic DK and a scrap of felt. And not even an hours work. That power company certainly missed out on a moneyspinner. Makes a change for one of those companies ;)

Editing - Just realised when adding the link that the pattern is no longer free as some unscrupulous people have been taking advantage of the designer by selling the pattern on EBay.

-x-

A lull.

Well it's been a while hasn't it?

Whilst some crafting has definitely been happening, it's not enough to blog about. There's a few more crochet dishcloths using scraps of leftover sock yarn but all put to use before photo's were taken. I find that they work best if I work them in alternating rows of dc and tc and then a dc,tc,dc edging right round to tidy them up. I love washing the dishes with them, they just make me smile to know that I made them myself from scraps, and of course they remind me of the socks they almost were, if we all had bigger feet of course!

My big make at the moment is a cardi for myself as a cover up for cool evening walks:

So far I have the back, fronts and one sleeve, but have hit the wall. Have to get over it and carry on or else this project will end up thrown in the cupboard for months or even years...............

To give myself a short break from knitting chunky cables I have been doing a little crochet:

Not sure what I'm going to do with them or how many I will end up with but they are simple, mindless and cute so I'll carry on at least until I use the yarn here...............maybe. The yarn itself is acrylic stuff given as free gifts in Let's Knit magazine collected over the past year or two. There were suggested patterns for it in the magazine but none that took my fancy. Cute little crochet flowers though, how could they not appeal?

One last thing, five months into the year and still no yarn bought! Yes I'm shocked too, though not as much as my dearest John. But it's not long until Woolfest now and it coincides with the week of my fortieth birthday so I think the self imposed ban may be lifted in style........

Happy crafting everyone.

-x-

So....the squares.....

How many so far?

Well still the 35 I showed a few days ago actually. I was going to make lots more, honest, but they looked so nice in that little layout that I thought that to add more colours would be to break up their loveliness. (OK,OK,I'll admit it - I had enough for a project so I stopped as usual!).

I edged every square in white DC, and that took some time I'll tell you. 

But not as long as joining them all together with a simple slip stitch:

Then I needed an edging. The family consensus was that the colours as they were looked very girlie so I needed some gender balance. Now I personally wouldn't mind what the colours were as long as they blended nicely but not everyone feels the same do they. So I found some blue and some fawn and worked in TC all the way around the edge of the work:

Then to finish off I thought a nice little picot edging, . Only by now each round was 500 stitches so this last round was a very long one. Roughly 1500 stitches! Yes I know, I know, lots of you make full size throws with hundreds and hundreds of stitches in each row, but  I've tried that once before and only got as far as the first row lol, so this was a major piece of hooking for me:

And so the project was finally finished. 

The scrap yarn baby blanket:

What started with a way of using up scraps of yarn too small to do much with, became a many hours long work of cosiness:

(The little cushion was made for me one christmas by Craig for his Y7 something or other class)

Oh yes, it needs a little more blocking I think, but I was so impatient to show you all. I am rather loving the world of hooking now, shame on me for hiding from it for so long. And all I need then is a baby to go with it, or a friend with a baby. Or just someone who wants a small blanket....... I really need to think things through before starting on them, so many finished items with no-one to use them!

No technical details for this project lol. Just scraps of yarn hooked into 35 squares of different colours, all finished of with a pretty border. I couldn't tell you how much yarn was used in each shade as I didn't bother to check but I know that it hasn't made the slightest difference to the scrap yarn bag! For some reason it seems to be getting fatter the more I delve into it?

So now I'm in the lull. The space between finishing one project and starting another. I really don't like this bit at all, having to think about what to start next, looking through the stash for the next yarn to enjoy, choosing the method of crafting, browsing through patterns for inspiration......I think sometimes I prefer when I have a request for a make, at least the decision is made for me then ;-)

Oh well a weekend of work now whilst I think about what to start on next. See you all soon.

-x-

Dilemma........

Should I deal with this:

Or continue with this:

Guess ;-)

-x-

Low boredom threshold!

Remember the other day when I posted about the blanket I was making Sophie which became a shoulder bag when I got bored with crocheting squares? Well deja vu time! I have been crocheting some squares with scrap yarn, thinking I would make a cosy throw for the caravan........only I got bored again! So with 35 made in differing colours I decide to lay them out to see how they were looking together:

Rather nice don't you think?

I like the way these squares actually start from a circle before gradually evolving into a square.

So what to do next? More squares? Or perhaps keep with what I have and maybe turn them into a couple of cushion covers?

I don't know yet but I'll be sure to let you know.

-x-

And so I gave in.

I wasn't going to rely on the old fallback - scarves and throws. Honest I wasn't. And then I came across this old brochure that provided my crochet breakthrough. Before this I just couldn't get my head round it at all. It's very old, and I've no idea how it came to be in my knitting bag one day, but I'm so pleased it did:

And so a flick through the pages and I came across a very simple pattern for a blanket made from the easiest squares ever. And very addictive in the hooking too. First one: 

Then lots more in this odd brown shade which has lingered in my bag for months or even years:

And once the brown had been turned int ten lovely squares I began on the scraps of lemon:

Then pink:

I just couldn't stop:

And so I am heading towards that thing I said I wouldn't do - turning my whole stash into one lovely cosy, crochet throw.

But if boredom doesn't set in (which it certainly hasn't yet 22 squares in) then I will hopefully have a lovely crochet work of art to keep us cosy in the caravan on the cold spring evenings.

So anyone else managing to resist the lure of the yarn shop so far this year?

-x-

Rainbow spotting.

Black can be such a dull colour for a little one:

But mixed with rainbow colours:

Neon bright and beautiful:

It makes for a cardi to brighten the rainiest of days:

Yes, finally finished the rainbow bright. This was a pain of a top to work on. I wanted to use up all the jewel like colours in my scrap bag and thought a top for Heather would be a good idea. But how to work the stripes? I didn't want to stripe across and also didn't want to twist lots of colours together so I had the bright (sorry!) idea of working the top sideways in garter stitch rows. So I guessed at the underarm to hip length and began knitting, 2 rows in each colour. I reached the point where I had to cast on for the armhole to shoulder length to come in and couldn't quite get the length I needed. Three times I ripped back before I was happy! And then I was away. I worked the one side and then reversed the stripe combination for the other side. And then I realised I wasn't going to have enough bright yarn to do an allover stripey knit. The solution, after a couple of days deliberating........black! Because I wasn't working the stripes I decided to work this side in plain stocking stitch working from the bottom up to the neck. Much easier to work out the necessary measurements but very boring simple to get on with. I finished off with a black garter stitch edging to the armholes ( I wanted sleeves but was very low on the black by this time), neck and bottom edge. More picking up of stitches for all the edging but much easier than on the last knit, 140sts around the bottom but all in one straight row, no curves to work around this time thankfully.

I did write the pattern for this as I was going along but I really don't think it would be worth sharing as it would need an exact tension due to being worked in two directions. Besides I'm fairly certain I won't be trying it again so I don't think anyone else would ;-)

Technical details:

87g of black DK from the scrap bag

Roughly 15g each of cerise, blue, pink, purple, yellow and aqua DK again from the scrap bag.

Worked on 4mm straight needles.

This took about 11 hours in total over the past week.

The idea came during that hazy period before finally succumbing to sleep.

So it's onwards and emptywards with the scrap bag. I can fasten the zip now without having to push down on it, so it's gradually going down. This is it tipped over the floor earlier whilst I rummaged for a scrap of black to finish the seams on the cardi:

 

Thinking cap back on whilst I decide what next can magically appear from the bits that no-one in their right mind would want.

And tomorrow I might even have a rummage through the yarn stash proper and maybe plan a few gift knits. Or failing that at least share a glimpse of what marvels are hiding in there.......

-x-

Buttons.

Lovely buttons. 

There is a serious shortage of buttons in my craft drawers. I looked on the internet but couldn't decide. So off we went to Abakhan and I bought 2 jars of buttons for just under a fiver each. Packed with buttons. Several hundreds of them.

But that's not the reason for this post. It's more about what else I bought. Or rather didn't buy. I bought a length of elastic. And a couple of wooden buttons. And that's it! Nothing else at all. Not one single scrap of wool. I have to admit it was hard work not to go for a peek at the yarn section. But I knew that if I peeked I would have to touch. And that if I touched I would start to imagine what it could become. And then I would end up popping it in my basket. So I stayed away. And left the shop with only my buttons and elastic. How good was I?

And so with renewed determination I tipped up the scrap bag last night. I looked for a while. And moved bits around. And then an idea came. I selected a few scraps and the needles and set to work. I ripped back a few times before I was happy with the progress. But I see my idea taking shape. So I'll share a little peek:

Very subdued don't you think?

After the pale pretty lemoniness of the last make I thought a bit more colour would be good. A lot more colour in fact. Oh yes, it's coming along just like the little vision in my mind. Now I wonder if I will have enough yarn? Because this one can't be added to as I go along. The randomness is intentional, you see.

And a quick link over here. Sharon is joining in the scrapbusting mission and has created a beautiful dress. And a lovely technique for making use of hard to use yarn too. Anyone else ready to share some scrapbusting inspiration?

Well back off to my rainbow bright knit. And hopefully I'll reveal more soon.

PS - see the gift makes list? Still empty!!

Happy crafting everyone.

-x-

Terrible photo's of a cutie cardi.......

Running out of titles now!

So I finished knitting with the yellow fluff yarn for now:

What do you think?

Yes I know, the photo's are awful, but have you seen the time? Maybe I'll get an outdoor shot of it being modelled tomorrow and you can see the true colour then. This started out as a simple make, I thought it would take no time at all. And it didn't. The body took only a couple of hours spaced over the last two days. And then I came to the edging tonight! Aaarrgh is the only word I can think of to describe how I felt about that edging. Fine fluffy wool, 2.5mm straight needles, 275st pick up around curved edges.........Ok you get it. My fingertips are paying the price right now.

Still I'm happy with how it's turned out. Much prettier than the photo's suggest, although as I already mentioned it's not what I usually tend to choose for Heather to wear. But I think it will go well over sundresses or vests in the summer. As long as it fits!

I guess I'd better start on the gift makes about now. Did I say two per month? Better get the skates on then!

-x-

No work and all play......

Can you tell it's the end of the working year soon? And so all annual leave has to be used or lost? How else would I manage to get so much crafting done :-)

A new project on the needles, because back to the needles it is.

What can you make with just short of 100g of lemon, fluffy, 4ply?

Well socks were the obvious choice - isn't that the best use for 4ply if you don't have a tiny baby to knit for? Or if you don't want to cast on hundreds of stitches to compensate for the delicacy of the yarn? 

But no, socks are not the work in progress here. Again it's something for the littlest person in the family, something that will hopefully see her through the summer months. Mind you I'm not certain on the sizing just yet, it might be coming up a little small.....eek!

See how fluffy the yarn is? That's why I haven't bothered to rip back and re-size. The fibres are so fluffy that they are knitting together and making it impossible to undo even a couple of stitches without damaging the yarn. It's looking kind of cute in a pastel, traditional girlie sort of way. Not my usual choice of colours (it's actually a very pale lemon although you can't tell!) or yarn but I said I was going to use all the scraps so this has got to be used. I have no idea how I ended up with this yarn, I certainly didn't buy it with a plan in mind. Must have been a charity shop/car boot sale find. In fact it isn't even a scrap really is it? It's pretty much a full 100g as I said. 

So back to the needles and getting this finished. And making the most of the next few days off before I am back in work and only squeezing in the odd few rows here and there.

See you all soon with what should be the latest reveal.

Happy crafting everyone.

-x-

And there's more.....

More scrap yarnbusting!

As I already mentioned there's been a switch in methods, this time the crochet hook has come out of hiding. Lots of stripes of DC meant a faster growing piece than knitting usually allows:

I'm not a big fan of pastels but I think the fuchsia really lifts these colours and makes them far less boring:

 

I didn't have a pattern or even a plan when I started on this, I just let the colours carry me on and decided as I went along. I was thinking of a fully striped top so I worked the two pieces for front and back consecutively to make sure I wasn't going to run out of yarn. I soon realised that sleeves were not an option and settled for a good old tank top. (You can tell I'm a child of the 70's - I never hear the phrase "tank top" any more!). Rather than just make a standard vest shape I thought it might be a bit more interesting to add fasten-up shoulders instead.

The buttons aren't the final ones, I just stitched them on to assess for size. I really need to replenish my button stock as I have nothing that fits this top.

And finally a little photo of the girlie herself modelling her new top:

Technical details:

Approximately 30g each of lemon, mint, baby blue and fuchsia DK from the scrap yarn bag.

Worked on 4mm crochet hook.

I wouldn't dream of suggesting the  pattern as I know I'm not great at crochet. I'm sure you could improve on it and of course all hints and tips are appreciated so as I can bear them in mind for future projects. Oh and a question - I'm thinking that the side I'm showing is the wrong side of the work? Only because the stripes on the reverse are much more defined and so I thought more likely to be the side that should usually be on show? Having said that I liked this view much better and used it as the right side, just because I kind of like how the stripes have that little spikey effect. Only wondering for future reference really as i'm making up this crochet stuff as I go along!

So that's what I've been up to whilst the laptop has been in the shop getting repaired. Off to have a scramble through the scrap bag and think about the next project later. Oh and I might even cast on for one of the two christmas gifts I have promised myself I will make each month of this year. Or I might even combine the two and create a gift from the scrap bag - how thrifty would that make me ;-)

Happy crafting everyone.

-x-

Next up........

A new pair of socks for Owen in colours chosen by the boy himself - Ogre socks apparently.

Knitted from what was approximately 80g of black and 80g of aqua DK, probably an acrylic mix, found in the scrap stash. I still have around 40g of each left so might make another pair for Cain...........or I might not. Half the fun of scrap stashbusting is thinking of new uses for previously unwanted yarn.

The pattern for the socks came from the book mentioned in the previous post, a broken garter stitch rib for which the pattern suggests a variegated yarn but I think the stripes look much more fun for little feet.

Next project from the scrap bag is a different craft - crochet. Taking a step outside my comfort zone now and no idea whether the yarn I'm using is going to be sufficient for the work in progress. I do know that crochet seems to gobble up the yarn much quicker than knitting but on the plus side it's far easier to work several pieces at once to ensure that I can blend in a new colour if necessary to complete the work.

Well I don't know about seeing spots, but stripes are definitely becoming a bit of a theme around here just lately!

Back soon with another catch-up.

Don't forget to let me know what scrap yarn busting ideas you have been working on lately.

-x-

This is it!

This is the scrap bag I'm trying to work my way through:
 

Doesn't look so much does it? 

But thinking of things to make from 2kg of yarn split into approximately 30+shades, half a dozen plies, a multitude of textures and varying from 10 - just under 100g individual weights means some serious planning going on in my sleep denied head.

Good job I have this wonderful little book to inspire me:

Very Americanized in it's wording but some oh-so-lovely designs to be knit and crocheted from under 50g of yarn of all types.

And so onto the next project:

 

 

Oh yes, stripes again, I know now why my nana's handknits always featured heavily on stripes ;-) Waste not, want. Although my striping will probably get more random the more I work through the scraps. This project though is just a little one and I'm certain I have far more than I need to complete this make, especially as I'm using 2 of the biggest scraps for a teensy little make......

Well less chat and more knitting if I want to get through that lot.

Catch up with you all again later when I might just be able to reveal what's on the DPN's......

-x-

Shades ready?

I finished the tank top. Oh yes, a scrap yarn extravaganza! About 50g of blue DK, and less of yellow, pink and white. All left over from other projects, mine or other peoples. The blue left over from knitting a scarf and mitts for one of Jen's friends, the pink from Jen's scarf and mitts, the yellow from some long ago Easter knitting and the white from a bag of white oddments found at a car boot sale.

SO the tank top went well, knitting up pretty quickly on 4mm DPN's, a nice ridged pattern forming around the staggered stripes where the colours changed. Well to be honest the ridges weren't intentional and I was going to block them out but I kind of like them now. I did get fed up with stopping to untangle the yarns every few rows so when I opened up the round to form the front and back I decided to use blocks of colour to continue. Not enough yarn in the contrast colours to knit the back and front the same so I chose to use pink for the back and yellow for the front. 

Heather definitely likes it:

The colours are much brighter in true light:

An exercise in brightness and thrift, what do you think?

So continuing with the scrap yarn busting, what next? This lovely blog is inspiring me to go for an all out scrap yarn colourfest crochet blanket but not sure I have the patience for such a big crochet project. Any other colourful WIP's you'd care to share?

-x-

Scrap yarn projects.

I don't generally do resolutions - too much like setting yourself up to fail. But when it comes to crafting I spend each new year sorting out my wool stash and resolving not to buy any more yarn until I have seriously dented the amount I already own. And so with this in mind I turned first to the scrap bag. You know the one, you all have one - right? The bag where you throw all the half used balls of yarn, sample balls, and ripped back tangles.

So I weighed the bag (yes, I'm sad, I know) and I have a total of approx 2000g of yarns of varying textures, ply's (or is it plies?), colours and lengths. So what to do with it all?

Well first up is this:

It will eventually be a tank top thingy for Heather. Worked in the round on 4mm DPN's, I really need to get a 40cm wire for my Knitpro's, it will hopefully be finished this evening. As long as I don't run out of the bright pink I am going to use for the bodice. The problem, and of course the fun too, with using yarn scraps, is that you never know if you will have enough to finish the project, and always having to have a back up plan in mind. And then there's all that untangling of yarn as you go along.......

Phew, who knew knitting could be so exciting?

So anyone else joining in the challenge? Share your links to your yarn scrap projects. 

I need the inspiration!

-x-