Tag Archives: Demelza

Oct25

FO: Demelza

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TA DA!

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Yay! She’s done. Demelza is officially moved from the WIP category to the FO category.

(I actually have no Works in Progress now, but you know that won’t be the case for long.)

Even though we had heavy rain last night, we had a dry day with some sun and cloud and right now it’s absolutely beautiful outside. It’s so mild I was down to a T shirt when I went walking along the lakefront earlier. I laid Demelza on a blanket to get a photograph. The ground is a bit lumpy but the lighting in the shade of the lilac bushes is quite good.

I am not 100% convinced that the gold border was the right choice – maybe green or petrol would have looked better – but heck, it’s done now and I’m not ripping it out!  In real life, the contrast is not quite as stark as it is in the photo above and it blends better.

I weighed my yarn at the end and used approximately 3150 yards of the Stylecraft Special DK which is about 9.75 skeins in all (in 15 colours). Lots of leftovers to enjoy in the future. Hook used was 4.5mm and I obviously had a tighter tension than the designer as my blanket came out around 45″ square. It took 7.5 weeks to make. If it hadn’t been for the Crochet-along, I would probably have taken twice that long.

So, what’s next for my hook?

Well, I just received those ten balls of black Stylecraft Special Aran from Wool Warehouse which I plan to use for the granny square coat. There is a pattern, I just can’t remember the name of it right now, but it’s the one that takes its inspiration from that $3000 one that some celebrity was seen wearing. I have to put away my Demelza leftovers and pull out my Aran colours and figure things out.

Time for dinner now – need to blend the butternut squash soup we can eat. Happy crocheting!

PS: If you follow Stylecraft on Facebook, you will see there is a blog tour happening right now where a different blogger each day shows off what they have made with the new colours of the Special Aran. There’s a draw every day to win a pack of the yarn.

 

 

 

 

Oct24

WIP: Demelza (and acquisitions)

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I seem to have neglected you for the last week. I didn’t realise it has been seven whole days but I have been assembling the Demelza blanket and crocheting the border and things are taking their own sweet time.

I do have a photo of the blanket, taken after I joined everything together but before I started on the border. As of tonight, I only have one round left to do, plus a bit of end weaving, before I can show you a Finished Object. Soon, I promise.

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You can see where I deviated from the standard pattern (the 16 small squares that are all different). And of course my colour scheme is quite different from the original pattern.

I have been burning the candle at both ends somewhat as I have been excited to finish this project and move on to the next one. What with this project plus The Good Wife on Netflix, I have been going to bed late, and rather reluctantly.

The fabric store where I work had a staff appreciation night tonight. They bring in food (Chinese, this time, and I didn’t eat any as I wasn’t sure if any of it was vegan) and you get to browse the store while it’s closed and buy stuff with a special discount (though sometimes the current sale is just as good, or better than, the discount).

I had a short list of things I wanted, such as some knit fabric to make simple drapey vests, some non-slip slipper sole fabric for future crocheted slippers, some felt for my wood dining table for when we play Mexican Train dominoes or cards. However I also picked up some extra sewing machine needles and a couple of spools of thread, which I can always use. And these…

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Pom pom trim for a future crocheted blanket

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Some ‘Knit Klips’ which will hold pieces of crochet together for seaming (I really could have done with these a few days ago)!

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A pom pom maker (had my eye on one of these for a while)

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And I know you’d be disappointed if I said I wasn’t lured in by the yarn. I have used this before and it is nice and soft. No definite plan for it yet, but the colours co-ordinate with the ones I already have.

Here are all the skeins together…

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Cornsilk, Pewter, Black, Hot Pink, Boysenberry, Blue Hawaii and Mallard.

Each of these Red Heart With Love skeins weighs 7oz (about 200 grams) so that’s a lot of yardage. I believe the term for this type of shopping is SEX – Stash Enhancement Expedition!!

I have my third piano lesson tomorrow  morning. I can play a simple tune with both hands now, and we are learning all about chords and ‘forte’ and ‘piano’ and middle C and all that. It is nice to be finally learning how to play an instrument that I’ve wanted to play for years. Funny how we put off these things. Thanks to Tai Chi Man giving me the push to do it (birthday present) I am on my way. And thanks to my awesome friend Joan from whom we got the piano.

I’m hoping that my next post starts with the heading FO: Demelza. In the meantime, have a great week.

 

 

 

Oct10

Happy Thanksgiving

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If you’re in Canada, I trust you are making a special effort to remember all the things you are thankful for today. Family, friends, a roof over your head, abundant food, etc. I usually make a point of feeling thankful every day (or at least at breakfast time, as often I forget the rest of the day). A good life is all about attitude.

I am thankful for all you blog readers, for my laptop and iPad, for the ability to afford yarn to enjoy my hobby. This is going to be a short post today as I have to prepare a big dinner and the more I do this morning the less I have to do this afternoon. We have a family hike planned for early afternoon, though it’s cold and blustery out there with a forecast of 8 degrees Celsius. As long as it doesn’t rain, then I’m fine. None of us has raingear (as we live in a relatively dry part of Canada where not a lot of rain falls).

Tai Chi Man just came in with a bowl of carrots and potatoes from the garden. I am thankful for that too!

So without further ado, let me show you my Demelza progress. Thanks to a relaxing weekend, where amazingly I have four days off in a row, I have blasted through the set of eight Flat Flower 2 blocks. I have a picture of the eight squares plus a few of the components of the blanket side by side. Next up, the four 3D flower squares for the corners, and then it’ll be time for joining all the pieces together before crocheting the border. I decided on gold for the border and I have an extra two balls of it coming from Wool Warehouse so that I don’t run out.

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Have a wonderful day!

 

 

Oct4

WIP: Demelza

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This is the Week 4 part of the blanket CAL though by now we are well into Week 5. These squares took some time and it didn’t help that some days I haven’t had a chance to pick up a hook. I don’t like days like that!

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I grouped my pinks and purples in these squares, with green for ‘foliage’ and a camel and copper edging. The next set, Flat Flower 2, will be browns and blues.  They are already started. I was watching a movie last night, Joy, which is about a woman with a VERY dysfunctional family who invents a self-wringing mop. It’s based on a true story and she certainly had a lot of challenges on the road to success. The family will irritate the heck out of you but be assured she overcomes it all in the end.

I have an eight hour shift today and I’m going to continue to avoid heavy lifting as much as possible. The pinched nerve or whatever it is in my left shoulder isn’t giving me as much bother this morning and I think it may be on the mend. Even the hip isn’t as sore.

Wherever you go today, I hope you are able to smile and be positive. It makes all the difference!

 

 

 

 

Sep27

Life update!

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Firstly, Demelza progress. These “flat flowers” feel like they’re taking ages. I’ve done seven rounds on each so far and there are still four rounds to go to square them up. There are two types of flat flower in this blanket, and I decided to concentrate my pinks and purples in this set and my blues and greens in the other set. Unless I change it up somewhere along the line.

What am I reading right now? I just finished House Rules by Jodi Picoult, a novel based around an 18 year old young man with Asperger’s whose passion is forensics. I am also reading Remember Zen by a local author (book is not to hand right now) which summarises much of the Buddhism/Taoism learning I have been doing over the last six years in a manageable paperback book. Next I will pick up The Different Drum by M Scott Peck, a book that a friend gave me for my birthday.

Netflix-watching is currently Broadchurch Season 2. I watched Season 1 yonks ago but only just realised that Season 2 is out. It’s a bit gloomy – I shall have to balance it out with some lighter entertainment. Close-ups of David Tennant’s myriad pained expressions are getting a bit much and I’ve only watched the first two episodes!

Aches and pains haven’t got any better but I have three different modalities planned for this week. A person at my chiro’s office offers something called SCENAR which involves electrical pulses that stimulate the body’s natural painkilling effects. That’s tomorrow, then Thursday morning I’ll be seeing a massage therapist, but I have a feeling from reading the info on his website that this won’t be a gentle massage with scented oils (he doesn’t use oil) but more in depth and possibly painful as he digs in and finds the knots etc.

I have a friend who also does healing for free in her home and I will see her another day, and that’ll make three healing sessions in one week. Hopefully at least one of them will make a difference so I can get back to normal….or better than normal.

I was at work today (fabric store) and was put on cutting table 2 which is in the upholstery section. You can guarantee that means lots of lifting of long rolls of fabric, in addition to which I had huge boxes of curtain rods to unpack and price. Despite the lifting and the standing/walking on a concrete floor for 6 – 8 hours, I actually feel best at work, probably because it takes my mind off my back and hip. I was at a class tonight and had to sit in a folding chair for nearly two hours and that really didn’t feel good.

Well, that’s enough from me tonight – I need sleep. Hopefully I’ll have more Demelza progress to show you soon.

 

 

Sep19

WIP: Demelza Week Three

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The 16 small squares are done. This blanket is made working from the centre out. The centre square is crocheted first, then the four rectangles that will be attached on all four sides of that square, then these 16 squares will be joined into blocks of four and placed in all four corners.

The designer has you use only two colourways – so eight and eight. I went rogue and used 14 colours plus the 15th (lime) for bordering, so they are all different.

Later I will have to work out how they will go together, but for now I can get on with the next part of the pattern.

On the drive home today, which will be at least two hours, I may weave in ends on the Peacock Tail Bag pieces.

Saturday night was interesting. A big storm whipped up, there was lightning, there was wind, there were pine cones hitting the roof, and my power went out. Wifi continued for an extra half an hour (apparently it has a back up battery) then went out. I had to make do with candles for light. The more inconvenient part of the power going out was that the pump for the water supply was also not working so I had to make it all night with only the small amount of water in the filter jug. I didn’t bother trying to wash my face or brush my teeth.

While the wind was at its strongest, I thought I heard a thud, but put it down to thunder. Well after I had climbed into bed I heard a chainsaw going and realised that the driveway behind the cottage had been blocked by falling trees and the neighbour was clearing it. That was a little close for comfort.

Next day, I had a text message that there was bottled water in the main house, so I helped myself, had a quick wash and breakfast, and went out walking to see what damage the storm had brought. Not only had trees fallen across the neighbour’s driveway, but two more had come down along the road to the highway. There is only one way in and out here – it’s a No Through Road – so some of the residents had had to park on the road and walk to their houses. Or, in the case of my hosts, stay elsewhere for the night.

I walked for a couple of hours and when I got back BC Hydro had worked their magic and fixed the power line. It was lovely to be able to (a) flush the toilet, (b) make a cup of tea and (c) fire up the laptop and see what I missed!

That was enough excitement for the weekend.

Tai Chi Man joined me at the cottage yesterday afternoon as his conference was over. This morning, we have to pack up and clean up, but aren’t in a rush to get going. It’s wet and cool and we are quite happy tucked indoors.

Happy Monday to all!

Sep17

What to do in a holiday cottage when it’s raining

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I have no shortage of things to do. With hindsight, I probably should have gone out for a short walk before the rain started, but I deferred it in favour of crocheting, thinking I’d get out later on. We shall see! I don’t mind getting wet, but I only brought one sweater with me that I need indoors and I don’t have a backup.

So I have food, tea, crochet, colouring supplies, an ebook, an actual book…and I can also do some yoga stretches, some of which I did earlier but it would be a good idea to get off the couch now and again and stretch some more. Things in the shoulder area do actually feel a bit better since yesterday’s massage.

Week Three of the Demelza blanket CAL is going well. Since breakfast this morning, I have done all the round ones and twos of 16 squares. These will be five-round squares and I am going to make the last round the same colour in all of them, similar to the pattern. The major difference is that the pattern says to make eight in one colour combination and eight in another combination, but ending all rounds with green, and what I am doing is using all of my colours for a more random look.

What I did was make 16 round ones in 14 of my colours (I have 15 but I’m using lime to do all the round fives), obviously duplicating two of the colours.

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And then I added all the round twos, again having to use two colours twice, but being careful not to put the same colours together.

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Doing this production-line style seems a lot quicker than doing one whole square at a time. Quicker colour decisions, easy to memorise and repeat the pattern for that round, and I’m weaving in ends as I go.

I know that only we yarny types will understand the warm fuzzy feeling we get from seeing a little stack of squares like this…

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Sep13

WIP: Demelza – awesome hooky skillz

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I whizzed through the remainder of the four rectangles today by settling myself on the couch with my laptop, Netflix (Zoo) and my bag of yarn for most of the afternoon and evening. Obviously I had to take a break to make and eat dinner but I stayed up late until the last stitch was finished, despite the fact that I was up early this morning, and I’d like to be up early tomorrow morning.

And of course I am delaying my rest by blogging about it!!!

Now my butt is sore from all the sitting, and I have a little bit of a headache, but it’s so nice to be on schedule with week two of the blanket. Tomorrow, the next part of the Peacock Tail Bag is released and I will be ready.

I do have a couple of other small projects I want to tackle. Tai Chi Man and I ordered new phones (unlocked, Android) from Amazon and are passing our basic ones on to the boys. They’ve never had phones of their own before – they are pay-as-you-go, which is what we’ve always done, and really just for phone calls and texting. They won’t have a data plan, only wifi.

So Tai Chi Man and I will now have larger phones that need larger crocheted cases to protect them from the bumps and scrapes of life. They do a good job when kicking around inside a backpack though one does have to take them out of the cosy to use them. The downside of that was demonstrated today when I dropped mine in a parking lot and it came apart. It has a couple of scratches on the edges now, but thankfully still works and didn’t end up disappearing down the nearby drain.

Hope your week is awesome!

 

 

Sep11

WIP: Demelza Week Two

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The Demelza blanket has four rectangular sections that will later be joined to all four sides of the centre square. These are pretty straightforward, being made up mostly of double crochets (trebles in the UK) plus some front post stitches to create the effect of flowers.

I started the first rectangle last night, but realised after three stripes that I had made a mistake with my colour choices, so it was frogged (rip it, rip it) and I started again. That was a chunk of my evening wasted, but I do love the way it looks now.

After a good long steep hike with a friend this morning, I was able to have some quality time with my hook and yarn this afternoon (interspersed with a bit of laundry and some dinner prep) and the first rectangle was finished. The second was started tonight but the combination of being up early this morning plus a decent amount of exercise is causing me to droop and it’s only 9pm or so. Not sure how much more I will do this evening so thought I’d post a quick update here before I got too tired.

I didn’t smooth out the square before  getting a photo of the two pieces side by side but you can see the colours I ended up using (13 of the 15). The gauge is a bit different on each piece too, but I’m sure it’ll all be fine when joined and blocked (famous last words)!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Happy crafting!

Sep8

WIPs update

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A quickie post to show you how Demelza and the Peacock Tail Bag are getting on.

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I just finished Part Four, Front, of the bag. So happy to see the fifth colour, the indigo, finally being introduced. This last part, even though the rows were long, seemed to fly by (except for those front post treble four togethers in the dark indigo – not so fun)!

I now have to complete the plain rows on the back piece and then I can put this project back in its bag until next Wednesday when Part Five will be released. (I have had my suspicions confirmed that I crochet quite tightly – I used a way bigger hook than the designer but my bag piece is smaller by .75″.) The piece above is 13.25″ across.

And here’s Demelza’s central square, all done…

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Again, smaller than the pattern says – this is about 14″ instead of 16″ using the exact same yarn and hook as the designer. I used all 15 colours, obviously repeating most of them. I chose my colours as I went along and I’m pleased with the result. The photo shows more contrast than exists in real life.

Well, enough waffling I guess – if I want to get more crocheting done before having to cook dinner I should get on with it.