Thank Goodness for Sewing

As this means I have some finished items to show

Since my last sewing post I have made four more dresses for my granddaughter (two of which she didn’t like) and another shirt for my grandson. I also finished the dress I was making for myself which may or may not make an appearance depending on some decent photos being taken. Oh and that also applies to a skirt I made for myself.

I found a dress pattern in One-Yard Wonders and made a dress with Princess Sofia fabric. She loved the fabric but did not like the dress, I’m not surprised it was rather baggy, and she asked me to use the material to make the same dress pattern as the one shown in my May post. Which I obediently did. But it was too late, having not liked the dress the first time round she didn’t like the second iteration. But she did like the dress made with My Little Pony fabric. The Sofia dress was given to a relative.





The third dress I made for her was with Shopkins fabric that she chose herself. This is pre-elasticated at the top and the top and bottom edges are finished. I thought it would be relatively easy to sew a back seam and add straps so that the dress would stay up. Not so fast. When the top part is cut, you have to finish off the ends so that the elastic doesn’t all come out. Also I decided to neaten the bottom edge. And guess what? Even though she chose this fabric and had fun when I took photos with her in it, she does not like the dress as she does not like the green.



So undeterred by these failures we went to Jo-ann and I let her choose a pattern and fabric. I was impressed that she did this, as even as an adult it can be hard to picture a piece of clothing from an artist’s rendition. She chose a pattern with a few styles and fabric to make two of them. I wasn’t sure what size to make even after measuring against a dress she wears but decided too big is better than too small. It is a little big but with careful placement of the straps at the back it is not obviously too big. And the good news is that she loves it. So much so that she wanted to wear it everyday.

Then it was time to make another shirt for my grandson. He chose the fabric and was so excited when he saw it finished. In fact he was so excited he wore both shirts to school! I decided to add buttonholes to this one – the dinosaur one has snaps – the good thing about that is that my machine played up so much it was the final kick I needed to go out and get a new machine. But the bad thing was that when he took the shirt off he pulled like with snaps and I just managed to stop him before all the buttons came off.

Where Are The WIPs?

The last post showed finished items but we all know I have many projects still in progress. My last post of the Twelve Days of Christmas showed all my projects at that date. Since then I have started five projects (and finished two), completed two blanket squares and started three hats for charity (finishing one). Of the projects on the needles (hook) as at 6 January, two are finished, one was frogged and restarted with a different pattern and two will be frogged when I am ready to use the yarn.

So…. how many projects do I really have on the go? Yikes having just counted them on Ravelry I’m not sure I’m ready to admit that number. Should I tell you the total before the excuses why certain projects don’t count or should I deduct those first? Whispers. Eleven. Ack how did that happen? In June I had one charity project on the go now I have two. But, seriously, how did six become eleven? Firstly, let’s get the number down to a real number. I can deduct the two projects I am going to frog as I am not going to use the yarn until some more projects have been finished; also deduct the two charity hats because they have really become long car journey knitting; and deduct the mitred square blanket as that is appointment knitting.

Five from eleven becomes six. Is six my magic number? One of those six was on the needles at the beginning of the year and one was on the needles but a different pattern. I would like to finish both of those by the end of this year.

When I came back from vacation my Changes shawl became my main project. But I hit a snag, literally. One of my needles developed a split. As I am more than half-way through, I want to continue with the same make needle so a trip to a store has to be planned. (Although there a couple of yarn stores less than a half-hour drive I do not pass either of them in my usual day; add in that they are not open 7-days and you can see why a trip has to be planned.) Until I can get that situation resolved, Snow Day shawl has become my main project. I mentioned this project when I returned from my trip to the UK. I love the yarn and am now on the second skein of each colour.

Four projects hiding in these bags.



From left to right first is the Changes shawl.


Then the Snow Day shawl which I had to move into this bag when I started the second skeins of yarn.


Then the Nexus shawl which had all the love when I was on vacation but now has to wait for one or two things to be finished.


Lastly is my gradient yarn. I don't know when I last worked on it. It probably was relegated when I started the Changes shawl but I was surprised as to how much I had done.

Finished Items

At last I have something to show. The last post with a completed knitted item was in April. And it’s not as if I’ve been piling up objects to show you. By the middle of last year I had completed 16 items. Admittedly many of those were hats and baby items, but even so half-way through this year I am at 5 items. It has made a difference starting the year with nothing on the needles (except what I started at the end of December) so there were no nearly finished projects to boost the stats and there was the nearly finished project that I completely frogged. Add to that I have been making larger items with more than one skein of yarn.

Here are the two hats that I mentioned in my last post. Both crocheted and will be sent to Operation Gratitude towards the end of the year.



The pattern for the top hat is Dream Weaver Beanie, free pattern available on Ravelry. The grey and dark green yarns are Bernat Softee Chunky and the other two colours are Charisma by Loops and Threads. They are all yarns left over from hats I made in previous years. With the small amount of yarn left over I started another hat with the same pattern. I have to go through my stash to see what I have left over that will finish that hat.

The bottom hat is the one I started and finished in the car. It is a simple Granny stitch type pattern that is free on Ravelry but I was given on the San Diego Yarn Crawl. The purple yarn is Vanna’s Choice and I used that for just the increase section then I changed to Red Heart Soft. I worked until I liked the length and then worked the final round which is in single crochet. I’m sure everyone heard my whoop of delight as I finished that round as I had just enough yarn to darn in the end. Another skein out of my stash.

The final finished project to show you is the mystery shawl knit along started on 27 April. There was no official deadline for this KAL and no prizes but I did finish it within a couple of weeks of the last clue being released. This KAL was different from others in which I have participated as the designer was not a presence on the discussion boards and had not appointed any moderators to take on that role. Although this did not cause any problems there was one aspect where it felt like the designer abandoned the knitters. The pattern was free during the KAL and stated that it would become a paid for pattern when the KAL ended. They also gave two to three days notice before the pattern became a paid for pattern. I had no problem with this as I had kept up and downloaded all the clues but many participants did not and expected the updates in their library to work at any time. But they found that once the pattern became paid the updates didn’t work. But the designer has disappeared from Ravelry and has not answered any questions about this. To make matters worse they referenced stupid people on the edit page.

Anyway now I’ve had my little moan about the designer, here’s the details on my project. The pattern called for two full skeins of sock yarn and two half or 50g skeins. (OK another moan. The pattern stated weight required and not yardage although this could be found if you searched the Ravelry group. Many people ran out of one of the colours even if they had started with the correct amount. The designer did not answer any questions about this.) I used two skeins I had purchased at Vista Fiber Fiesta last year, some yarn I had been given after a small amount had been used and some left over yarn.



But I did not use up any of the four, so no skeins out.

Vacation Knitting and Yarn Stores

For a while I have started a new project when I have gone on vacation. It’s fun to start something new when being away from home.

A couple of weeks ago, preparing for vacation, I was faced with the decision of what knitting to take. I have so many projects on the go I couldn’t even think about a new project. Really, I had no inclination to start anything new so I grabbed a couple of project bags. I worked on my Nexus shawl and got as far as the border. Which is what I was aiming for. The border is knitted sideways and I will prefer working on it at home. Now I’m home I am back working on my Changes Shawl. I had decided not to take it on vacation because of all the different skeins. Having completed half of it I am really looking forward to the finished item.

For the driving part of the trip, I finished the hat I started way back in October. I also started and finished another hat and started a third hat. These were all hats I was crocheting for charity. I haven’t made anything for charity for a while and it seems that long car journeys are a good time to make a few things.

When I am away I do not make a point of visiting yarn stores but if I happen to see one I will pop in. I visited three this trip and drove past a fourth but decided not to stop.

All the stores were interesting in the way they greeted me. The first place, someone was sitting behind a big counter in the middle of the store; she acknowledged my presence but that was it. People who came in after me were treated the same way. Even one person who was obviously seriously buying yarn. This attitude did put me off and I did not buy any yarn.

The other two stores were similar in that they greeted me and said to let them know if they could help. And no other interaction. To be fair one owner was helping someone with their knitting. These stores didn’t have anything I couldn’t buy at home so nothing was purchased. It seems to me that customers complain about too much attention or not enough. I have thought what greeting I would like. Something along the lines of “have you been here before, let me show you what we have”, and then leave me to look.

I was disappointed in what the stores stocked. I know they have to cater for their regular customers but there was not anything different from what I see at home. They did have one locally produced and dyed yarn. Unfortunately it contained mohair to which I am allergic.

There’s Been Sewing

Actually there’s been knitting too I just don’t have anything finished to show. I have been keeping up with the mystery I showed you last time. As the rows have been getting shorter I even finished Clue 4 early and picked up the Changes Shawl to work on. I have one more Clue of the mystery so a finished object soon.

In the meantime I am sure you are not going to complain about sewn items. Firstly May’s square. A quick little number. I cut out the shapes the day before I sewed them, which was quick and it was quick to sew them together the next day. All fabric was from stash.

Then I decided to sew a dress for my granddaughter from fabric leftover from a dress I was making for myself. Note the tense of that verb to make. Yes it isn’t finished and my granddaughter got a dress first. Remember I said that I had got a free sewing class on Craftsy. The class showed you how to make a bag and a dress. The pattern for the bag was downloaded as part of the class but the pattern for the dress was a manufacturer’s pattern that was mailed to the participants.

After I cut out the dress pattern I was surprised at how much fabric was left over and realized that I had purchased the yardage requirement for narrower fabric. So when I was about half-way through my dress I decided to use the leftover fabric to make a child’s dress as there was a free pattern on CreativeBug. It wasn’t a hard pattern, although I wasn’t too impressed by the class, and there was a surprise waiting for her at the end of the day.

Having made a dress, her brother now needed something and I found a pattern for a shirt in One-Yard Wonders. I got this book from the library and none of the patterns had been cut so I purchased some Pellon Easy Pattern to trace the pattern and, therefore, leave it intact for the next person. I also took the grandchildren shopping so they could choose their own fabric and, no surprise, dinosaurs were chosen.

I couldn’t get him to stand still for a decent photo so a hanger photo will have to suffice.

Another Cast On

After writing about the ideal number of projects on the go it appears that that is just pie-in-the-sky and the actual ideal number is whatever it is on that day. I have found that regardless of how many unfinished projects I have, I tend to work on just one and have an easy one as my take along project

I was quite happily working on the Changes Shawl, when I had a desire to knit a mystery. I don’t know what prompted this. I still have on the needles the mystery that I started in August that was not a good experience. Prior to that, my last mystery was in 2016. I used to participate in sock mysteries all the time but I think I got rather bored with that.

The mystery I am now working on I had seen before the LA Yarn Crawl but had not seriously considered at the time. Which is a good thing as it has been designed by and is being run by people from the first yarn store we visited. If I had known that I’m sure I would have bought yarn specifically for the project. As it is I am using entirely stash yarn. Two skeins that I had bought at last year’s Vista Fiber Fiesta, a skein of yarn that I was given after someone had knit something small from it and some left overs.

I am enjoying it so far. I have managed to keep up to date, having completed Clue 1 and working through Clue 2.

Second Square

In January I posted a photo of my first square in my mitred square/log cabin blanket. I have now finished my second square. I do not know how long it took to complete so from now on I am making a note of the start and finish date of each block.

This is an orange/yellow block. They are the colours of which I have the least variety but I do have plenty of yarn. So I am likely to end up with the squares looking very similar.

I am only working on these when I am at appointments and need something simple to work on that can be stopped and stuffed into a bag at a moment's notice.

A Woolly Weekend

Last weekend there were a couple of events going on that I was able to participate in. Saturday was LYS (Local Yarn Store) Day and the LA Yarn Crawl was held from Thursday to Sunday.

On Saturday I visited four of the San Diego Stores with one knitting friend and on Sunday I went up to LA with another knitting friend and managed to visit six stores. Phew, lots of driving and yarn fondling and some yarnie goodies came home with me.

This is a photo of everything I got.

Four different skeins of yarn, a mini set and some row counters. From top left, the first skein is to go with yarn I purchased on last year’s yarn crawl. I have been having trouble finishing a project with the yarn I already have, so finally decided to buy more, frog, once again, and knit a simple child’s cardigan.
Next to it is the colour of the month from Candy Skein. I had been eyeing this on Instagram but didn’t order it. When we decided to do LYS Day I knew there was a good chance that I would purchase it. It is beautiful and I am mulling over what it will become and if I will pair it with contrasting or matching colours.

The next two skeins were purchased at The Knitting Tree, LA. The first stop on our LA Yarn Crawl. It was an amazing shop with many yarns that I had heard of but not seen. As it was the first stop on our crawl I only came out with two skeins. I could have purchased much more and would like to return there.

If possible I like to purchase stitch markers as a souvenir but I didn’t see any that stood out to me but in one store I saw some fun row counters. I never seem to have enough row counters although I am sure I have more than I have projects.

The last purchase was the set of mini skeins seen at the front of the photo. They are 1-ounce skeins of a silk/merino blend. And I think they will make a subtle gradient.

All-in-all I had a fun weekend with friends and just a little bit of stash enhancement.

From Discount Store to Haute Couture

Well not really but I am pleased with what I did with a skirt purchased at T J Maxx or Marshalls that was destined for Goodwill.

Sometime last year I bought a long skirt; I like and wear long skirts. I must have tried it on at home and liked it but whenever I decided to wear it, it just didn’t look right so I wore something else. The only time I wore it was when I needed to dress nicely for a dinner but I wanted to hide the boots I was wearing to support my foot. Thus it was destined to be given away.

But I hate to give away something I buy but don’t wear. And I thought “what would happen if you made this shorter? You make clothes, so why not amend them?" And that is what I did. I laid a skirt of similar style on top to get the length, cut and hemmed. The hemming was a bit tricky as I was sewing lace. Also the lining needed to be hemmed. I could have done a better job but I now have a skirt that I will wear.

Before



After

Stash Enhancement

Although is it stash enhancement if you cast on straight away? Before this pattern was released I knew I wanted to make it and the dyer that the designer had used for her pattern created sets to knit the shawl.

I was really deliberating about the yarn. I knew I wanted a light colour for the centre square and I knew I needed to buy, at least, mini skeins. After much thought, looking at my stash and cost calculation I ordered one of the sets and added another skein of yarn for the centre. The yarn arrived last Sunday and I cast on that evening. The light colour is for the middle and the other colours are the set created by Primrose Yarns. I will use the grey when working with the colours. I know this will result in extra yarn left over but it is what I wanted. The difficulty is recording how many skeins in. I got 10 mini skeins in the set; which is equivalent to two full skeins so do I record that as 2 or 10? For the moment I have noted them as 10.

And this is the centre part finished.

April Showers

That is the name of April’s block which I completed this week. This block included a new to me technique – templates from freezer paper. Also I had not sewn concave and convex shapes together before. The instructions were straight forward on how to sew them.

I did buy some fabric for this block. When I was buying the fat quarters for last month’s block, I noticed some fabric and thought it would be perfect for the back ground of April showers. The other two fabrics were in my stash.

Something Else Finished in March

I finished Verdon. and I love it. It is big but just what is needed in Southern California where you don't need a coat all the time. And four skeins of yarn are out of my stash. I played serious yarn chicken - I used up all of the red, and had 40 inches left of the grey, 50 inches left of the white and 1 gram left of the pink.

I did not want to soak this as I was worried that the red would bleed but it definitely needed a block. As you can see in this in-progress picture the short rows are bunching.

I laid it out as flat and as rectangular as possible and then laid a wet towel on top. I left it like this overnight and took the towel off in the morning so that the project could dry. Perfect. All the kinks had gone and I was left with a lovely project. I hope you agree.

A Finished Object and an Unfinished Object

At last the promised finished item. But first, what is unfinished?

Last weekend I completely frogged my new year project. The yarn was a gradient and I carefully (or so I thought) chose a pattern that would not only look good in a gradient yarn but would also use up most of the yarn. After all that is the point of a gradient. The pattern I chose said yardage requirement 822 yards of laceweight; I have 870 yards. But I got to the bind off and still had third of the skein left. I debated a long time about adding rows in different pattern; looking through my pattern books multiple times but I decided that would take away from the pattern. I also did not want to lose 1/3 skein of gradient so frogging happened. Which was really unenjoyable as the yarn has a halo and is not easy to undo.

I do like this pattern and will make it again when I find the right yarn - drapey but not a gradient.

Once the yarn was back into a ball I cast on a new project - Fruit Cocktail. It seems that this is more easily adaptable - I hope so.

And now for the finished item. I was so excited that I actually finished something. It is amazing that I have got to March before finishing anything. Although an unexpected trip to the UK meant I didn't finish anything in February.

I have already shown the yarn which is sooo pretty. And this is what it became.

It is so light and beautiful and I love it. And it's finished even if I didn't quite finish it in February.


You can see the first Starshower I made here. I like that one too.

Where’s the Knitting?

Last time I said a project was blocking and another was close to being finished. So why is this another sewing post? Because I made the block before completely finishing the project that was blocking. Yes I sewed before sewing in ends and a project is not finished until it is blocked and all ends sewn in. (Yes all two of them.)

In February I talked about a block-a-month. As I had been away I could not make March’s right at the beginning of the month but I made it the first free day I got so that I did not fall behind. Although I would like to use stash as much as possible, I bought two fat quarters for this square – for the background and the green stems. This block was labelled as foundation paper piecing which I had not done before and I thought was rather fun. There were a couple of mistakes in the instructions. One was minor; it said to cut one stem although you needed two; but the other was to trim the squares to their post-seaming size not pre-seaming. As all these blocks are going to be different sizes, it wouldn’t have mattered but the other pieces of background had been cut to the bigger size.

I’m enjoying making these blocks each month. OK I know I have only made two. Knitting content will happen next post but in the meantime I have set up a new account with KnitMeter so that I can show off record how much I have made.

What Happened To February?

I should have finished projects but nothing to show – yet – I am soo close. Verdon and my New Year’s cast on would have been finished but I had an unexpected trip to the UK. I decided rather than take nearly finished objects and new yarn I would just take new yarn.

But which yarn and which projects? I had been given some beautiful pink variegated yarn which I had already decided would make a beautiful Starshower.



I considered changing the lace pattern but decided a trip was not the time for changing patterns. I started it on the flight and finished it on 2 March so even if it had not needed to be blocked it still wouldn’t have been a February finisher. But it is blocking as I write this so I have a finished knitted item this year. Yay.

The other yarn I took was yarn I bought a year ago. At the time I did not have a pattern in mind but when I saw this pattern I decided it was perfect for my yarn. I bought another skein of the grey on the Yarn Crawl and my plan is to work the pattern until I run out of yarn.

Now I am back from my trip, what project should I work on? (I don’t even want to think how many I have on the go.)Although it is tempting to continue working on my new cast on I am close to finishing Verdon as I am on the decrease rows so that is what I worked on this morning when I was awake too early thanks to jet lag. Can I have it finished by the end of the weekend?

On the plus side, despite no finished projects, February was a good month for stash reduction. I sold three balls of yarn and gave one to a friend and received a skein of yarn. So stash is down.

And Still No Knitting

I have been knitting but I don’t have any finished projects. I have been working two rows per day on my New Year’s Day cast on (OK sometimes I have to play catch up at the weekends) but I already know I am going to add more rows to use up all the yarn so it won’t be finished this month.

Sewing to the rescue again.

I have wanted to participate in a block-a-month quilt. But they have always cost more than I can justify spending. Last time I was in Jo-Ann, I noticed one of the quilting magazines included a 2018 planner with a block design for each month. Bingo! As it was near the end of January when I purchased the magazine, I waited until February to make the first block. January's will be made next year. This is not a problem as there will be quite a bit of finishing to turn the finished blocks into a quilt so I am not aiming to finish it this year.

February was not a hard block to make and I was able to use all scraps. My intention is to use scraps as much as possible but I do not want adjoining blocks to have the same fabric so there will be a little bit of purchasing going on.

First Two of 2018

And they are both sewing projects. And the first one is almost a cheat as all that was required for finishing was cutting threads and sewing down a sleeve on the back.

It’s a slightly delayed Christmas project. Although it depends on definition of slightly. It's a project I started last year so not too long from start to finish; but the pattern and fabric were purchased many years ago, so a long delay between purchase and finish.



This was not hard but did require care.

The second sewing project is a bag. Yes I know - another bag. But there truly is a good reason for this. I was given a code for a free class on Craftsy and this included the Start Up Library. I chose the Sewing Class. Although I know how to sew, I thought it would be an opportunity to learn different or better techniques. The class covers two projects, one being a bag, and if I was going to do this class properly I was going to make the bag. I used tracing paper for the first time and added darts which I haven't made for a long time and finished seams with a zigzag stitch again something I haven't done for a while.

I have thought it would be fun to have a bag with a Christmas theme so that was the fabric I purchased.



There won't be any finished knitting projects for a while. Verdon is big and I'm not quite half-way through. I have been working two rows per day on my New Year's Cast on. So if I keep that up it won't be finished until the middle of next month. If I could muster some enthusiasm for crochet I could pick up those projects and finish them. I should set up a reminder as I could have a finished project for this month if I worked on the hat.

I Jumped On That Bandwagon

A knitting bandwagon that is. I have made four of the five patterns on Ravelry with the most projects. I have no plans to make it five out of five but I have started another popular pattern. It doesn’t show up in the most popular as there are many variations – free and for purchase. I have started a mitred square blanket, also known as a sock yarn blanket or cozy memories blanket. I find it interesting that with so many variations out there, people are still publishing patterns for purchase. I’m not saying they shouldn’t charge for their patterns, just that I cannot see the need for more of this particular design.

I have not wanted to make a blanket with my left overs as either you have to sew a lot of squares together or you are working on a large blanket. I think that is why many people are gung-ho at the start when there are few squares but give up when you are picking up stitches on a heavy blanket. But I do have many leftovers from all the socks I have knitted. And there are many socks made before I started blogging and Ravelry only has projects from when I joined not older projects.

What to do with unused yarn? When there are so many sock patterns and I had so much yarn, why use remains to knit socks? Although one month I did join the challenge of making socks from left overs and I do wear the socks.
(And weird aside, I noticed in that post I used the expression gung-ho. I didn’t know I used it that much in writing but obviously when I talk about left over yarn.)

I make notes about ideas for my crafting. This may be things I would like to make on vacation or ideas for the next year. At some point I had written “Knit Wrap minis one a month/week”. I have no idea what “knit wrap minis” means. Had I seen a pattern for a wrap that used mini skeins? Anyway, I took that as a nudge to do something with my partial skeins of yarn. I had written that note a while before I started the Advent wrap, where I used 13 partial skeins but not completely used up any of them. So I needed a big project to make a dent in my leftovers. But I didn’t want to knit or crochet a big blanket. Let’s make it clear, I have nothing against the big blankets people are knitting or crocheting, I just don’t want to make one. But I do want to use my scraps.

On a podcast a presenter had made a combination mitred square/log cabin blanket. She had made blocks of mitred squares, edged them as a log cabin blanket and then sewn them together to make a blanket. As I want my blanket to be at least double-bed size so that it is usable this method will be easy to work and only become unwieldy when I sew the squares together. I just had to decide two things, how big to make each individual square and if there was going to be any thought to which yarns I used. Oh and which method for the center decreases.

I grouped my yarns by colour and will work squares based on a colour/shade. I wanted squares to be approx 4 inches and calculated how many stitches to cast on. I looked at various patterns and chose the knit 2 together and SSK decreases. I also started out with a knitted cast on as written in one pattern but have changed that to a cable cast on. The other thing I calculated was how much I would have to knit to have enough blocks for a blanket by the end of the year. I estimated that I would need to knit a block of nine squares every week. Having completed the first block, I am not going to keep that pace as I found that my other knitting is being neglected. So I won’t have a finished blanket by the end of the year but by the end of 2019?

On The Twelfth Day of Christmas

There were projects.

Initially I was just going to show the project I started on Boxing Day. As I had knit an Advent project – started on 1 December and finished on Christmas Day - I thought it would be fun to start a project on 26 December and knit for Epiphany. Of course, it would have made sense to choose a project that I had a chance of finishing in 12 days and not to start another project on the first of the year. But I did neither, choosing a project that uses four full skeins of fingering weight yarn and as already reported a new project was started on New Year’s Day. But, as with the Advent project, it has been enjoyable working on just the one project.

With the new cast on, I have six projects on the go. Here they are, saying choose me.



And look four are in my own-made project bags.

The bag on the left contains my epiphany cast on.



The pattern is Verdon. It looks a bit strange at this stage but will end up as a rectangle. The first set of garter stitch stripes are from the ArtFil yarn I bought on the Yarn Crawl, the dark magenta is Caper Sock by String Theory which was a gift and the grey is Iachos by A Hundred Ravens which I bought especially to go with the three colours to make Verdon. This is the project that I was working on exclusively until the start of the year and is still my main project.

Working from back to front, the back bag contains Nexus.



I really liked the variegated yarn but did not know what to make with it. When I saw the Nexus pattern I knew that was it, but I needed solid yarn, which I purchased on the Yarn Crawl. This project is now on the back burner until I finish Verdon.

The next bag is a new bag that I was given for Christmas. It contains my new year cast on. Not much to see here.



I started on a long cable so that I didn’t have to change during the project but it is a bit annoying at this stage. If I can work two rows per day it will be finished in less than two months and I can still work on Verdon Of course that becomes a very big IF as the rows get longer.

Next there is a crochet project. Again with yarn I bought on the Yarn Crawl – the baby yarn. It was purchased with a specific pattern in mind, a baby cardigan, which was abandoned after working one front. As it was supposed to be a gift I quickly started another project but then I wasn’t sure if I’d finish it in time for Christmas so it was forsaken for projects that I had a chance of finishing. I think this will have to be a charity project as postage is so much to the UK.



The next bag is another crochet project. This is a hat for charity that I chose not to rush to finish . It is a new pattern to me - Dream Weaver Beanie. It is written for bulky yarn and I am using up partial skeins. Of course I would be further along if I hadn’t run out of yarn while I was out.



The front bag contains the shawl I started for a mystery knit along. I got to the end of Clue 3 and then stopped. I didn’t know if I wanted to continue with this project but clue 3 was a lot of work and I didn’t want to pull it out. I’m glad I let it sit for a while as I do want to continue with it but I'm not sure when I will pick it up again I have so many plans for yarn in my stash; maybe this is my new never ending project.

On The Eleventh Day of Christmas

My plans went awry.

I had these 12 days nicely planned out and then I added something which meant combining other ideas which left me with a day without plans. In my notes I have written frogged. But I have no idea what I was telling myself – write about the last project I frogged, the projects I frogged this year, all the projects I’ve ever frogged, the projects I might frog? So many possibilities and still the brain is blank.

Looking at the list of possibilities, the last project I frogged was this which was third time the charm but I had already written about it so why would I want to write about it again?

I undid six projects this year. Two of them being the aforementioned shawl, two are also attempts at using the same yarn which did eventually become something else, one is the sock I started, and the last is a crochet project which I restarted as another project.

Since joining Ravelry I have frogged 34 projects. Although the number is actually higher than this because I do not make a project page until I am a few rows in and I know there have been a few projects that have been redone after a few rows. Mostly socks – just consider it a gauge swatch. Looking at those projects there are only two yarns that have not been used in new projects.

And as for projects I might frog. Was this really what my notes were indicating? I know I was considering frogging the (no longer) mystery shawl but I do like what I have done so far and I put a lot of work into it that I don’t want to pull out. So it is still a project.

So sorry about this post and the multiple uses of the verb to frog. But I think I covered all the bases.

On The Tenth Day of Christmas

More presents.

Having made gifts for my nieces and one’s boyfriend, I was on a roll to make more presents. When I was putting away new yarn, I came across yarn left over from the last hat shown in this post.
And knew it was ideal for another hat. As it is colourful and variegated, most patterns would not show but I did not want to knit a plain stocking stitch hat. I had already downloaded a free pattern that was simple stocking stitch interspersed with rows of garter stitch. (Although as this is knit in the round, rows of knit with a row of purl.)

I think you will agree that the yarn and pattern work well together. I worked the brim of the hat in the yarn left over from boyfriend’s hat for two reasons.:- I was not certain I had enough of the yarn to make a complete hat and as this is the part that goes next to the face I thought a plain colour would work best.



This hat was for my brother-in-law so I decided my sister needed a hat too. (These are not the parents of my nieces.) I had been given one skein of Anzula Cricket in a dark blue. This yarn is a merino/nylon/cashmere mix, lovely and soft and ideal for a pattern. Thanks to the joys of Ravelry I was able to search what others had made with this yarn and I opted for Beeswax Hat.
I don’t have a very good photo of it.

On The Ninth Day of Christmas

There were some Christmas presents.

Last year I made my niece and her boyfriend a hat each. This year I made them gloves. I was very organized and made them in the middle of the year. Because of this I was able to send them back with my sister when she visited so saved on postage.

I have already shown the first present I made way back in April, but here is a picture of it.



I made the hat as part of a KAL and having one completed gift (this for my other niece) is what I think prompted me to start some more; I’m glad I did because I made a few presents without any stress.

For my niece’s boyfriend I decided to use the same yarn as for his hat but I only had one full ball left. I didn’t think that would be enough but it was discontinued so I found someone selling it on Ravelry. I only needed one ball but she added in an extra ball for just a little extra. I now had three balls of yarn and I used not quite one and half. The pattern is Garter Stitch Mitts a pattern I have made before that I thought would be ideal as it is a stretchy pattern.



So having made something for her boyfriend it was time for my niece. At 2016’s Vista Fiber Fiesta I purchased two skeins of Candy Skein’s colour of the month – Poison Apple. The plan, which I achieved, was to knit a hat with the worsted weight, but there was no plan for the fingering weight. Having made matching gloves for her boyfriend I decided to use the fingering yarn to make gloves for her. The pattern is Podster Gloves.

And I love how they turned out in this yarn.

On The Eighth Day of Christmas

Having mentioned charity knitting in previous Christmas Tide posts, now is the time to show the last hat that I made as it never got its own post although the start was shown in the August post of all the projects.

The pattern is Better Late Than Never Beanies and is the same as the one for the hat shown in this post. It is an easy pattern but the different colours provide some interest.



I sent 5 hats in total to Operation Gratitude. I could have waited until I had finished the hat that I was working on but decided not to put myself under that pressure.

On The First Day of The Year

It’s a new day, a new year and I would like to start a new project. I want to cast on with some luxurious yarn I bought at Vista Fiber Fiesta in October. Which I never showed on here. It seems that I am not very good at showing the yarns I buy at Vista.

The yarn is from Knitters Brewing Company a local dyer that I have never used before. A few days ago I said that I liked gradient yarns to be in a big enough skein to make something useful. This yarn is 870 yards so I will get a nice sized shawl out of it; added bonus the yarn is already wound.



I don’t know why I want to start a new project for the new year as I have five projects already on the needles. But I really want to start this yarn so I waited for 1 January as a sort of special occasion.

(Of the five projects on the go, two are take along projects and one is the annoying KAL. The two remaining projects plus this new one (if I cast it on) use yarn from either the yarn crawl or Vista Fiber Fiesta and my aim is to use all the yarn bought at those events before the end of the year.)