Progress...

Hello again my dears, I hope that you're all keeping safe and well.

I'm feeling a bit more positive than I have been so far this year.  Things are generally looking a little more hopeful in the world.  Several promising potential vaccines to COVID 19 are almost ready for release, although it will be some time before enough can be synthesised to treat the entire population, but at least the end is finally in sight.  Joe Biden won the US election, so in January there will be a genuine leader back in the White House.  While he's hardly the answer to all the world's ills, he will at least listen to experts, follow the science, and hopefully this will mean that with some persuasion he will stop funding fossil fuels at the expense of future generations, and every other creature that we share this planet with, allowing some small possibility that we may yet survive the climate crisis.

Of course, right now we're back in lockdown, and we don't know if we'll be out of it before Christmas.  Not just that, but this morning Stephen woke up with a cough... He was supposed to be in the office today, but obviously that was too great a risk, so instead he went to get tested, and we now have to isolate at least until we get the results.  This evening, I've started coughing too.

So, I'm going to assume that we've just got some seasonal bug until I have proof to the contrary.  

FO's

In the last month I am proud to say that I've finished 7 projects!  I can't show you all of them, because a couple of them are intended to be Christmas presents.  Not the most exciting presents, but at least I'd like to keep them a surprise.  So I won't show you those until after they've been given to their new owners.

You saw the beginnings of these last time.  Stephen still hasn't bought his winter boots, but at least he has some more comfy socks.

The pattern is my standard sock pattern, and the yarn is Woolcraft Superwash Sock, in the colourway 1517.

No, I don't know why I pulled this face either.

The hat is Damaris Slouchy Beanie by Kunbi Aya-Okanlawon.  She asked if I would test knit it for her on quite short notice, and of course I agreed.  Once I settled into the pattern, I really enjoyed it.  It uses the mosaic technique, so it's much easier than it looks. I'm really pleased with it.

The yarn is Lang Yarns Yak, in the colourways 0003, and 0090.  This is a brilliant yarn for a hat, as it's so soft, and so warm, and it has absolutely none of the itchiness that many wool yarns can produce when you get a bit warm and sweaty wearing it.

Finally, after almost 7 years, and being ripped back to nothing 3 times, I have finished this gorgeous little shawl! I am in love with the Celtic cable designs!

The pattern is Kyna by Lucy Hague, and the yarn is Fyberspates Vivacious in the colourway "Deep Forest".

These little critters are from a game called "Among Us".  I've never played it, but Gemma, Demi, and my godsons play it.  Gemma asked me if I was up to crocheting them some of the aliens.  I thought maybe my godsons in particular might like the corpses too!

I am so ridiculously proud of these, because I've never considered myself to be especially skilled at crochet, and I've always struggled to read crochet patterns, yet I managed to follow the pattern to make these, and I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out.  Not only that, but at the time I made these, the corpse pattern wasn't available in English, so I adapted the main pattern myself, including making the bone!

The pattern is Among Us Amigurimi by Daniela Lopez, but it's written in Spanish.  The English version is available on Daniela's Instagram feed, under @TejiendoConArtemesia.

The yarns are a mix of commercial merino DK, by Rico Design, SMC, and Sublime Yarns.

Last month I showed you my 2020 Shetland Wool Week hat, Katie's Kep, by Wilma Malcolmson.  The hat pattern is always available for free every year, but this year there is also a glove pattern.  The glove pattern was sent to anyone who bought a supporters pack (remember the project bag and pin badge?)  and is also available in the 2019 Shetland Wool Week Annual. 

The more observant among you may notice that the left glove does not match the right.  This is because I did a lot of knitting on these while sitting up with insomnia, and didn't necessarily remember the order of colours correctly.  The especially observant among you may notice that neither glove matches the hat!  I decided that I could live with these errors, as they're still pretty, and they're very comfy and warm.

I really like this glove pattern, because it has an exceptionally simple construction.  No gusset increases, no starting the base of each digit on a different row, yet they're still really comfy and cosy!  These have instantly become my dog walking gloves of choice.

The pattern is called Katie's Fingerless Gloves, by Wilma Malcolmson.

The main yarn is Artesano Definition, in the colourway "Night", and the colourwork is made up of Made by Penguins mini-skeins from several of the Emperor Penguin subscription boxes.

WIPs

Only 2!  AND... they're both long term projects that I'm aiming to finish before the end of this year!

In February last year I cast this sock on.  Both yarn, and pattern came in my January 2019 Knitcrate.  I don't often cast on as soon as I acquire yarn and pattern, and even less frequently (never before?) use the suggested yarn, in the suggested colourway!  But I really liked this combination.

I should have known just by looking at the pattern that this was a foolish plan, as there was never going to be the slightest chance that this pattern would fit my lipoedema legs.  When I realised this, I stopped working on the sock, but didn't want to rip it out, because I do still like the colour and pattern combination!  Then I thought about the fact that Becky has skinny ankles (when she hasn't fallen over and damaged them by running about all over the peak district anyway). So I decided to finish the socks, which makes me happy, then give them to Becky, which makes her happy!  Win-win!

The pattern for these is Winter Light by Laura Fahlin, and the yarn is Vidalana Ambient Sock, in the colourway "Robin's Promise".

Spot the glaringly obvious errors.  Multiple errors.

I did not spot these errors until I took this photograph.

This project has already spent almost 3 years in time-out due to one error that I couldn't live with in a gift knit.  If I don't cut my losses now, this will turn into my never ending guilt trip at the bottom of my WIP pile.  Much like the royal blue sweater that my mam started knitting for me the summer before I started high school at the age of 13, that she still hadn't finished when I graduated 3 years later.  Or when my sister graduated 2 years after that.  Or when our family friend Vikki graduated 7 years after that!

So I have decided to use the few squares that I've already knitted to turn this into an approximate rectangle, abandoning the pattern entirely, then it can be a dog blanket.  Finn keeps trying to steal it anyway, and he won't care about all the mistakes!

I still have 6 balls of this yarn left, so I shall use those to make a different blanket.  One that does not involve sewing lots of tiny squares together!

There is no pattern, because I designed this myself and never wrote it out properly.  That's the really crazy thing!  I hate sewing, yet I keep designing blankets that involve sewing together lots of tiny squares!

The yarn is Rico Design Baby So Soft, in the colourways 001, 007, and 015.

Stash Acquisition

Finally, this section is actually something resembling a reasonable size!

Given how many socks I knit, and the fact that I only use commercial sock yarn for anything that's going to have to deal with such heavy wear, I like to pick up sock yarn whenever I see colourways that I like.  So when Knit Nottingham shared the new selection of Opal Uni solid colours, and there were 2 lovely red shades (it's rare to find a good red), I dived right into those DM's and asked if there were any left for me!

These colourways are: Berry, Ruby Red, and Smoke.

This is my Made by Penguins November Little Penguin subscription, and the colourway is called "Neon Flamingo".

I'm not a big fan of pink, probably some internal conflict caused by years of being told that pink is for girls, and blue is for boys, when the whole time I'm like "I don't want pink! I want BLACK! And red! and purple!"  Having said that, I really like this colourway, and I don't even understand what it is about it that means I like it so much!  It's going to be a fantastic splash of contrast to my usual darker colour palette when I add a few squares of this to my mitred squares blanket!

Do you recall that last month I said I was allowing myself a little splurge in place of each of the yarn festivals that I would usually attend, but couldn't this year?  This is what I went for to make up for missing Bakewell Wool Gathering.

It's a dye kit by It's a Stitch Up, and excepting bowls and pans, it contains everything you need to start dying your own yarn using acid dyes.  I've tried a little bit of natural dying before, but I really wanted to source everything for that from natural sources, which made effective mordanting difficult.  I figure if I'm going to end up buying tubs of alum, then I may as well use modern dyes!  So that's what I'm going to try over Christmas.

I've no intentions of taking this any further than a bit of playing around for my own amusement, and for the sake of saying it's a skill I have.  I don't think I could deal with all the cleaning up!  Also, if all goes according to plan, we'll be getting a shiny new kitchen fitted some time next year.  I really don't want to ruin it with dying accidents!  

This kit contains 10 mini-skeins of 4-ply merino, 6 different colours of professional grade dyes, citric acid mordant, dropper bottles, stirring sticks, chemical spoon, and a book about dying techniques.

My most recent acquisition, and the only one that I can't really justify.  Except that Jillian of Mothy and the Squid is such a lovely, open, honest, and caring person, always trying to do good in the world, so she deserves good things to happen to her.  She currently does all of her dying either in her back garden (hardly ideal in British weather!  Especially at this time of year!) or in her kitchen.  When we all realised this (she shared a photo of her "work space"), many people urged her to set up a kickstarter.  She said that her business is how she earns money for things like renting studio space, so if we want her to have a studio, buy more of her yarn!  

So that's exactly what I did!

Since then, she has been convinced to set up a kickstarter for a studio, and I'm pleased to say that she should be in her new studio by the end of this year.  Even with all of this urging, she's still running giveaways to "give back" to the people who are supporting her!

These 5 mini-skein colourways are called (top to bottom) :

- Wild Flower Bouquet

- Hermit Crab

- Pansies

- Horse Chestnut

- Polar Light

Knitting Adjacent

It matches the project bag so perfectly, it's a little hard to see, but what I'm trying to show you here is the zipper-pull/zip-charm.

You'd think that with all the crafting I do my fingers must be pretty strong and dextrous, right?  It's true to an extent, in that one of the many reasons that I do these things is to keep my hands working, because the more I exercise the muscles, the more they support the ligaments that are weak because of my faulty collagen.  However, knitting puts very little pressure on my joints.  I'm doing a lot of movements, but there's no pushing and pulling on the joints, as I hold my knitting quite relaxed while I'm working.  I'm still entirely capable of dislocating a finger by pushing my fork into a bit of pasta, and occasionally entirely incapable of maintaining a strong enough grip on a tiny zipper-tag to actually be able to open or close the zip.  Mostly I deal with this by not using many items that have zips.  But I loved this project bag by Woolly Originals when I spotted it at Woolness last year, and at the time I was both financially flush, and grieving the recent loss of my dad, so I bought basically everything I saw at that festival.

Then earlier this year Mahliqua started making these zipper-pulls, and I knew I would end up buying one.  I resisted for longer than I thought I would.  Until I saw this particular one on Instagram, with it's burning embers colours in both yarn, and swarovski crystals.  It's perfect, and I love it!  I'm not even using this project bag right now, as it did contain my Katie's Fingerless Gloves, but I've kept it near my 'nest', just so I can look at this beautiful object!

More Shetland Wool Week 2020 goodness!

This year's annual is absolutely full of patterns, and not just for knitting either!  There's even a weaving pattern in there!  There's some serious long-term colourwork goals for me in this book!

I know that I don't really need any more stitch markers, but just look at how stunning these are!

The iridescent snowflakes I bought for no other reason than they are truly beautiful.  These are seeing a lot of use right now.

The glow-in-the-dark stars though!  I mean, you just have to give some appreciation to this genius!

They even have a genuinely useful purpose.  I'm terrible at remembering which way round to do my increases.  For some reason I'm not so bad with decreases, but every raglan shoulder I do I have to check every time!  Now I can mark my work with these, and everything will go so much more smoothly and quickly!

Photographing small things that glow Hax 101 - cut a small hole in the bottom of an empty cardboard tissue cube, place the large hole that the tissues used to come out of over the glowy things, ensure flash is turned off, place phone camera lens over the small hole you cut in the bottom.  Take photo.  Voila!  Your own tiny dark-box!

Finn

Time for the cutest pupper pics!

Cute, but also naughty!

He claims that the post just exploded all on it's own, and he had nothing at all to do with it...

See those little spotty bags that have been ripped out of a little cardboard box?  Fortunately their contents were not harmed.  You'll see what they are later.

We now have a post cage attached to the back of our door!

One night it was raining really heavily, so Stephen and I went to sit on the front doorstep to watch it, while drinking hot chocolate.  Finn did not understand this strange behaviour, but he really did want to share my hot chocolate.

Active pup is active.  I think he'd been considering chasing he ducks, but they flew away.  Even on these current cold, dark evenings, Finn still likes to get right in the lake!

He lived in kennels with other dogs for the first 7 years of his life.  He chased birds for work, and now he chases birds for joy.  He loves to be out in the countryside, running around, swimming in lakes and rivers, following all the exciting scents.

But he also loves his home comforts, and he is more than happily settled into his retirement life of sofa snuggles, cushions, blankets, and curling up between mummy and daddy in the big bed at night, making sure to steal just enough duvet that neither can quite manage to cover their arse.

Penguins!

I promised that there would be more this month, and I wasn't wrong!

Yeah, I know, this looks a lot more like a photo of Finn than a photo of a penguin.  I promise that it is a photo of a penguin, it's just that it's Finn's penguin, so I wasn't allowed to position it how I wanted it without it being stolen back.  So this is the best shot I got before he made it filthy.

Just an indication here of how soft and gentle Finn is with his toys, this penguin has a squeak.  We did not realise that it had a squeak for 2 whole days, even though he rarely put it down except to eat during that time.

These are 2 separate orders from Kate Elford.  The first of these was perfectly intact when I took possession of it.  The second was strewn all over the hall floor amid the detritus of it's own packaging (Thank you Kate for wrapping each item individually inside the parcel!) as well as the remains of a Mind Christmas appeal, and the envelope from this month's The Knitter magazine.

As well as the usual penguin pin badges, what we have here is penguin stitch markers!  2 wooden ones, and one ceramic one. (I missed out on the ceramic ones first time around, but I got one when she re-stocked!)  Also, an acrylic "Pea of Positivity" stitch marker, which is just adorable!

You know when you take a single canvas bag to the supermarket, because all you want is bread and mushrooms, but then the electric hum of the strip lights and the refrigeration units turns your brain into mush, so you wander around aimlessly adding things to your basket, so that when you eventually encounter a checkout, there's no way it's all going to fit in that one canvas bag?  

WWF giant penguin tote to the rescue!

When the staff at your local pharmacy set traps for you...

Recently a new display stand has appeared at our pharmacy, and it's right next to where you have to hang about waiting for your script to be dispensed.  It contains a selection of small microwavable plushies (Their bellies are stuffed with wheat, so they hold heat like a little furry hot water bottle).  Front and centre - penguins.  Of course.

Another tree decoration penguin.  Just one of those things that ends up in your basket in the supermarket when you're wandering around with your brain dribbling out of your ears, choosing which aisle you walk down next based largely on which one has the fewest other humans in it, rather than which one is most likely to be holding an item on your list.

When you're in a different supermarket than your local, because for some reason your local hasn't stocked lamb stock pots in over a month, and you've completely run out, but it's shepherds pie week next week.  Not only is your brain dribbling out of your ears, but you're also lost, because everything is in a different place, and the supermarket at Crystal Peaks is way bigger than the one in your nearest little town, and a different (posher) brand.  Then suddenly there is a size 6 plastic woman wearing a penguin top in front of you, so you have to go on clothes safari to find another one 3 times the size.  

You love the top so much that you wear it at the first available opportunity.  It's soft, and warm, and lovely, and it's got chocolate hobnob crumbs melted into it, and dog hairs all over it, and you realise that you haven't taken a photo of it yet.  So you wash it, and photograph it while it's still wet and hanging on the airing rack.

I really wasn't sure if I should put this in my Finished Objects section, or Penguins section.  Then I remembered that half of the people who "read" my blog skip right past the knitting stuff, because they've only come to look at photos of my dog, and the latest members of my penguin colony.

Last night I just wasn't feeling the knitting.  So I dug out my ancient cross stitch supplies, and a notebook with squared paper in, and made penguins.  

This is base model penguin.  Next I intend to try adding accessories, like hats, and/or scarves. The ideas seem to work on paper, but I've no idea how they'll transfer to the aida.  Watch this space to find out!

Right, that is all my dears.  Only 1:25am, and I didn't start writing until about 7:00pm!  I think this may actually be a record!

I shall be back in a little over a week for this year's pre-advent post.  There's a lot less in it this year, so I shouldn't struggle too much with keeping this promise!

Take care, be kind to others, and to yourself!

Vote Giant Yarn Bomb 2020!

Did anyone else see where Summer went?  Nope?  Me either!

It's now apparently October, it's very definitely autumn here in the UK.  2020 has been, and continues to be, in the words of the late, great Terry Pratchet; "Interesting Times".  We're no longer in lockdown due to Covid 19, but life certainly isn't back to normal, and as the weather in the Northern hemisphere rapidly turns colder, kids have gone back to school, adults have gone back to work, and idiots have gone back out on the town full of alcohol and not wearing a mask, the infection rate has once again begun to climb.  Masks have become the latest "Must Have" fashion accessory, except that if you don't wear one the consequences are somewhat more severe than being mocked for not being on trend.

Two of the worst Premier's in the world - Donald Trump, and Boris Johnson, have both become infected with the virus, and spent time in hospital because of it.  In both cases this happened shortly after a gathering of the countries' various representatives where social distancing wasn't observed, and masks weren't worn.  Neither seem to have learned anything from the experience, and continue to encourage others to risk their lives in order to prop up the economy.  Trump is still infectious, yet he is refusing to conduct the current round of pre-election presidential debates virtually, in order to safeguard others involved.  

*sigh*

None of this has anything to do with knitting, or even explains why I've been absent from updating for so long, but just in case anyone is reading this in the future, it serves as a reminder that nothing is "normal" right now!

So, why have I been quiet for the last 4 months?

Ravelry

Ravelry is the main answer to that question.  

Earlier this year Ravelry went live with a complete overhaul of the entire site.  They had "tested" the new look on just a handful of users, and hadn't actually acted on any of the responses that they'd received.  The new look included animations, and high contrast.  In a significant number of people it caused eyestrain, headaches, migraines, and even in a few cases, seizures. Reports poured in of how people had become ill for days by using the new site for just minutes. I found that I struggled to read anything on the new site, the letters seemed to be vibrating on the screen, and in less than 5 minutes I'd developed an eyestrain headache.  I also learned that the new site could not be read by the majority of text-to-voice translators used by people who are visually impaired.  

Ravelry, my dear, beloved Ravelry, that I've loved so much for their stance on inclusivity, diversity, and preventing hate speech, reacted by making a few minor changes to the animations, then ignoring everything.  Every new thread on the subject was shut down, and nothing was heard from the team for weeks.  When we did finally get a response, it was from Cassidy herself, Founder of Ravelry, and what she said left those of us who had suffered these ill effects, and been left unable to use the site disgusted, disappointed, and angry.  She said that anyone claiming to get ill from using the site was lying for their own purposes, and there was nothing at all wrong with it.

At that point, I left Ravelry.  I didn't delete my account, as I hoped that at some point in the future things would improve, and accessibility issues would be addressed seriously.  If I'm honest, I didn't expect to be back for months, maybe years.  I started finding new ways to catalogue my stash, my projects, and communicate with other knitters.  I have been disbelieved and ignored enough by doctors, friends, family, and the DWP regarding my illnesses and disabilities over the last decade. There was no way I was putting up with it in my hobby too.

I found preparing to write a blog without access to all of my notes on Ravelry was almost impossible though.  I just didn't even know where to start.  Plus I was so angry, and disappointed, that an organisation that prides itself on being inclusive should so blatantly exclude people with sight and neurological issues.

My decision to leave was reinforced soon after when the team put out a statement in response to what Cassidy had said, and in it they effectively used her as their scapegoat for all of their poor decisions in the last 2 months, despite the fact that it was clear that Cassidy was herself very ill due to the stress of the situation.  I thought that if they can't even treat health issues with compassion  and respect in one of their own, what chance do the rest of us have?

However, I'm pleased to say that a few weeks ago I was proven wrong.  First, the team made a commitment to make changes, and to keep everyone updated via the Ravelry Blog, so that nobody need expose themselves to harmful graphics in order to keep up to date.  Then, they actually invited many of those who had been affected, plus a number of specialists in online accessibility, to be involved in larger scale testing of new options to make the new site more accessible.  Finally, a new viewing mode was released with lower contrast, and no animations.  I decided to try it out, and although I still find it a little jarring, it no longer gives me headaches!

So I can now once again access all of the years of data that I have stored on Ravelry, and I am reassured that they are taking accessibility seriously by the people they have invited to be involved, and how quickly they came up with a useable solution once they actually started to work on it.

Best of all, this means I can now finally update my blog again without it taking a week to do all of the prep!  Although it also means that you're getting 4 months of everything all at once...

FO's

There's quite a few of these, including some I'm especially proud of!

Remember these?  First cast on over 4 years ago for a my friend Dave, in June this year I finally finished the Larpy Leg Wraps!  3.5m each of cotton stockinette and i-cord.  Of course, Live Action Role Play is one of the many activities that are considered too risky to be allowed during this year of plague, so even if Dave were still playing the same character, he wouldn't need these right now.  I'm hoping that he will be able to make use of them next year though.

No pattern, but the yarn used was King Cole Giza, in the colourway "Grey".

I think I was working on these last time that I did an update.  Lovely simple socks for Stephen.  They were intended to go with new dog walking boots, but The Virus has made shopping difficult, and Stephen is a nightmare when attempting to purchase footwear, so he still hasn't managed to get these fabled sturdy dog walking boots.  Instead he settled for ordering an identical pair of trainers to the tatty old ones that he already had on the internet.

My standard sock pattern, and the yarn is Stylecraft Head Over Heels in the colourway "Snowdon".

This is Brian the Penguin.  He is made of amigurimi crochet.  I am incredibly proud of him, because I don't consider myself to be an accomplished crocheter, yet he turned out perfectly, and I followed a pattern to make him and everything!

Lisa, of Made by Penguins, was considering making up little kits that include everything necessary to make your very own Brian, so she wanted to check how much yarn is used on average. She asked as many people as possible, of differing skill levels, to make their own Brian, and let her know exactly how much yarn they used.  

Pattern is Brian the MBP Penguin by Alexa Templeton.

The main yarn is merino DK by Made By Penguins, in the colourway "Lust".  The body is Rico Design Essentials Merino DK, in "Off White", and the beak and feet are in SMC Extra Soft Merino, colourway "Mustard".

I don't often get my legs out in public, because Lipoedema isn't pretty to look at.  However, I'm slowly learning that it's also not something to be ashamed of, and when the weather was really hot this summer, I didn't really want to be wearing full length trousers. I have to wear socks with my dog walking trainers, but my usual length of socks isn't especially flattering.  So I decided to make a few pairs of trainer socks.  These were my first.

Pattern is Rose City Rollers, by Mara Catherine Bryner.

Yarn is Crazy Zauberball, in the colourway "Fliederduft".

For absolute ages I've been admiring a sweater on Kunbi's Instagram page.  This summer she asked for people to test knit it.  Of course I jumped at the opportunity!

It's a beautifully simple construction, with different shaping options according to your body shape.  I made the curviest option, and I absolutely love how it fits!  The main design points of this sweater are the long, belled sleeves, and the v-front and back.  I can see me wearing this a lot this winter!

The yarn is Caroline DK by Third Vault Yarns, in the colourway "Death" (Inspired by the Sandman comics).

The pattern is Ireti Sweater by Kunbi Ayo-Okanlawon (Due to be released Autumn/Winter 2020)

During the period of time that I couldn't use Ravelry, I spent more time on Everyday Knitter, because being able to socialise is difficult enough when your body is utterly unreliable, and you live miles from your nearest friend, even more difficult in the middle of a global pandemic, and immeasurably more difficult when on top of these things your favourite social media platform is inaccessible to you.  

Everyday Knitter has fairly recently moved from being a Facebook group, and to celebrate moving to their new home, they decided to run their first KAL, which was this shawl.

The pattern is Fuss Free Festival Shawl, by Louise Tilbrook.

The yarn is Marvellous High Twist by Ring-a-Rosie, in a One-of-a-kind bright, summery colourway.

This is my second pair of trainer socks made this summer.

The pattern is the same as the earlier pair, but this time the yarn is King Cole Zigzag in the colourway "Smokey".

My deepest apologies for this assault upon your occipital lobe.

This was a commission.  Yes, somebody deliberately asked me to make the ugliest tank top that I could manage for them to wear, and no, it's not fancy dress!  

It's something to do with the fandom of The Bar Steward Sons of Val Doonican. As you will see if you follow that link, hideous tank tops seem to be a bit of a thing for them and their fans!

I'm pleased to say that the recipient was overjoyed with my efforts, and I was deeply touched by the fact that she gave me flowers, and chocolate, and gin as a thank you for making this for her!

The yarn is a random selection of various acrylic DK yarns, most provided by the lady I made this for, but also some from the darkest depths of my stash.

The pattern is The Doonicans Official #Eye-Candy approved hand-Knitted Tank-Top, which is available free from the merch page of their website.

Final finished object from the last 4 months is the official 2020 Shetland Wool Week hat.  

Shetland Wool Week is one of the many things that has had to be effectively cancelled this year because of The Virus, but many of the associated rituals and merchandise have still happened, and hopefully will have helped to raise enough money to ensure that next year's event still happens.  Several of the talks and tours still happened online too, which I think is great for anyone who would never expect to be able to get to Shetland.

The pattern for this hat is Katie's Kep, by Wilma Malcolmson.

The yarn is Artesano Definition, in the colourway "Night" for the main colour, and a selection of mini-skeins by Made by Penguins for the colourwork.

WIPs

I've been pretty good this summer at sticking to 2 or 3 main WIPs, with at least one of them being an old project that I've dug out to finally finish.

This is a blanket that I cast on 3 years ago for my youngest niece.  It was relegated to the naughty pile some time ago, when I managed to sew a square in the wrong order.  When I sew something, it does not easily come un-sewn.  I'm now working on sewing together all of the squares that I've already knitted together, before I start knitting the remaining squares.  I'm hoping that this will get me re-enthused about this project, because I absolutely hate sewing up, so getting as much of it done now as possible, then making a point of doing the rest as I go along, should make this a much more enjoyable knit.  Plus, it will help me to remember which size and colour of squares I still need to make, which as of right now I've totally lost track of.

The fact is, if this wasn't for my niece, I would have frogged it long ago, but I love her so much that I'm willing to put myself through this to be sure that she gets something truly unique.

There is no pattern, it's just lots of different sized squares knit in basket stitch.

The yarn is Rico Design Baby So Soft DK, in the colourways 001. 007, and 015.

When I have multiple projects on the go, which let's face it, is basically always, usually one of them is simple TV knitting, one is easily portable, one is a hard slog/complicated, and one is selfish.

This is my current TV knitting project, and it's another pair of socks for Stephen.  If the weather keeps getting worse as winter approaches, he's going to have to bite the bullet, and go shopping for those sturdy boots.  The more decent winter socks he has for then, the better.  Also, hand knit socks don't dig into his ankles the way that store bought socks do when his medications make them swell up.

These are my usual sock pattern, and the yarn is Woolcraft Superwash Sock, in the colourway 1517.

I first cast this on 7 years ago.  Yes, you read that right, it's not a typo, it's been 7 years since I first attempted to make this yarn become this pattern.  

I've frogged it 3 times.  That's my limit. If I have to rip back more than 3 times, I decide that this yarn and pattern combo was not meant to be, and I don't cast back on.

Fortunately, this time I seem to have managed to resolve all of my issues, and I'm almost finished cable chart B, so I think I've finally cracked it, and I should have this finished by my next update, eve if I actually manage to update in November, like I'm supposed to!  I picked this up to be part of my WIP-down, but now I'm calling this my indulgent, selfish project.

The pattern is Kyna, by Lucy Hague.

The yarn is Fyberspates Vivacious 4-ply in the colourway "Forest".

Finally, this is my portable project.  The entire project isn't even remotely portable, as it now consists of about 40 crocheted squares, but it's very easy just to put a couple of scraps of DK left over from recent projects into a bag, with a crochet hook, then whenever you've got a bit of time to fill, just start making squares.

I'm using a combination of leftover yarn, and single balls of DK bought while on holiday in various places, with the idea that when I finally join all of the squares together into a giant blanket, each square will be a memory of a place, or a project.

These squares are using Stylecraft Special DK left over from weaving a cushion cover.

Stash Enhancement

In order to make this easier for me, these are grouped by dyer, and not at all listed in purchase order!

Made by Penguins

June Emperor Penguin club - Crested Pigeon

July Emperor Penguin club - Budgie

August Emperor Penguin club - Mandarin Duck

September Little Penguin club - Galah

So this summer I finally officially moved in with Stephen.  We always thought that if we lived together we would end up killing each other, as we both frequently need out own space.  This is why we decided to rearrange his house to include a yarn cave for me, and a man cave for him before I moved in permanently.  We now both have somewhere to hide if we feel the need.

Why am I telling you this here you may ask?  Well, the down side of moving in with Stephen is that regardless of how separate we actually keep our finances, as my partner, it is assumed by our government that he will automatically take on the responsibility of paying for my upkeep, as I am unable to maintain paid employment due to my collection of illnesses and disabilities.  So as soon as I informed the department of work and pensions of my change of address, they stopped paying me the majority of my disability benefits.

This means that I can no longer afford to spend as much on my hobbies as I have been doing, and I've had to reduce my one remaining monthly yarn subscription to the smallest possible, which is the Little Penguin.

October Little Penguin club - Traditional Lovebirds

Made by Penguins rainbow yarn, crochet hooks, and blue sparkly Jesse Penguin pin badge.

Usually there are a number of yarn festivals that I would attend during the year.  Wool Monty, and Woolness during the summer, then Bakewell Wool Gathering, and Nottingham Yarn Expo in the autumn.  I save a little each month to be sure that I can splurge a bit at these festivals.  Obviously, this year, none of the festivals have happened. So I've allocated myself a couple of online purchases for each of the summer festivals, and a single online purchase for each of the autumn festivals.  This is what I bought to make up for missing Wool Monty, although I also got some yarn that I had pre-ordered to pick up while there.  I think I showed that to you last time.

Mothy and the Squid

Regardless of the state of my finances, or how sensible it is for me to do so, when I'm stressed and/or miserable, I browse instagram looking for things I can comfort shop.  Sooner or later my meagre savings will run out and I'll not be able to do this any more, but until then I continue to build my stash so that it will keep me going for years to come.

That's exactly what happened here.  Jillian was offering a free sparkly mini-skein with any order over a certain value, and I thought that a few more mini's for my mitred squares blanket would be nice.

What I forgot when making that last order is that Jillian was also running a giveaway that weekend.  I hadn't entered on instagram, but placing an order also gave you an entry.  So I was very surprised to see my name pop up on Instagram the next week saying that I'd won these 4 skeins!  The 2 on the right could have been made to go together, so I think they will be used in the same project.  

"Spend £x to qualify for free postage" has a lot to answer for!

Also, little drawstring pouches.

I had intended on dialling back my usual Advent marathon this year.  I think it got a bit out of control last year.  So having already ordered a yarn advent calendar, I wasn't intending on buying another.  Then Jillian offered this one, with each yarn packaged in it's own little drawstring bag, and a choice of 20g or 10g mini-skeins.  I loved the idea so much that I immediately ordered one.  Then added some left-over easter egg yarns, and a couple of mini-skeins to my order so that I would qualify for free postage.  I also qualified for a few free 10g mini-skeins with this order, I only chose 2 though.

Ring-a-Rosie

I don't know if it was because of lockdown, or if it was something she was already working on, but earlier this year Barbara launched the Ring-a-Rosie website, exclusively to sell her own hand-dyed yarn.  That could only be a dangerous thing for my bank account!

These were so beautifully packed!  Everything was wrapped in tissue paper, and sprinkled with dried rose petals!

How much is this my colours?  Barbara posted this colourway online, and I loved it so much, but I wasn't going to be up north for weeks!  So Barbara agreed to keep it for me until I could go up.  I'm trying to buy larger quantities so that I can use them to make actual garments.  I may even actually have a plan for this yarn, which is basically unheard of!

I think I'm going to use these 3 skeins together with the 3 in the picture above.  I keep telling myself that I'm supporting my friend's businesses by buying more yarn.  I'm totally doing that, right?

Third Vault Yarns

I've only just discovered Lola this year, and I am utterly besotted with her work!  She's such a giant geek, and that totally comes through in her dying.

This is what happened the very first time that I went to look at the Third Vault Yarns site.  Things just started falling into my basket because they were so beautiful, and had such great names!  These are called "Trine", "Lachesis", and "Mycelium".  Also, check out that cute little dragon sticker that was on the packaging!

I'm really sorry, this is a terrible photo!  I was hoping that the shaft of natural daylight would make all of the colours show that are hidden away in what looks at first to be a dark grey yarn.  Instead I made lots of shadows that confuse the matter.  But I couldn't take a second shot at the photo, because within minutes of taking it I'd started winding the skeins into cakes!

This was because I ordered this yarn to be dyed especially for the Ireti sweater test knit, and I wanted to get started on it right away to give myself as much time as possible to make sure that I could finish it on time.

The reason I had to order more yarn, despite clearly owning a lot of yarn, is that nearly all of my yarn is 4-ply, but this sweater is knit in DK.  I definitely didn't have a sweater quantity of DK yarn worthy of a sweater that lovely!

Other orders

These are in rough chronological order... I think...

I, err, needed some new sock needles, because Finn has taken to stealing my project bags and carrying them about in his mouth, which a couple of times now has resulted in very thin wooden needles becoming very thin broken wooden needles.

Not sure how there ended up being yarn in that parcel, except that I have no self control, and Tangled Yarn has some lovely yarns.  Again, the photo isn't great, but I will insist on buying dark coloured yarns with really subtle tonal variations.  The Fyberspates yarn is shades of purple, and the Skein Queen yarn is deep blue with a beautiful sheen.

The colours! They are so pretty!  Surely they will cheer me up!

Yeah, you get the idea.  

These are from Yarny Love.

Having realised that I needed to order a sweater quantity of DK in order to knit Ireti, and that winter would be here soon, I thought it might be worth having another sweater quantity of DK in stock, as it were.  At the same time as I was thinking this, It's a Stitch Up dyed up their Social Justice Warrior colourway, "Grey Area", on DK.  I love this colourway so much!

The colourway on the left is called Verdigris, and is a very popular colourway by Black Elephant.  The colourway on the right is the moody version of the summer club.  I had no idea what it would look like when I ordered both of these yarns, but as you can see, they go together perfectly!  So now I have to use them together.

Finally, Eleanor of Knit Nottingham shared a collection of Opal sock yarns that she had in stock.  Usually I would have gone to the shop for the birthday party in September, but of course lots of tipsy yarnies in a little shop was definitely out of the question this year.  The yarns that I prefer tend to be the ones that sell out so fast that they never make it onto the website, even now that the shop itself is only partially open (You can go to the door and buy yarn, but you can't go in and fondle the yarn, for reasons that should be obvious.) So I took my opportunity to ask if I could buy some of the Opal yarn, while genuinely feeling relieved at finally getting a chance to support this particular business.

Knitting Adjacent

Thankfully, the 2 most enormous sections are now finished!  The following sections will be shorter, I promise!

This section is all things that I've acquired that are in some way connected to my knitting, but are not yarn.

I wish I could remember who it was on instagram that shared these badges, but sadly I can't :(  I saw them and knew I had to have one though.  Knitting is definitely one of the main things that has kept me sane through all that 2020 has had to throw at us, and most especially lockdown.  I bought it at Erisapple, who currently have a bunch of really cute Halloween designs available.

In my last update I told you about the Yarn Beaver by Yarnistry.  Basically it's a fun evening online, and a chance to win some great yarny prizes, plus guaranteed stitch markers for every entry.  This particular beaver was inspired by women who should have got a Nobel prize for their work, but for some reason or other did not.  

I was exceptionally pleased with the markers that I got, as this set were inspired by Rosalind Franklin, the x-ray crystallographer most famous for discovering the double helix structure of DNA.  My degree is in Biochemistry and Genetics, and my interest in this subject was begun by reading the account of determining the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick.  They are the names that most people know.  Far fewer know of the importance of Rosalind Franklin's contribution.

Dunderknit, of the Knitting Vicariously podcast, was the first person to introduce me to Mahliqua.  I am utterly in love with the combination of knitting, crochet, yarn, wire, and crystals that makes up these stunningly beautiful pieces of jewellery.

I don't often attend events that require such intricate adornment these days, nor could I afford most of my favourite pieces anyway, but if I did, and I could, I would own an awful lot of this very talented lady's work!

For now, I've settled for this beautiful pair of earrings, that I wore on my birthday this year.  I fell even more in love when my earrings arrived with a sachet of earl grey tea!

Hopefully the picture on this project bag and badge looks at least a little bit familiar?  

Even though Shetland Wool Week couldn't happen, some of the merchandise was produced anyway, and sold in the form of "supporter packs".  This was a way of being able to keep the event funded for next year.  

I'm still hoping that at some point in the future I might be able to get back up to Shetland for Wool Week, and to spend a bit of time with the Out-Laws, but in the mean time, I'll settle for spending a bit of my money in a way that should benefit the islands.

I am so grateful for this t-shirt.  I was having a physical flop, lying in bed, feeling sorry for myself, but also fully aware that this time I can't comfort shop to cheer myself up, because I've just not got enough money left to do so. 

Yes, I am fully aware that I've done this to myself, and yes, I'm also fully aware than I am enormously privileged to have everything that I do have.  I'm still allowed to feel sorry for myself when my body is being useless.

Mykie of Skeinhead took pity on me, and sent me this t-shirt to cheer me up!

Jane Austen reimagined as a fibre-crafting punk!  I love it!

Finn

Are you ready for more photos of the cutest pup in the world?

Of course you are!

Finn loves his mummy!  He gives me kisses!

Finn is clever (where food is concerned anyway).  Here he is picking his own blackberries!

Finn likes a routine.  Part of his routine is that after dinner at night, Stephen takes him for a walk around the village, when they get home, Finn gets his stick (it's a sort of edible doggy toothbrush), and soon after that, Stephen goes to get ready for bed, and depending on what he's got to do before actually going to bed, Finn and I get 10-30 minutes of sofa time before I go to get ready for bed, then Finn and I go and snuggle up to Stephen in bed.

This particular night Stephen wasn't getting off the sofa and making space for Finn according to schedule.  So Finn wriggled into this spot and started to slowly push Stephen off the sofa instead!

Penguins!

I'm really sorry if you've slogged through the rest of this in order to get to this bit, but there aren't many penguins this time.  It's been summer!  I can guarantee that numbers will pick up over the next couple of months!  If you've been paying attention, you will have spotted a couple of penguins earlier on though!

Penguin Corner had a bit of a sale, which I noticed when I went to buy the bag in the next photo.  I already have a little dish next to my sofa nest that I keep yarn needles, a tape measure, stitch markers, and such like in.  I needed something similar for my yarn cave nest, and now I have it!  I also have a wooden penguin tape measure, and a teeny tiny notebook, useful for recording which row of a lace chart I'm on or similar.

My penguin suitcase is great when I'm travelling by train, but now that I'm mostly travelling by car, I need something a bit more versatile to be my weekend bag.  This backpack is perfect!  It's big enough to fit in 3 days worth of clothes and toiletries, and it has loads of little pockets for putting in useful little things like a pen, hand sanitizer, a portable phone battery, etc.

I have the best friends in the whole world!  This is what our friends Jo and Ian left on our doorstep the weekend of my birthday!  They were very tasty!

I was looking for a journal, and this looked online as though it might fit the bill.  Then when it arrived it became clear that this is meant to be a photo album/scrapbook.  It's much too big to be a journal, and the pages are thick, black card instead of paper.

Obviously I've kept it anyway, and filled it with photos.  Mostly photo's of Finn.

So that's it my dears.  It's nearly 1am, and this has taken 2 days to write, but I am now up to date.  So sweet dreams everyone, speak to you again in a month or so.