Tag: Covid-19

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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A short post this week as it’s been very busy, and is going to get busier rather than slower as the week progresses. The stars have aligned and great Cthulhu – wait, no, wrong mythos.

The stars have aligned and the plague is low enough that I can finally enjoy all the things I have wanted since the first lockdown! But more in all that next week.

For now, all you get is hugs!

Yep, I have knitted a small army of little hugs for the school’s Father’s Day market! Unlike the hugs I knit previously, these are tiny versions using the wonderful free pattern: Hearts by Anna Hrachovec (Mochimochiland!) I just added arms and hands to turn them into hugs and yeah, voila!

Till next week, stay safe!

(No wool count as no changes this week)

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And you’ll always land amongst the stars…

I loved that saying as a kid – it made me feel that no matter how high you aim, with hard work, you may not get all the way there, but you’ll get somewhere.

It’s been another hard week, and I am certainly feeling like the moon is very far away right now! I may change my aim and go for some far off distance planet…Saturn looks very pretty…

But enough about that. Let’s talk about rockets. Inklings school has been encouraging parents to send in party bags and to do little birthday parties in the class as to avoid people mixing bubbles arranging their own kids birthday parties given our times of plague. I like this plan, the kids get to celebrate, there’s no added stress of covid, and it’s a lot easier to just not have to worry about it. The only issue is, my two are used to having a party with a theme and a party bag with a little knitted something in it to match said theme.

Isaac declared all things transport. Cars, buses, planes, trained and rockets. He only declared this about two weeks ago and the party bags are getting sent in end of next week to quarantine before distributing. A quick and thorough browse through Ravelry and my knitting books and I came across Mini Knitted Rocket Ship by Ilana R. Marks. It’s not the first time I knitted this pattern – Isaac has a Fallout inspired Red Rocket mobile (now taken apart as just toy rockets)

It’s quick, easy, and with 30 to make…well, the perfect pattern!

A short post this week, but do remember, aim for the moon and keep safe, I’ll see you somewhere amongst the stars!

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