Tag Archives: Crafternoon Treats

Mar25

Craftivity

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Craftivity

Titles are challenging, sometimes, but this word, Craftivity, popped into my mind as my fingers were poised over the keyboard.  Not an original word, probably, but it describes the way I am making the most of the extra time at home. A little knitting, a little sewing, a little crochet.

I started a new crochet project yesterday. I felt it was time to start using some of the “good stuff” AKA Universal Yarn’s Cotton Supreme in the most spring-y Eastery colours you can imagine. After a bit of Ravelry browsing, I decided on the Spring Blossom Cowl (Rav link to pattern page). It looked perfect with its four colour-blocked sections, though my plan is to make it a bit longer so it’ll double up around the neck. I am using my Addi Swing hook, size 5.5mm, and started out with fewer chains because I thought it’d be too wide. Well, after a few inches, I noticed it had shrunk somewhat widthwise. Oh well, I’m not frogging it now. My plan is to do about 12 inches of each colour, then join the ends together. It’s a pretty stitch, and the yarn is nice and soft.

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I have also made myself a sweatshirt-type top using a McCall’s pattern that I bought from work. It’s probably intended for pyjamas, as the pattern includes instructions for leggings, a top with two different length options, two different shaped hem options, and either a hood or cowl neck. The leggings can be made with long legs or as shorts. And there are some cosy slippers in there too. I chose the option with the shorter length, curved hem and cowl collar and left off the kangaroo pocket. (This fabric is quite thin and I didn’t want to drag it down with a pocket. If I make this again in a thicker fleece, I will probably add the pocket.)

The fabric is cool – it’s tie dyed and because it’s double knit it has stripes on the reverse.

I didn’t make any effort to place the colours in a certain position, though I would have liked the deep pinks/blues to have been more prominent. Still, it came together easily, I took my time, and best of all IT FITS!

I have spent a little time each day sitting on my back deck with a cup of tea to absorb some spring warmth. The laundry is up to date, my bathrooms were cleaned yesterday, my half of the built-in closet in our bedroom has been sorted to accommodate the warmer weather, and I am rather enjoying the relaxed schedule. Though, as we all know, there is an underlying tension to everything we do as we wonder how long this odd state of affairs will continue.

I had a couple of video chats via Facebook Messenger yesterday – one with a friend in Germany and a second with a couple of friends who just live down the road. So glad we have ways of keeping in touch. FB, Google Hangouts, Zoom … lots of options for video conferencing.

I even had a Zoom chat with Kathryn of Crafternoon Treats on Sunday, along with some of her other Patreons. She has been recording a daily vlog to chat about how things are developing in the UK along with her daily activities like yarn dyeing, home cooking and crochet.

I hope that you are finding ways to keep calm, stay healthy and relieve stress.

Jun17

Fun, food, and a Finishalong

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Hi bloggy friends. Once again, a whizzy week. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Monday and Friday were taken up with appointments and errands and a walk with a friend and, before I knew it, it was the weekend again. Saturday was a lot of fun. I went to a market at Yarn Okanagan, an event here in the valley where many people were attending knitting workshops and browsing the vendors’ offerings. A friend and I went just for the market. It only took us an hour to look around. She bought a beautiful skein of something soft (merino, I think) in a deep deep teal. I’d say 99.99% of the yarn there was wool, so of course I didn’t buy any, though I did enjoy looking at the colourful skeins. There were project bags for sale too, but I just tell myself I can make those so there’s no need to buy any!

After the market, my friend and I spent a couple of hours at a local coffee shop, catching up on everything as we haven’t had the chance for a good chinwag in ages.

Later that day, Tai Chi Man and I were on our way to an evening potluck at another friend’s house and as usual the food was delicious, the company hilarious and the evening a success.

Today I had to work, but immediately afterwards our family went out for dinner to celebrate ds3’s 20th birthday. So that was a great way to wrap up the weekend, and now I have the next two days off to get the cleaning up to date and some sewing done.

I do have a bit of new yarn to show you.

This is Joy DK from Loops & Threads (Michaels). It’s very soft acrylic yarn in 100 gram balls and one of my friends bought it for me as a thank you for “lending” her some of my yarn. She wanted to make some dolls and I invited her to look through my stash of DK, because it didn’t make sense for her to buy full balls of different colours when she only needed a tiny bit of some of them. So she took away some skeins and brought back what she didn’t use, along with these two extra balls. The teal one is showing bluer than it really is.

One of the Ravelry groups that I belong to, and am a moderator of, is Crafternoon Treats. Kathryn of Crafternoon Treats (blog, podcast, Etsy shop) is running a Finishalong from now until the end of September. I did a review of my Works in Progress, which numbered four, more than I usually have, but a lot fewer than many people have!

As of yesterday, I had (links are to my Ravelry project pages)

(1) my March sweater, which was abandoned temporarily when I broke my wrist. I pulled it out of the bag today and to be honest I think it might go into the frogpond. I tried it on and I don’t love it.

(2) my Maui Ocean Cowl, from the pattern Pool Party Cowl by Balls to the Walls Knits, which is actually now FINISHED!

maui cowl

(3) my Swiss sunhat, made with hemp yarn. I don’t have an up to date photo of it, but I finished the top of the crown and started to work straight, but it’s really hard on the hands (and wrist) and I think this one is going to the frogpond too.

(4) and finally, my zippered window bag, which is an experiment in crocheting into vinyl to make a bag that has a window in it. Designing on the hook, it is far from perfect but I intend to finish this and use it.

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Knit Picks Shine Sport, circle of clear vinyl

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zipper with chain stitch, ready for crocheting

This project is further along than these photos suggest.

I can feel the desire to start a new project, something that is most definitely NOT single crochet! Actually, while typing that, I realised I still have some of the cake of Lion Brand Mandala left since I finished the two hats for my FIL, patiently waiting in a little bowl on my coffee table. I think I need to start another knitted hat. And sew more bags!

Mar20

WIP: not a sweater

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The Stylecraft DK Coast Pack that was supposed to become a sweater is now going to be a poncho!

I have this poncho already that I knitted years ago…

It’s just a rectangle with one end sewn to the side of the other end, if you know what I mean. It’s quite a practical shape, actually, as in the car you can wear it with the V at the front which keeps your lap warm without bulk at the back, and when out walking you can wear it with the V at the back.

The project-that-was-going-to-be-a-sweater-but-I-wasn’t-happy-with-it sat in its bag for a week or three while I did other things and let my brain mull things over in the background. Whilst this looks like procrastination, it can be quite an effective way of making decisions!!

So, here’s the progress so far…

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That’s a pretty big square with a separate V stitch panel which is currently 12.5″ deep, to give you an idea of scale. Once my V stitch section gets to be about 35″ long, I’ll have to think about the next step which will be joining and bordering the whole thing. I am keeping the Peacock colour aside for that.

I’m feeling happier about this project now that a decision has been made, and I added about seven rows while watching Crafternoon Treats’ latest podcast this evening.

In other news, my piano lessons have been cancelled for the rest of the Spring. My teacher is going in for a hip replacement operation soon and won’t be back in action until after the summer months. The last tune she had us learning was Londonderry Air, which is quite tricky. I really will have to practice lots over the summer so that when we start again in the fall I haven’t forgotten everything!

Spring has finally Sprung here in British Columbia’s southern interior. The street sweeping trucks have been around the neighbourhood, vacuuming up the grit from the snowploughs/plows, the husband has pruned the apricot and cherry trees, signs of life can be seen from the bulbs in the garden, and we were down to our T shirts on Sunday afternoon in the sunshine. I still intend to hit the slopes again before the end of the ski season though.

 

Jan11

January WIP update

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The time flies by! I just checked the date of my last post and it was 6 days ago! And I had forgotten I already showed you my stash flash, because I was about to post the photos…again!

Hmmm, guess my brain is all full up.

The Hungry Caterpillar blanket isn’t coming along as quickly as it should, but here’s the progress so far…

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The first two (green) segments of the caterpillar’s body are now incorporated. I’m working right to left on each row, and this is row 4 of 9. The edges are curling a bit, which will all be fixed when I add the border. I could have used a 5.5mm hook, with hindsight, and if I had I could have used my Addi Swing hook. Ah well, too late now.

Have you heard the word “hygge?” It’s a word that’s being bandied about on the interwebz and it is a Danish word with a complex meaning that needs a bunch of English words to describe it! A friend and I have started a women’s group of the same name. We had the first gathering last night at my house. Just four of us for the first one, though I’d like to add a few more. One woman recently had a baby and brought him along. OMG, newborns are so tiny and cute. I asked her to give the caterpillar hat a trial run, because I was nervous about the size. It was PERFECT! So I guess I don’t have to make another one.

And funnily enough, Kathryn of Crafternoon Treats was talking about the exact same thing in Episode 24 of her podcast that I watched today.  Have you seen her podcast before? I love it.

Last night, one friend was knitting on a pair of socks, another was knitting a rat cave which she intended to felt, and I was crocheting a really easy cowl. I wanted something I could do mindfully and mindlessly at the same time! You know what I mean? You can concentrate and enjoy the lovely fuzzy feeling that comes with forming the stitches with the colourful yarn, and if you want to chat you can continue crocheting because every row is the same and easy to memorise.

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This is Loops & Threads Facets. 100% acrylic, a bulky yarn in the colourway Capri Blue. This is a daylight shot but it still doesn’t do it justice. At the end of the first skein, I had a piece 20 inches long, which wasn’t quite long enough to join into a cowl. So as I was going to be starting the second ball anyway, I decided just to use up the whole of the second ball too and hopefully get a cowl that I can double up around my neck. I doubled the amount of pattern repeats across as my yarn isn’t anywhere near as bulky as the one used in the original design. Agnes Lace Cowl

Since starting this, I have become quite attached to it. Rather than give this one away, I may just weed out and donate some of the other older accessories I have. I might even make a hat to match (time to grab a Michaels coupon)!

Well, I must make some more progress on the blanket and also put a couple of hours in on my eCornell plant-based nutrition course. I’m at mid-point right now. Halfway through the second module of three. I am learning a lot and it’s getting me all fired up to share more with people about the health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet. I am cooking without added oil now and the kids are having to get used to dinners without fake cheese. Whilst we are keeping maple syrup in the house, once the coconut sugar is gone I won’t be buying any more. Ditto the white flour.

I am being a lot more outspoken on my personal Facebook page about animal rights at the moment. I’m sure some of my FB friends would like to/have blocked my posts but the truth really does have to come out. And it will, one way or another.

Hope you’re having a compassionate week.

Aug28

WIP: Attic24’s Neat Ripple

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Last night I finally finished the last stripe on the Neat Ripple blanket. There were so many ends to weave in that I thought it would take me all day but it actually went very quickly. A few ends before I went out with Tai Chi Man to the farmers and crafters market, and the rest when I arrived home, having stocked up on fresh produce for tonight’s dinner and recharged with the most amazing raspberry matcha latte and Mexican chocolate cookie at Chai Baba.

So, just the border to go. It’s a narrow one, only three rounds I think, and I’ll probably just do it all in turquoise. And then my little teddy can have his photo shoot with his matching blankie.

Linkies: Neat Ripple know-how (border and notes)

Neat Ripple Pattern

I am so glad that this is nearly done. The Demelza blanket, (link will take you to the Ravelry project page as it’s a free Ravelry download) which I will be starting September 1st with a bunch of other Crochet-along-ers in the Colourful KALs/CALs group on Ravelry, looks quite challenging and I didn’t want other WIPs nagging me from their bag in the corner while crocheting Demelza!

Of course the Peacock Tail Bag will overlap Demelza somewhat during September.

Anyone is welcome in the Colourful group – Ravelry is free to join if you haven’t discovered its wonders already. And it’s such a friendly chatty group with frequent posts – important for a successful interesting group, I think.

One more recommendation while thinking about crochet and Ravelry…I am actually watching a podcast (and the latest episode featured a bit of free advertising for Ravelry and its features). I have tried various podcasts over and over again but find different aspects of them offputting for whatever reason, but I like this one: Crafternoon Treats. Kathryn is an experienced crocheter living in Yorkshire, England, relatively new knitter, new spinner, new dyer, and she talks about what she’s making, her adventures in playing with yarn and colour, and other stuff. She’s one of Stylecraft’s new Blogstars too. This is a group of bloggers, most but not all of whom are in the UK, who have been chosen by Stylecraft to get sneak peeks of new yarns, offer their own designs with the yarn, offer giveaways, etc. If you haven’t tried Stylecraft yet, it’s worth it – their yarn is good quality and reasonably priced. I order mine from Deramores but you can also get it internationally from Wool Warehouse in the UK.

She is on Facebook as Crafternoon Treats and Bagalong with Crafternoon Treats, and has her own group on Ravelry. The latter has not been particular active so far but I got the impression that she was thinking of making it more of a priority in future.

Well, enough waffling. It’s a beautiful day, and even though I feel like I made the most of my morning, there is still the afternoon to enjoy. Such a link-heavy post! I hope you check out some of them.

 

 

 

Apr22

Happy-Go-Lacy shawl WIP

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The first two days of working on this shawl I only achieved 11 rows. Tonight I picked it up (late, as I worked until 6 then had to make dinner and clean up) and crocheted up a storm while watching Crafternoon Treats’ podcast. (That link should take you to episode 1 of her podcast on You Tube.) I have to admit, I am really nitpicky about podcasts. Lots of things can put me off and make me hit Stop, from verbal tics to bad lighting to lack of interest in the content. However Kathy has drawn me in with lovely crocheted bags, blankets and shawls, and in her latest episode she talks about her Tunisian crochet workshop, her Road Trip scarf and her crocheted socks using Heart and Sole. Good grief, I thought, we are totally on the same page!

Anyway, back to the shawl. I used up the first ball of Heart and Sole and stuck a stitch marker in, then as per the pattern I returned to the foundation chain and started working in the other direction with ball #2.

If you look carefully at the photo (sorry, I know it’s another late night shot with my iPad on the living room floor!!!) you’ll see that I have completed three rows on the second half of the shawl (near the top of the work).  My plan is to use up the second ball and then split ball #3 between the two ends. When it’s gone, I’m done.

I don’t know why, but for two days now I’ve had a really stiff neck. Woke up with it yesterday morning and thought it’d be gone by nightfall, but no, it gave me pain on the right side during the night if if moved around and I have limited movement to the right. If it persists,  I’ll have to give the chiro a call.

It’s my sister’s birthday today, and rather than spending it at home she is currently in Kathmandu with her family on holiday. They were in Delhi for a bit, 40°C every day, and I don’t envy them that!

I may not be somewhere exotic but I’m very happy being where I am. I hope you are too. Happy crafting.