Another One

This shawl I knitted from my own handspun yarn and isn’t the last of my finished objects for the WIP challenge.

A while ago (three/four years?) I decided I wanted to spin. I didn’t want to learn how to spin on a wheel as I knew that was very likely to be a slippery slope to having even more yarn that I don’t have time to use. Many years ago when we were still living in Calgary I took a class on learning how to spin on a drop spindle. There were only two sessions and I didn’t practice so nothing happened after the two weeks but I remember enjoying it. So when this urge came on me to spin I gave drop spindle spinning another go but I needed supplies. I had no idea what fiber to purchase. I found a website that supplied beginners packs of fiber and did a little research on good spindles. Although I would have liked something pretty I did not want to spend a lot of money on something that might be used twice only but I did want one that was well made.

I purchased a Kundert spindle and a pack of three different types of fiber from Spunky Eclectic and was ready. The suggestions are to spin for 30 minutes a day to build skill and I could achieve this at first but then life got in the way (Grandchildren moved in) and I was lucky to get any spinning done. I plied the natural yarn and chain plied the coloured yarn, which was fun. Because there were big gaps between my spinning sessions each time was like the first time and I ended up with thick/thin yarn. Nevertheless I wanted to use it and found a simple pattern that I could stop when I ran out of yarn After I started I found another pattern that I could use the border.





Although yellow is not one of my favourite colours, I am pleased with the end result and it will be nice for wearing around the house. I wish I had thought about the yarns more before starting as the rougher yarn is at the neck. A good lesson for next time. The natural yarns are New Zealand Blend Roving and Corriedale Combed Top and the yellow yarn is Combed Top BFL.




And then having spun and plyed my first yarn, I HAD to buy more fiber to continue to practice. Once again I was stuck with “I don’t know what to buy”. There are names of dyers that are mentioned quite often on Ravelry so I purchased from a Raveler’s stash.

Not My Oldest Project

Today’s finished item is a project that I started on 1 December last year, although this was the same day as the Advent Knit Along as that started small I needed something else to work on.I loved the yarn and the pattern which is why it got set aside for an Epiphany cast on. I know, does not make any sense although that project was suited to the time of year and did get finished.

Once a project is set aside it is easy for it to remain that way. But I took it on vacation in June and got as far as the border. The border is knit sideways, not hard, but not really something you can do while doing other things. So with my new found enthusiasm for finishing things, this project was picked up and finished. It took about a week to work the border, less than I was expecting and not too long that I got bored.

Now a little bit about the yarn and pattern. The variegated yarn I got in 2015 as part of a yarn club. I loved it and did not want it to become socks but had no pattern in mind. Then in the summer of 2017 I saw this pattern and knew it would be perfect for my yarn, if only I had a solid to go with it!

This was solved at the 2017 San Diego Yarn Crawl when I purchased Sweet Georgia Superwash Sport in the Wisteria colourway.

A Week Later

Another finished project with a story. Earlier this year a friend visited New Zealand and for my birthday gave me a ball of New Zealand wool.



It would have made lovely gloves or hat but they're not something I would use much where I live, so the search was on for the right project. I found a shallow garter stitch shawl with a lace edging and from the pattern notes it would appear that I had enough yarn wool for the garter stitch part. I found a similar weight yarn for the lace part in my stash, left over from another project and also small amounts of yarn for the cast on and off.

I did not have enough contrast yarn to complete all the lace section, so just stopped when it ran out. And then I used only half of the skein of New Zealand wool. Oh well. I love the finished project.

First Finished Object

After joining the WIP KAL on Ravelry, which fitted in very nicely with my goal of no new cast ons until 1 December, I was going to post all my finished objects in one post. However, there is a bit of a story behind each project, so it is likely each will have its own post.

The yarn used in this project is Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply. She is a very popular dyer that I have not seen locally but I purchased some DK weight when I was in Washington D.C. and knit the second shawl shown here.

At the end of the year Miss Babs has a sale, it is a good one and they make sets of yarn at a good price. I decided to purchase a set of three, possibly to make Lilli Pilli. I purchased what I thought was a set of blues and was very surprised when this arrived.



These are just not colours I would have purchased, I was sure that there was a mistake but the labels showed the colour names as what I had ordered. But whereas I was expecting a teal and a black, I received an emerald green and a brown. I was just going to sell the set but decided to write to Miss Babs and say I was disappointed. They came back with the usual jargon of monitors differ etc. etc. But the next day they contacted me and said they had looked at their website and agreed that one of the colours did not match what was sent and would I like my money back or to choose another set. As my original intent was to have yarn I opted for a replacement. This did put me in a quandary though as I had learned that Miss Babs colours did not show true and I did not want to end up in the same position – being disappointed with what I got. So, rather than picking something I absolutely loved, I chose a set that I wouldn’t hate if the colours were different than I expected. With the benefit of hindsight I should have just picked my favourite and been prepared for disappointment.

This is what I got.




And it had to sit in my stash until I found the right pattern. Which happened to be this one – Suburban Wrap by Joji Locatelli. I decided it would be a good cast on for vacation and definitely when I saw Joji was holding a KAL and her patterns were on sale. I swatched to see what order I wanted the colours and also for needle size. I went down two needle sizes so my wrap is much smaller than the pattern. I did not really enjoy this knit – was it the yarn, the pattern, both? It was OK for vacation knitting but I think this will now go in my gift pile.



The funny thing though, this is the left over yarn that I want to turn into socks.

Sewing Too

After making the decision to work only on WIPs until 1 December, I decided to apply this to sewing projects as well. Although, really, I don’t have sewing WIPs I just have the one that I should finish before starting anything else.

The languishing sewing WIP is a quilt which was my only sewing project at the beginning of the year until I hit a snag. And then it was side lined for all the garments. I purchased all the fabric for this quilt at the same time, including the backing. But when I finished the quilt top and compared the amount of backing with the top I did not have enough backing fabric. I checked what I had purchased against the pattern and I had bought the correct amount but the pattern had not taken into account that you needed two widths of the fabric. I was disappointed as I had specifically purchased the backing fabric at the same time as the main quilt fabric as it was the same style and so I had everything to make the quilt. I now had to decide if I wanted completely different material for the backing or if I wanted to piece the fabric I had with another fabric. Whatever choice I made I had to go shopping. I bought something quite different but coordinating to use as a centre panel with my original choice as the side panels.

By choosing to work on WIPs I finally sewed the two fabrics together and this weekend I trimmed then and sandwiched the quilt.

Here it is all pinned and waiting for me to quilt on my new machine.

Wrangling the WIPs

About three months ago I was justifying the number of projects I have on the go. Despite finishing two of the projects mentioned in that post, I still have too many projects in progress. I started a new project on vacation which coincided with a knitalong and I am thinking of doing an advent knitalong again this year. Soooo between now and 1 December I am going to work on existing projects – no new cast ons. Although I am already prepared to break that rule as I was contemplating casting on socks (yes, socks) so that I have an easy project.

Also, my projects, my rules. Not included in the WIP count are the charity projects, blanket squares and the two projects that still need to be frogged. I have two projects that are close to being finished. In fact it would be nice to complete them this month and there is a good chance I could complete another in November. That leaves two projects. They are not very far along so I am not likely to finish them before December but they will get worked on before 1 December if I have finished other things. Then next time I have a WIP round up I can be surprised at how far along I am!

A Hat

I know, I don’t post for nearly a month and all I have to show is a hat. I did finish my Changes shawl but, as usual, no photos.

The hat I finished was a simple crochet hat that I started in June. I got it out as I had a long car journey coming up and noticed that I only had half a row to go to finish the hat. I did that and started a new hat in the car. I now have three charity hats in progress.

I finally made myself take a photo of the hat



and before I had a chance to put it away it was snatched up.

Bags, Bags, Bags

A few posts ago I wrote that I wanted to use all the fabric I have recently purchased. This has resulted in more bags. Although some I made specifically for gifts.

When I went to England earlier this year, I purchased some ribbon. It was printed with the Union Flag and I thought it would be fun to make some bags for friends with it. I decided to make pyramid bags which meant the purchase of three zippers and then another gap before I got around to making the bags. (And even then I forgot to take them with me last time I saw my two friends together.)

When I did sit down to sew the bags I could not remember why I had chosen that particular length of zipper so just made the bags to fit the zips. Now I’m wondering if that was the shortest length in the colour I wanted and I planned to cut them. No big deal as this way I used all the ribbon. I cut out interfacing to size, fused the ribbon to it and then zig-zag stitched along the edges. This was used as the main fabric and I had plenty of a cream for the lining.



Sometime last year, I purchased a set of blue fat quarters with the idea of making another bento bag. Jo-ann’s sells them in sets of five. When I opened them up I realized that they were all very similar, dark blue with small white print, except for one which was light. (I don’t have a photo of all five together.) I wanted the light colour for the body of the bag but thought the other pieces were too dark for the lining so I used some left over fabric. I hope whoever I give this too doesn’t mind baseballs. The inside of the handle is also left over fabric; all the other fabric is from the fat quarter set. I did not have any suitable ribbon/cord so used what I have for the time being.



The next bag I made is one for which I had had the pattern a while (free at Jo-ann’s), had purchased the zipper a long time ago and finally decided to use fabric in stash. I really like the bag even though it didn’t turn out too well. The problem was that the fabric I used is quite thick so I had difficulty making and attaching the tab. Also the interfacing I have is too thick for when all pieces are interfaced. I really need to buy some thinner interfacing. I deliberately didn’t line up the zig-zag stitching but wish I had made them more offset or only on one side.



I can definitely see myself making more of these as pencil cases for children.

August’s Square

I made August’s square last week. I was expecting it to take longer to make than it did because it looked like there was a lot of work plus when I had just sat down to sew I had some unexpected child care. With respect to the latter I was able to sew while he played with cars and regarding the former I could do a lot of chain piecing.

This block was labeled as appliqué but making a template was also involved. The flower has 20 petals. I had scraps of yellow in four different colours but decided to buy some more. An eighth-yard in three different colours when on sale at Jo-Ann’s does not cost very much. A template was made for the petals and the cutting out did not take long as I was able to layer two or three fabrics and then cut out with a small rotary cutter. Each petal was sewn across the top to make the point, turned to the right side and pressed. I then sewed the petals in pairs. I didn’t have any order for this, just made sure I didn’t have two of the same. Some of the pairs were sewn into four groups of four and then two groups of ten were made. These two groups were joined into a circle.

Here’s photos showing them before and after pressing.



The circle was then sewn to the green square – the appliqué part. There was no way I was going to do this by hand so I used zigzag stitch. I am very pleased with it; also very grateful for the needle up/down function on my new machine. The green is from the fat quarter I bought for March’s square. I am happy that I had a big piece in stash.

Flower sewn to block.



The centre of the flower is appliqué and a new to me method. The circle is cut larger than the template, running stitches made in the seam allowance, gathered around template. This was easier than expected as I had never done it before. The secret is to make stitches small and make sure they are all the same distance from the edge.

Finished block. This is the largest one so far.

And Another Bag

The other reason for there being quite a few finished sewing projects just lately is that I want to use all the fabric I purchased recently. I know that sounds a bit strange but I want my fabric purchases to be for specific projects and to be used in a short time scale and not sit in stash. I had a coupon for 20% off (I think) all purchases including sale items so I took advantage of this to buy fabric that was already massively on sale. That trip I bought fabric for five projects: the two dresses for my granddaughter, a skirt and a dress for myself, and a bag.

This week I made the skirt and the bag which means I have now used four of the five pieces of fabric. The bag was a new-to-me pattern I found in the One-Yard Wonder book. After purchasing the fabric, I noticed that the pattern said not suitable for one-directional fabric. Uh oh. No big deal. Just meant I had an extra seam at the bottom and had to concentrate to make sure the fabric was the right way up before sewing.

The bag was a straight forward lined bag with handles in the top seam but the sides and bottom had a pin tuck to give the bag shape. I messed up a bit at the corners but as my husband said anyone else wouldn't notice. Apart from that, I am happy with it but have not decided if it will be a knitting bag (for all those big projects) or just a regular carry anything bag. My granddaughter has not seen it yet and I am worried that she might lay claim to it as it is pink and dogs.

More Sewing Than Knitting

I don’t know if that is true but it definitely feels like it as this is another post showing a sewn item.

One reason is that my knitting has been big projects. Two of my finished projects this year have been over 1000 meters and the one I am working on now will be close to that. So not quick knits. Whereas the sewing has been, mostly, quick things. Also I usually have the chance to sew in a big block of time so it is easier to finish something, especially the block of the month. Whereas with just an hour or so each night spent on knitting it takes more days to finish something.

Add to that, if an item is for a child then they are very keen to see the finished item. Which brings us to today’s post and yet another dress for my granddaughter. She chose the fabric herself when we purchased the pink fabric as the dress is another view on the same pattern. This one was slightly easier as there were not eight panels to cut and sew for the skirt but they did seem to make the cutting out more complicated that I thought it needed to be. For the skirt, half the size was provided, which is usual when you are placing on the fold but they had you lay the fabric out flat and lay the pattern piece twice. This seemed unnecessary to me and I folded the fabric. The other change I made was to mitre the corners when hemming the skirt.

And There’s Knitting

At last I have a finished item to show you. Although I have many projects on the go, there is usually just one that I work on most of the time. This was my Changes shawl but when I couldn’t continue because of the split in one of the needles I picked up the Snow Day shawl. Although not at all appropriate for our summer heatwave I decided to finish it as it really is a lovely project.

I purchased the yarn at the end of January 2017. At the time I did not have a pattern in mind but purchased enough to make a decent size shawl. But when the Snow Day pattern was released I knew this yarn was perfect but I would need equal amounts of each colour. Another skein was purchased on last year’s Yarn Crawl.

I finally started it at the beginning of March when I was in London and I call it After Snow Day as there had been a bulk of snow the week before.
The pattern is written for three colours but I just alternated the two colours I had. When I came to the end of the written pattern I had practically a full skein of each left. The pattern is written with a different number of rows for each section, I worked the sequence backwards and finished with two blocks of garter stitch.

I love it. It is very squidgy and I am looking forward to wearing it when we have cooler evenings. My pattern notes say I would have gone up a needle size if I’d had bigger needles with me but now I’m glad I didn’t.

Pattern: Snow Day
Needles: 5mm
Yarn: Western Sky Knits Willow DK Superwash Merino
Colours: Pepper and Jasmine
Amount used: 2 full skeins of each.

June and July

My last post was grateful for sewing so that I had finished items to show and this one is all about the sewing too - quilt blocks.

I did not make a block in June as we were away for a couple of weeks and I just did not have the time to sew it. We're nearly at the end of July and I decided I better make the July block otherwise once I was two months behind would I continue with making them. As it turned out, I was able to make both blocks in the same day. Both blocks were made with scraps.

I am really pleased with July's block. It was another foundation paper piecing. They are so fun to make and you have the lines to sew on. This is a very summery block as it is a row of beach huts. Yes it is all scraps but the white was purchased for the bodice lining of the ill-fated Sofia dress.



As I had time left I made the June block as well as it did not have many pieces. But it was harder as there were curved shapes. I did not do as well with this as I did the umbrella in April but it will do.



When I have finished a block I look at the next one to work out what fabric I need and have everything ready to go. I will have to buy some fabric for August but I can purchase 1/8 yard at Jo-ann so I will not be adding greatly to my stash.

At the time of writing, I am very close to finishing one of my knitting projects and I have purchased a replacement needle for the Changes shawl. So who knows? Maybe the next post will be about knitting.

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.