Tag Archives: Loops & Threads Facets

Jul30

FO: The Big Kahuna

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The latest stashbuster is finished. It took me all of five days and it’s about 100″ long!

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It’s a combination of Loops & Threads Facets in various colourways and some Stylecraft Harlequin, all of which have been in the stash for too long and I just wanted them out.

I used an 8mm hook and a basic C2C, making it 11 blocks wide. There were lots of ends to weave in, but I tackled some half way through and the rest this morning. It’s lovely and squishy and warm, but it will pill like a bear, and I will only be handwashing it very occasionally.

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I am loving the coolness in the mornings and it’s the best feeling to be outside on my deck, with a quilt or blanket around me, drinking my tea or coffee or eating my breakfast and just enjoying the view and the breeze. Getting up early DOES have its advantages.

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I am going to take a couple of days off the crocheting, I think, because what with the manic crochet the last week to get this project done by the end of the month, plus that spin class (eek!) plus all the pricing gun action last Friday, my wrist hasn’t been too happy.

I am super happy with my stashbusting for the month though. My FOs are the daisy blanket, the Jayma shawl, the walking hat, the Mimic shawl and this Big Kahuna scarf. Plus I cleared a few extra bits and pieces out of the stash and into a bag for the thrift store. Total out for this month is 2990 grams and zero new acquisitions.

So the year to date, as far as bashing the stash is concerned, is 6770 grams used or destashed, 2100 grams in (no purchases since January, woo hoo!) with a net reduction in stash of 4670 grams. I’m delighted with my progress. The stash is now at the point where I have a good selection of basic acrylics that I enjoy using (very little novelty stuff) and a small collection of plant fibre yarns for which I currently have no specific plans. (If you want to be nosy and check out my stash on Ravelry, it’s here.)

In other news, I took my car to the body shop for an estimate yesterday. The total cost for a small dent and large scratch? $1900! I will have to pay $500 of that, but wow, considering it looks like a small amount of damage that is a big bill!

OK, I need to get dressed and get to the gym. I went yesterday and am a little sore from that workout but I will do something different today to work some different muscles. And tonight Tai Chi Man and I have yoga, so that’ll be good. I had to miss Saturday’s Yin Yoga because I was working, which is a shame because it feels like the perfect body reset for the week. Talk to you later šŸ™‚

Apr22

Crocheting along, fa la la la la

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The CAL continues…

The Creative Crochet Workshop Scrapsrific Rainbow Blanket CAL (OMG, that is a lot to type) is in week 3. I have added two rounds to the above motif which will eventually be a 12″ square.

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These four 6″ squares are also in part 3. Obviously I will, at some point, have to pin my squares out and steam them to make it easier to join them, as currently they are wonky!

I have also completed a quick bulky beanie. It’s called the Spin Cycle Hat, which is a very compact, one page pdf, clearly written, in three sizes. I made the medium without swatching for gauge (ooh, er) and the hat fits my Sally Styro head perfectly but is too small for me. Not that it was for me anyway, but I shall have to find someone with a small head to give it to.

Whilst I am happy with the pattern, the yarn is another story. This is Loops & Threads Facets, a bulky, underspun, very soft yarn. Let me tell you, all those YO, K2togs were a nightmare with such a splitty yarn. Yes, it’s pretty, but don’t be fooled, it’s not worth the hassle. It’ll pill quickly too. I’m using up what I have in the stash but I won’t be buying this or anything like it in future.

Now, I had a lovely draft all ready to Publish with a simple pattern for this…

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…but left it in an open tab on my laptop for a few days. I am also knitting one, and wanted to publish both at the same time. Well, something went wrong, and it’s gone. Can’t find a saved draft anywhere. At least I do still have my text document in Google Docs to fall back on, so I don’t have to start from scratch. So that will probably be finalised mid-week, as I have a run of three days off starting tomorrow.

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Easter weekend. We had a mini road tripĀ  Saturday to visit a plant nursery and buy plants for our garden. We ended up with a Chi Chi Gingko tree (max height 16 feet), two mock oranges (native plants so should do well) and someĀ  hostas and other ground cover for the patch by the front door where we recently took out the messy evergreens. We meant to get some kinnikinnickĀ but forgot, so we may have to try and find it locally, or drive south again for it.

I am off to work shortly, so will sign off for today. Have a great day!

 

Feb9

Some fun projects

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Hello! It’s been a fun week. My shift schedule conspired to give me four days off in a row. Two of those days, I was crocheting this crocodile. It will be going off to its intended recipient soon along with a book called The Enormous Crocodile that my boys absolutely loved when they were younger. I must have read it 500 times! My Ravelry project page is here and the pattern for Colin the Crocodile is here. I did have to fudge a little on the head part, as the eye hump was coming out off-centre! It was easy to fix and the rest went as per the pattern.

Thursday, I had a PJ Day! We’ve had the coldest weather of the winter in the last week. I think it dipped to minus 20 Celsius one night. So having a PJ Day was the best! I had a project to sew up for work, so the morning was spent making this apron to go on display at the store, and after a month I’ll get to bring it home and keep it.

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(All my photos are indoor shots, some in my sewing room in the basement. Not the best lighting.)

This was made with a cotton/Spandex blend in a gorgeous Spring-y print. It was easy to make, even including the bias binding for the ties. I was careful to make my stitches neat and even because I knew it was going to be inspected by co-workers and customers at the store. (The pattern is in the photo. McCall’s 2947, I think.)

The afternoon of my sewing day was spent cooking dinner and dessert, then the evening saw me back in my sewing room. I made two lined fleece neckwarmers from remnants I had brought home ages ago. The video tutorial I followed was from The Crafty Gemini. They were so easy I had both made in about half an hour.

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Using exactly the same technique, and more remnants that were lurking in the drawers, I made two infinity scarves as well.

I love these and have already worn the turquoise plaid one a couple of times.

Finally, I whipped up another cowl as a gift, using up some more stash yarn (Loops & Threads Facets).

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I took a leaf out of Ross’s book last week. He has the Smells Like Yarn podcast and is currently on a kick to use up some yarn stash. So what he did was pull out various yarns, assign them each a pattern, print them out, and have them queued up ready to cast on in the near future. What I did was queue up about five sewing projects and five yarny projects from stash, so when I spent all that time in my sewing room the other day I was ready to roll. I felt so productive!

I worked today but I’m looking forward to a fun Sunday with Tai Chi Man which will undoubtedly include a cup of tea at our favourite tea shop, a stop at the Holistic Market, and some gym time. Stay warm, folks!

 

 

Jan27

Activities and acquisitions

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Activities and acquisitions

Hi all. Another Sunday has rolled around and I’m glad to say I didn’t have a shift today. It’s been a beautiful sunny day and Tai Chi Man and I were able to walk along the city waterfront with just sweaters, no coats required. My car’s thermometer read 12 degrees Celsius in the sunshine.

We followed up our walk with a long sit at our favourite tea shop. I brought crochet with me, of course, and before leaving home I picked out a pretty ball of Loops & Threads Facets in Light Azore to take with me. My plan worked out. While drinking two delicious Cowboy Fogs (tea lattes) I made a cowl and was able to give it to the owner of the tea shop before we left. She loved it and put it on immediately.

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It was just simple double crochet in the round, using a 9mm hook, with a row of shells along the edge before fastening off. The sewn bag in the photo is one I made last year. It’s designed to hold a ball of yarn and you thread the yarn through the hole in the top flap. It worked well! The only downside to something like this is that there are no extra pockets for hooks and things, or anywhere to put a project-in-progress. However the hanging loop was handy for attaching it to my handbag with a carabiner.

There was much excitement this week when my Wool Warehouse order arrived. Here it is!

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A box of gorgeousness! Scheepjes Stonewashed and Riverwashed XL (aran weight), 15 gram balls in all 50 shades. No specific plans for this yet. And…

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Five 50 gram balls of the Stonewashed in Moon Stone as a neutral, should I decide to use it with the colours in the box. It rounded my order nicely up to 1000 grams of yarn. And the bonus was, it only took 15 days to arrive.

My friend went to Vancouver Island last week and we met up for a cup of tea afterwards. She bought me this lovely stuff.

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Universal Yarn Bamboo Pop in the colour Ocean. She knows me so well! Fifty percent bamboo, 50% cotton, so it fits in with my 2019 goal of more natural plant fibres.

My heel is no better, though wearing the shoes all the time means it (mostly) doesn’t hurt. However last night we went to a friend’s house for a potluck and our hands were full with food going in, so I left my gym shoes with the special insoles in the car. By the time I had been sitting at the dining table for a while and got up to walk back to the kitchen, the pain was back and I was limping.

I did 45 minutes on the elliptical at the gym yesterday morning, while Tai Chi Man did weights, and today we are going back for more weights. I am alternating weights/cardio as I have four days off and if I am good and go every day then I need to mix things up.

My weight loss program, started about nine days ago, involves pretty much eating half of what I usually do. It worked well the first week with a 4lb loss. Last night’s potluck meant a lot of calories going on so I’m being extra careful today and eating just fruit and vegetables.

Finally, we had a big dump of wet snow this week, which looked lovely but left our road axle deep in snow. We are third level (out of three) priority for the graders, but as long as we clear our driveway we only have about 100 metres to drive to get to the clearer road.

I am grateful that Tai Chi Man did the clearing because my right wrist would have complained bitterly at shifting all that wet snow.

It’s almost time to get changed for the gym so I’ll say Auf Wiedersehen for now. Talk to you again soon.

Mar23

FO: Left-handed therapy cowl

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Hello again. I am excited to announce the conclusion of the cowl, crocheted with a 10mm hook and Loops & Threads Facets. I think Michaels have discontinued this yarn now as some of the balls I have were marked down.

At the point I decided to finish it, it was a bit long to seam the ends together for a cowl, but too short for a scarf, so I overlapped the ends and added three buttons along the top edge. The buttons were in my stash, found at work ages ago in the discontinued basket. With C2C there are naturally lots of buttonhole options, so I could probably get inventive and button it a number of different ways.

The last week has seen a couple of major events in my extended family. My mum celebrated her 85th birthday and of course seeing the photos of the party with the whole family there gave me a twinge of sadness that I was so far away. Even my cousins from England had flown over to the island for the weekend.

The other event is the death of my aunt, my mum’s older sister. She was just one week shy of her 93rd birthday. She hadn’t been very well for a long time and had been living in care homes for years, but it’s still a jolt when it happens.

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This incredibly hairy doll is the Princess Poppy doll which I am making into the Paper Bag Princess.Ā I had made great progress on this in February, and was up to the point where I had crocheted the hair cap and starting attaching the strands of hair. Well, that was scuppered when I broke my wrist. However having finished the aforementioned therapy cowl I felt ready to tackle this project again. I’m using a teeny 3.25mm hook, and my left hand, but there’s still a lot of support work done by the right hand and after adding quite a lot of hair to the doll this afternoon my wrist was quite painful. In case you’re wondering, the strand of cream yarn coming out of her face is a guide I put in for her centre parting.

I think she still needs a bit more volume on top of her head and then she’ll get a haircut so it’s all the same length. She’s not supposed to look too “put together” really, as in the book the Paper Bag Princess has just survived having all the clothes scorched off her by a large dragon!

This typing is killing my wrist too. The wrist brace is off and I can type properly with both hands again, but OMG it hurts. I think I shall have to return to my library book (Strangers by Dean Koontz, nearly 700 page paperback, of which I have read three-quarters in two days).

We are definitely on the cusp between two seasons here. It snowed lightly today. However we have also had a huge amount of rain this week (a really great rainstorm that came along with a wind that lashed it against the back of the house) and already in some places there is talk of flooding. Spring melt plus rain equals swollen creeks. Apparently the snowpack is even deeper than last year and is likely to cause even more problems as the level of the lake rises over the spring. I guess there could be a lot of people pumping out their houses along the lakeshore again this year.

Mar17

WIP: Left-handed therapy cowl

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Once my bandages were off, I was itching to try a little crochet. I had another play with the bulky green yarn and a giant hook and felt confident enough to pull out this Loops & Threads Facets yarn (Amethyst colourway) and a 10mm hook and start a cowl. I chose the C2C because it only involves a small amount of chaining. 

Working left-handed means I have to reverse everything which can mess with your head a bit, but it seems to be working out. I can only make a small amount of progress each day because I don’t want it to hurt. 

The above photo is the first day’s progress. Below is the third day. After this cowl is done, I’m hoping to go back to the doll. 


I had a lovely package in the mail yesterday.  One of the other moderators in the Crafternoon Treats Ravelry Group knew about my injury and asked for my address so she could send me something. She lives in Norway and by the time it arrived I had forgotten all about it. 


She sent two crocheted washcloths, a clay and rose water face mask kit, a rose-scented heart soap and some chocolate. How sweet is that? It made my day!

Spring seems to have arrived in our valley. The snow is mostly gone and Tai Chi Man says he spotted some daffodil shoots in the garden today. It’s mild and sunny this weekend. Ooh, I nearly forgot! I hit a milestone today (autocorrect changed that to “smile stone”) as I was actually able to put on a pair of jeans for the first time in over a month. But this typing is making my arm hurt like crazy so I am signing off for now. Happy Spring!

Jan8

FO: mug cosy

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This is my first FO of 2018. A very quick and easy cosy to prettify a dollar store mug, which has already been packed into a gift bag with some boxes of tea for a friend.

I used Loops & Threads Facets in Capri Blue, double stranded, with a 10mm hook.Ā  Such a pretty yarn but barely spun at all, so it doesn’t take rough handling. The big button was in my stash. Instead of just the basic circle, which wraps around the outside of the mug, I added a base to it too.

And while looking for a mug, I happened to come across these mini skeins of cotton yarn and, well, they jumped into my hand and begged to come home with me. Each tiny skein is 10 grams. So cute! The yarn looks OK. There were acrylic minis too, but I thought I’d stick with the cotton.

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Apart from mug and yarn shopping, I had a visit with my ear doctor today. Three years ago he performed a stapedotomy on my left ear, which entails opening the ear drum, drilling out the calcification around the bones inside my ear (due to otosclerosis) and replacing the stapes with a teeny tiny titanium prosthesis. As the hearing in my right ear has got progressively worse, I’ve decided it’s time to schedule another surgery. It won’t be until the second half of the year sometime, but as the wheels of the medical system often grind slowly, it’s worth starting the ball rolling early. Hmmm, I think I’m mixing myĀ  metaphors.

My current Netflix obsession is Rectify, which I am going to continue watching as soon as this blog post is done. Do you watch shows while knitting or crocheting? If so, what do you like to watch?

 

 

Aug22

FOs: Granny Square dress, Smooshy scarf

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Greetings dear readers. I see that I have not been here for a week (is it just me or is time speeding up)?! I have been battling…erm…crocheting with some more Scheepjes Linen Soft this week, this time in hot pink (colourway is called Hummingbird).

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It’s a beautiful colour but I have been using a 3.5mm hook to make this dress and whilst the initial small squares were easy peasy the single crochets that are worked into the squares top and bottom have been brutal, especially where I had to work into a chain rather than a proper stitch. My poor hands!

At least the yarn, being a linen/cotton/acrylic blend, was willing to be blocked into submission because my little finished bodice looked pretty sad.

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I snuck some decreases in above and below the squares because it just looked like there were way too many stitches there. Another modification to the pattern was to add small shoulder straps (borrowed an idea from a fellow Raveler’s project page).

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Take that, yarn!

The heat in the upstairs half of the house drove me downstairs to my sewing room tonight, which was a good thing as the skirt portion of the dress got done. I made the fabric part shorter than the pattern suggested, and if I made it again I would prefer it to be wider for more wiggle room.

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This is such cute fabric – another remnant from work. I now have a nice pile of goodies to send off to my sister’s grand-daughter, including the cat hat and a few burp cloths and a bib which I just whipped up tonight without a pattern.

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Rather a lot of pink in that picture, eh. I must be making up for having three boys myself!

Another FO is this Smooshy Scarf made with two strands of Loops & Threads Facets. I love the colours in this yarn, though it’s very underspun and will probably pill like heck from the get go.

Two strands gives you the equivalent of a super bulky, plus 12mm needles makes for fast progress. I started this in the morning while waiting for ds2 to have his cavities filled at the dentist, added more during my afternoon break at work, and finished it in the evening on the sofa. It’s already rolled up in a little gift bag and tucked into a co-worker’s cubby for her to find next time she’s at work.

I mentioned last week that I’d ordered some yarn from Herrschner’s but it’s not here yet. I am confident it will arrive just in time for my birthday, which is on Thursday. Ā It has to, right? (Speaking of which, I have planned for banana splits – I stopped at the health food store today and stocked up on organic bananas, chocolate chips and cashew-based ice cream. Nom nom!)

Tomorrow I should probably spend my day back in my sewing room, making curtains. I have a bunch of clearance panels from work for the basement windows, but they need new headings and hemming.

Have a great day!

Jul15

WIP: blanket, FO: hat, OMG: heat!

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I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend wherever you are. I have a surprise five-day-off stretch, thanks to booking Monday off to take the kids to the dentist, and I intend to make the most of it.

It’s all crochet today but two very different projects. This little hat is made with Loops & Threads Facets, a discontinued yarn that I picked up at Michaels Ā a while back. (No pattern, I just make hats top down until they look about the right size!)

When I have a large project on the go, I like to throw in some small, quick ones to stop me from getting bored. This is bulky yarn, I used a big hook, and I made it (hopefully) child-sized so I can send it to my great-niece. I have a few things in the pipeline for her so will send a parcel later this year.

I’m still waiting for a package from Wool Warehouse – it’s been over a week and as you probably know time drags when you’re excited about getting something in the mail. Especially yarn! I will take photos to show you when it arrives.

My WIP is the Everything is Cool and Groovyghan blanket CAL. I have to say, there’s nothing cool around here, as we have had a run of 32 – 34 degree weather (90 – 95 Fahrenheit) and the only respite has been when I have been working in an air-conditioned store.

I wouldn’t mind too much if the nights were cooler but sometimes you go to bed and you can barely stand having a sheet over you. Yuk!

Anyhoo, here are some photos of the progress. I did intend to go out on the deck and get some better ones but right now it’s too darned hot and windy outside. So I quickly laid things out on my bed, took a few pics, and dashed back to the couch in front of the big fan.

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This is the overview – part 1 of the CAL was the strip of grannies at the top – part 2 were the popcorn blocks – part 3 the ripple blocks – part 4 the large central granny – and part 5 is currently under construction. Part 5 is two blocks, each made up of eight small squares.

As you can see, this is looking pretty scrappy.

And I have rather a lot of ends to weave in.

When my new yarn arrives, I will probably neglect this WIP a bit as I want to make the Kanata Kerchief TankĀ (Ravelry link as it’s a free Ravelry download) for myself. I ordered a linen blend (Scheepjes Linen Soft, I think) in a soft grey, thinking I’d wear a colourful tank or tee underneath. Now I’m wondering whether a bright yarn would have been better with a neutral tank underneath, but it’s too late to second-guess myself now. I also ordered three balls of the same yarn in a deep pink so that I can make a cute little toddler dress with a crocheted bodice and a fabric skirt (this one).Ā And two shade cards will be in the package, one for Stylecraft Special DK and one for Scheepjes Colour Crafter. Oooh!

Well, my brain is cooked and I need to go shower and cool off. Have an awesome Sunday and I’ll be back as soon as my Wool Warehouse parcel gets here.

 

Apr26

WIP: Ben’s hat

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A new project is on the needles and I’m following this pattern: BasicSimpleLazy! That’s a Ravelry link because it’s a free Rav download. It really is basic – most of us could probably make this kind of beanie in our sleep. A couple of inches of 2×2 ribbing followed by stockinette and traditional crown decreasing. The designer’s gauge was 6st to the inch, mine a little looser, and I decided I needed more than an 18″ circumference. I cast on 120 rather than 108 and I think (hope) it’s looking good.

With hindsight it would have been better to use a smaller needle for the ribbing but it’s too late for that now. I am into the stockinette section and have added a thin band of colourwork for interest. I love the jade with the chocolate – what do you think?

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The colours are richer than that in real life. (Deramores Studio DK, in Chocolate and Jade, 100% acrylic, size US5 needles.)

I had to take my car to the Toyota dealer today to get the brakes sorted out (expensive)! The courtesy shuttle dropped me off at one of my favourite coffee shops and I made some progress on the hat, but after a couple of hours I was antsy and needed to move. It’s a long road from the coffee shop to Toyota, but it’s flat, and the weather was sunny and windy and I was up for some walking. My downfall was that Michaels was on my way and I just happened to find this clearance yarn.

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It’s Loops & Threads Facets and I bought a couple of balls of the green/turquoise colourway (centre left) before, and then it disappeared from their shelves. I had browsed their regular priced stuff (twice) and was on my way towards the door when I saw the clearance rack and there was lots of this stuff. Such beautiful colours, and as it’s a bulky yarn it crochets up really fast for gifts. I haven’t given all of my co-workers a surprise gift yet (something I am doing just because, for no reason, in no particular order, with no deadline). Well, it was half price, and I bought 12.

I carried on to the dealership to get my car and made my way home, with the smell of new brakes trailing behind me!

I suppose I’d better start dinner, though my legs would rather I stayed on the couch!!!