Wednesday, September 23, 2020

WIP Wednesday - Week 39

Off the Needles
A few more things flew off the needles this past month :)

I finished the Jurata Shawl about a week after my last WIP post, and absolutely LOVE it! It's too warm to use just now, but will come in VERY handy over the winter. This is definitely more to be used as a wrap rather than a shawl. It's wonderfully soft, and I love how the lace looks after blocking. I originally wanted to make this as I needed a shawl for fancy occasions -- we'll see if I actually have any need for it like that, or if it'll be a comfort wrap instead.


Last time I showed off a giraffe I'd made for one of my coworkers. I gave it to her Friday before last and we got talking about crocheting softies in general, so I showed her all the other patterns Stacey Trock has designed. One of my other coworkers saw this fish and immediately fell in love, so over the weekend I decided to make it for him :-D It was a really quick project, so Monday I could bring it with me and pass on to him (good thing too, as we got sent back home to work just two days later! Bah!). He laughed so much that he cried when he saw it, and was both very touched that I'd made it for him and very impressed that I'd finished it just over the weekend ;-) Such a gratifying response! Now that we're working from home again, he's placed it right next to his computer, and it's apparently his "stress fish" :P


Nina asked me for "a hat like the one I knit Jordan last year". Since that was my own design and I had enough scrap yarn it was easy enough to fulfill the request. I played around with the shapes a bit more, and am quite happy with the end result :)


Finally, I've finished a quick test-knit for some decorative leaves. They had such a fun construction that I couldn't pass them up, and are a great way to use up scraps. I don't actually decorate for autumn usually, but they might make for fun coasters.


On the Needles
Only one thing actively being worked on at the moment. After a FAR too long hibernation, I finally picked up my Adventurous Cardigan again. I started it in the very beginning of this year, but put it aside when Corona hit, and for some reason just never picked it back up again. But with the temperatures dropping, it's cool enough to work with thick wool again, so I'm back at it. I still have another 4 rows to go before separating for the sleeves, but at the moment each row takes me 20 minutes due to all the cables!! But I knew I'd be in it for the long haul when I cast it on, so we'll see how long it takes me to finish. Right now I'm thinking the autumn of 2021 is most realistic ;-)

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

WIP Wednesday - week 34

Haven't done one of these posts in FOREVER, so it's gonna be long :D

On the Needles
I needed something new to knit for our vacation (shush! I did! None of my other current projects were summer-house worthy) and of course couldn't make up my mind, so I ended up casting on not one, but TWO new things... and then promptly abandoned one of them, and have been working almost monogamously (at least until it got too hot) on the other.

One was a sweater with a colour-work yoke. I had two colourways I knew HAD to be used together, and originally planned to use for a shawl. But I never could find the right one, and then suddenly this sweater jumped out at me. I love the way it's turning out, even if the yoke does take FOREVER to knit.

The other was a shawl I've been wanting to knit forever (and actually had planned for the yarns above), and rightfully so. The body practically flew off the needles, and I finished that part of it in less than a week. The applied border takes quite awhile longer (41 repeats of the lace at 50 minutes each), but I love an applied border, and the lace is very intuitive, so it's a fun knit :-) Which is probably also why I've blown through this so quickly. Unfortunately it's been too hot to knit with wool for the past two weeks and I MISS working on it!!

As always, I have two pairs of socks on the needles. One with a bit of a pattern, and one totally vanilla, that I can knit on during meetings.

Finally, I've returned to working on the Fiesta Square. When it's this hot, I really can't work with anything other than cotton, so it was good to return to this for a bit. I only have 2-3 rounds left to go now! Of course, each round takes 1.5hrs by now, so the end is still awhile off.


Off the Needles
I finished Nina's cardigan! (Although she got to sew in the buttons herself ;-) ). It's a gorgeous colour on her, but unfortunately a bit too large in the neck opening, so I have to figure out if I can draw that in somehow.

One of my colleagues is pregnant and due this November, so I decided to make some things for her :-D I'll probably knit something too, but for now I wanted to crochet a soft toy. Meet Nellie the Giraffe! The recipient and I are friends on Instagram, so I won't be showing it off there until after it's been delivered.

.I FINALLY got two pairs of slippers off the needles. I offered to knit these for a friend of a friend, as I'd been wanting to knit up the pattern forever.. unfortunately the yarn I got hold off was splitty as anything, so the cuff took a lot longer than it should have, and in the end, it was really quite dull! :-P But a quick knit, at least. Each slipper took me only 2-3 evenings to finish.

I also finished two more pairs of socks - both presents for friends of mine. One has been shipped off already, the other is waiting until I get a few more pairs done, as she's offered to take any and all socks off my hands, if I feel like I have too many in my drawer ;-)

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

WIP Wednesday 22

... and suddenly 2 months went by without me making a single WIP post! I've been pretty low-key with my knitting, so nothing really fancy to show off, but at least I have a few finished objects by now.

First a pink cardigan for Nora! Michala sent me a video of her asking kindly when it would be finished... I hadn't even cast on yet!!! :-O Of course that was just not good enough, so I immediately made sure to remedy that (fortunately I HAD swatched at least), and sent her regular updates. Despite being tiny it took a LONG time to knit, as it's knit on a really small gauge. I'd changed the pattern to have buttons all the way down (instead of just closing at the neck), but forgot to adjust the body accordingly, so unfortunately it's a tad too tight if all buttons are closed :-P That's easily remedied by a larger button band though, so I'll probably do that at some point.

But fortunately Nora loves it :-D - she picked out the buttons herself!

I finally finished the Turtle Trail shawlette I started last year. It's knit from some mystery lace yarn Liz gave me, which absolutely, positively has some NZ possum in it! It is so AMAZINGLY soft! It will be a firm favourite come winter for sure!
Oh, and can I just say that I love applied edgings? They're so much fun to knit! :-D


With these things cast off, I've started another cardigan for Nina, as she asked for one for her birthday. It's slow going as it has a LOT of lace, but I'm really loving the way it's turning out. It's made from cotton, which isn't my usual fare, but very soft cotton, so it doesn't hurt my hands :)

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

WIP Wednesday - Week 14

It's been weird lately... I've had heaps of time to knit, but haven't really felt much like it. I needed something that required quite a bit of focus, as most of my knitting was just too mindless. At the same time it had to be something fairly small, as I did not feel up to the task of tackling a large sweater or shawl, so both of the WIPs from the last post were out too.

Instead I had quite a few days with no knitting at all, and then just finally decided to cast on something new. I'd discovered that the level of focus that e.g. solving a difficult sudoku takes was perfect! It required almost all my attention but in a very limited space, and thus seemed approachable. So I set my mind on finding the crafting equivalent of sudoku! I knew it would probably have to be crochet, as I'm still very much a beginner there, so searched through ravelry for something suitable, and finally came across the Fiesta Square - basically it starts as a mandala and grows into a small blanket. Lots of stitches I'd never seen before, lots of techniques I had to google - Perfect!
And it really was. The first 3-4 rounds took me about 2 hours to complete as I had to google everything and check out tutorial videos. Alas... apparently I'm a quick learner, and now it's not nearly as difficult any longer :-P I know - I know, that sounds like such a humble brag, but it did kinda defeat the purpose. Ah well - I'm still loving the way it's turning out, and am having lots of fun making it regardless.

I also turned to my spinning wheel for awhile, and actually managed to finish a small skein! I'd love to take a class at some point, and get some pointers. I'm 100% self-taught and KNOW I'm making a ton of mistakes :-P

Now that I'm feeling better and have gotten more used to the situation, I've been able to pick up a few older WIPs as well - still nothing mindless and nothing too big, but at least things suitable for TV knitting.

I've finally reached the applied edging for the Turtle Trail Shawlette :-D I still have quite a ways to go yet, as applied edgings take FOREVER, but I don't mind as I actually really love working with this yarn! It's a mystery yarn that Liz gave me last year sometime, but I'm absolutely certain that it's got at least some possum in the mix. It's got that delicious softness that makes it so instantly recognizable! Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite as big as I'd hoped, but blocking should give me enough added length that it'll still be useful. Of course I'll finish it just in time for summer, but at least I can look forward to wearing it next winter :)

After a break of probably a few years(!!!) I also pulled my Vivid blanket back out again. The lace is detailed enough to keep my focus, while each square is small enough that it doesn't feel like too huge an undertaking, and I actually finished three more squares over the weekend! So that's put me just over half-way through and strangely keen to FINALLY finish it :-P I have enough for 30 - perhaps 36 squares, so that should make quite a nice lap blanket.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

WIP Wednesday - Week 9

Since my last post I finished the Twylem Cardigan and I absolutely LOVE it! It turned out exactly like I'd hoped it would, and I'll be wearing the crap out of it the rest of this winter. All my mods worked, and there isn't a single thing I'd change about it :-D

With that finished, I decided it was high time that I got started on the Adventurous Cardigan as Mum and Dad gave me the yarn for it for my birthday. I cast on last week and am just over half-way with the back collar. SO MANY CABLES!!! ❤️ It's going to take forever to knit, and chances are I won't have it done until 2021 sometime, but it will be WELL worth it.

I've also picked up the Starflake shawl once again. The yarn isn't quite as nice to work with as I'd hoped (two really thin strands held together), but it's lovely soft, so the finished item will be lovely :-) For the sake of my own sanity I decided against the brioche version, and am just doing the plain garter stitch version instead.

Finally, I finished a lovey for a friend of mine, who's due in April sometime. I used the leftover cotton from Nora's mermaid's tail, and just change colours as I ran out. It was a really, really quick piece and I love the way it turned out :-D

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

WIP Wednesday - Week 6

First WIP post of the year! Aaand it's taken me more than a month to actually get around to writing one... go figure. Of course this means that I have quite a bit to show off, but I'll try to keep it fairly short.

Finished objects
Apparently there's a baby-boom at work at the moment, with 4 colleagues/partners of colleagues being pregnant and due within the next few months, so I've been knitting baby stuff like crazy. So far I've finished 2 baby surprise jackets and (almost) 3 pairs of booties.




I love knitting the BSJs, but have yet to find a good way to seam up the sleeves, so though the knitting itself is really easy, the making up (including buttons) does turn it into a bit of a hassle after all.

... They are ridiculously cute though :-P

I finally finished my Jillian sweater :-D I was a bit worried about it, as it had a bit of a weird fit prior to blocking, and I wasn't quite sure if it would work. Fortunately it mostly evened out while blocking, and though the fit isn't quite right, it's still perfectly serviceable, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

I've also finished the Aranami Shawl - playing a SERIOUS game of yarn chicken near the end, and ended up finishing my cast off with less than 1 gram remaining! It was a surprisingly dull knit, strangely enough, so I don't see myself making any more of those.

On the needles
With all the finished items, I actually only have one active WIP at the moment. I'm working on a(nother) blanket for myself, and have finished the first quartet of squares. It's slow going, but I think it'll look good when done.