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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

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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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

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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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

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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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

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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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

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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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

A very good friend of a very good friend is currently undergoing chemotherapy, and I’m not sure what else to really do to help, so I knit her a hat.

But not any hat! A one of a kind, super soft, purple and black bat hat!

I used the numbers and shaping from Slouchy Cat Hat by Marna Gilligan from her book Cat Knits. The charts are ‘winged’!

Apologies for the photo quality, I literally finished casting off and weaving in the ends at work and dropped it off to her on the way to run some errands before going home.

I’ve been told it fits perfect and she’s very happy, and especially giving the current cold snap, it’s been more than needed!

Thats all this week – it’s been a busy one, overtime at work, visiting friends, a belated leaving do for a number of us from the last place and poor Engel was roped into helping a guy from my new workplace fit heated grips onto his motorbike.

(I have promised him a special treat and an IOU, so don’t worry!)

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 150 (2 this week!!)
Wool bought – 50
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 13

Total – 845 (Net total of 37 down!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Remember how two weeks ago I said:

Thats all for this week, hopefully I will either block one of my knits to show for next week, or finish a different project which has taught me the importance of paying attention and reading ahead in a pattern. Again. Twice. I mean, Inkling can totally do with 8 mittens, right?!

Well, I did block my jumper as you saw last week, and this week it’s time to come clean about the mittens.

Oh the mittens.

In short, Felix has been asking for a pair of city mitts’ like mine, but cats. She spotted the pattern Flippy Kitten Mittens by Marna Gilligan in the ‘Cats knits’ book I was recently gifted…except they were adult sized.

Inkling saw these and also demanded them.

So I had them ‘shop’ for wool in my yarn stash and pick the colours they wanted. I measured their hands and, after some debate, settled on doing Inklings first as he didn’t want the flip part that turned the wrist warmers into mittens.

Easy, right?

I cast on for the pattern, dropped needle size, tweaked the stitch count, worked some math and measured all the way and…voila! First pair done!

Except the pattern is written so you have two different coloured cats on each mitten, and each hand has a different coloured cat on top, so they’re not identical. Inkling pointed out he had requested ginger cats on the tops of both mittens.

Ok, easy enough, I just flip the colours of what I did before. Except I didn’t.

Inkling was even less amused.

And so, I knit two more pairs, painstakingly triple checking I had flipped the colours to give:

Four pairs of mittens so he has matching ginger or grey or mix matched pairs. And if he loses one, doesn’t matter, there’s seven more to go!

Life has a habit of, just when you think you can easily alter something and knock it out because you think you have enough skillpoints in your knitting skill…and you roll a critical fail instead and end up with eight mittens…

Oh, and for those curious, here Felix’s:

She wanted them to be different coloured cats, and she wanted the flip top too. See below for a view of the tops of the mittens when folded over.

In other news, it’s busy on the project front, more on that when each one is ready, and work wise it’s pretty manic, so I’ve been doing overtime. Managed another session of Cthulhtu on Friday and it’s getting tense, cannot wait till the next session to see how they’re going to get out of their current mess! And aside from a playdate with Felix’s friend today, that’s about it. Oh, and snow.

Storm Arwen has mostly avoided us, but today we’ve had a steady torrent of snow. It’s finally stopped now, but with freezing temperatures predicted tonight, I suspect a cold and frosty morning will be in order!

No wool count as no changes this week!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

After sitting languishing in the naughty corner for not being knitted in time for Halloween, I finally blocked my 100% That Witch by Brittany Westmorland. It’s an amazing pattern and the community being the MKAL was amazing – everyone was very supportive and there was so many different variations and alternative charts in the chat – it was quite inspiring.

Which is why my jumper had been fully knitted and all ends woven in before going into the naughty corner. But with my mum coming this weekend for a visit, I figured now was a good time to block it and show it off to the person who taught me all those years ago how to knit!

And yes, this is the same mum who regularly thieves my knits and asks me to knit her things as ‘I don’t have the patience or the inclination for the knitting needles these days’… She knits out of necessity, or duty, never as a hobby like me.

So here is my take on the 100% That Witch jumper!

And a WIP close up that just shows the colours perfectly:

As you can see I opted to use four colours, not three as specified. I changed out the writing for bats, added an extra row of bats to the bottom to balance my colours out seeing as I had added more which threw it off…and instead of the tombstones or bats for the bottom, I put in cats.

All in all, I’m really pleased with how this turned out! Both my Terrors want one of their own and my mum is now dropping hints that she would be the next size up in that pattern…

Perhaps trying to get this ready to show her wasn’t my best move…

Oh, and remember 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…

Until next week, when I will hopefully have recovered from the chaos of this weekend (the good kind of chaos, but also the ‘I am so out of practice for this due to the pandemic’ type too, meaning physically I’m fine, mentally I may need a month long nap to recover…)

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 148 (2 this week!!)
Wool bought – 50
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 13

Total – 847 (Net total of 35 down!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 4 Comments

Hi all, apologies for the late post but there was several reasons behind it, honest! Between an action packed weekend of catching up with friends, some we have barely seen since pre-covid, and some serious crafting on the sewing machine (curtains, for the conservatory, needed now it’s getting towards winter) and one more little thing…

But that requires some context. At the end of August I volunteered to do a test knit for SuperGreenWitch and was selected to knit her Drop of comfort Cowl in whatever wool I wished. It practically fell off my needles:

The black yarn is Sirdar Snuggly Cashmere Merino DK and the contrast yarn is Sirdar Softspun Chunky in the ‘shale’ colour way. You may have noticed I didn’t link the pattern there – that’s because it’s not been released yet. The reason for getting to post about this now, before it’s released, is that my colour combination was liked that much, it was decided to be the one to actually be featured.

Small problem though: there are rules about publishing patterns, and one such one is that if it’s a garment or accessory to be worn, it needs to be shown as such. By a person. So…

Guess what I did this evening, during a welcome break in the dull weather? Yep. Getting photos of me wearing the item, rather than photographed ‘flat’. It’s a rare thing for me to do as, like a lot people, I prefer to keep myself to myself and that most certainly includes online photos.

But given the opportunity I couldn’t resist! And as I wasn’t sure about what photo to use, the lovely and wonderful Rabbie helped me slim it down to two.

By agreeing to the photos, I get to share it with you all early! And of course, when the pattern gets published I’ll be sure to link back to it, as it’s a very cosy, super quick and very warm knit!

Thats all for this week, hopefully I will either block one of my knits to show for next week, or finish a different project which has taught me the importance of paying attention and reading ahead in a pattern. Again. Twice.

I mean, Inkling can totally do with 8 mittens, right?!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 146 (1 this week!!)
Wool bought – 50
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 13

Total – 849 (Net total of 33 down!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Last week, after I hit post on my blog, the family set of to Norfolk for the week with a pair of our friends.

There was swimming, Lego, beaches, crabbing, fossil hunting, aquariums, archery, exploring and generally a good time was had by all. Though my friends have been broken. They don’t have children and I don’t think they were fully prepared for the constant go-go-go that comes with my little Terrors!

They’re both recovering after some pretty long sleeps, and cat cuddles, and more sleep, and are keen to do it again…after they’ve recovered some more!

Amongst all the busy busy go-go-go, myself and one of my friends went to a spinning class at the Spinning Barn, where it was just us and the instructor. I came out of it knowing the names of what it is I’ve been doing, as well as number of tips and tricks on how to refine it and get the end product I want.

My friend however, who has only played on my wheel once previously, came on in huge leaps and bounds and is now itching to get a wheel herself.

Would definitely recommend!!!

We got back yesterday, and today was the Manchester Halloweekend where we have torn around town, enjoying all the spooky delights on offer! We all dressed up and gave a fair few people some frights too, all in good fun if course!!!

And on that spooky note:

The Spookie Ookie Cat trio!!!! The patterns are: Itchy Witchy Hat Cat, Ghostie Cat and once again, Jack-o-Cat all by Anna Hrachovec (creator of Mochimochiland).

Till next week, stay safe and enjoy the last of this spooky day! (We’re about to go deliver some more frights trick or treating)

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 144 (2 this week!!)
Wool bought – 50 (Just 1 ball!)
Wool given to me – 47
Wool gifted to others – 4
Wool handspun – 13 (2 Spun at the Spinning lesson)

Total – 851 (Net total of 31 down!)

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