Tag: Wool count

Dont believe me?

And yes, that is a tiny bihorn hat he’s wearing. “What about his army?” I hear you ask…

There it is, marching one hundred strong! “But what of his enemy?” I hear you ask…

There she is! The Evil Empress Poppy!!!

Ok, I may have gone just a little, teeny tiny, bit mad, but who wouldn’t after knitting so many polar bears?!

(Pattern btw is free, it’s Polar Bear by The Knit Cafe Toronto.)

The purpose of these is to be Christmas ornaments for Christmas 2022, after I discovered 60 penguins wasn’t enough last Christmas. I was 12 short, so I planned on 80 polar bears.

Then Rabbie suggested it should be a centurion of polar bears, a polar bear garrison if you will.

And then I got brain fog with covid and there was 101. So the extra became Na-polar-eon at Engels insistence and the chaos ensued…

You have probably guessed that things have returned to normal, and I use normal very loosely here, in my household and yeah, it is, slowly. We’re all tiring out a bit too quick, and I have some issues with my lungs but other than that, yeah, getting there.

Its been a welcome break to the plague or drama or something or another.

In non knitting news, I’ve been dabbling in other fabric crafts – nothing too exciting, but it’s been fun doing some upcycling!

Will leave it here for now as I have cthulhu to prep, and I will convienently not mention that I bought six more balls of wool at the weekend – these are for a project coming up, honest!

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 32 (3 since last post)
Wool bought – 23 (Up 6)
Wool given to me – 16
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 852 (Net difference: +9 – really need to work on this!)

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A very short post today as I am very, very tired after finally getting to work and doing a full day.

Last week was spent shaking off Covid and the kids returning to school. Except…after day two of school I noticed Felix had some red spots…and in the morning…yep. covered.

Our new feature for this blog: What plague has hit the house this week?

Answer: chicken pox. Both of mine had them around 2 years old, so I was surprised to see them on her. I imagine her immune system is low and the chicken pox took its chance, but regardless, it’s been pretty rough for her.

My loving response to it?

A very cute pair of The World’s Simplest Mittens by tincanknits in cotton to stop her scratching her spots at night. And to help take the sting out, I added a few cats from Covered in Cats Cowl by Marna Gilligan from her book Cat knits.

Felix will hopefully be back at school tomorrow, the last of the pox has scabbed up this morning and the oldest spots have begun to heal.

And thats it really. Oh, I did get a small break of freedom and may have accidentally purchased 9 balls of wool but…I don’t really care right now, I feel I deserve a treat. Even if it’s the right wool and colour for a super cute jumper for Inkling…

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 29 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 17 (Up 9)
Wool given to me – 16
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 849 (Net difference: +6)

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Hello everyone, this is going to be a short post as Covid has once more hit the house…sigh…and just in time for the second half of Easter break, when we had made a bunch of plans to see various friends and to go to various activities and check outs museum exhibition…

As you can guess, none of this has happened. Besides sleeping and tasks necessary only for basic survival not a lot has been done the past few days.

Which is why I will share my mother’s day knits. Like last year, I received chocolate roses, and like last year, I knitted roses to replace the chocolate part so I wouldn’t feel guilty…

And here they all are together. Like last year, I also knitted these using handspun wool.

And like last year, I followed the free pattern Rose by Libby Summers.

Now I am going to go back to my nest on the sofa and continue my quest to breathe normally…

Until next post, take care and stay safe.

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 28 (0 since last post)
Wool bought – 8
Wool given to me – 16 (I did mention I won a competition, right? Three gorgeous skiens of sock wool!)
Wool gifted to others – 1 (But I felt bad my friend who went with me didn’t win anything, so I let her have one)
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 835 (Net difference: -2)

Sigh, I need to get those needles clicking and get back on the sheep…

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Remeber how I said last week that it was a short post as I was super busy? Well, sit down, grab a cuppa, and let me regale you on my adventures.

Last Monday saw me in Wales, we had arranged last year to have an Easter holidays trip there with my good friends J and S, their first date and his eventual proposal to her took place in Cricceth and all of her childhood holidays were in Wales.

I was flattered that they invited myself and the whole family to spend a week with them, though I was also worried that they had bitten off more than they could chew with having my two little terrors in tow…

After watching my two use S as a climbing frame and then make a sand dragon with him, I knew this worry was unfounded. Only three days after the holiday and they’re already trying to organise the next with us so clearly it was a good holiday for them!

There was a beach trip every day, the weather actually held long enough for this every day to my amazement, with sand dragons and sand cats and rock pooling (Engel found several fish, crabs and shrimps) and of course, shell collecting. I managed to find the perfect one, shown in the photo above, as a button for my sea urchin inspired tea cosie.

The ball of wool that I mentioned that I had purchased on Monday was for this very project – I had spied a naked teapot when rummaging around the cottages cupboards and my terrors had spotted a dried sea urchin on the shelves. Some banter later and I was convinced to knit a sea urchin tea cosie as a thank you gift.

I winged the pattern in the end, but it was initially based off a free Ravelry hat pattern Sea Urchin by Robin Celli

Other activities in Wales was the rabbit farm (I fed alpacas, and managed not to steal them!) Lots of beach visits, some rambling, the slate museum, two different little mini railways and a visit to the Naked Spinner where I bought some very nice coloured fleece…

It was sad to see the holiday end, but it was immediately followed by a wool show near Mrs Ratman, and I only walked out with 6 balls of wool. I showed great restraint!!!

However…I may have just found out that I had won a prize draw that I entered…when that arrives, I’ll go over it then.

There was an Easter trail yesterday with another friend and her little one which knackered me out…but the kids had a ball. Or an egg?

One other thing happened this week, but that is something I will go over at a different time.

Till next week, take care!

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 28 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 8 (Up by 6!)
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 3 (I got the spinning bug and whipped up two pretty skeins)

Total – 833 (Net difference: -4)

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Just a short post this week as it’s been all go, go, go! (Will explain that next week)

So long story short, one of the guys I trained at my current job is moving department. This was announced Wednesday and he’s to start there on Monday. This was far too short a time to arrange a card or end of week cakes and nibbles, so instead…

Yip! The pattern used is Fox by Sarah Keen from her book ‘100 Little Knitted Projects’. I managed to whip him up in four hours, during which I also made dinner, done the dishes, worked on the kids homework and then went through the nighttime bed routine for the little terrors.

He is still baffled how this took less time than organising the other options, but as I keep pointing out, the fox is my time, and doing anything that involves organising our department takes five times longer than it realistically should!

Thats all for this week!

Take care and stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 27 (0 since last post)
Wool bought – 2 (Up by 1 but it’s for a project!)
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 3 (I got the spinning bug and whipped up two pretty skeins)

Total – 828 (Net difference: -9)

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Hey all! Apologies for no post last week but I didn’t have any FOs and I was pretty tired…

Covid has done a number on my energy levels.

On a more pleasant note, I received two flying over night visits from Rabbie! A nice little chance to catch up, hug my fur niece Missy, and coo over our collective craft hobbies.

She left me with quite a few ideas for the fabric stash, and in exchange, I handed over:

This is Biscuit the Dog PK7 by Debbie Minton, a Popcorn knitting kit, and I love and hate him.

Lets rewind. Back when I was visiting Rabbie for my cheeky trip up North to play Zombie Nerf, her husband handed me this knitting kit, stating that he had bought it 7 years ago and despite many, many promises, had never been touched.

I dont think I’ve seen my sister go so red and splutter before…

With a chuckle, I accepted the challenge. And it was a challenge. Not only was it twice the size I thought it was, the pattern itself is a sewing pattern with the knitted pieces mirroring those flat bits of fabric. But knitted fabric doesn’t behave like woven fabric, and trying to figure out where point Z is and how it’s supposed to match CC with CC whilst matching DD to a completely different piece is just…

Needless to say, never again.

But he has turned out super cute for the hard work, and my BIL left with a big grin and hugging his newest toy, so all in all, a good turn out.

Next time, I hope he asks for a simple knit…

Until next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 27 (4 since last post)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 3 (I got the spinning bug and whipped up two pretty skeins)

Total – 827 (Net difference: -10)

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Its been an interesting week! Car had its MOT, parents night for the little terrors, gaming with some friends, meeting up with other friends for a mooch and to attend the local Pokémon Go event…

But lets backtrack a bit to explain this week’s knitting.

Parents evening. Both of mine received plenty of nice comments, and nothing really negative other than trying to get them to slow down and double check their work before handing it in. It’s a big ask for a 4 year old and an 8 year old!

One thing that became clear though was that in Inklings class they had been learning about chickens, and had been incubating eggs which had hatched…

And he’s obsessed with the fluffy things. Taking one look, I could have pocketed all four of them there and then and made a run for it.

I successfully passed my willpower roll, and jokingly mentioned it to Inkling. He searched all of my pockets, twice, just in case, and was somewhat sad that I hadn’t stolen a chick.

There was only one option.

Its based on the free pattern Spring Chick by Barbara Prime, except I made mine fluffy. Outbreak immediately claimed it as hers. Once rescued from the cat, the chick was put in my pocket for the next morning…

Inkling was super happy with his chick, and insisted he could take it to school to show it to the other chicks. In all the excitement, I realised Felix was feeling a little left out.

There was only one option. Again.

So here is chick number two. And Outbreak again. Who tried to claim this one also.

I am doing my best to ignore the urge to knit a third chick just for the cat!

Until next post, take care!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 23 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 1

Total – 829 (Net difference: -8)

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The very next knitting project…not quite the same ring as the actual song, but it’ll do.

Remember how just a few weeks (ok, start of January) I knit a lovely pair of cat mittens for Engel? Well, he decided they were too big.

Ok, they’re wool, I’ll felt them.

They barely shrunk in the washing machine.

Ok, must be treated wool, I’ll felt it by hand.

The black decided it was not colour resistant at the temperature needed to begin felting.

Hmm. New pair of mittens it was.

Please excuse the photograph, I had to pry these off Engel to get this quick snapshot!

And for those curious, the original cat mittens have found themselves a good home to a fellow cat loving friend with much,much larger hands than Engel. They fit their new owner like a glove. Pun intended.

In other knitting news, I received a knitting kit for a cuddly toy. More on that later, let’s just say though that there is an amusing story behind it. But it does mean my stash has grown by 7 balls of fluffy wool…I debated adding this to my total, but feel I should as I will want to count the used wool as it leaves my stash…

As such, my wool count looks like this now:

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 21 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 13 (7 in the knitting kit)
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 1

Total – 831 (Net difference: -6)

Theres still more than twice out than what’s gone in, which I am going to take as a victory!

Theres isn’t much else to say for this week, some grand plans went awry, but we made the most of the weekend, and even begun sowing the first wave of seeds! I’m hoping for a good year of vegetables!

Till next week, stay safe!

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I would love to promise that this is the last of the fox related things, but the urge to use this knitted fur technique to make more and more is incredibly powerful!

and without further ado, fox ears:

So very cute! Although the cats seem to think that they’re either a toy just for them, or a small furry animal just begging to be pounced on…

Here you can see Outbreak “helping” within three seconds of my placing the ears in the floor for a photograph. I suspect I will need to knit them something using the same knitted fur technique I have used for the ears…

Oh, normally at this point I would link a pattern but…there isn’t one. This is me just playing around…

In other wooly news, I finally spun and plyed the Shetland fleece I have been playing with for the last few weeks – it was a challenge for myself to spin as fine as possible, as consistently as possible. Having been 2 plyed it has come out at 150m of lace weight yarn. It’s a little thinner in places, but not thicker, so it’s definitely getting there!!

No idea what it will be. However, I have plans and ideas in the works that require me to spin yarn, so more shall be spun, but with intention.

…am I the only one that think that sounded unnecessarily aggressive? Spinning with intention?

Anyhoo, very busy week at work, no gaming but Inkling did get to go to a trampoline birthday party and as he is under five, I had to go with him and ‘supervise’. The sore muscles today were worth it. Felix didn’t miss out as she got to have an adventure with Engel on the motorbike.

After so much excitement, we finished the weekend with board games and cleaning up some Battletech miniatures that the terrors are looking forward to painting.

Until next week, take care!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 20 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 6
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 1

Total – 831 (Net difference: -12)

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Its been a long time coming, but after travelling a ridiculous number of miles, the wool I spun:

Moonlit Missy (Top) Missy in the Meadow (Bottom)

In honour of the amazing Missy:

Who is the bestest girl? You are!

Has been turned into a finished garment!!!

The cardigan is based off an actual 1940s cardigan pattern, but due to the weight of the wool, the maths from the free Knitty pattern Tempest by Ann Weaver was used.

I spun this wool for my sister, Rabbie, in honour of her beautiful fur baby, Missy. The wool was dispatched 300 miles up north and, after a few attempts, was sent back down 300 miles to be finished into the cardigan in the above photo. Rabbie has always ended up with sore fingers after knitting, and with the courseness of the hand spun wool…

Yeah. It looked painful. But oddly enough the wool doesn’t bother any of the rest of her skin…just in case it’s had a good gentle wool wash, and a nice soak in fabric conditioner and is all nice and soft now!

It just needs to journey back up north 300 miles again…

The reason behind going for a 1940s inspired cardigan is that there are plans afoot for some semi serious but mostly casual 1940s/50s jubilee party…but more on that nearer the time!

In non knitting news, it’s been a busy week, besides the usual things we had some friends round for board games, ate dim sum and got very, very competitive at Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. I believe plans afoot for a girls gaming night but I will leave that to one of my friends to organise!

I also managed to give blood again this week, so feeling proud of myself for getting my iron levels up high enough to do so!!!

Till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 18 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 6
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 844 (Net difference: -11)

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