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Category: Knitting

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 2 Comments

That’s the question of the day – who can resist Resisty the resistor?

I needed a cute quick project to break up the Christmas knitting and I just couldn’t resist knitting this cute geeky creation! (It’s a free Mochimochi pattern called Resisty the Resistor by Anna Hrachovec)

Not sure the guys at my work quite knew what to make of a little resistor sitting on my desk, but it has been confirmed to be 450 mega Ohms with 2% resistance. For the rest of us, that means the colour and placement of the stripes creates a genuine product.

It does leave me wondering if I should knit a few other electronic component friends for Resisty to confuse and baffle the guys at work…

Its been a very quick week this week, and other than my two Terrors both starting school, returning for Felix but actually starting for Inkling, there hasn’t been all that much going on. I think the emotional realisation that my babies are growing up was tiring enough!

There’s been a bit of spinning, mostly knitting, work, baking, gardening and playing games of the computer, RPG and board varieties, so I guess that has been a lot really!

Oh, and I just literally received confirmation that I have been selected to test knit a pattern for another designer – so I need to have a good rummage in the stash and decide what to use, and whether this will be a gift or something for me! Oh, oh! And I’ve been asked to knit another mounted head, the creature itself has yet to be decided but it has to be cryptozoological in nature to go with the jackalope!

My lists of projects just keeps getting longer!

Hope you have all had a good week and I’ll see you next – till then, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 119 (5 this week!!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 11

Total – 872 (A net total of 25 down!!)

by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

First of all, I apologise now as I a mentioning the dreaded word ‘Christmas’ before Halloween. I know, it’s a heathen act, but when it comes to knitting large portions of Christmas gifts you do need to start really early..

I will try and alternate boring Christmas knitting with fun knitting – promise!

So, the first thing is to explain the concept behind this year’s Christmas bags and that is ‘eco-friendly’. All knits will be made form bio degradable materials like cotton or linen, and the bulk of them will replace items commonly made of plastic.

The first knit:

Scrubbies! These are knit following the free pattern Tribble by Abigail – 1870pearl, and like the cute furry menace they are named after, you can’t knit one. They just seem to multiply…

The idea behind these is that the cotton and linen fibres are fully biodegradable, so when they start to fall apart (about 6 months heavy use in my house) you can toss them away and they will break down. Traditional plastic sponges last barely three months in my house, and of course, once they get to landfill, they just stay there…

In other crafting news, I have been teaching one of my friends how to spin, and have done some myself, but whereas they have finished wool, I do not. Maybe in a few weeks I will have more handspun to show, and all the colours for my next planned handspun project..

Non crafting news sees me very much happy at my new job, I’ve finally had a go at playing Battletech (miniatures version), we all went to the Blue John Caverns and tried one of the three caves, which went really well so plan to try the other two at a later date! There’s also been lots of tidying and sorting and going through clothes as both the Terrors start school next week – Inkling can’t wait, long may it last!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 114 (3 this week!!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 11

Total – 877 (A net total of 20 down)

by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Its been a busy week! Mostly of my own making, but it’s been good at least. Yesterday I met up with a group of friends whom I haven’t seen in person since pre-Covid. One set, whom I have seen, fell in love with my knitted jackalope head.

I had a spare set of antlers…and plenty of natural fleece to spin…and well, I was going to see them so…on Friday I made the decision to spin the fleece.

And by Monday night, I had all that I needed spun and plyed and wound into balls of wool ready to knit.

Tuesday to Friday saw much frantic knitting, as well as Engel stepping in on the Wednesday to saw the skull down some more to allow me to fit it inside the jackalope head, and Friday saw the last bits knitted and all the assembly taking place.

Pattern is a modified version of the free pattern my dear – a deer trophy by Claire Garland and the wooden plaque is from Pallets2Place – commission piece in regards to both size and shape! I also have another two to redo my other knitted heads as I was so impressed with it!

The wooly critter was handed over yesterday and then there was lots of axe throwing – the reason for everyone meeting up was to have a laugh and test our apocalyptic survival skills. I did far better than I had expected! Then there was food, home, meeting with in laws and more food.

Today has been much quieter – a play in the park, climbing trees and a quiet afternoon of playing games and getting on with some sewing.

How have your weeks been?

Till next, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 111 (4 this week!!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 11 (2 skiens for the jackalope head!)

Total – 880 (A net total of 17 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

But we have rainbows!

Lots of rainbows! These cuties are made following the pattern Rainbow by Sarah Keen from her book ‘100 Little Knitted Projects’. These were made at Inklings request for his nursery teachers, and I could hardly refuse after knitting a sore tooth for Felix’s teacher!

I’ve managed to finish off a few things, as well as start a number more, past few weeks, but I’ll go over each as and when I post them on here, as well as actually finish them for quite a number of them! Ones of my finished projects was actually a sewing project!

I literally finished that today, and with the weather absolutely pouring it down, haven’t had a chance to get any photos, but there will be more on that soon! If the rain ever stops…

In other news…it’s been really quiet. Which makes a really nice change. Work is good. Engels work is good. Nothing major had happened to the house. The kids are happy. Its…just been nice. There’s a small family day out planned for tomorrow which should be fun, especially as it involves frogs! Poor Engel…

But yeah. That’s about it. No new wool added, despite many targeted ads telling me about all manner of different sales going on involving very, very cheap wool…not a huge amount out either as have been trying to mess around and tinker with a few ideas with specific wool which are destined as Christmas gifts…

More on that later. Maybe. Depends.

The only thing to mention really is that the world is crawling out of various Covid restrictions, some faster than others, and some people are going full throttle into society whereas I seem to definitely be creeping along. Has anyone else found socialising really hard? Harder than it was pre Covid anyway? I’ve met with friends a little at a time over the past few weeks and I always feel like I need a week to recover…

Anyhow! Enough rambling, I’ll talk more next week, until then, keep safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 102 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 9

Total – 887 (A net total of 10 down. At least it reached double figures…)

by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Hi all! Thank you to all those who checked in with me after my brief hiatus – I did say I may not post depending on how the new job was going.

Short answer to that is I’m very happy. Its a learning curve, but I don’t feel too far out of my depth and I can see myself as part of the team. More importantly I am no longer feeling super stressed, I’ve actually been sleeping and my appetite has returned.

I hadn’t realised any of the above until after the fact, but that’s often how life works so I’m not going to dwell on it. (Also pointedly ignoring Engels ‘I told you so’)

Barring some major drama on the first day (45 minutes into it, the school called to tell me Inkling had a cough and so he and Felix and us all needed to get tested and isolate until we got our results) We found out super early Tuesday morning and I was able to redo my first day on the second day.

Work where fine with it, though I now hold the current record for shortest amount of time between someone starting then having to leave. Sigh. I also have the record for most amusing interview seeing as Outbreak decided halfway through it to introduce herself to the people on the Zoom call and managed to hang up on them…midway through the interview…

So long as I don’t get any more records I think I’ll be ok…

Last weekend was busy with catching up with people and then it was this week. Before I knew it, the school finished for the summer holidays, Inkling is no longer in nursery and will be starting school next term and yeah…

Which brings me to today’s title. What time does a tooth hurt?

The answer: Two thirty (tooth hurty). This awful joke is Felix’s teachers favourite joke, amongst many other terrible ones, so I knitted him a sore tooth at Felix’s request as an end of school year gift. I believe it brought a number of smiles and a fair few chuckles, and groans, to the classroom…

The pattern is a modified version of Sour Tooth by Anna Hrachovec from her book ‘Super-Scary Mochimochi’ – of all the patterns in that book, this one in its original pattern is truly the most terrifying…

This weekend has seen more catching up with friends, including a fellow yarnie who gave me 18 balls of wool from a wool haul her husband got, and whom I gave three to for future projects she has planned (more on that later) so my wool collection has once more grown…oops…

Anyhow, enough of a ramble from me, till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 101 (3 since last post)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 47 (Up 18 due to fellow yarnie)
Wool gifted to others – 4 (Up 3 also due to fellow yarnie)
Wool handspun – 9

Total – 888 (Up 12, getting concerned that I have only lost a net total of 9 balls this year now!)

by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

It’s been a very long and busy week. Despite the heat it’s also been very productive. The roof is all fixed now, my nest egg is but a few pieces of shell, (just in case, commission’s are open!) I got all the fences painted, both gardens weeded, fruit harvested and a whole load of cleaning, tidying and sorting!

Thankfully the majority was done at the start of the week as it’s been getting hotter and hotter as it’s progressed. But I was planning on physically resting anyway as my new job starts tomorrow.

The nerves have well and truly hit me, but there’s still excitement! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

On to the knitting content!

Its approaching the end of the school year here, and as such I’m knitting a few small gifts for the teachers and teaching assistants. One of the TAs in Felix’s class also runs Welsh club, which Felix has really enjoyed going to, and as such, Felix felt she deserved a special knit – a little red dragon! Or should I say ‘draig goch fach’?

(Ok, I have a friend he speaks Welsh, and I asked her as I know zero Welsh)

Anyhow, the pattern is Dragons 9051 by King Cole Ltd – I added front legs, ears and the little spikes down his back though to make it more like the Welsh dragon.

Anyhow, I’m exhausted and dying of the heat, hopefully I’ll have a post for you all next week but with it being the first week at not just a new job, but of a career change, I make no promises!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 98 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 29 (Andrew picked me up 8 balls of cotton for the Christmas projects I’m plotting)
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 9

Total – 876 (Up 7, sigh, still more out than in though!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

As you’ve already probably guessed by the title, I’m still working through the miles of blue cabled vests, and still knitting  ‘Kawaii Kittens’ by Louise Walker from the book ‘Mollie Makes Knitting’ as little breaks from the endless blue.

This one is different in that I didn’t follow the pattern exactly as written in the book as there isn’t a sushi cat pattern, so I changed the colours and pattern, and added a little prawn/shrimp on top to create…

I couldn’t resist going to get some sushi and soupy noodles as an excuse to get some cute photos! Here’s another, next to some shrimp nigiri, to show you the tail of the prawn/shrimp!

As well as getting sushi, it’s been an eventful week. There was some working from home to tie off all the loose ends of my job before I am fully done and start the next one. The kids are fast approaching the end of the school year so there’s a lot to do and organise with that. My roof sprung a leak which had to get fixed asap, with more work to be done when we can arrange the time and money for it. As well as this, my mum managed to finally visit us, and it’s been near two years since she last set foot in my house. Chaos and good times had by all, but I am thoroughly exhausted!

Which is why this is a day later than usual – feel better for getting some sleep and serious knitting time in, but more sleep and knitting is needed to recharge the batteries I think! Maybe some spinning too…

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 97 (7 this week)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 21
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 9

Total – 869 (no net change)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Yep, you guessed it, number three of the  ‘Kawaii Kittens’ set by Louise Walker from the book ‘Mollie Makes Knitting’. 

This is Popcorn Kitty, and the last of the set. He’s going to be the main one I’ll be using pattern wise for tweaking for the next cat cushion – sushi! Looking forward to it!

In other knitting news, I have separated the arm holes and worked a good five of the ten inches for the back and front of blue vests number two – the FILs, so finally feel like it’s progressing! Next it’ll be Inklings and then picking up the sleeve and neck edges for a bit of rib on all three…there’s still miles to go…

As part of my avoiding the knitting of the endless blue vests, I started some kumihimo braiding for the conservatory, painted clouds on the ceiling, and even spun and plyed a small skein of Ziggy inspired wool for when I knit her mini version.

Thursday was also my last in the labs of a job I’ve had for the past five years, even longer if you include the two years before that…as I mentioned last week, I’m off to pasture new and a career change to boot, but that’s not for another fortnight. At the moment I’m just very giddy! Sad to say bye to some really good people, but the rest of me was more than ready to leave.

Short post as Felix has a friend round and they have been suspiciously quiet…

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 90 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given to me – 21
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 9 (1 this week)

Total – 876 (no net change)