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Tag: Covid-19

by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

This week’s blog title definitely has two meanings. The fun one is to do with my most recently completed knitting project, the other…

Last week, lockdown fatigue had really, really set in. It was literally at the point where I felt like I was just dragging myself through each day, one day after the other after the other…the mantra of ‘Just keep going, just keep going’ playing in my head.

But the restrictions here have begun to ease, last Sunday our little family went an hour and a half down south to meet up with our friends and their parents dog and we had an amazing day at their local reservoir/water park – there was lots of new scenery, big play parks, a tiny train…it was amazing.

And exhausting. I am not a sociable creature by habit, but we are a sociable species, and finally getting that social contact…yeah, I was tired.

So this low followed by this exhausting high led to their being no blog post last week. As such, we are having not just one, or two, but three finished products to show off!

These are made following the free pattern 19 Fishes on a Mitten by Magdalena Svanberg, except I added extra length so there’s 24 on these.

The idea of this whole set came into being after Engel bought be some of Siobhan Crafts hand dyed mini skeins all based on fish, I looked at them and knew they had to be made into a gift for Rabbie. She did marine biology at university, she does diving still, and her love of all things that live in the seas, oceans, rivers and lakes is astounding.

This crazy bright creation follows Alternating Current by Alex Tinsley from the book ‘Doomsday Knits’ – I followed the pattern pretty much except I used 3.5mm needles rather than the recommended 5mm due to the wool weight.

Another reason Rabbie deserves all the cosy warm Knits’ is that she feels cold. Painfully feels it. I often joke she’s a lizard, but I do feel for her. So this satisfies my mother like instinct to swaddle her in all the hand Knits!

Another free pattern, Fishies by Jackie Ziegler – I was determined to use every scrap of this wool!

This weekend I’m seeing the same friends I saw last week, only they’re driving up to us. I’m excited about this, but no where near as much as the fact that I am finally allowed to see my sis again! Next week we’re meeting up and I can’t wait to give her all these warm and cuddly things I have made, and let her know everyone she wears them that she’s appreciated and how much I miss her.

This pandemic has taught me a lot of things. I am a much stronger person than I ever thought I would be, I am capable of being a teacher, a mum, a wife, a friend, a sister, an entertainer, a crafter, a story teller, a games master, and more than I could list in here. It’s also taught me that I can’t survive alone. I can be a mother and a wife, but I need the husband and father. I can be a sister, a daughter, but I need family. I can be a friend, but I need them too. When presented with the unknown, I fill it with as much as I can to make it seem less scary, and I burn out because of it. But most importantly:

All any of us can do really, is to just keep swimming. We’ll get there, wherever there is.

Till next week, take care.

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 63 (13 this fortnight)
Wool bought – 3 (needed more black DK)
Wool given to me – 21
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 8

Total – 865

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

As I type this, curled on the sofa, sipping lemon and ginger tea and nibbling at my chocolate easter egg, I can say for certain that I needed this long weekend.

Its been a relaxed one, playing with the kids, doing crafts and reading and playing games, and with lockdown easing, been able too see people at the park and talk to them without that sense of guilt hanging over me…

We’ve had local Easter Trails and today I made a little indoor easter egg hunt that the kids demolished through in less time than I took to set it up…the weather has been good and it actually feels like spring, with changes just on the horizon, and that feeling of positivity beginning to creep in.

I also finished an impulse knit – sort of – in five days given that it had a weeks deadline, so I’m pretty pleased. I want to eventually have a wreath for the window for every month, and last year managed a spring wreath, two Halloween wreaths and a Remembrance wreath. Easter was definitely one of the ones to make, and last week I decided to just go ahead and make it.

Its an eclectic mix of patterns, all free, there’s Springtime Wreath, Daffodils, Small Knitted Dogwood Blossoms (which I tweaked the colours of to make Periwinkles), Forget-me-nots, a cute pair of Square bunnies and of course, the Easter Egg.

Its bright, its colourful, its silly, it used a ton of little scraps, and its what I needed.

So I hope your all having a great weekend, regardless of whether you participate in the chocolate goodness and silliness of Easter like I do, and that your keeping safe. Till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 40 (5 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 8

Total – 864

(Squee! If I keep this up, I will be able to justify buying two sweaters quantities of yarn that I really want for a pair of projects!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

It’s been an interesting week, half term and being in furlough for half a week meant I got up to a lot of mischief with the kids. Well, as much as you can given the current time of plague.

There’s been baking, bike rides, dancing, colouring and painting, building dens and other activities. Between this, I managed a little spinning (need more for my big project, it’s eating the handspun!) and a bit of penguin knitting. Yes, they are still marching.

I do however have one new knit to show, a little good bye and good luck gift for a colleague whom I’ve worked with on and off for eight years…

This is Cat in a Life Preserver by Anna Hrachovec, in this case, the black cat is for the fact that she gave me the loveable kitty Dashie, the life preserver as it’s joked that when it rains we need them for our work, and a little four leaf clover for good luck.

I left that in her desk and in exchange, she left me a bag of her collies hair, which I had mentioned I wanted to try and spin. And I have. But more on that next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 16 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 4

Total – 884

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

It’s been a quiet week for the most part, which is good, I don’t think we could all handle any more crazy! Though speaking of crazy…last night we did an early Burns Night celebration with the family on Skype. There was poetry readings, show and tell, gossip, laughter and general shenanigans.

My home sickness has been bad throughout lockdown. Typically I visit my family three to four times a year and a handful of the family visit me once or twice in return. This hasn’t happened. I’ve moped, and sulked, and played the ‘what if’ game but last night, I realised it had morphed, very slowly, to a sweet pang of nostalgia. A contented ‘this is good’ rather than a ‘I want more’. My friend from Australia told me at the start of the pandemic that this would happen and despite me disbelief at the time, yeah, it really does.

On a less sappy note, knitting! Penguins are plodding on their long march to December, my other big project is ticking away in the background but I know already it’ll soon be in hold so I can spin more wool for it, and a quick little knit was slipped in at the kids request:

Its the same free pattern (Snake Coil Cowl by Ariel Woods) that I knit previously my Felix – the terrors fell in love with this slow gradient wool and with the weather being so wet and soggy and things needing constantly washed and/or dried, it made sense for them to have a spare.

Hence my Sssleepy snake pun at the statrt. I am sleepy. I think the world is feeling the same so I won’t sit here and moan.

Not much else to report at the moment, so until next week, stay safe.

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 9 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others – 0
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 891 (Back to last week’s total!)

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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 2 Comments

Despite my best wishes and hopes, the start of 2021 was far more eventful than I wanted. That said, it wasn’t all bad!

The worst part was that, as I suspected, we’ve been put into lockdown again. So no school for the terrors, but unlike last time, I’m not on furlough. Cue many sleepless nights, much stressing and general feelings of despair. But, it all worked out. Both myself and Engel have been deemed as critical workers and we have secured places for both Terrors at school and nursery.

On a better, eventful note, I was surprised by a review video of my knitted Escher Ganger!

You can watch it here!

More eventful news, I won a toy pattern and two sweater patterns through the Wild Knitting challenge! I am really looking forward to doing some knitting for me, but I really need to reduce the stash before I can justify buying two sweater quantities of wool! I’m working on it, managed to burn through 6 balls this week!

In less eventful news, I have managed some spinning for one of my big projects, been plodding away at my year long project and finished a quick little one for Engel just last night which I will share now!

It’s Snorlax! Engel demanded that he get a Pokémon hat after Felix’s Eevee hat and Inklings Meowth hat, so I asked the kids what Pokémon I should knit for him and within three seconds, the answer was Snorlax!

Now the kids are demanding I should make one for me, but there are just so many choices… Gengar? Wooloo? Purrserker?

Till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 6
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others – 0
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 891

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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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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

A lot like Christmas, or, as much as it can in my house! The advent stockings are up and full of person specific treats, the stockings are waiting for their gifts to go inside, all the cute handmade decorations cover the house and the tree has made a very early appearance for us.

Every year I make a decoration, to commemorate something about that year. And this year? Well, it could only be one thing:

Yep. The coronavirus. This is made following the free pattern Fearsome coronavirus ball by Tamara Kulikov. Strangely enough, it’s one of the few decorations that could almost pass as an actual Christmas decoration. I mean, it does look like a bauble, just a bit…

There’s been a lot of knitting as I bit off far more than I could chew when agreeing to the kids demands for little decorations for their class mates rather than the horror of trying to make them write out Christmas cards…

I didn’t realise that would mean knitting 60 of the cursed things…at least it’s let me use up 5 small balls of green scraps! Hopefully I will be done by next week and show those off then!

Till then, keep safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 151 (5 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 16

Total – 902

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

There are many things I have missed since the beginning of the first lock down. The freedom to visit friends. Family. Day trips. Having spur of the moment adventures…

But something I am really missing? Hugs.

Quite a lot of people I know are missing this simple act of human interaction, and it’s something I have wanted to give people quite badly in these times of strangeness and hardship.

But seeing as I can’t give physical hugs, I shall give knitted ones! Nothing will stop me from sharing my hugs to those who need them!

These are based on the free pattern Social Distance Hug by Korri Wass .

Aside from knitting hugs and being sentimental, it’s mainly been work, housework, schoolwork, and Pokémon over here. I have reinstalled Pokémon Go on my phone, to get Pokémon for Felix for her game on the Switch, and now I remember why I got rid of it in the first place…

It’s addictive and eats into my knitting time!

But I…gotta gotta gotta catch ’em all! Gotta catch ’em all, Pokémon!

There’s not much else to say for this week, Christmas is coming but no one is feeling particularly festive here, and I think we all know already it’s going to be a strange one…

Till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 141 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 16

Total – 911

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

(Pun courtesy of Engel)

I received a challenge from my frenemy Ed Skar (watch the ordo redactus at the end of episode two – the last ten minutes – and you’ll understand), and it went like this:

@foxymitts knit me an Escher XD

Not one to back down from a challenge, I begun my research. An Escher in this instance, is not the mathematician and artist, Escher, but a faction in a war game called Necromunda, part of the Warhammer 40K universe/franchise. A friend at work happened to have some source material I could skim through:

so much inspiration, so many ideas, but after much though and discussion, it was paired back to knitting an Escher gangers ‘little sister’. And here she is:

The body is based on the free pattern Babes’ Little Sister by 123fionadolls McDonald (wasn’t the name fitting?!) Oh, and here’s another photo from the other side:

And of course every lady needs a weapon suiting for the fine art of war:

(It was supposed to be a lasgun but came out a heavy stubber- what can I say? (Walk softly and carry a big gun. – Engel) I think girls look cute with oversized weapons! She does also have a more moderate sized dagger tucked into her overskirt)

I think I can safely say challenge complete!

In other news, not much spinning this week, though there are a few knitting things in the works. Crumble is almost entirely back to her old self, just need some more weight on her still, and that’s about all.

Oh. I should mention that last week, due to the current Covid restrictions, my grand plan to have a day trip and meet Rabbie half way were scrapped, and I had a sulk. A big sulk. My first proper sulk since the start of all this chaos. And Engel, bless him, got me a present. 15 miniskeins of the most awesome hand dyed yarn! One is in tropical fish colourways and the other is ‘adventure bike’ colours…which he has batted his eyelashes at in the hopes I will left my sock ban and make him another pair…after mine though!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 138 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318 (Up 15 – thank you though Engel! I love them!!)
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 16

Total – 914 (up 13)

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