I feel like I've been in a constant state of limbo most of the year with my knitting and pattern writing.
Because of a serious lack of communication from
a certain yarn company (that I'm
not so fond of anymore), I always had to make sure I wasn't committing to or concentrating on much
just in case today I'd get the email to say it's all go and I have 8 weeks to write and knit two complicated patterns (if only they had let me know -
way back in March - what yarn to design for!)
Little Plum Yarn Supertwist Sport in Mocha
But the freedom I'm feeling now it's all done and over makes me love knitting again! (I'd started to loose the love for it, I suppose that's what happens when it's a have to.)
Little Plum Yarn Supertwist Sport in Peony
Even though I've been in Pattern-Writing Limbo, I've still been planning new designs to work on as soon as I could.
And buying yarn to knit them with!
Olive & Emma 4ply Merino in Cade with Trim
So now I've just cast on to make a variation of this pattern:
That's my Little Man at just 6 days old - he turned 6 weeks old yesterday and not really fitting this cardy anymore!
I'm making a few changes to make it a little more quirky and funky. I can't wait to show you the finished knit! (I'm using the grey and brown yarn above which is a made-for-me colourway from Olive & Emma. It's looking gorgeous so far!)
Joining in with the other creative folk at My Creative Space.
I've decided that blocking finished knitted items belongs in the same category as sewing seams, weaving in ends and sewing on buttons.
That's the I Don't Like Doing It category in case you're wondering.
I was getting a little pile of FO's (finished objects) that needed all those things done to them so decided to sit down and just do it.
This was the (almost - couple of things still need buttons purchased/sewn on) final result:
Blocking-in-process of a few things to gift, a couple of things to keep some girls happy and a couple things for bubs.
With all this finishing and blocking, I'm feeling very organized with where I'm at with my knitting. So much so, that I'm sort of at the stage of 'What to Make Next?'
I've got a few new designs in process that I'm just waiting on yarn for and a few submissions that I need to work on (but that's computer work not knitting as such). There's also all the baby knits that I need to do, but half the work's in deciding what to make (and finding suitable patterns). I did start on a baby sock last night though...
Do you dis-like the finishing-off of projects also?
Do you have a pile of just needs 'x y z' done then it's finished?
Do you have any suggestions for nice and quick baby knits?
Don't forget to enter my baby guessing competitions over here, here and here if you haven't already!
Joining in with the crafty folk over here again.
P.S. I'll do posts later on the various knitted things above, once I've got modelled photos etc of them.
So, MiddleMiss turned 7 on Sunday.
J told her that I hadn't really had time to make a fancy cake so hopefully she wouldn't be disappointed as she was just going to have a plain round cake.
She was impressed with the pink glittery sprinkles and fancy squiggly candles and said she liked it anyway.
Then J cut her a piece and she was even more impressed that it was a Rainbow cake!
It was loads of fun to make and even tasted good too!
Idea from
here. Recipe and instructions from
here. Other creative types over
here.
If you're a regular reader, you might have noticed that I've been working on a cardigan version of the
Sweet As... t-shirt. MiddleMiss was wearing it for our
photoshoot in the park.
It has the same heart motif down the side and puff sleeves, but also features a shaped body, pockets and sleeves done to full length.
The pattern's in the testing* phase at the moment so should be ready for release mid-November. Just in time to whip one up for those heading into Winter in the Northern Hemisphere!
For more craftiness look over
here.
*I'm still in need of testers for sizes 9yrs and 10yrs. Let me know if you're interested through the thread on Ravelry.
Isn't it gorgeous?
It's Cascade Heritage Silk and, wow, is it soft!
This is from
Tangled Yarns, dyed by Kelly in 'Wasabi'. Destined to become (yet another) new design.
Once J said to me, as he saw me from behind doing dishes, "You look like you've got Duck's Disease."
"What's Duck's Disease?"
"It's when your legs are too short for your body so your bum's too close to the ground."
Not much of a fair comment coming from him as he's around 6'4" anyway, though sometimes I do tend to agree with him.
Like any time I buy a new pair of jeans. They're all made about 2" too long for me.
I always have to take up the hems. But I hate when people can tell you did (or worse, you make them too short). So I take ages making sure they're the perfect length and look just like shop-bought whenever I do.
It's a job that often gets put off and I usually go around like this:
Yep, rolled up hems instead.
Which looks worse than a badly sewn hem (it's like wearing a sign saying 'I'm short').
So, with my latest pair of jeans I would'nt let myself wear them until I'd shortened the hems. Almost three weeks after buying them I got an unexpected afternoon off work (computer died) and decided that was the day I'd do my jeans!
The perfect length - just touching the ground when not in shoes...
and not touching the ground when wearing shoes.
The only problem is that now we're into Spring and the sun is rather warm on black jeans so I'm thinking a pair of light-coloured jeans would be a better idea!
What sort of necessary alterations do you have to make when buying clothes?
Joining in with other creative types over
here.
The other day, my girls asked me about putting my knitting 'on the internet' so I showed them my Ravelry project page.
They then proceeded to ask, "Can I put mine on the internet too?"
"Sure, when you have a bit more to show." I replied.
So the knitting and crocheting continued with more gusto!
And here's what they've been working on:
LittleMiss is doing an excellent job with her knitting, so much so that I think it's time I taught her how to purl!
MiddleMiss didn't want to do her knitting anymore (I think because LittleMiss picked up on it quicker and better than she had!) so I showed her how to crochet instead. Just a basic granny-square type stitch, but she's taken to it excellently.
BigMiss did a bit of knitting a while ago, but acrylic yarn on plastic needles was not much fun! So she picked up her French Knitting and has been having fun trying to make stripes with that. I did try to teach her crochet but that just ended in tears, so I think we'll go back to knitting - this time with real wool and metal needles!
What crafty-ness do your kids get up to?
A bit late, but joining in with the crafty fun over
here.
It's amazing how easily life gets busy and next thing you know it's five weeks into the school term and we're half way out to the next school holidays!
Friday just gone was my last sewing lesson for this term. Maybe you remember the bag I talked about making with the girls in class? It was a fantastic pattern to use with them and there was great satisfaction in having a cool bag they'd made themselves. Thanks, Meg! (The pattern was kindly donated to me by Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated for use in class. Make sure you ckeck out her website for more great patterns!)
This is my bag in it's current everyday-use state (you might notice I changed it a bit from when I first made it - I swapped the front and back around and shortened the body so it wasn't as deep.)
I decided to give the girls a bit of a challenge (and save the parents money on fabric) and told them to find old clothing and sheets to use for the bag. I wanted to encourage the idea of re-using materials for projects.
This bag was made from an old denim skirt (dark fabric), a pair of jeans (light fabric), and two shirts (red and patterned fabrics). We used the back of the skirt as the back outer panel of the bag, leaving the patch pockets as they were so she has two funky pockets on the outside!
This bag was made from an old denim skirt and a couple of shirts. The button sewing was an extra skill they got to learn. For some of the girls, when I had them last time it was the first time they'd ever sewn before!
I could see that some of the girls would finish with time to spare so had asked them to bring along some extra fabric to whip up a quick and simple bag using the basic concepts they'd learnt with the first bag. It was encouraging to see how much they'd taken in and that I only needed to point them in the right direction or ask "What do you think you do next?"
Looking forward to next term when I get to do it all again with the other four girls in the class! (I only have half the class at a time while the other half does cooking and they get the option of sewing or woodwork so I didn't have any boys!)
I don't have any photos of the other two girls' bags - one finished the week previous and the other hadn't finished by the end of the lesson as she'd had two lessons off sick.
Check out the other creative folk over here.
Actually, the more polite word patient is used, but I know they really mean crazy.
Because I specialize in re-knitting the same thing over and over.
I'm a bit of a perfectionist and, especially when designing, like it to be just right even if it means doing something several times until it is.
And, the observant among you might also have noticed a slight difference between the pockets on the
first
pictures of the Billy I've been working on. (Yes, they're a little bigger in the second picture. But I won't say how many times I redid that section - mainly because I didn't count! And, yes, it really does matter, it looks so much better now.)
And now I'm doing it again.
This jersey used to be a different jersey.
An almost-finished, just-have-to-do-the-sleeves jersey.
Then I decided that the idea of working two sleeves in mostly purl really didn't appeal. And I wanted to make a jersey version of Billy for one of the girls but didn't have enough yarn in one colour.
So I just undid the cast off, cast on the new jersey and unravelled as I knit!
At least this way I should be able to tell when I'm at the right length. The first jersey was worked in the same manner (raglan, top-down) to a good length so when I run out of yarn this jersey should be ready to cast off at the perfect length too!
Though, I am hoping that I've got the placement of the kangaroo-pocket right first time so I don't have to go back and redo that.
For more crafty kinds go
here.
There's a great sense of satisfaction when you finish a design, lay it out flat and it looks just like you wanted it to!
Now to find the perfect buttons, sew in the ends and visit the cute little nephew for photos. Pattern available soon, hopefully!
This turned out almost perfect too. Due to a mix-up with 10ply/8ply yarn I ran out before I could do full long sleeves. Working on a contrast sleeve instead.
For more creative types, check out
here.
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