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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 4 Comments

When push came to love, I ended up doing a Valentines wreath for February.

I did toy with the idea of a heart shaped wreath full of flowers, so I could make some plant puns about how I was pine-ing fir some good ideas, if you would be-leaf it, but I didn’t.

I wanted to take this wreath to the nest level.

Anf you can’t fall fowl with lovebirds when it comes to romance and the rest of it. The lovebirds are knit following Songbird by Sara Elizabeth Kellner, which is an amazing free pattern that provides the base for any small bird of about that shape. Change some colours, do a little intarsia, and voila, it can be any bird you want it to be.

I have actually sort of knit this pattern before, as an Alice in Wonderlands Hammer bird and Pencil bird for Rabbies unbirthday party during lockdown.

But let’s stop fluttering around and get back to my wreath. Felix wrapped it, and used a lot of my scraps and even some odd balls of wool. The birds themselves knit up pretty quick after I spent ages trying to pick just the right colours, and the branch was a last minute addition – a bit of wire wrapped in yet another scrap of wool. It all came together really well, but not going to lie, the moment I hung that wreath up, I started to debate what my March wreath should be.

Suggestions welcome!

With that, I shall leave you to this swift post as it’s been a crazy busy week and this viking needs to chill out before more madness tomorrow…

Till next post, stay safe.

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 7 (Up by three!)
Wool bought – 2
Wool given to me – 1
Wool gifted to others – 0
Wool handspun – 6

Total – 843 (Net difference: +2)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

The question being, what was the Christmas knit for 2023?

A bearded axe (the best kind) to represent joining a viking reenactment group!

Ended up knitting this one up sharpish this morning as the year has officially got away from me. I’m gonna let it run and focus on 2024 when I get there. I know for many of us, it’s been a bit of a year.

But, focusing on the positive, my terrors are happily crafting away, the tree is up and festooned in hand made ornaments, indigestion from too much good food is on the horizon and we have The Nightmare Before Christmas playing away in the background.

It was the most festive I could manage…

Just a short post today, to wish everyone a good festive season no matter what you celebrate. Also keeping it light on the puns as I’m having to be sharp about how easy it is to slide into innuendos when it comes to axes.

To be blunt, or perhaps get to the point, shaft, head, rack, butt are all axe and axe throwing terms…

So, with that fun aside, have a quiet and restful end to 2023, and try and get some rest to prepare for whatever 2024 decides to throw at us next.

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 62 (+3)
Wool bought – 44 (+20)
Wool given to me – 17
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 871 (Net difference: -9)

Yeah, I really fell off the sheep this year. Going to have to keep it an a tight reign for next year, or else I’ll have to consider culling it…

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 3 Comments

Another fibre related Viking post, and the last one for a while I should think. We will get back to our regular knitting schedule, promise! Just after I weave in a few loose ends!

This week, its all about braids. Hedeby braids to be exact. You would have seen one when I was showing off my new distaff that Engel made me, but this time round, we were going for lots of high contrast colours!

Long story short, lest it turn into a yarn, I have blue hair. The Vikings did not. I wear a headscarf and usually a bonnet or a hood too. Someone who used to have pink hair advised putting a braid with blue in it on my headscarf, so if my hair peeked out any…

And here is my headscarf, with all three edges trimmed with blue, green and orange braid. The way the Hedeby braid is woven, with its six strands, it creates these pretty interlocking V’s which shows off the colour nicely. I managed just shy of two meters in…about 8/9 hours.

However. I love the colour red. And my over kirtle is red. Which makes me high status, so I need a lot of ‘bling’. Viking blind is pretty woven trim, lots of glass beads (the more colourful and eclectic the better, they were absolute magpies, and of course, lots of silver jewellery). I cant do glass work. Or silver work. But I can do braids.

I just needed a LOT of braid. Enough to trim my whole kit plus extra for hood and/or bonnet.

And this is where we go from ancient Britain to ancient Japan, as they have a method of braiding called kumihimo. Now, my friend Timbercat has currently got my marudai and my bobbins, and traditionally their patterns are worked in eights…but…

Turns out, Timbercat speaks to the Marudai like I speak to my knitting needles. After being shown the Hedeby braid, he had a play, had a think, and within 12 hours had produced 12 meters of braid. And a kumihimo pattern for anyone wishing to recreate their own Hedeby braid in the same fashion (I’ll share it below).

I have trimmed my kit. I have double trimmed my sleeves.

I have a good chunk of braid left. Still need to do my hood and my bonnet, but I also have the remnants of my own braid, so I’ll be tinkering away with that in the background.

…anyone think he’ll mind if I ask for more, but different colours so I have more options to play with?

In non knitting news, sadly, the time for Poppy to cross the rainbow bridge is very near. Friday to be exact. I’ll be dropping offline for a little bit till my little family unit feels a bit more like themselves again.

And with that, take care, stay safe, and if you have a pet, give it a hug from me.

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 48 (+1)
Wool bought – 24
Wool given to me – 17 (+2, payment from OwlLady from chipping away at my stash)
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 865 (Net difference: -14)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

A few weeks ago it was finally time. My first viking event. I had my kit (thank you Rabbie!), my lucky dragon (thank you again!), a handy leather pouch perfect for my inhaler and even a pair of historically accurate shoes.

I had to sock it up, or admit de-feet, and nalbind myself a pair of socks. Going from a round coaster like shape, to a sock, was quite the jump, but I think it was a sock-cess.

i managed not to sock-umb to the siren call of SSS (second sock syndrome) and with a fair bit of effort, my feet where ready for the show!

Having that thick, plush material makes the shoes so much more comfortable. I didn’t realise just how much support modern shoes gave to even the soles of your feet.

Alright, that’s all for toe-night, a short post as it’s been a bit of a long week. I shall leave you with a close up of the Oslo stitch, one of many, many nalbinding stitches, and it’s lovely plump texture.

Until next week, stay safe!

(No wool count this week as no changes)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Through shear force of will, I am avoiding the Viking puns today and opting for braid and wool ones instead.

So, wool you believe it, another Viking craft post!

Cutting a long story short, I was attending my first Viking event the other weekend at Ushaw and as I was demonstrating the drop spindle, I decided quite last minute that I could really do with a distaff so I could carry my fleece and not get it dirty.

I needed this for Sunday, and only thought about it the Friday before…

Much googling later, much batting of eyelashes and much foraging for the perfect stick…Engel relented and carved me one that was relatively close enough to one found in the Oseberg Ship Burial and voila!

(I know, I know, I’m not trying to fleece you, I will explain what a distaff is in a minute)

All that was needed was to wrap my fleece on the distaff and dress it. But ribbon isn’t exactly historically accurate so…6 stranded braid, as found in several burial sites, to the rescue.

For this, I used my own handspun fleece – white Shetland, beetroot dyed white Jacob fleece and beetroot dyed brown Jacob fleece.

Want to see the finished result?

As you can see, a distaff is a stick that’s carved with various dips and notches that allows combed fleece to be wrapped around it and then secured in place. This allows you to walk and spin with ease, and also to keep your clean combed fleece safe when not in use. At the event (after much fawning over my newly acquired distaff) I was told that depending on how it was tied, would dictate the marital status of the woman using the distaff. Its something to look into before my next event, and potentially have a good laugh over!

In less bright news, and to be open and honest and not pulling wool over anyone eyes, we got the results back from the vet about Poppy. Sadly its a very aggressive cancer, and with her age…we’ve opted for palliative care until the time comes that her quality of life deteriates and we’ll have her cross the rainbow bridge.

That’s all for this week, until next post, stay safe, and cuddle a beloved pet.

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 47 (+2)
Wool bought – 24
Wool given to me – 15
Wool gifted to others – 8 (I was demonstrating acid dying, and also helping fluff out a friends stash)
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 865 (Net difference: -15!!!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

As frequent readers will know, I have recently joined a viking group. I immediately dived into battle, picked up a few crafts, and swiftly became a member. Only thing was…it was all very quick, and being invited to re enactments is kind of hard with no kit…

But Rabbie came to the rescue! And for my birthday, made me a full outfit complete with Munin, my very own dragon, because as she put it, ‘all vikings need a dragon!’

The only thing I was missing was a belt…but that’s something my wool crafts can handle.

After a lot of research I settled on the Skjoldehamn Belt – a 24 yarn, 12 strand braided belt found with a female peat bog body from Skjoldehamn in Northern Norway. The ends of the belt are decorated with tasseled wrapped cords and add a splash of colour. So…

I dug out a good deal of stash and found this beautiful loose spun single ply wool which I also happened to have a bunch of beetroot dyed fleece that matched… After spinning some of that up. I had 24 strands and tied them up as above. As you can see, Munin inspected my work closely.

She also carefully checked the braid once I finished and got it off the chair. For 12 strands, it’s surprisingly easier than I expected to braid.

I had lots of fun with the coloured wraps, and used up lots of tail ends of wool – some hand spun, some not, some natural dyed, some not.

And the finished piece, but before I finished unweaving and fluffing those tassels.

I think it compliments the outfit perfectly, but let’s be real, Munin is most definitely the star here!

A huge thank you again for Rabbie, you have worked miracles with a bundle of linen and a tight deadline! For this heroic feat, I’m sure there a slot reserved for you in Valhalla!

And with that, take care till next post, where hopefully I will have finished frantically nalbinding myself some socks!

(No wool count as no change)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

So fur, so good on the puns! I have stopped paw-crastinating and finally finished the Cheshire cat accessories!

At last, I have sewn the ears onto the hat and they are just clawsome. The matching cowls are a paw-dorable touch in my opinion!

But wait, there’s more! You all saw the arm warmers the other week, well, on top of those, the hat and the cowl, oh, and the jumper…

Slippers! I did paw-romise that I would wrap Rabbie up, from head to toe, or should that be paw? Regardless, she’s gonna be snug and warm even in the hotel room!

Haven’t decided just what to start next as my main knitting project – I may work on the owls in the background and work on some viking accessories for the absolutely gorgeous viking ensemble Rabbie has made me! This just shows the mock up of the kirtle and my under kirtle, I have my paws on the whole lot and take my word on it, it’s beautiful.

Now then, I think I have a skjoldehamn belt to start…

Until next post, stay safe, take care, and get crafting!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 42 (+8)
Wool bought – 24 (+2 – I needed something quite specific for my nalbinding endeavours!)
Wool given to me – 15
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 875 (Net difference: -5)

Its a miracle guys! I have finally gone below my starting wool count!!!!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting 4 Comments

But hey, no harm, no fowl, right?

Without any feather ado, allow me to introduce Riley.

This was knit following Parrot by Susie Johns from her book “Knitted Pets: A Collection of Playful Pets to Knit From Scratch” – although I had to grey scale the red macaw into an African grey parrot…

Nest up, I will tell you the tail of Riley. I GM Call of Cthuhlu, and I run it as an open world, sandbox type thing where players can do as they please, and eventually plot and monsters and mayhem will find them, willing or not. One of my players decided to go to an animal shelter and get a familiar.

They picked an African grey parrot.

I gave them Riley. She has more sass and character in one wing than some of my players characters have in their whole being, and despite her very distracting chatter, she was loved and hated by all.

There was just one thing missing…

Riley needed a physical body, and a character sheet, and she got both. Last session was a hoot.

I like to think that even though I am a cruel and wicked GM, that I spoil my players occasionally…

In other news, vikings is going good – I’m officially a member of the group, and even got to pick my viking name. Looking forward to getting my kirtle (thank you Rabbie! Your awesome!) and getting the chance to do some shows. They’re very happy I can use a drop spindle as not many of them can, although I will be doing more nalbinding once I spin the wool for it, and hopefully be able to start showing you some finished items that aren’t essentially coasters.

Life is still…being a lot, but it’s getting better and getting there. Just waiting for some more things to nudge into place and get sorted and hopefully my plate will be significantly less overflowing.

Till next post, stay safe.

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 34 (+5)
Wool bought – 22 (+5 it was a long day and I saw some wool just singing in a charity shop, wanting a new home…)
Wool given to me – 15
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 881 (Net difference: +1)

Still so very close…

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

I wasn’t kitten you when I paw-romised more Cheshire cat inspired Disney bounding accessories!

You’ll have to paw-den me though in that the accessories I was gonna share originally aren’t quite done yet, but purrhaps that’s a good thing, as they are more fun than these clawsome cuties!

If you’ll allow meow to spin a yarn, I was initially knitting hats, and the first pattern I picked…it just wasn’t working. The stitch count was good, but the pattern didn’t work with the grey variegated wool. So I tried another. And had a play at another. Purrseverence paid off, and after some consultation with my stitch dictionary, I settled on a mock cable slip stitch pattern.

After knitting the hat, I didn’t want to stop and work out the maths for the ears, and thus just…kept going…

Hence the two cowls rather than hats!

It’ll be hats next week. Unless I paw-crastinate! No promises!

In non knitting news, this year is continuing to be a year, however, a few things have finally nudged into place and a few things have come together, and even though there’s still a lot going on and a lot to be done and chased…it feels a little lighter, and a little brighter.

This may be due to wielding an axe and battle shield last night as I have joined a viking re-enactment group. I’ve been going for a few weeks, and I’ve decided it’s something I’m going to continue. So don’t be surprised if various forms of viking craft start popping up in here!

Despite all the crazy going on, I decided I needed to have something that was very much ‘my time’ and ‘my thing’ and completely separate to ‘the crazy’. And it’s genuinely helped. Although the number of crafts I do has jumped, and a few of my old ones have been dusted off, and I have plans for some small and some grand ideas for the future.

And I may have bought a ridiculous amount of linen and sent it to Rabbie with a very big ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and hopefully soon she will work her crafting magic and I can dress up as a viking too!

But that’s in the future, something fun and frivolous to focus on.

And with that, stay safe until next post, and if you don’t already have something yourselves that’s a fun and rewarding distraction to help combat those dark grey days, I encourage you to find one.

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 29 (+2)
Wool bought – 17
Wool given to me – 15
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 881 (Net difference: +1)

So close…so very close guys…

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