Tag: Wool count

Anything is pawsible!

Like furvently knitting two jumpers in one month…

I can hear you all going ‘your kitten me, two jumpers?!’ but these are a modified version of Malana by Kelly Menzies, knit on larger needles and the ratio of knit rows to ‘drop stitches’ has been squeaked to make the stripes pop.

Mew can probably guess that these are inspired by the one and only Cheshire Cat. Classic pink/purple Disney version and the Tim Burton, blue/grey version. Although fur real here, who doesn’t feel he took some inspawration from American McGees Alice?

The reason fur these is that Rabbie and myself are planning on a short sister’s/girls trip to Disneyland Paris in a few months. Rabbie loves her Disney bounding, and after tossing many ideas around, we decided to keep it simple and go fur the Cheshire cats.

Although I have been purr-omised a Maleficent inspired bed coat!

There will be a mew more things related to this that will be getting knit and being shown here, so you had best be feline ready for many more cat puns to come!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 27 (+1)
Wool bought – 17
Wool given to me – 15
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 883 (Net difference: +3)

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Its been a ruff week, and I’ve been somewhat melan-collie. But, behind the scenes, IRL, things are making progress, and that’s a paw-sitive thing.

This week the hot weather finally broke, and it has been raining pups and dogs. However, I was also flying to Ireland and back in a day to visit my dad. The turbulence was definitely terrier-fying, but it was all fine in the end.

My dad currently has five dogs, mummy dog, daddy dog and three of the pups. They were also lookin after two other people’s dogs making the pack total seven. Engel doesn’t like dogs paw-ticuarly but…he did well. Even with he jumping and barking and ‘kisses’.

Daddy dog is a short haired dachshund, and despite his grumpy temperament, is really cute…

But not as paw-sitively adorable as his knitted version! Knit following the pattern Dachshund by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from their book ‘Best in Show’.

With that, I shall end this post as I am dog tired, and fear the puns are just getting corgi now…

Till next post, take care!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 26 (+1)
Wool bought – 17
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 882 (Net difference: +2)

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You know the christening shawl I shared last week? The little one who it’s for is referred to as Gnome.

You gnome what is about to happen, cause I will keep making puns till the cows come gnome if I can get away with it!

The featured knit of this week is knit following the free pattern: The Scrappy Gnome Hat by Melody Lisa and was super quick on 9mm needles. Truth be gnome, I was so deep in the knit gnome with the christening shawl I had forgotten Engels request to sneak in a gnome hat too. So a quick knit was a win in that regard!

That, and I was desperate to knit with anything that wasn’t lace weight or white by that point!

As you can see here the gnome hat is lovingly modelled by Snorlax as he was the only thing with the correct head size on hand. Since this photo, we now have a second Snorlax – a squish mallow one! To go with my Gengar and Inklings Pikachu.

Theres not much else to say right now…there’s been a lot going on, but nothing I’m willing to share…

Oh well, perhaps I will have more to say next post! Until then, stay safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 24 (+3)
Wool bought – 13 (+2, but needed for the new large project)
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 881 (Net difference: +1)

So close to breaking even with the start of the year! Can I make it for next post?!

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A while ago you may all remember me knitting various Harry Potter inspired baby things, well, the baby has been growing and coming on in leaps and bounds and his parents decided to have him christened.

I for one, am not religious. My take on it is: you do you, as long as you don’t hurt anyone. And that’s how I felt about this. After, of course, the knee jerk reaction to the word ‘christening’ being ‘shawl’.

Checked with the mum and, shawl I tell you what the next knit I have to reveal is?

Well, for shawl intents and purposes, let’s pretend you haven’t figured it out…

Its a monster. I significantly reduced the number of repeats in the original pattern, Hush Little Baby Please Dont Cry by Cookknitwine Cook, a free pattern found on Ravelry, but it still came out huge.

But it was worth it, even if it was my shawl and chain for over a month, making me crave knitting anything in any weight and colour that wasn’t lace weight white…

Like seriously. I knit this at home. I knit this at work. I knit this at National Trust sites. I even knit this whilst running Cthuhlu! (I like to think a GM welding small sharp needles adds to the air of terror, but I suspect I came off as more crazy cat lady than cultist)

I probably could have done it faster with less procrastination and less “quality control testing” from my furry helper Outbreak…

Oh, and for those curious, I worked it out and there is just shy of 2km of yarn in there…

In other knitting news, I have immediately started another large project, well, one that will spawn two actually…and an array of accessories…

But we’ll get to that when we get to that.

As for the week just gone, like always, it’s been busy, busy, busy. It has also been very painfully hot… I went to Alton Towers on Monday with my good friend Timbercat and my AC completely died. There had also been massive storms knocking out power to more than half the rides, so I have a free ticket to go back again, and I look forward to it. Just with AC. And not on a blisteringly hot day.

October maybe? Or November? I’ll figure it out nearer the time.

Oh, my car is fine, the valve had gone in the AC unit and she had just slowly leaked away. She’s got a new valve and has been regassed. Seeing as my battle tank is 8 years old now and that’s the first major thing (other than consumables like tyres and brake pads) to go, I am well pleased.

Until next blog post, stay safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 21 (+1)
Wool bought – 13 (+2, but needed for the new large project)
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 884 (Net difference: +4)

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Don’t let the title fool you, Inklings party was a success and all the kids had an absolute pokeball!

It was a very busy weekend with the party, the bathroom only just being finished in time for family and friends to come round to the house after, and a nice play at the park and lunch the day after with family.

It was definitely a case of needing to put my feet up when all was said and done!

These may be my feet, and I may have knit not one but two identical pairs of these slippers, but these are actually for Rabbie as part of her slipper subscription. Alas, her last pair was nommed on by my brothers dog and that was the end of them…

That’s all for this post today, theres been a lot of things going on with the greater family and life in general which has me very worn out and not feeling all that chatty. But give it time and I’ll soon be regaling you all with random stories again!

Until next post, keep safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 11 (+1)
Wool bought – 11
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 892 (Net difference: +12)

Its slowly, so very slowly, creeping down…

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No, really, there’s no finished projects to share, and no in progress photos either…

There is currently three big projects on the needles right now:

1 – This years Christmas decorations (100 is the aim, and these are worked on between projects, so nothing solid to show)

2 – Party favours for Inklings b’day (40 is the aim, and these are my out and about project. About halfway through so maybe a sneak peek next week?)

3 – A christening shawl for a friends little ones christening. This is a big beast, and as its lace, has to really be done at home, with concentration and decent light…its creeping along…but creeping is progress!

Aside from that its been an amazing Easter weekend. There has been Easter trails, egg hunts, exploring new places and catching up with old friends. The weather was fairly good for us, and much fun was had. Cant ask for more!

As an additional aside, it was mine and Engels 11th wedding Anniversary this weekend, and in a remarkably sweet gesture, and inspired I think with all the Easter egg hunts, he bought and with the help of our little terrors, hid 11 balls of wool for me to find.

Not gonna lie, I had far too much fun looking and finding them all! The kids were set to burst they were trying so hard not to ‘help’ me find them!

And with that, I bid you farewell until next post. Stay safe, and I hope you’ve had as much fun this weekend as me!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 9 (+1)
Wool bought – 11
Wool given to me – 13 (+11 for my anniversary)
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 894 (Net difference: +14)

(I need to cracking on with the wool count, that’s not looking for the year!)

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Not bored of the puns yet!

This one is from last month really, but Felix had been invited to sleepover at her besties as part of her birthday celebrations. I had asked weeks before if there was anything in particular she might like as a gift, and Felix kept shrugging.

We settled on a D&D style starter game as Felix’s bestie has been enquiring about RPGs and has seen D&D in various films and media, so…well, who can resist the urge to spread the geekery?

Two nights before the sleepover, Felix informed me that her bestie was wanting arm warmers. But they had to look awesome. And be green. And be cotton or some such fibre as her bestie was having eczema issues…

I shopped the stash, and found some beautiful deep green silk yarn and, after a brief consultation with Felix, it was decided.

Its a modified version of the free pattern Dragon Scale Gauntlets by Annemarie Pearson – all I did was remove a portion of the stitches from the underside, and use a smaller needle to get them fitting little 10 year old wrists.

Oh, I did ask Felix why she waited until the last minute to tell me about these, her response was ‘but you said to tell you when I thought of something.’

I mean, I did. Hence, the flameous last words…

Alright, its been a reasonably quiet week this week, a few little things, some major stress that has now been resolved, and compared to the rest of this year, that’s a win.

The only thing really left to say this week is that I did a bit of wool shopping for mothers day, but I was good! I only bought one thing for the stash, an its actually needed for a gift I’m going to knit.

I mean, what’s one cone of nearly 3km of lace weight yarn?

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 8 (+1)
Wool bought – 11 (+1)
Wool given to me – 2
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 884 (Net difference: +4)

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How can it only be March?! It has, again, been quite a week. I’m leaving it at that…

The title isn’t really a pun so much as playing on the fact that I received a commission to knit a Space Marine, a Horus Heresy Thousand Sons one to be exact. But what is that, I hear?

For those who may remember, I knit an Escher’s Sister from Necromunda a while back, and these guys are actually connected to them in part of the world building backstory…

But I digress, without further ado:

I was asked to make a chibi like version as it’s a gift for a small child. I ended up creating the whole pattern from scratch, and tweaking that even as I went along, so he is truly one of a kind.

I also had a lot of fun with all the little details, like his shoulder pads and backpack!

And on that, I will see you all next post.

Until then, stay safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 7 (+1)
Wool bought – 10
Wool given to me – 2
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 884 (Net difference: +4)

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So, as you all know, I didn’t post anything last week. It had been a very busy, but good, week, a lot of the issues that had been ongoing had been resolved – those that need to know, know, I won’t bore anyone with the details – and the Monday was a nice quiet one with a friend round doing some miniature painting with us. (Ok, I spent it cleaning models, but it counts).

So Tuesday rolls round, I’m about to put the little terrors to bed and then post on here when Inkling stood up, declared his tummy hurt and then puked. And puked. And puked.

There must be some form of eldritch magic at work because something so small can not contain that much puke. This was followed by much cleaning and a long night of puke, clean, puke, clean until pretty much time to get up for work…

It took till Friday before my littlest terror could be classed as ‘well’. He could keep down food and drink, and had some energy, but not quite his usual bouncing self which took till Sunday.

Unfortunately that same Friday, just a few days ago, I then became ill…

Hence, you got to be kitten me.

The pun game is still on, and it still ties in with this week’s knitted thing!

Cats, cats, cats! This is a close up of Covered in Cats Cowl by Marna Gilligan from her book ‘Cat Knits’.

I wanted another cowl, and I loved the colours in my 100% That Witch jumper, and I just needed to knit this cute pattern so… Perfect trinity? Oh, and as you can see, it doubles as a kitty blanket.

On that note, I shall leave you with a close up of this cutie and give you the wool count. Until next post, stay safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 4 (+3)
Wool bought – 10 (+10 – bought for this year’s 100 Xmas decos)
Wool given to me – 2
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2 (+1)

Total – 887 (Net difference: +7)

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I will continue the puns!

This is the last of the Christmas knits, well, it isnt technically a Christmas knit, but seeing as the birthday girl is very early January, it falls into the Christmas knits time period.

It was my neices 18th and, as it was a big occasion, and she had dropped a million hints, I decided to break my ‘no knitting large garments as gifts’ rule.

The look of sheer happiness certainly made the effort worth while.

So, what was she wanting? Well, after our WW2 frolics last year, she has been seriously eyeing up my Betty Davis cardigan…

So, here is one of her very own! Same pattern as mine, Quickly-Knitted Jacket by Australian Women’s Weekly, and same modifications, just a more neutral, will go with everything, colour of varying charcoal grey’s.

In other crafting news, I managed to pick up my spinning again and finish a bobbin! Its been a bit of an uphill battle with my health and medication side effects, but I think I’m in the right balance between breathing and dexterity.

Hooray!

And with that, I have a project I have had to put off for nearly a year that I can finally start, so until next week, stay safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 1
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 2
Wool gifted to others – 3 (sharing the wooly love)
Wool handspun – 1

Total – 879 (Net difference: -1)

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