It's been a little longer than I would have liked since my last update, but not as long as I worried it might be, so I guess it's not too bad. I've also made a lot of actual progress!
I'm remarkably chipper right now, all considered. Perhaps because I've had a particularly productive weekend. However, health has been an issue - my own health, dad's health, and Stephen's health. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but suffice to say, life is busier now than I'm entirely comfortable with.
However, there has been good news about dad! His most recent scan results show that the cancer is being kept at bay. While it hasn't shrunk very much, it is shrinking, and there is no sigh of the metastatic tumours reappearing. So he has started his 4th round of 6 chemo sessions. His oncologist was very impressed, because apparently when dad completes this round, he will be the first patient his oncologist is aware of who has survived 24 rounds of this particular chemo! His chemo is due to finish at the end of November, so I'm looking forward to another Christmas with my daddy :)
FO's
So, on with the regulars:
I promised last time that I'd show a picture of this sweater once I'd properly finished it. I could pretend that I finished it very soon after my last post, but I'd be lying! In fact, I wore it for the first time today, having sewn on the buttons, and blocked it last weekend. The sudden arrival of autumn, along with more typical British weather, finally gave me the kick up the arse that I needed to put the finishing touches to a knit that I actually finished months ago!
The pattern for this is Smart and Stylish Sweater, by Pat Menchini, published in the October 2017 issue of Let's Knit magazine. And the yarn is King Cole Luxury Merino DK, in the colourway "Mildew".
Daddy's socks. Can you spot the deliberate mistake? Of course you can! It's glaringly obvious that the toe of one sock is made of an entirely different yarn! I lost at Yarn Chicken :( Being used to the sister-yarn (crazy Zauberball) of this one, which is sold in 100g balls, and is plenty to make a pair of socks, even for someone with quite large feet, I hadn't considered that this 50g ball might not be quite enough. Because it's a rather light 3-ply yarn, that 50g was almost enough. Almost, but not quite. I searched my stash for a green 3-ply sock yarn to finish the toe of the second sock, and the only one I could find was a much lighter shade of green, with orange splashes in it. Not ideal, but as Dad pointed out, nobody is going to see the toe, it's inside his shoe, and he assures me that he can't feel the join, or the difference between the 2 yarns, so I guess that's ok.
As usual, I didn't use a pattern for these, I simply adapted my own internal sock pattern for smaller needles, and finer yarn. The yarn in question is Schoppel-Wolle Edition 6.0, in the colourway "Waschtag".
This was a bit of a "spare time" project that I only worked on when at Stephen's house, and when in between other projects. It started off as a handful of blanket squares that were intended to be sent up to Shetland to join squares made by others, in a number of blankets to be given to the charity organisation From Shetland with Love. However, my enquiries as to whether it would be ok for me to post my squares, rather than deliver them in person during Shetland Wool Week, were never answered. So in the end I decided to slowly create enough squares on my own to make a small blanket, and then give that blanket to a local charity. I will probably donate this to one of the local animal rescue shelters, to comfort a cat, or small dog.
There is no pattern, it's simply 12 squares, roughly the same size, in a variety of different stitch patterns, sewn together, and a simple crochet border. All of the yarns are double knit, acrylic, or acrylic/wool blends, and all left over from other projects.
Yasmin has commented a few times now that she would like me to make some socks for her. She is a knitter herself, but she tends to end up making gifts for babies, and doesn't have the time to make very much of her own. So I asked her for her foot measurements, and made these for her. She was very pleased to find that "they fit like they were made for me!"
As usual, my internal sock pattern, adapted for Yaz's tiny feet and ankles. The yarn is King Cole ZigZag, in the colourway "Waves".
No, it's not a yarn or fibrecraft. When I'm staying with dad, we spend Tuesdays at Ashington Woods, where my dad teaches a green woodworking group. Often when I'm there I knit, or crochet, rather than join in with the carving, but sometimes I try my hand at carving as well. This is a spoon that I finished recently, with the pocket tissues for scale.
This is how most of the things I carve start. Just a plain chunk of wood.
This is my most recent carving project, and you'll have to use the stitching on the arm of my dad's chair to get an idea of scale. My dad has carved a number of very tiny spoons, just as an exercise in technique really. I thought I'd give it a go myself. This spoon is about 6cm long, and unfortunately I do think that I carved it a bit too thin at one point. If you hold it up to the light, you can see through a small patch in the bowl of the spoon, and the grain of the wood is coarse enough that it's possible the spoon would not hold water. I haven't actually tested it yet though, and it is really only meant to be decorative.
WIPs
About 4 years ago I started making crochet squares out of left over cotton, or wool, double knit. This was a long-term project, intended to use up little bits of really nice yarn that weren't big enough to make anything useful with. Over time it has become more than that, as I've visited various yarn shops on my travels, but haven't always had enough money to buy enough yarn for a full project, instead I would buy a single ball of a very pretty dk. This yarn then becomes a memory of that trip, or holiday, that will be crocheted into the blanket.
The intention is to make 100 squares in total, then crochet them all together with a plain black yarn. I took this photo 3 days ago, and the square on the hook was number 31. I'm currently working on number 34. This is a bit of an unusual spike in progress on this particular project, brought about because all the sock knitting I've been doing was making my left thumb try to dislocate. Crochet is a different series of movements, and different pressures, so I've been able to continue crafting, while resting that left thumb. Unfortunately, too much crochet makes my right thumb try to dislocate! So I'll be back to knitting again soon!
This is my pitiful progress on the lace shawl that I cast on during my birthday holiday. Even though this section is basically just stockinette, the pattern of increases is worked on both knit and purl rows, over 4 rows. So in order to keep track of where I'm up to, I have to be able to complete a multiple of 4 rows at any time I pick it up. I can't always guarantee that I'll be settled without distraction for long enough to do that, so this project is not progressing very quickly. I have however decided to add beads when I get to the lace section, and I've got the beads, and the tiny crochet hook all ready.
The pattern is Hazy Daze, by Boo Knits, and the yarn is Penguin Soup's Tuxedo Lace, in the colourway "April Showers".
I only cast this project on today. This will be the latest pair of socks for Gemma, because she's always so lovely about telling me how much she likes the socks that I've made for her, which makes me want to make her more :) She likes grey and purple, my stash has no shortage of these colours, I enjoy knitting socks, so this seems like a winning combination.
In addition, these socks will be my first entry into a Knit-a-long set up by Corner of Craft called "StashmasKAL2018". The aim being to knit as much as possible from stash between September 1st, and December 31st this year. I think it's also intended to get people started on their Christmas knitting, but I know for a fact that I won't wait until Christmas to give these socks to Gemma!
Pattern from my own head, as per, and the yarn is Regia Design Line Jazz Colour, by Erika Knight, in the colourway "Somethin' else".
Stash acquisition
I freely admit that this section is missing some entries that really should be included, because I bought them some time ago. However, I evidently forgot to take photographs at the time, and I've left them at home, while I am currently at Stephen's house. So they will have to be belatedly included in my next update.
There is no lack of yarn porn though:
This is another yarn box by Yorkshire Dales Yarns, at Homespun Wonders. Well, it's most of it, because before taking this photo I had already taken out one of the items and started using it regularly:
Homespun Wonders do these gorgeous themed yarn boxes. This time there was a choice of mystical creatures, and I chose Faery. The themed boxes always contain yarn (usually you chose the weight of the yarn, and if you'd like 1 or 2 skeins), some sweet treats, stitch markers, and a selection of little gifts related to the theme. I know that Katie is my friend, but I'm honestly not exaggerating when I say that these boxes are extraordinarily good value for money! Literally the perfect gift for any yarn lover in your life (including yourself!)
I always choose 4-ply, because it's my favourite weight of yarn to work with, and I usually choose to receive 2 skeins. As you can see, my box contained 2 beautiful pinky-purpley skeins of yarn, some yummy heart-shaped chocolates, a little faery stitch marker that can be used either as a needle marker or a clip marker, a very shiny trinket box (I have a minor obsession with trinket boxes, I actually have a small collection of them, so I was especially pleased with this!) a scented candle, a ceramic re-useable coffee cup, and a very large and sturdy tote bag.
Yes, I've been back to Ring-a-rosie's! What can I say? I love that place, I love the lady who runs it, and I love the yarn that she dyes! Plus, she has a habit of putting a fresh batch of one-of-a-kind colourways out just before I head north for a visit!
This time it was the mini-skeins that really caught my eye. I may not have actually done any work on my mitred square blanket for a while, but I'm still thinking, and planning, and preparing for when I do! I saw this little bundle, with that bright pop of pink, and the pale speckles, next to my usual purple, green, and turquoise, and thought that this was a perfect opportunity to force myself to use some colours that I wouldn't usually choose, which will make the finished article look that much more vibrant.
There'd been a fresh re-stock of all colourways of Crazy Zauberball too, which is definitely one of my favourite commercial sock yarns, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a couple of the colourways that always seem to disappear quickest.
Of course, I couldn't leave without having at least a little look at the full-sized skeins too, and with the arrival of autumnal weather, I couldn't resist this skein that reminds me of a photograph my dad took when my sister and I were really little, looking out over the West Allen Valley in Northumberland. Every tree was a different colour, with all of the usual autumnal shades from palest green, through to deep, russet reds, but there was also one tree that had gone dark purple.
When I was chatting, and finding my debit card, Barbara must have snuck in a little free gift as well, beautifully wrapped in a Peter rabbit pouch was the final speckled turquoise mini-skein :)
We had a very busy day that Saturday up north. Starting with the trip to Ring-a-Rosie's, then meeting dad at Pegswood, where he was teaching a group of Young Rangers about green woodworking, then driving up to Felton, where we had lunch with dad at the Northumberland Arms, then taking a slow walk across the river Coquet to Fine Fettle Fibres, which is where I bought this little haul.
I was hoping to be able to get some of the fabled Northumbrian Rose yarn that I'd read about, but sadly it has all sold out, and can't be re-stocked until the mill can spin some more. However, I did know that this place stocks Triskelion yarns, which I absolutely love, but who don't come to any of the fibre shows that I'm able to get to these days. So of course, the first skein I chose was this gorgeous green sock yarn from Triskelion.
I'm not usually a fan of single-spun yarn, but this Marina yarn by Manos del Uruguay is such a beautiful colour, and has such a lovely sheen to it, that I decided to give it a go. I do have to admit that single-spun yarn does tend to feel much softer against the skin than most plied yarns, but it biases terribly in garments, and is prone to weakness if you have to frog it and re-knit it. This one just begs to be a super soft and luxurious shawl though, so I'll just have to be careful, and use lots of life-lines! The bias problem shouldn't be an issue for a shawl.
This bright orange though! Orange is so not my colour! But this one called to me, looking like spun fire. It's by Ginger Twist Studio, who if I'm being honest, I'd never heard of before, and it's called "Melon Balls On Fire". How awesome is that?!?
Finally, the book - Cast On, Bind Off - has been on my Amazon wish list (Officially the cheekiest link I've ever made!) for ages. I figure that I'm a fairly accomplished knitter, and I do know a reasonable number of different ways to cast on, and bind off. But I nearly always use the same 2 or 3 techniques, because they're the ones that I'm most comfortable with. I really want to be able to do more, things like making my cast on, and bound off edges look the same, or finding a really stretchy ribbed bind off that doesn't create a "frilly" finish. This book will help me do that.
Another book
Something that I forgot to photograph, so couldn't include in my last update (happens too much!) was this funny little book:
The dust cover has already become a little tatty, because this sits in the cubby by my nest at home, where I can read little bits of it at random. Some of it is useful, some of it is funny, some of it is educational, most of it is interesting. It was entirely an impulse buy, because when I have mood wobbles, sometimes I fix them by buying stuff that I probably shouldn't.
Penguins!
It's getting to that time of year again... The "C" word has been used in my knitting magazines, in the YouTube videos that I watch, even in this very blog... And we all know what that means! Penguin tat is creeping onto the supermarket shelves!
These things are not tat at all! These were my birthday present from Liz. A sweet little penguin keyring, that I'm using to make gripping the zip on one of my project bags easier, and this marvellous penguin pen, that now lives in my holographic organiser, and gets used nearly every day :)
Look at him! Isn't he brilliant!?! My goddaughter hand sewed him herself, especially for me!
Our strawberry plants are getting a bit out of control, and have produced loads of creeper shoots. So we went to buy another pot to plant the shoots into, so that next year we will have even more strawberry plants. While we were being all adulty, comparing the relative merits of different types of plant pot, Stephen spotted this garden ornament, then the garden ornament found it's way to the checkout with us, and now he lives among our strawberry plants.
I don't know how well you can see what this actually is, because I didn't want to climb out from under it to take the photo. It's so soft, and snuggly, and it has penguins on it, and it's big enough that both Stephen and I can sit on the sofa underneath it. We saw this blanket on a top shelf in the "seasonal" aisle at Asda (during our most recent trip north, when it felt like we spent so much time at Asda that we could get our post re-directed there). Anyway, when we looked, the label on the shelf said "spare stock", and these blankets were not to be found on any other shelf. I departed a sad and deflated penguinophile.
A couple of days later, on a day when I found myself at Asda alone (Sunday? I might have been looking for sage and onion stuffing to go with our Sunday roast) I just happened to find myself on the same aisle (you have sage and onion stuffing at Christmas! It's totally a seasonal item, and could totally have been on that aisle!) and there were the blankets, available for sale!
Just a little thing that I added to my cart when I was buying the next thing. You might think this is a penguin, but it's actually hand cream. I use a lot of hand cream, because my skin is crappy and delicate, and because dry skin snags on my yarn. This is supposed to be lavender scented, which is debatable.
When I bought the hand cream, I was actually really buying this, and I only bought this as a cheap way to find out what this colour really looks like. Which is red. I mean, it's not just me right? This colour is indisputably red, right? It looks red in the pictures on the website that I bought it from too. But it's called Pink. I actually want to buy a backpack from the same collection as this (you can't use shoulder bags with crutches, really, you just can't.) but the price of the backpack made me think twice about ordering it if when it arrived it was going to turn out to actually be magenta, which is very Not Me. But this smaller bag was very affordable, so I thought I'd order one and see what the colour is like, and what the construction quality is like (I overload my bags a lot, if they aren't sturdily constructed, they don't last long). I actually love it. It has many, many pockets (to make up for the fact that the Patriarchy are controlling women by not putting pockets in our clothes). It is large enough to contain all of the myriad items that I routinely carry around with me, including purse, meds, hair brush, makeup, diary, sunglasses, hand cream, house keys for 5 different houses, car keys for 2 different cars... and still have plenty of space for a knitting project too. I am pleased. I shall be buying the backpack.
Right, it's exactly 2am now. In 6 hours I have to get up, because Stephen and I are going to York. So I'm going to bed now. Sweet dreams my dears!
Definitely Red!
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