She is finished! I actually completed the last round two evenings ago, but waited for a day off to weave in the last four tails and get pics.
Thankfully it’s a beautiful sunny day today. The previous three days were damp and foggy.
She weighs 6lbs 4.5oz/2852g and measures 80″ across (203cm). I started crocheting her on January 2nd, though I wasn’t monogamous. I had knitting and sewing projects on the go too. She’s going on my bed later.
Hello and welcome to my sofa full of blankets. Actually the granny-in-progress is dominating the space right now. I have five more rounds to do until I audition it on my queen size futon. Each round is eating a lot of yarn and time so I can probably count on one round per day.
I have to say, I didn’t think I’d ever buy this Craft Smart acrylic from Michaels but it’s soft and cushy, and I prefer it to the Bernat Super Value which is more expensive and thinner, even though they are in the same weight bracket.
It isn’t my imagination. I just checked the yardage per 7oz ball and the Craft Smart is 354 yards and the Bernat is 440. I wish Michael’s had had the Craft Smart in black because I much prefer it (and it would have been $3.99 instead of $6.99).
I have cast on a sweater! The Cygnet Chunky that I bought for a sweater last year (but unravelled) is being pressed into service to make a top down seamless yoke sweater using my Ann Budd book for the numbers. The large scrappy drawstring bag that I sewed recently is perfect for holding the project and warms the cockles of my heart every time I look at it.
I need to find some bright pink and green yarns to jazz up the cuffs and neckline of this garment but for now it’s just a lot of round and around stockinette. I have worked 6 5 inches of the yoke so far.
After seeing Karen of Just Get it Done Quilts and Kate of The Last Homely House play with their quilt scraps, sewing them to adding machine paper, I was excited when my friend found some rolls for me at a thrift store. I had some time this afternoon to start making my own colourful strips. I cut my paper at 13″ because I doubt I’ll make quilt blocks that are bigger than 12.5″. Karen makes hers 18″.
It was a lovely day off today. The sun was pouring in, I did some housework, and got the tea things out in time for 11am.
Tea, coffee and gluten-free gingerbread cake, friends, laughter and sunshine. What a way to brighten the day!
And we’ve booked flights to go and visit the family in the summer. Can’t wait!
I had some friends over this week to knit and crochet and drink tea. One wanted me to teach her to make these face scrubbies. They are just simple circles and after the knit night I ended up using the last of my Knit Picks Dishie to make eight of them. I also had fun making a Fidget Ball (which could be used to wash your face) from a video by The Crafts Channel.
The granny square blanket is almost six feet across now. I think that one round each of the five new colours I showed you last time, plus the black and grey in between, should result in about 80 inches and at that point I think I’ll call it done.
I have bagged up the small balls and there’s over two pounds of those, enough to make another scrap project. Or I could just take them to the thrift store.
We’ve had some mild days lately and I had a lovely walk along the waterfront with a friend this week.
I hope all is well with you and that you’re making time for creativity.
It’s growing!
I measured and weighed this baby last night. It’s 64 inches across (the same as my height) and weighs 4lbs. That’s about 1.6 metres and 1800 grams.
I put it on my bed which is a queen-size futon and it needs to be bigger!
The yarn was running out so I did some weighing and calculations. The last black round used up 45 grams. So my conclusion was that I had enough for 12 more rounds which would add another 10 inches or so and that I needed to boost the stash a little.
I went to Michaels and looked around for the best options. It didn’t need to be the best quality yarn as long as it didn’t feel horrible running through my hands.
I ended up with the budget-friendly Craft Smart 200 gram skeins ($3.99) for the grey and five other colours, but had to get Bernat Super Value ($6.99) for the black as there was no black in the Craft Smart.
This basketfull plus the black and grey should see me to the end of this project.
Hello! I hope everything is well in your world.
I’m very pleased that this beanie is finished. The moose and trees look a bit lumpy – not my best colourwork ever – but I like the way the text and snowflakes showed up.
You may recall that this was a free pattern on Ravelry. And the name of it is obvious: it’s called Fuck the Cold hat. I knitted it with 3.75mm needles using Lion Brand Mandala for the background and Stylecraft Special DK for the contrast.
If I made this exact hat again, I would use 4mm needles. And I’d start the Mandala yarn at a different place in the cake so it didn’t jump from turquoise ribbing to the dark shades and back to turquoise at the top. I used the colours as they came, but I did trim some yardage in places so that I’d see as many of the colour changes as possible.
The granny throw is still growing and it’s my favourite project for these winter evenings. It’s about 56″ square now. I still have quite a lot of grey and black yarn left, and a basket of colours, but my choices are getting more limited. I know this is a stashbuster but I may need to supplement with a few new skeins!
Finally, a sewing FO. This took a couple of hours this afternoon. One of the ladies at work has an 80th birthday coming up so I made her a bag. This fabric is heavier than the usual quilt cotton and I liked it so much I bought a metre to add to the stash. Now I’m getting to use it along with a piece of vinyl that was damaged at one end.
I thought she’d use a tote rather than a zippered pouch or drawstring bag, and I added a magnetic clasp and a D ring on the inside. Next I think it would be nice to get some chocolates to put in it.
Tonight I’ve had my bean burrito and salad and now I’m cosied up for some crochet time. Heaven!
I seem to be falling into a weekly blog habit. I don’t have a schedule but when a week has gone by without a post I get a niggling reminder in the back of my brain that it’s time to write something.
Do you like the heart? My sister’s stepson makes these, back in Blighty. She sent it to me for Christmas. They are sold to raise funds for Healing Waves in the island of Jersey, which is a charity that takes people with different challenges out into the chilly Atlantic Ocean to surf.
So what are the WIPs this week, I hear you ask!
Version 2 of the Fuck the Cold Beanie. I’m using Lion Brand Mandala for the background and cutting out some of the yarn to make the colours change a little quicker. The gold for the tree and moose is Stylecraft Special DK. Needles are 3.75mm/US5. The gauge is tighter, the stranded colourwork is neater and I’m much happier.
Granny is nearly four feet square. Still lots of yarn left in the bags!
A taster of the sashiko stitching on my denim vest. This has a long way to go but that’s OK.
A small side project inspired by the upcoming Valentine’s Day and gnomie love quilt cotton! Upcycled denim hearts which I am embellishing with fabric, ribbon, buttons etc. I spent a couple of hours faffing about in my sewing room this evening and I intend to complete all six of these before Tuesday.
We had a potluck lunch with friends today and as usual we ate enough that I didn’t need any dinner. So we just wound up our day with a turmeric tea.
I hope your weekend is going well and that you’re making time to be crafty and creative.
The giant granny blanket continues to grow. It’s not much of a giant yet – about 37″ across – but I’m hoping it will be huge. I’m prepared to buy more black and grey if it means finishing up my random colours.
Sadly the beanie has had to be frogged.
At the end of the moose/tree section I knew it was likely to be too big. I forged ahead anyway and completed the text part.
Then, I had to be honest with myself. The circumference was 24 inches, bigger than my head, and with the snowflakes and the crown decreases the total height would have been 12 inches. The design wouldn’t have been visible with so much slouch so I made the decision to frog.
I still want this hat so I’ll look at the DK yarn that I have and use some smaller needles and start again.
After seeing a knitted bumwarmer on Ravelry, I picked up a small piece of jersey knit fabric and sewed a tube. It can be worn around the hips for extra warmth, or even the torso Japanese-style or just as a cowl.
Since the big freeze, we’ve had milder temperatures. Minus 3 feels very comfortable now. So the roads are clear of ice again and there’s been lots of melting, though the piles were so deep they haven’t disappeared yet.
I’m working this weekend so I will wrap this up and take myself off to bed. See you soon
Hello 2022. My brain is having a hard time catching up to the fact that it’s two years since we first heard about The Disease That Shall Not Be Named. It wasn’t last year that my workplace was shut down for 7 weeks, it was two years ago. I feel like 2020 and 2021 have just blended into one long year. A VERY long year!
Anyway let’s focus on the here and now.
Shall we talk about the fact that our winter has been bitterly cold in recent weeks? I think the lowest was -30°C but mostly it was around -17 for quite some time. When it warmed up to -5 the last couple of days it was quite pleasant!
We’ve had lots of snow that’s not had a chance to melt between falls so the roads have been icy and the piles along the sides of the roads and driveways have just got higher.
Mr Fixit is back at work after his week off. Oldest son has had a month off due to his workplace accident but should be back at work tomorrow. Youngest had two weeks off and returned yesterday.
I just had a bonus 4 day stretch – my first New Year’s Day off in 7 years!
Last night three friends came over to knit and drink tea and generally be loud and funny.
The ‘Fuck the Cold’ hat is coming along (pattern is a free download on Ravelry). I cast on on the 1st and I’m halfway through the trees/moose section. Some of my friends are also making this – we are having a knitted colourwork makealong.
And my stashbusting worsted weight granny blanket has grown to 23 inches across in just a few days. My colour order is black/colour/grey/colour. I’m expecting to use up all my random medium weight yarn and hopefully end up with a king size blanket.
As I sit here on the couch writing this before heading down to my sewing room I see snow falling again, the neighbour clearing his drive again, and I’m glad I don’t have to go anywhere today.
Be careful out there!
And in the blink of an eye, Christmas is over!
After our big lunch out on Sunday, we had a very simple dinner on Monday. Tuesday was Christmas Eve and I had decided that that was going to be our main Christmas meal. So I cooked a lentil chestnut loaf, potatoes oreganata (sliced potatoes with oregano, sundried tomatoes and olives) and lots of roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower! We had apple crumble for dessert with vegan ice cream. And then the boys, Tai Chi Man and I played Cards Against Humanity. I know, very non-PC, but very funny, once you get over the fact you’re all mentioning body parts and unnatural acts in front of your parents/children. Our children ARE in their 20s now!!
Christmas Day was lovely and easy. I rustled up some blueberry pancakes around lunchtime, of which most of us partook. And Tai Chi Man and I went out for a neighbourhood walk in the afternoon. It’s been very mild around here, hovering around zero for some time, and there’s snow on the ground but no new precipitation for a few days. Dinner was equally simple, as I made a large fruit salad, which we ate with more vegan ice cream, and there was fruit cake for those who wanted it.
I baked a gluten free mince tart in the evening as I had a friend coming over for tea the next day. It seemed to work out okay.
And Boxing Day…another day at home. My friend came over for a cuppa and a piece of aforesaid mince tart, which was nice. I did a bit of tidying up, and some sewing on another project bag (#11 in the series). Dinner was shepherd’s pie and salad.
With the end of the year approaching, I am aware of my need to review. And the big pile of WIPs in the living room was begging for attention. So today I picked up the crochet granny blanket and added a couple of rounds of black and called it done. I needed a Finished Object and this is about 700 grams out of the stash. YAY!
It’s about 41″ square, and a good size for a lap blanket.
The centre is mostly different colours from the outer rounds because they were small scraps of yarn which I had to use up early or they wouldn’t have been enough to complete a full round. For the first time, I switched direction each round to avoid the skewing that happens in the centre of large grannies, and it worked well.
Now I am at the end of a five day stretch of no shifts, and I have work tomorrow. New sale, so my brain will have to be on full alert! And then Saturday, lots more cooking, as we’re hosting a potluck. Whew!
It’s blanket season!
I decided when I got back from my holiday that I needed to have something warm to work on so here are my Winter Works in Progress.
The Mindless Use up my Leftovers blanket, using random worsted weight yarn in my stash:
As you can see, so far I have only cast on 370 stitches and knitted a few rounds. Not much warmth there yet!
The Giant Granny:
Getting to be big enough to at least keep my knees warm, this is going to be a snuggly one quite quickly.
And a non-blanket project, the Party Cardi from The Secret Yarnery:
Hexagons complete, backs and fronts extended, pieces joined. The dyelots on these two cakes of Mandala Baby are quite different, and the next sections will probably be different again. I really hope this is a wearable garment when done, as so far it’s reminding me of a bed jacket! And there’s a lot of $$$ in five cakes of yarn, assuming I use it all, so if I hate it I will be frogging, not giving it away.
Those are this week’s WIPs. I have another one planned but I need to start it when I have time to focus, which actually could be right now but I have already made it to lunchtime today without getting any housework done or groceries bought so I really should do that first. I have been fighting off a cold for a few days now so have been practising some self-care (which means I have been making excuses for not exercising) but it is a beautiful day out there and we really need to eat and shopping needs to be done and at the very least I should clean the bathrooms and mop the kitchen floor. Hmmm, how quickly could I get those done?!
NICOLA KNITS 