Procrastinating.....

I set my own challenge right?

One pair of socks.......blah, blah,

So it's only me who can be disappointed, or not, if I don't do it, right?

So why did I fib about SSS? Of course I have it. I haven't even thought about casting on Old Joe number two. And the mystery knit? Well that's growing. But not as quickly as it should.

But I do have at least one finished object for this month. You know the one skein per month knit? The one that I planned on spreading through till March? Well I couldn't keep from rolling that last skein. Sock yarn is so hard on the fingers don't you find? So, well, thin! But the Manos Silk DK? Sooo soft, sooo silky, sooo lovely to work with. And once it was balled then I had to knit. And knit. And now?

One completed baby blanket blocking nicely. All ready for a spring grandbaby. Slightly envious that little babe will get to be snuggled in all that poor wool and silk squishy softness...... And Jen is under orders to let Granny wash the blanket when needed, well Jen is a bung-it-all-in-together kind of laundry person.

Of course Jen is less concerned about the blanket being knitted on time. There's still the pressing issue of pram shopping to complete. Or even start. Guess the man needs to dust off his wallet ;)

Hmmm, wonder if there's any yarn shops near to the baby goods shop.........

Yarn along

Joining in with Ginny once again.

This week I have had an elastic baby (see here) so knitting and reading time has been limited to the brief moments when she has been with Daddy or big sisters, or else taking the shortest of catnaps. This means that knitting has to be something mindless, an easy pattern held in my memory, soft silky yarn to soothe my emotions. What suits this purpose? The ongoing baby blanket. I set a target of one skein per month into this project and February's target will soon be met.

Reading? I finished The Woodcutter shortly after posting last week and so I picked up The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. It's quite heavy going though so I have also opened up My Antonia on the kindle. Only thing is every time I settle to read the little elastic girl wakes up......

Hoping to find time for more knitting, reading, and checking out all the yarn along posts but now the little one is calling again :)

-x-

The cure for startitis

I finally found the cure for startitis. No more barely worked pieces lurking in cupboards and baskets. None stuffed under the bed, or by the side of the bathroom chair (top tip - knitting whilst the littlies are in the bath, they're happy, you're happy....), or in the glovebox of the car. No casting on items that will be too small for the wearer before you even finish. If it doesn't have a deadline then it doesn't get started.

You want to know my cure?

Although it might not work for all of you....

Well here goes......................

Are you ready.......

Although warning you, you might just dissolve into a gooey mush.......

 

A beautiful, smiley, cuddly baby!

Since Ivy came along I finally realised that you can't spend much time knitting with an elastic baby. One that doesn't like to be separated from mama unless within complete eye distance, and still with a high level of communication going on. This baby means that what little time I get to knit needs to be spent productively. Think of item, cast on item, work on item, cast of item, use item. Two or three at a time is fine, more than that - no chance of completion....ever! 

So want to cure your startitis and knit more productively? Go get yourself an elastic baby.

By the way - the playmat? Nothing to do with me. Jen's partners mothers friend (or something like that) sent one down for Jens baby and when I professed how cute it was she sent another for Ivy. How kind was that? Acrylic yarns, DK and/or eyelash type held in 4 strands, and then worked up into a giant granny square. It's one of those things, you know, you look at it and know how it's done, but you're never going to do it. Granny squares - yeah. Giant granny squares with 4 strands of yarn and a mega sized hook? No chance! It is very cute though.

Oh well, the elastic baby is fidgetting once again.

Let me know if you try out the cure ;)

-x-

End of the month

So how did the month go? The plan was - one pair of socks, one gift knit, something for pleasure/wearing/instant gratification and one big knit WIP. Well, yay, I did it! What, you don't believe me? How could I possibly catch up when yesterday I said I hadn't yet cast on the second sock? You want to see? Well here you go......

The gift knit:

Multnomah shawl in KnitPicks Stroll Hayride

The big knit WIP:

One skein worth of baby blanket.

The socks:

Lacy rib socks

Hmmm, not quite got the colour right, try again:

Nice colour and fit don't you think?

The pleasure/wearing/instant gratification knit:

Tofino surfer hat.

What's that you say? I didn't mention working on a couple of those things? And those socks don't look like the ones I blogged yesterday? Well I did start late due to that awful flu illness we all had. And I did say I had a sneaky plan just in case ;)
The Multnomah shawl and the lacy rib socks were both longstanding WIP's found lingering during the stash sort out and relocation. Both cast on many months/years ago but both finally finished earlier this month.
The Tofino surfer hat was cast on at the beginning of the month as a quick make for Heather after her proper winter hat disappeared, although now it has been rehomed with the lovely granddaughter after she tried it on and "loosened" the knit.See how big it was when Heather got it back for a few moments?
The second of the actual January socks is cast on and at round 30 of 90 from the top down, so I'm going to carry on blasting along with them until they're done. Hopefully I'll be at the heel by this evening.....

So anyway, I reckon that's a pretty good first month for my year long goal, don't you?
Back tomorrow with February's hopes and plans.

-x-

Well hello and happy new year.....

It's been a while hasn't it?

I did think I'd start the new year with a new enthusiasm for crafting and a sparkly new and exciting blog. Well, that was in my mind....in reality we have had a crisis ridden few weeks here. First the laptop died, then aboy got sick, then he recovered and a mama got very sick (the kind of sick where she couldn't hold her baby for 3 days never mind a knitting needle!!). Then a dog got held to ransom by an overenthusiastic dog warden and cost 2 days of worry and an 85 quid ransom fee. Then another boy got sick then, the baby got sick, and still is. Oh and we had a radiator die and need replacing, then two windows replaced, so afreezing house for two days. No, it wasn't the best of starts to the year...........

So anyway, things are getting better and I'm going ahead with my crafty plans for the year :)

2013 is going to be the year of being organized. 

And the year of the sock!

Every month I'm hoping to finish one pair of socks, one gift knit, and work on one larger item. If I can fit anything else in then all good, but these are my main targets. 

I was going to say I wouldn't buy any yarn until I'd used all the stash too, but thats boring isn't it? And besides I've already bought 3 skeins of Manos Silk and a lovely hand dyed sparkle sock yarn from the lovely Sarah.

So a peek into my craft bag:

Do you remember that bag? It's been hidden away in the bedroom for ages but I found it when hiding the yule gifts and knew it had to come out. It's such a happy, smiley bag isn't it? So now it's my project bag, and just the right size too:)

A closer look at the contents:

This months socks, starting with an easy basic pair, and probably destined to be the gift knit too due to losing so much of the month to all the above....I know, cheating already, ahh well..... Yarn from stash though so there's a plus there.

The larger item: 

Well thats for a baby we're going to be meeting late April. Yes, I'm going to be a Grandma for the second time, Jen is expecting a baby girl. Woohoo, isn't that exciting? Another of our girls all grown up and starting a family of her own.So the knitting? A baby blanket knitted with the super soft, squishy Manos I mentioned earlier. Soo enjoying knitting this, and thinking of that new little baby all bundled up in it's softness..... The plan is to try and knit through one skein per month for three months and so have a blanket all finished up by time Jen is 36 weeks. I'm thinking this way I won't get bored, and I won't be caught out at the last minute. What do you reckon?

And if you peek closely you'll just see that skein of sparkly sock I mentioned earlier. I already know what that's going to be, but I'm not ready to share yet. Hopefully if it will be this months gift knit, but if I don't get round to it then I will be looking forward to next month.

So there we go, my crafty, yarny plans for 2013. I wonder how long I'll keep to them?

Oh and it goes without saying - more blog updates, less webtime, yadayadayada..... (lot's more watching all my House box sets though whilst knitting - the broadcast tv is gone again and hopefully not coming back and I do love House....).

Ooops baby awake and big girl wanting her laptop, gotta go. See you soon :)

-x-

Yarn along

Joining in the Yarn along once again with Ginny at Small things.

Lot's of finished projects lately and new idea's in mind so I thought I'd share progress on the ongoing hookie thing:

That's right, it's the Granny Stripe.

It seems as if it never grows but stretching it out on our kingsize bed this morning reveals it's true size. A long way to go yet:

Reading this week - The Food our Children eat by Joanna Blythman. So-so reading, mostly what I know already, with a few wincing moments thrown in. Not sure I'll keep with it to the very end. In fact, if anyone wants it then let me know. (If more than one of you do then I'll have to pull from a hat....)

-x-

Catching up.

Ooh, it's been a long time hasn't it? Shall I give a multitude of reasons, or shall I just get straight on with showing some of the things that have been keeping me busy? Well aside from family, work, and general life that is!

Plannig lot's of projects using vintage fabric and bargain yarns:

Rowan Purelife organically grown 100% wool natural plant dyed only £1.50 per skein here but very limited now

Ebay bargain - over 2m of pretty barkcloth fabric

  Sirdar Click aran £1.39 per skein from the same place - love this shop, and it's not too far away for a personal visit either.

Crafting gifts for lovely mama's:

Knitted bamboo facecloth, soapbag, cross stitch trimmed scented sachet, and a trim for the carryall.

Starting on the christmas gifting:

Knitted dolly for Heather with removable clothes, just a couple more outfits to make.

Knitted cardi for Sophie with yet more of the bargain Sirdar Click

Sewing pretty cushions:

Enjoying patchwork and getting to grips with zips too.

Preparing for winter:

Granny stripe blanket 200cms wide, 110 treble clusters, 50cms high, another 130cms to go. And the edging.

Oh yes, I've been a busy crafting mama lately, with lot's more makes all jostling to show themselves off.

Sorry it's only a flying visit but maybe the changing weather will mean more time snuggling inside with the hooks and needles, and lot's more idea's to share.

-x-

Great Granny's.

 

So I said I was working on a little something for Owen? A little something using an old stash of granny squares and lovely yarn? Well I finally finished weaving in the last few ends and decided on the nicest way to join them altogether. 

In fact the hardest part of this whole make was deciding how the squares would fit together and I ended up removing two reds and adding two blues instead. It's a little harder to settle for the right design when limited by using only stash of a particular yarn. For this make I was using only Mirasol T'ika cotton DK and as it is no longer available I only had what was in the stash - 7 skeins of red, 6 of fuchsia, 3 of royal blue and 1 of green.

I wasn't sure that the one green would be enough to complete a border row so I decided to use it to join the squares together instead. When the squares were all joined I needed to think of a way to edge it, and as this is a make for a boy boy I decided on a simple treble crochet border all the way round in alternating stripes of red, blue and fuchsia. I repeated the red and blue once more and was going to add another fuchsia but decided that the blue final row gave just the right contrast and set off the limited blue squares perfectly.

Ideally I would have liked to have another skein of the lime to work the first border row but I didn't and so that was that. I could have done with blocking the squares a little better too but  it's quite a heavy blanket anyway so it will drop into it's own shape soon enough, and Owen was too impatient to wait fr me to do much more with it.

So here we go in all it's glory:

And now back to that in between stage of deciding whether to work my way through the W.I.P.'S, or to work on a little easy finished quick fix, or to start on the next big project......although I haven't decided what that will be yet!

Slowly does it.

At a guess I'm around one sixth of the way through the blanket: 

I think a trip to the LYS is needed as I was clearly way, WAY out on my estimations of how much acrylic DK I had in my stash ;-)

And talking of yarn shops, if you're ever around mid Wales then there's a wonderful little shop in Machynlleth that has such lovely scrummy goodies for the crafty types. I can't remember the name of the shop but it has a lovely selection of Colinette yarns, Brittany needles, peg looms, and felt creations. I could have spent soooo much money in there but I didn't. I have fleece to spin and carders to buy before I can buy anything else remotely yarny. Well apart from the acrylic DK of course!

Off now to see what crafty things you've been up to whilst I've been away.

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-

Blanket.

OK, my brain isn't up to imaginative titles right now ;-)
This is the finished blanket/rug for Heather:


Again a very simple knit, nothing too taxing for the one brain cell that still hangs around in my dusty head. Three strips of knitting on 4mm needles in alternating blocks of colour, then joined together to give the effect of an 18 patch piece. Stitches picked up along the sides first and 12 rows of garter stitched worked to create a border. The same then done along the top and bottom. Then a few scraps used to crochet the little flower embellishment. The wool used was Paton's colour 4 me baby DK in shades 4967, 4987 and 4986, the last two of which appear to have been discontinued which is probably why they were a bargain when I got them. Altogether I used 2 balls of the red, 2 of the peachy pink, and 3 of the dusky pink.
All I need to do now is block it into shape and then attach the fabric I am going to cover the reverse with, just to tidy up any straggly threads and hide the colour change rows. Then it will be all ready for using in the car, or for sitting on when we venture out.

Making things........slowly!

Crafting time has been difficult to find lately. Sophie has been staying here more often, Heather is not settling until late, I have been reading more than usual, and life has just been rushing along. But I do have a few things to show.
First is a chunky sweater for Cain. I have been knitting it in plain stocking stitch as the stitches are so well defined and uniform and I think they look great and need no embellishments or creative stitchery. The pattern is from the top of my head and all guesswork but I think it is coming on nicely. Just the arm to finish and the neck to trim in some way and then it will be done. The colour is great don't you think?



Another thing I have been finding very relaxing is making these little needlefelted balls:


There's something about all that rolling and stabbing that is so therapeutic, especially at the end of a hectic day. Heather especially loves them and has a couple which she loves to pass between hands and follow around the floor. The boys just like to throw them at each other!

Also on the needles is a small blanket which I am making to cover Heather's legs when out in the car. Our car is not the best of its type and the heating is a bit hit and miss so she needs a little something to keep her comfortable. And I can't wrap her in a big outfit as she'd get too hot when I pop her in the sling when we get to where we are going. Hopefully this blanket should do the trick and keep her warm. It's being knitted in Paton's fairytale color 4 me DK which is a pure wool which comes in lots of lovely colours. I chose these three colours as they are so warm.


And finally............I still haven't bought any wool! I'm doing well aren't I? Even John is shocked as I turned down the chance to go to BlackSheepwools craft barn last week. This weekend might be a bit difficult though as John heard about the stitch and craft show in Manchester and asked if I wanted to go............... Must resist the urge to say yes. Besides, it's the Aintree craft and hobby fair in March and I do want to go to that one. Anyone else going to either?
Oh well, that's enough for now. Off to get on with the list on the right.
Happy crafting everyone.
xx

New name same old blog.

So what do you think of the new look? All new and shiny in the hope that I get chance to post a little more often. So why "sat on the back of the sofa"? Well its fairly obvious really. The sofa is much more comfortable than my rocker for all the feeds we are enjoying so that I tend to do my knitting and sewing there too. This means that most of the things I'm working on just get left on the back of the sofa whilst I go off to do other things. Go on admit it, you do the same thing. You're sitting there, enjoying five minutes to yourself, maybe reading a book, sewing or knitting a little, or just watching tv. Then you hear that call. "Mummmmmmmmm". So you throw whatever you were doing or holding behind your head and onto the top of the sofa and there it stays sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours, or if you're family is anything like this one, more likely for days.
So whats at the back of the sofa just now?
Well the title picture just about shows it all. A muslin cloth, not very crafty but necessary for dribbly baby days. A knitting bag containing lots of crochet squares being gathered to create a snuggly blanket as one of Sophies christmas gifts. Do you want a sneak peek at this? Well here you go:


So what do you think? Its beautifully soft and the squares are very quick and simple to make. I'm very pleased with it so far but I'm not sure how long it's going to take to make. Each square is roughly 10cms so I need to make lots and lots. The yarn is an acrylic called playtime which was on offer in Abakhan and should hold up to Sophies handling very well.
Also up there on the back of the sofa is a ball of multi coloured wool ready to knit a hat for Owen, another christmas gift. Then theres a hair scrunchie, essential crafting equipment as without it human hair would be an integral part of all my makes. Oh the joys of post birth, hair loss galore. Then the next thing we find is again unrelated to crafting at all but essential relaxation - a book. Current reading is James Lovelock's The revenge of Gaia, very grim. Then there are a couple of Heathers toys - a crochet sunflower rattle and a knitted snake with rattly tail. And then finally a piece of fabric left over from sewing Helen's new curtains and cushions. I think its going to make a nice little bag for Sophie don't you?
Well must dash now, I hear little squeaks from the snoozing body alongside me. More updates soon.
xx

Snug as a bug.

Why no post for over a week?
Well apart from reaching the final stage of growing a baby, which is taking up most of my time and energy, I have been finishing projects. It's amazing how much you can get done if you ignore the lure of the web, stay away from forums, pretend ebay doesn't exist and most important of all.......do not look at online wool shops!!
So I finished the first pair of socks, and the next, but no pictures, my dearest one has them in the Isle of Man as we speak and has reported back that he has lovely warm feet if nothing else. Apparently it is very cold and wet there and camping would not be his first choice right now ;-) Did not finish the third and final pair so they are now a Fathers day project instead. Or maybe a September birthday........or maybe a Christmas gift....
But I have finished something else. Remember the last post about the Sirdar snuggly for £3. And not knowing what to do with it all. Well this is what it has become:


Now Cain is doing a great job of modelling it but it was Jeni that actually bagsied it and wears it slung around her shoulders through the night and whilst watching TV, sat at the PC etc. I was going to add non slip matting to the bottom and use it as a baby rug for the floor but it just grew and grew and then I couldn't say no to Jen as she was so enchanted with the snuggly softness of it.
The details - well very, very simple. Using 3 balls of taupe yarn together and 9mm needles cast on 40sts and work in garter stitch until 9 balls are almost used up then cast off. Then do the same with the cream, then the same with the rest of the taupe. Then stitch all three pieces together. How easy is that? Total yarn used - 18 taupe and 9 cream. Finished size - approximately 200cms x 100cms. I was originally planning something more square in dimensions but once I realised how snuggly it was I realised one of the family would like it as a wraparound/shawl type creation and so went for length rather than added width.
Right, not a great time to be up and awake but seeing as sleep seems to be limited to only 3 or 4 hours a night at the moment I think I will see what else I can finish off.......

I love........

Very old knitting patterns!
I found this selection today at the car boot sale. Look at the prices on them! I know most of the wool for the patterns no longer exists, and also sounds downright awful - 4 ply bri-nylon, or super crimp nylon DK, mmm, not my first choice of yarns, but with the right yarn and a little tampering there are some lovely clothes to be made from these patterns. The woolworths booklet is especially fab and contains lots of knit and crochet patterns from which I have chosen only a few to share. There was one really nice pattern inside for envelope neck vests which I might try soon but I couldn't bring myself to share the pictures as the baby models were only wearing the vests and nothing else. Truly an age of more innocence - no-one would allow that now.

Another find was a big bag containing balls of snuggly wool, 10 each of brown and white. The bag also contained a knitting pattern, needles and the ready knitted pieces made up from the pattern. All it needed was finishing together. Dear husband actually found this bundle and paid £3 for it. Not sure really whether I actually wanted it but hey, I'm not going to refuse it once he's bought it. I finished off the cardigan and hat from the pieces and discovered the reason the knitter had given up - she had followed the pattern wrongly and followed the same hem shaping for both the left and front pieces which you might spot if you look closely. I don't really like the finished cardigan anyway so it will probably end up in the charity bag. I decided to make a snuggly soft little blanket instead and so have used three balls together with a pair of 9mm needles and garter stitch and will just keep going until the yarn runs out. With needles that size and yarn that thick I don't think it will take too long ;-)