I Started What?

Way back in 2018 I started a mitred square blanket to use up sock yarn. It was originally just going to be my handbag project but I realized that it would never get finished if that was its criteria, so now I work on it a few days each week. I have not been very good at posting pictures of completed squares but I  have 10 finished squares.

I have been admiring the crochet scrappy blankets I’ve seen on podcasts and thought that would be a quicker option but not a sensible idea to start another blanket. So what did I do, I started a crochet scrappy crochet blanket. And did I choose the easy granny stripe blanket? Of course not. I chose another one by the same designer – Hydrangea Stripe Blanket.

Now why did I start another scrappy blanket when it is going to take me years to finish the one I have had on the needles for three years? Simple – yarn choice. Although my otiginal blanket will be truly scrappy, I am not using every fingering weight yarn I have leftover. I am not using very multi-coloured yarns and mostly neutral coloured yarns.

Having yarn left over from these socks was a good excuse to start a new blanket. I worked a foundation crochet row and the first shell row in the leftover yarn and the next row I used the small amount of yarn I had leftover from my new crochet project.

As I have so many projects on the go right now, which seems to be typical for the start of the year, I will only be adding new yarns to this as I finish projects. But eventually I want to add my older yarns. And one day I will have two completed scrappy projects. One day!

A Small Project for March

I was not going to make a small item in March as I had a big cast on planned for later in the month. The categories in Sock Knitters Anonymous did not immediately shout out a pattern and/or yarn so I did not investigate that any further, but when the beginning of the month rolled around I decided to make a hat. The yarn was given to me at the end of last year and the pattern was one I had in my queue for a while.

The yarn is Haymarket from Lorna’s Laces. A 100% Bluefaced Leicester single-ply yarn. Here are photos of it in the skein, on the swift, and wound into a ball so that you can see the difference between how yarn looks in the skein verses ball.

 

 

 

The pattern is Brattleboro Hat and is available from Interweave and is also in their book 25 Knitted Accessories to Wear and Share. This was an easy knit so able to do while watching children. I followed the pattern as written except when picking up stitches. I picked up three out four and then adjusted the number needed on the next row. If I had been making this for myself I would have added more depth before the decrease rows. The buttons were in my stash, left over from another project. It took me a few days to sew them on because I was wondering if there were better choices deeper in my button jar or if I would want those buttons for some future unknown project. In the end I just sewed them on as I could always replace them at a later date.

 

 

Straight Onto the Needles (Hook)

Another yarn store is closing. This is the third local store to close in just over 18-months. As I have documented here, when the first store closed, I purchased quite a bit of yarn. When they announced they were closing, they had a timeline and how much the discount increased over that time. It was worth it for me to purchase quite a bit of yarn even if it would take a while to be used.

When the second store announced it was closing about a year ago, the discount varied depending on the item and did not change throughout the time of the sale. This was right at the beginning of the pandemic and shutdown so I chose not to go. A friend went and got some needle tips and some yarn for me.

When the latest store announced its closing, I declared “I Do Not Need More Yarn”. But as a friend reminded me, they sell other things besides yarn. I decided to make an appointment so I could spend some time with a knitting friend. Sandwich and a drink before looking at yarn was just what I needed.

This owners of this particular yarn shop took over when the previous owners retired – 5 or so years ago and they started to stock many different independent dyers. I knew this could be my downfall but I also knew I did not want yarn to sit in my stash. The discount was not worth it. But I did have a pattern in mind before I went shopping. A crochet pattern that a podcaster I watch had made two of; and I didn’t have a crochet project on the go. I also wanted to look at needles.

Unfortunately, this store does not display their needles, so you have to ask for what you want. The good thing for me is that I only purchased what I really wanted, whereas if I had been able to browse I probably would have bought more.

As for yarn, I could have purchased so much. My first stop was at the gradient yarn and a skein went in my basket. I also saw a beautiful blue variegated sock yarn and a pink yarn by a dyer that gives money to outdoor charities. My friend was also picking out skeins. The project I wanted to crochet needed four skeins of fingering yarn and I found two perfect ones hanging next to each other. I have grey in my stash, so I needed to find one more skein but in the end I purchased four skeins for the one project and put back all the other yarns I had picked out on my first scan of the store. My friend also put a lot of her yarn back, but did end up with two colours to knit a Stephen West wrap.

 

When I got home, I immediately wound the first two skeins and started the shawl while watching a movie. This will not be a fast project as I will mostly work on it when I am watching something.

 

I am very pleased with what I bought and happy that I did not buy for the sake of buying. But that will not preclude me from returning if they do happen to increase their discount.

A Little Interlude

Just to show off Day 3 of the Advent socks. This time I used the same colour green on both socks. 

My Oldest and Newest Projects

After taking about ten years to finish one project and then giving it to a friend, I decided I did not want my projects to get that old again. I started the year with three projects, two of which were started in 2019 and I could see that they would turn into forever projects if I did not prioritize them. It seems funny to talk about a hobby in this way but I did not want to end up giving away finished items because I was fed up with having had them around for so long. I said to myself that I would work two rows a day on each of them. Two of them are lace projects that are not suitable for working on in all situations. The third, which is the one I have finished, is a crochet project.

I started this project on 14 September 2019. I had purchased the yarn for it two days previously on the San Diego Yarn Crawl. On the Crawl, yarn stores have to give away a free knitting and free crochet pattern and this was the pattern in one particular store. They had a sample made up and I liked it so much I bought the yarn. The Yarn Crawl was not too long after the closing down sale so I had gone on the crawl with specific purchases in mind. This was the exception.

I had a hard time getting into the flow of the pattern. It was not a hard pattern but I found myself looking at the pattern for every stitch and I found that I would work just a little and then put it down, even if I was on a car trip. Although every row was the same, for some reason one of the rows started with a chain three and three double crochets and the other row started with a chain three and two double crochets. This was why I was constantly looking at the pattern to see which row I was on even though every row was the same except for the beginning. In the end I wrote out the pattern row, ignoring the extra DC at the beginning of every other row, changed crochet hooks and everything went much more smoothly. Although at the start of the year, I did look at what else I could make with the yarn as I seriously considered frogging. I was about half-way through the first skein of a two skein project.

Working a minimum of two rows a day quickly got me through the project. The picture on the pattern and the sample I saw in the shop had a slightly different edging – there was a row of V stitches that were not in the pattern. So I added this row myself. I am pleased with the finished result.

The yarn is Mechita by Malabrigo in the colourway Archangel And the pattern is Sail Away Shawl.

 

 

I started the year with three projects but I knew due to the nature of these projects that they could not be the only ones I worked on. I also wanted to join in with sock and hat knitalongs. I liked all the categories in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group for February and opted for a new-to-me designer – Louise Robert. I have yarn in my stash that I think will look better as socks than knit into a shawl or similar. This yarn is one of those. I was given it way back in 2017. The pattern I chose was Brown Eyed Girl Socks. The pattern has a short row heel, which is not my favourite, so I incorporated the heel (and toe) from Make Your Heels Strong. I like the Strong Heel but have not worked it in rib before. I think the yarn and pattern go well together.

My oldest project is from the end of November 2019. I have plans to finish it by the end of November this year. So no oldest project posts for a while but I hope there will be plenty of newest project posts.

A Finished Quilt

What I wrote at the beginning of my last post still holds true. I have been working away on projects but nothing to show. But that is going to change as this post has a finished quilt and future posts will show two finished yarn projects.

I am (very) slowly working through this book  by Jenni Dobson. The patterns are labeled from beginner to advanced. The first one I made from left over fabric from my mother-in-law, but I liked the colour of the next quilt so much I had to purchase similar colours. In 2009! I don’t know when I cut the pieces for the quilt but it was sometime after 2013 and sometime after that for sewing them altogether. But I do know when I sandwiched the quilt as there is a record on this blog.

In the meantime I started the next quilt and now it is waiting for quilting. Although I said at the beginning of the year that would be the one to be finished next, I still have to find the right backing fabric for it. But don’t worry, I have purchased the fabric for the next quilt.

Finally my desire to have the quilt overrode the “I’m not good enough” thoughts in my head. And I’m so happy with it. I don’t mind that the pieces aren’t perfectly square; the quilting stitches are not even; the fabric on the back is not completely smooth. Nobody will be looking at it that closely.

 

Just Some Photos of Socks In Progress

I haven’t posted on here for a while as there hasn’t really been anything to show. But I have been working through new and old projects.

At the beginning of the year I said that I was going to finish the smaller quilt first but I need backing fabric for it and I haven’t found what I want to use yet so rather than hold off on sewing I picked up the large quilt. My sewing arrangements have changed this year. Furniture was rearranged when we decorated the house at Christmas and after everything was put away, I left the furniture in the new positions so that I could leave my sewing machine out. This has definitely made a difference in my sewing as I can just sit down and sew when I want and not have to bring the sewing machine downstairs to the dining room everytime and put it away every time. My sewing cabinet is fine for clothes sewing but not large quilts which need a table to hold them.

I decided to fit the darning foot and quilt in random circular patterns on the black fabric. The great thing about that is that you have to get really close to see the quilting and from a normal distance it looks quite good. My one disappointment is that the fabric on the back of the quilt is not completely flat.

The quilting is completely finished and the quilt just needs to be bound. I do not want to turn the backing fabric to the right side as I did on my last large quilt as I used two fabrics for the backing. And I was thinking it was going to take me longer to decide on the binding than to actually attach it to the quilt. So you can imagine my joy when I was checking my left over fabric from this quilt and found binding strips already cut. All I have to do is join them.

I’m really looking forward to this quilt being finished because I do like it and it is a good lesson in finished is better than perfect and prevarication lasts longer than the time to actually do something.

On the knitting front I have been working a few rows every day on my old projects. I have not been so lucky on my new projects. Vertices Unite is an easy project and the first section is garter stitch in two rows each of two colours. The first half is increases and the second half is decreases. Last week I had reached the end of the section and decided to check my knitting before cutting yarn and noticed right at the start of the decrease section that I had knit four rows of one colour. I could have left it as it would have been unnoticeable in the finished item but I knew it was there. So I undid 160 rows and most of my knitting this week was getting this project back to where it was. And, yes, I still managed to knit four rows of one colour instead of two. But at least this time the most I pulled out was 20 rows.

I worked the next section of my Advent socks. It is the first colourwork section and a quick knit. Also, as we are in a new month I started a new project. I decided to take part in the Sock Knitters challenge, knitting a pattern from one of the featured designers as I had yarn that I thought would be perfect.

Here’s a picture of the leg. The pattern is Brown Eyed Girl by Louise Roberts and the yarn is from SpaceCadet.

 

And here is a picture of the next section of the Advent socks. 

 

New WIPS

Having shown off the projects I started the year with it seemed right, this Wednesday, to show the new projects. On 1 January, I cast on four projects as planned. There were the Advent socks, my year long project. Both cuffs have been completed for Day One. Although it would be tempting to continue, I have put them aside until the beginning of next month. 

 

I cast on a project with donated yarn that I have already finished and shown so another project that does not need to be considered until next month.

I needed an easy project and I wanted to ensure I started the yarn I had frogged at the end of the year. (In 2020 I only used one of the yarns I had frogged at the end of 2019.) I cast on Vertices Unite. I am loving how the striping of two yarns makes them very different than when they are separate. 

 

Next was a cardigan, Baileys Irish Cream by Thea Coleman. Currently this has taken over as my easy project as you start with the sleeves and after 16 rows of lace pattern it is all stocking stitch.

 

Started and Finished in 2021

When you’re working the smallest size in an easy pattern and it’s a hat. It is not hard to finish a project in a few days.

This was the project from leftover/donated yarn. I started with something small and simple in a nice yarn. It was a partial skein and I had wanted to use up all the yarn but I also did not want to run out so I chose a baby size. I had plenty of yarn, so I failed in using up yarn but it looks like there is enough to work the ribbing on another baby hat. Also as I was getting close to the shaping I thought this looke very like a pattern I already own. Not a big deal as this pattern was free but a reminder to search patterns I own before a more general search.

The yarn is Madison by Prism in the Avocado colorway; the pattern is Beloved Aran by Solenn Couix-Loarer and my project used about 36 grams.

First Completed Sewing Projects

 

A friend introduced me to Aneela Hoey and I was able to get her book Stitched Sewing Organizers from the library. The last time I checked it out, due to the pandemic, I was able to keep it for longer than usual.

One of the pattern pages showed three bags/folios that all fit nicely into one bag. I had been given a piece of fabric that I decided would work very well for the exterior of all the bags and I could use leftovers for the linings and pockets. I don’t usually prep sewing projects in advance in case I change my mind but in this case I cut out the fabric for all the bags and ironed on interfacing so that they would be ready when I wanted to sew.

The first project was the folio with the vinyl pocket which I think I made in September. The large bag and the other folio except for the binding were sewn on a long weekend of Zoom sewing at the end of October. The binding was finished last week and I sewed the two pouches. I know I said that the bags were going to be the last of my sewing WIPs to be finished but as I knew they were going to be relatively quick to finish I decided to get them done. I am glad I did as they make me happy. Not because they are especially well made – they’re not – many mistakes – or I’ve used fancy fabric – just good old JoAnn’s – but because they are different from things I have made. And having made mistakes and know where I can improve techniques, I really feel I could make some as gifts. Plus there are at least a couple of other patterns in the book that I wish to try.