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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

I couldn’t resist the pun…but what pun you may ask? Well, remember how I mentioned that my mum roped me into doing some knitting for her?

That there is the seventh Meret (Mystery Beret) – free pattern by Woolly Wormhead- that I have knitted for mother. And since Meret sounds like Merry….

Anyhow…shes nearly wore her last ones straight through out of sheer use. So after telling her exactly that after the mending I did on them last visit, I had to break it to her that next time, there won’t be any hat left to mend… So to prolong those precious hats, I suggested she could have a different hat for when working in the school playground which is when they get their hardest use.

She was immediately in my stash digging through the purple section to select just the right shade to match the school colour (a deep purple) and informed me she wanted two in the same pattern and alterations as the others.

And matching arm warmers, as they’re near worn through also. I did opt to do a new pattern on those though – Half-Pint Fingerless Gloves by Théa Rosenburg, another excellent free pattern – which are super quick and easy to make at least.

Two pairs of arm warmers have been knit, as well as one hat, and the second is a solid evenings worth of knitting away from being done.

In non knitting news, I have had an incredibly busy, but fun, Christmas break. There was a lot of catching up, people and p!aces where visited, games have been played and so many things have been made or built. One of which was a bat detector which Engel decided would be perfect for Felix – and I’ll hand it to her, she took to learning to solder like a duck to water! Inkling was in the mean time getting a sewing lesson from myself and, worst comes to worst, has the rudimentary skills to at least temporarily patch something together now.

Lastly for this blog post, the wool count is going to be reset, and with it, I am going to set a few goals to also try and achieve.

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 0
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 843 

And my stash goals for this year are:

1 – to have no more than 1 ball of wool enter the stash to every two that leave the stash.

2 – to spin more wool – I have done a lot of dying, and have projects planned for handspun, but by the end of the year I had very little time/ energy/ spinning mojo

3 – handspun wool does not apply to the wool in vs wool out totals, as it’s stash already present, just undergoing a metamorphosis from fleece to yarn…

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

I hope everyone has had a good start to the festive season! For us, it’s been a ball – a busy, chaotic ball – and sorely needed. Sadly, I know this hasn’t been the case for some of my friends, which makes me treasure these moments all the more.

But introspective reflections don’t belong on a knitting blog, so I shall leave it there and move swiftly on to the knitting!

Any one who has followed my shenanigans for a long time will know that I make a new decoration for the tree every year to mark an occasion or event that has happened that year. We have all sorts on the tree now, from Maleficent guarding the tree top, to a pig with a hankie, an this years addition is just as fun!

I made a MOSFET! Specifically a TO-247 MOSFET (Engel edit: It’s actually a GaNFET! The future is here!). And one became seven as I decided to give one to each member of my team at work. Here’s the little gang chilling out in front of actual MOSFETs so that everyone who is currently scratching their head right now can see what they’re supposed to be.

This year I joined Engel in the world of semi conductor’s after much thinking and reflection regarding my now previous job in radiochemistry. There was a lot of uncertainty but it has been the right decision, and on the last day before the Christmas shutdown, I received the news that I have passed my probation and I’m a permanent member of staff.

Best. Christmas. Gift. Ever!

That aside, remember how I said I joined Engel? Well, this time round it was him who was up to shenanigans when I presented all the knitted MOSFETs…

In the blink of an eye, the little guys were being hooked up to an oscilloscope! Much chaos and laughter ensued before I managed to recover and gift the little knitted critters, aside from mine, who is happily chilling on the tree.

I hope you all have a good festive season! I’ll see you all next year, until then, stay safe!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Its beginning to look and feel like Christmas, and that’s been reflected in my knitting!

This is a combination of Northern Stocking by Rae Blackledge and Falling Snow Stocking by Jennifer Hoel – both are free patterns available on Ravelry.

Initially I was asked to make just the one, but the wee boy it’s destined for was sad his parents wouldn’t have one and so wouldn’t get presents either…

So I made all three them a stocking each! Oh, and although you can’t see it in the photo, the white is sparkly and adds just a bit more of a Christmas flair.

Continuing on with the Christmas theme, it was Inklings first nativity this year – he didn’t have one last year due to Covid – and I was really impressed the length the school went to make it happen. Watching him run around being a ‘naughty sheep’, you wouldn’t think he had spent over half his life in various forms of lock down.

It was a bit surreal when that thought first crossed my mind. Not quite managed to get over it, and I do worry about the impact it’s going to have on a whole generation of kids.

That’s getting pretty heavy, let’s move on swiftly!

The kids took their penguin ornaments to school this week, and Felix has informed me that next year it’s going to be polar bears. I had best get a move on with those seeing as 60 penguins weren’t enough and I had to whip up an extra 6!

Speaking of ornaments, this years one has been selected and knitted up. I wound up getting carried away and made a few extra to give to my team, but not so carried away as Engel did photographing them. You’ll have to wait till next week to see those!

Until then, keep safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 152 (1 this week!!)
Wool bought – 50
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 13

Total – 843 (Net total of 39 down!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Remember how a few weeks ago I said my that my mum came down and…

…how I said she liked to request knits? Yeah, more on that in a future blog. Let’s just say it’s surprising what you can achieve with a three day deadline…

Well, heres what that three day knit was:

Some cat slippers! (Free pattern Nola’s Slippers by Nola Miller)

This isn’t the first pair. Or second pair. But the third pair I have knit for her! The first she gave to one of my aunt’s who batted her eyelashes, and the second is from last Christmas which are black and sparkly and very much her. My other aunt tried batting her eyelashes but my mum refused to relinquish that pair and instead…

Conned me into making this pair for my aunt. The line that I bit was ‘it’s her 60th coming up and she’s been through so much, it would be nice to have a little bit of comfort…’ And her birthday? Start of December.

Hence frantic three day knit to get them done before my mum went back up North. I was literally putting the final stitches on these as she packed her bags, and grabbed this snapshot just before they went into the bag too.

I have been informed that they were well received and my aunt thinks they are far cooler than my mum’s sparkly cute ones…

It’s a short post this week, everything is getting busy and ramping up as the festive season approaches – and that includes a few commissions on top of my own planned knits!

Oh, and Papa Nurgle has graced our house with his presence…the downside to the festive season, all the coughs, colds and bugs! (Don’t worry, it isn’t Covid, we have checked several times!)

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 151 (1 this week!!)
Wool bought – 50
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 13

Total – 844 (Net total of 38 down!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

It’s a frisbee!! Made following the free circular How to Knit a Granny Square pattern by Frankie Brown.

As someone who knows how to crochet, and can technically do it, but can’t due to a knackered wrist, I was very keen to have an excuse to try knitted crochet, and these cotton frisbees for the Christmas set was a perfect opportunity!

I will say that it was still hard on my wrist, and I had to take breaks from it more than if I had been knitting normally, but I could do it for far, far longer than crochet!

Curiosity satisfied, another present finished.

In other news, you will have noticed I didn’t post last week – you can blame Rabbie for that one! You can read about the chaos on her blog, but regardless, I was just too tired from the week, the weekend, and the start of another week to actually take the time to post anything!

There has been family meet ups, Dog fest, socialising, work stuff, gaming, littlest terror has started his swimming lessons and oldest one has gone up four book bands this school term already…it’s been busy!

Project wise there’s quite a lot on the needles, and as such, not a lot of progress on any of it! I’m usually a monogamous knitted but…yeah…more on those as and when I have things to show.

Until next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 128 (2 this week!!)
Wool bought – 35 (2 this week, but for a specific project, promise!)
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 11

Total – 865 (still a net total of 32 down!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

As I mentioned previously, I’ll alternate between the more boring practical Christmas knits and the cute and random ones that seem to appear frequently in my life…

And so, I present:

Rather than wrapping paper, or a plastic bag, I’ve opted to knit several large Boardwalk Beach Bags by Holly Beemer (a very easy, quick free pattern) out of cotton and a cotton/linen mix. But me being me, I couldn’t resist making them look cute, and thus bumble bees! (Though more than one person has pointed out that the darker yellow/orange and black ones look like Hufflepuff house colours…which is perfect for my sis, who is a self declared Hufflepuff!)

I have also made two small ones which will hold little knitted cotton pads for cleaning faces/removing makeup (worryingly most of the supermarket ones contain plastic! Didn’t realise that till I looked at the packaging…)

And that’s all for this week regarding Christmas gifts.

I’m currently working on three things at the moment, and very shortly a fourth which will involve me spinning a fair bit of wool. All I’ll say on that is “Rabbie, you’re a genius, and that’s going to look awesome on the wall – may have to make two!”

Its been a weird week this week – work has been quiet, giving me lots of time to start thinking things over, and plot, and plan… I’ve also started training someone and accidentally became their buddy, which is quite hilarious seeing as I have been signed off after the fact on all my own training!

This weekend has been two family fun days, and despite panicking every time anyone came near me, it was brilliant – the kids even got to play with a fireman’s hose and go into the cab! So jealous! It’s strange though, post Covid, in that even though it was crowded, everyone kept themselves separate from everyone else…

I am thoroughly shattered though, physically and socially, I have definitely got to start building up my tolerance of being around people again!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 125 (6 this week!!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 11

Total – 866 (A net total of 31 down!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Some of you may be wondering why I haven’t mentioned a certain set of blue projects for a while, a set of three matching blue sweater vests to be exact, and the answer to that was…

Well, I finished them. Did all the picking up of stitches and ribbing, weaved in the ends, then shoved them in a bag and out of sight for…three weeks…?

I am ashamed to admit I have only just pulled them back out to photograph them and to share with you all!

Apologies for the photos being somewhat uninspired, but with so much blue, and it being three identical garments in various sizes…there’s not much you can do with that!

I’m planning on gifting these today, and if my measurements and maths are all correct, they should fit the FIL and the little Terrors well. Can’t wait to see them all matching!!

In current knitting news, I am doing a spate of Christmas knitting. These will get shared, in part, on the blog as the only member of the family who reads this and will receive them has been helping come up with ideas and inspiration behind it all. More on that later.

I did mention last week about sewing projects, and there’s been some fun photo shoots with regards to that, as well as a few extra little projects sneaking their way in. There’s debate as to when I should share these as I don’t know if I should before I send it off to its new owner, or wait until they have received it… When I get an answer I will post about it, until then, we’re all somewhat being kept in the dark!

In non knitting news, my new job has been going well. It’s strange working for a company that focuses on nurturing their employees and encouraging ideas and creativity, compared to being just a number who gets their workload increased until they crack…

There was a lengthy conversation with Engel where I explained that I was happy, but also anxious, because surely, at any moment now, the other shoe is going to drop and it’s all going to turn out to be some elaborate ploy with some awful catch attatched… I’m still waiting.

There’s been some spinning going on as well, I have a project planned that requires some hand spun, and some natural dying of fleece for no other reason than I wanted to have a play with colour.

Yesterday saw me getting my second Covid jab, which I am pleased to have now had. Its a strange one, I wasn’t keen on getting the vaccine for myself, as in my health, but was very keen to get it so I would feel that the risk of making friends and family and loved ones would be greatly reduced.

Give it two weeks and I will be giving out all the hugs!

Thats all for this week, sorry it’s a bit of a ramble, I feel like I have lots to say but also not sure what to say, or where to start.

Until next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 107 (5 this week!!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 9

Total – 882 (A net total of 15 down)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Hello all, I hope your surviving this current lockdown without too much crazy. This week has been a much quieter week for me, and a lot less stressful. As such, the urge to curl up and sleep, or perhaps just hibernate, has been calling me like a sirens song…

But alas, sleep is rarely an option.

In knitting news, I don’t have any small projects that I have finished to show you, so instead I will go into some more detail about my two big projects. One involves a lot of spinning as it’s a sizable item made from my handspun with a story behind it. But you’ll have to wait for more on that.

Instead I shall go into more detail on my other project. After knitting and putting together 60 Christmas tree wreaths decorations in under two weeks, I swore never again. So I have started on Christmas 2021 decorations now – if I knit between one and two a week, it will be done in time for the kids to give to their classmates. I work on this at work, between projects, when I should be spinning but am too tired to, and as my generic fidget now I have the pattern memorised.

So, third week of the year, I should have between three and six, right?

There’s 18. Either they’re breeding or I’m procrastinating. At this rate I’ll be starting Christmas decorations 2022 this year! Pattern is Christmas Tree Decorations by Alan Dart, and yes, I am aware they have no eyes, no one has agreed as to what colour they should be and until then, I’m not putting any on!

That’s all for this week, stay safe, and I’ll see you next week, unless I really do hibernate!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 7 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others – 0
Wool handspun – 3 (hooray, I spun lots!)

Total – 893 (Up by two, but that’s because of the handspun, so as I stated in the first post for the year, it doesn’t count! Stash processed is stash processed!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Hello all, I hope you have had a fairly nice run up to the end of the year, regardless of what you cekebrate. Christmas here was surprisingly pleasant. I received some bad news at the very start of the morning, but other than that, it went smoothly.

Felix and Inkling are both at that age where they get swept up in Christmas and everything has that magic to it than only exists when you are small and young. And it was infectious. It was exactly what myself and Engel needed.

Because of all the changing rules and regulations, we kept it pretty simple, and have one set of friends over, and they too definitely needed the same dose of Christmas magic from the kids as we did!

It was one of their birthdays just a few days prior, so I knitted him up a little gift, which in my tired and exhausted brain from a last final push at work to complete a hell of a lot of work in a tiny time frame, may have drove my work colleagues mad…

Shark mittens!!! (Free pattern Puppet Mittens by Debbi Parker, there’s a bunch of animals so well worth a look) and because my brain was running on fumes, I did a tiny shark finger puppet.

Baby shark, doo doo de doo…baby shark doo doo de doo…and I have a mummy and daddy shark too so was giggling inanely to myself at my desk in work playing with them and breaking into song when people looked over at me…

I would like to point out that it wasn’t just me who was losing the plot completely, a lot of us where! They just didn’t see the brilliance of the shark mittens and song combined…

In other news, I had a chance to get my spinning wheel out and did a little bit of spinnjng. It had been too long since I managed to indulge myself with it! So one new ball of wool! But I also used a ball in my current project.

I’ll go into more detail in that at a later date, for now, I have festive chaos to return to!

Keep safe everyone!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 156 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 17

Total – 898 

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

O Christmas Wreath I never any to knit another…

Long story short: I don’t like Christmas cards, I feel they are a waste of perfectly good trees, and any parent who has had to try and get their child to write out thirty of the things for all their classmates knows, it’s hell.

So last year I knitted decorations for Felix’s class – there’s no bits of paper that’s just going to get tossed, there’s an actual keepsake, and no pain of writing the things out. Felix remembered and wanted to do it again this year.

And if Felix got it, Inkling wanted it to.

That’s 60 decorations. Ok. That’s doable. Kids settled on wreaths, not the quickest, lots of sewing, but doable.

Oh, wait, because of Covid all cards have to be handed in two weeks early. That’s 60 wreaths in under two weeks. And work has been hell. A couple of projects that due to things beyond my control, have to be done by Christmas. So that’s 60 wreaths, full time job, overtime, weekend work, running a house, looking after two terrors, trying to be full of Christmas spirit…

But on the flip side, I got to use up a lot of little nodes and ends of green which has made a nice dent on the stash, and they look cute, even if I was up until 11:30 the night before they got handed in sewing them all up…

Want to see all 60 ready for school?

Next year, I’m starting in November. Pattern btw is free, it’s Advent Garland 13, Wreath by Frankie Brown – if you haven’t checked out her patterns, I highly recommend it.

Now I’m off to enjoy my Sunday in peace. I have a house to put back together and terrors to entertain, but I’m happy with that!

Till next week, stay safe.

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 154 (3 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 16

Total – 899

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