Tag: update

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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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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I don’t think anyone is too surprised that my next project after the foxymitts was going to be a foxyhat!

Apologies for the awful photo, the lighting has been awful as it’s been nothing but rain all week!

The hat itself is based on the free pattern The Hubby Hat by Anna Johanna and the ears are an experiment of mine. They’re very cute, so I may needs to knit another set to put onto a headband! And maybe a tail…

It’s amazing what loop stitch, scissors and a comb can achieve!

Other than that, it’s been a quiet week. Still recovering from Covid, my fun zombie apocalypse adventure last weekend, and work and life in general…

Until next week, take care!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 17 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 6
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 845 (Net difference: -10)

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Hi All,

I have very much recovered from the plague, and the majority of the household has too, I am however suffering from being an absolute nutter, but that’s all self inflicted.

Lets start with the knitting. After finishing Engels recent cat mittens, I had a case of the green eyed monster.

Or should I say green eyed fox?

Pattern is Foxy mittens by JennyPenny from her book ‘Winter Knits from Scandinavia’, and a huge thanks to Ratman99 and Rabbie for helping take this photo even as it was snowing!

These are knit on 2mm needles and had to be done only when I could concentrate. I managed to fail to flip the image whilst watching Avengers: End game…and realised after 15 rows…sigh…

But they are worth it! However, they need a matching hat…

Speaking of future knitting projects, unfortunately Rabbie was unable to knit the wool I spun for her the other year – knitting has never quite agreed with her hands, and the dual textures of mildly treated and heavily treated wool was too much for them. So I am more than happily taking on her project it’s a 1940s I spired cardigan, and compared to recent projects, is a nice, mindless, breeze of a knit for me!

It also means my wool count has increased by six balls of wool. Four now as I have knitted up two.

In non knitting news, Ratman99 and myself did a mad dash trip up north to Scotland, crashed at Rabbies, participated in Terminal Infection (nerf and zombies in a shopping centre!!!) and finished it off with celebrating Missys, my most favourite niece, and the most well behaved dog, adoptaversery! I cannot believe she has been part of the family for 8 years….

Unsurprisingly, I am absolutely beat now. Terminal Infection was amazing, the zombies were in character at all times and just amazing, and with the nice shiny floors of a shopping center, I could drop down and knee slide past the opposite team to flip over or acquire targets! And of course, the Nerfys Law Nerf team gear was out and worn with pride!

We looked silly, and expected lots of comments saying such, and there was plenty, but there were far more compliments on the actual work and thought that went into it all. I won’t lie, I felt incredibly happy and flattered about it all by the end! Even if I did get two proper zombie scares during the night, and a countless number of little frights!

Today, I ache. And after a long day of work, I am ready for curling up on the sofa with my kitties and my knitting!

Till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 15 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 6
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 847 (Net difference: -8)

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The sharp eyed amongst you would have noticed that there was no post last week, and in general, I was pretty quiet on all my social media…the reason for that?

Paint a red cross on the door, the plague has struck! First Inkling, then myself, then Felix and now Engel. Inkling and myself are now negative, with Felix and Engel just beginning their Covid experience…

The kids pretty much shrugged it off after 24 hours, Engel seems to very much have flu like symptoms and is just really, really tired.

I was tired, still am, with very little concentration, and my chest hurt really bad. I’m asthmatic, so I knew it was going to be an issue, but it didn’t warrant a hospital trip and that’s all that matters!

Due to having zero concentration, as well as a very snuggly four year old latched onto me at all times (Inklings only real long lasting symptom, very clingy) I opted for a nice, easy,quick knitting pattern:

These are some Nola’s Slippers (free pattern) by Nola Miller, and were knitted for Rabbie and her husband – they liked their crazy Christmas ones from the other year, but wanted them more practical and less crazy. But funky colours where allowed, and so I did some serious stash busting – 9 balls of odds and ends and random skeins I had no idea what to use for, all used up!

Fingers crossed they go down well, or at the very least, fit well!

That’s all for this week as I am going to have some tea, a little bit of chocolate, and an early night.

Take care!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 13 (9 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 843 (Net difference: -12)

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It’s going to be a fairly quick post today as last week was…well, it was a week…not for me, personally, but I hadn’t realised how many of my friends trust me enough to relieve all their emotions onto…

So without further ado…

I finally knit Engel his mittens! He chose Missy C by JennyPenny from her book ‘Winter Knits from Scandinavia’ and not gonna lie, these are amazing! The whole book has gorgeous patterns and, sneak preview, I’ve got another of those patterns on the needles right now for me!

Of course, however, I couldn’t resist a few tweaks, and turned the mittens into convertible city mitts!

In other knitting news, the polar bear garrison has begun, photos as and when I have no other FO’s to share,but with a target of 80,it’s going to be my ‘out the house’ project for quite some time…

That’s all for this week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 1
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 843 (Net difference: 0)

The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed I have bought a ball of wool despite saying two had to go out for every one in. Well…it was an emergency. I found myself having to wait for a few hours in a cafe with no knitting! And so, poor Engel was dragged around until a wool shop was located and I could buy some wool and needles…oops!

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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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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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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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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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