Not one, but two Finished Objects!!

This post has been a bit longer coming than I originally anticipated, but I had a couple of WIPs getting close to the finishing line so have hung on until they were done and dusted.  So now I have two finished objects to blog about.

First up is my Berries Snuggle.  This is a three row basket weave throw with a garter stitch border knit from James C Brett Marble Chunky in the MC14 "Berries" colour way.  I started this on 16 April 2017, casting on 105 stitches - 99 stitches for the central section and 3 stitches either side for the garter stitch border.  This was intended to be a stash busting piece - I had two balls of the Marble Chunky, which I bought back in August 2015 when I had been knitting for slightly more than a year.  And then I thought that perhaps it needed to be longer than two balls worth, so when I got to the end of the first ball, I went out and bought a third ball, which I used for the middle section of the throw because it was a different dye lot.

My original plan was to knit the Snuggle for one of my nieces and then knit another one (this time in the "Petrol" colour way) for the other niece.  I have now changed my mind - this one took just over five months to complete, and I really don't fancy starting in on another one straight away.  So I am going to keep this one for me to snuggle under as it gets colder and darker.

My second finished object is my Seaspray Jumper, which I have just finish finished today.  This is a V-neck jumper, knit in pieces, using the King Cole pattern no. 3933 and King Cole Panache DK yarn in the 2071 "Seaspray" colour way.  I started this on 22 October 2016, so it has taken me just under a month short of a year to complete.

This is the second garment I have knit and it was a completely different method of construction from my "On the Beach", which I finished in June last year.  "On the Beach" was a top down raglan - "Seaspray" was knit in four pieces, back, front and sleeves, before being seamed together and then a neckband being added.  I knit the back first and then the sleeves to make sure that I would have enough yarn.  I knit the sleeves in the round on two circulars instead of flat in order to save myself some seaming at the end.  Doing this meant that I did all the seaming before picking up for the neckband, which I then knit in the round instead of flat.  It is done and it fits, and I am really pleased with how it looks.  It hasn't been blocked yet, but I will do that at the weekend.

This leaves me with four WIPs on the needles, but I am only going to show you the one where I have made real progress recently.  These are my Marie Curie socks, knit using limited edition West Yorkshire Spinners Signature sock yarn in the Marie Curie colour way.  These are vanilla socks with the slightly modified garter border eye of partridge heel taken from Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder (a free pattern on Ravelry).  This morning I turned the heel on the second sock, so it only remains for me to pick up for the gusset and knit the foot.

As you will appreciate, finishing projects leads on to thinking about new projects and yarn for said new projects.  I have five new projects in mind, and as of this morning's post, I have the yarn for all of them.  In no particular order, the new projects are as follows:

Striped Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki - to be knit in sparkly black (Unbelievawool) and shocking pink (Truly Hooked) sock yarn
Morning Glory by Drops Designs - to be knit in Drops Karisma in the "Bleu Jeans" colourway
Peano No. 1 by Nathan Taylor (Sockmatician) - to be knit in Fyberspates Vivacious DK (blue and grey)
Selbu Mittens by Skeindeer Knits - to be knit in Rauma 3ply Strikkegarn (black and white)
Samwise Socks by Claire Ellen - to be knit in KingBecky Yarn in the "Emerald City" colourway

The Selbu Mittens are a colourwork pattern - part of a mittens pattern club that Elli of Skeindeer Knits is doing - and I bought the Rauma yarn from Ysolda Teague's on-line shop based in Edinburgh.  It is non-superwash and somewhat crunchy to the touch, but it is one of the recommended yarns for the pattern and I understand that it will soften up with knitting, wearing and washing.  Now I just have to learn the Old Norwegian cast-on before I can get started.

In other news, I am enjoying a week off work, which is one reason why I have finished objects to show you.  The thing that I am most enjoying is the peace and quiet.  The office that I work in backs onto a multi-storey car park.  They were doing some repairs to the car park over the summer, which was noisy enough, but then a few weeks back, the outer wall of the level above the entrance collapsed.  Fortunately this happened early on a Saturday morning and no-one was hurt, but it has meant that the noise level has gone up dramatically as they work on fixing it so that it can be put back into use.  Unfortunately in the meantime my colleagues are now having to park in another car park, which is frequented by drunks and druggies, right next to a hotel which rents its rooms by the hour!!

What else?  Well, I have got my 1.5 stone award so am currently 11 stone 10.5lb.  I have moved my target weight down to 11 stone 4lb, which will make a total loss of 2 stone, so have 5.5lb left to lose.  This may well take some time, but if I can do it before Christmas, that would be really good.  Mentally, I am doing reasonably well at the moment, but the clocks haven't gone back yet so it is still light when I leave for work and when I get home again.  When I get back to work, I am going to chase up HR about this year's flu jab as staying healthy physically will probably help with staying healthy mentally.

I also have some things to look forward to in the near future - a day trip to Lincoln, a meal out with my best friend (who just got engaged), the yarn festival at Bakewell etc - so am aiming to remain positive.  In desperate need of a cup of tea, so will finish here and go put the kettle on.

All the best to you and yours, and may the frog steer well clear of your crafting.

Moving Forward

Hi, it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted but part of that time it was too hot to think, let alone post, and then I was busy at work getting ready to take a week off. Yes, I'm having a whole week off! I haven't had this much time off in one go for about 9 months so I am good and ready for it. I'm not going away - just chilling at home, knitting, reading and so on. As today is Monday and my first official day off, I decided to update my blog.

And I do have some knitting progress to show you this time. First up is my Seaspray Jumper - I cast off the second sleeve yesterday, which means that I have done the back and both sleeves so am well over halfway. I plan to cast on the front either later today or tomorrow.

Next up is my Petty Harbour sock - I turned the heel a couple of days after I last blogged and am working my way down the foot.

The last work in progress that I am going to show you is my Ring O'Roses sock. This is a slow burn on the basis that it is my first colourwork project and I only knit on it when I'm at home, things are quiet and I can focus. I have finished the first three charts, although you can't see No. 3 very clearly because the fabric is rolling on the needle. The next stage is going to be more complicated because there are three charts on the front of the leg and a fourth on the back of the leg, so it might be some time before you see this again.

And I also have a finish! This is part of a new project that I have started since I last posted. I had been thinking about it and then I had a chat with a knitting friend and then I buckled down to it. I am calling it my Random Act of Kindness knitting, and basically I am now using my commuting time and some of my older stash to work on items for a local charity which supports the homeless. So my first RAK project was "Barley" by Tin Can Knits - a free pattern from their "Simple Collection" on Ravelry. I used Cygnet Aran in the "Sage" colourway which I had left over from a finishing workshop that I took a couple of years ago. This is the Adult Large size and I am hoping it will grow when blocked as it currently fits me and I'm not sure that I have a 23 inch head.

I also have some new stash to share with you. From left to right, I have a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in their limited edition "Marie Curie" colourway, which you can only get from City Knits, and £2 of the purchase price goes to Marie Curie, a charity which supports people with terminal illnesses and their families. The other two skeins are from Jo.Knit.Sew and are on a merino/nylon/sparkle base (400m per 100g) and the colourways are "Green Speckles" and "Blue Speckles" respectively.   The "Green Speckles" is actually more of an apple green in colour - it just hasn't photographed very well.

In other news, my weight loss continues. I have now lost 1 stone 2lb in total and can see a pale glimmer at the end of the tunnel, which is why I am sitting here munching on celery! Mum has had her hospital appointments and the upshot is that yes, she has mild osteoarthritis in her right hip, but apparently that is "satisfactory" (??), and the cardiologist says that the situation with her heart hasn't changed and that her GP has done everything he would have done. He also said that she should carry on doing the Race for Life and using it as a marker - i.e. if she is still getting round each year in about the same time, then she needn't worry. So she is feeling better in herself and is all psyched up to have the house redecorated.

I am going to finish here and go and get myself some lunch. Hopefully my next blog won't be so long in coming. All the very best to you and yours.

What am I knitting?

I thought that today I would show you my current works in progress rather than finished objects or stash. There is actually no new stash to show, but only because of a scheduling issue :-)

I have three projects on the go at the moment and one that I will cast on as soon as I have bought the right needles for it.

My oldest work in progress is my Seaspray Rib Jumper which I cast on 22 October 2016. It is a King Cole pattern No. 3933 for a ribbed V-neck jumper/sweater. The accompanying pattern is for a jacket in the same rib. I am knitting it in King Cole Panache, a 50/50 wool/nylon blend, in the Seaspray (2071) colourway. It is designed to be knit flat in pieces, which is completely different from my first jumper, which was a top down raglan. As you will see, I have knit the back flat, but am knitting the sleeves in the round to save on seaming. I finished the first sleeve this morning and have cast on the second sleeve this afternoon. I hope to get this finished before the cold weather comes back (if it ever goes away and lets us have a summer!).  The orange yarn is a lifeline which I put in before starting the decreases.

My next oldest work in progress is my Fireworks Hitchhiker.  I cast this on Christmas Eve 2016 to be my sanity knitting over the holidays.  I am using Peak District Yarns 75/25 4ply Sock Yarn in her "Fireworks over Tideswell" colourway, which I bought at Bakewell Wool Gathering last year.  When I showed Mum my purchases at the time, she said how much she liked this yarn and the other yarn that I had bought from Peak District Yarns which was in purples and black.  However I've been thinking - I can't remember the last time I wore my first Hitchhiker - it spends its life over a hanger in the airing cupboard - so how often am I going to wear this one.  So this may just go to Mum when it is finished, on the strict proviso that she gives it back to me when it needs washing, to prevent any unfortunate accidents.  I am currently up to 39 points - this is a 425m skein so I don't think that I'm going to manage a full 42 point Hitchhiker.  I'm not even sure that I will definitely get a 40th point out of what I have left, but will do my best.  This may be a finished object next time I post.  The colours are not quite right - it is more of a yellowy green than this.

My final work in progress is my Berries Snuggle.  I've written about this in a previous post, so will just say that I am still working my way through the first 200g ball of Marble Chunky.  Once I get to the end of it, I will look at it and decide how much longer I want it to be and whether I am going to buy a third 200g ball for that purpose.  If I do, that will be going against the stash busting objective of this project, but there is no point in creating an item which is not big enough to do what you want it to do.  I have put a pen on it to give you a better idea of actual length.

The project that I want to cast on next is this one - Drops Ring of Roses Socks.  I just need to get organised and order the proper needles.

And in other news, I said earlier that there was no stash enhancement due to a scheduling issue.  Basically I missed out on Love Your Local Yarn Shop Day yesterday because I had pre-booked myself onto a Guild of One Names Studies seminar in darkest Lincolnshire and was driving a friend there.  Despite the lack of yarn, we had a great time.  Neither of us had been to a Guild event for some time and the people we knew were very pleased to see us, and us to see them.  The topic of the seminar was Occupations and the sources you can use to find out about the occupations of the people in your one name study.  There were five really good speakers, but by far and away my favourite was the first one.  This was Paul Ellis who is the stone carver at Lincoln Cathedral.  He talked to us about his job and showed us some wonderful photographs of his work on the Cathedral.  My friend and I are now thinking of going on a road trip to check it out in real life.  Despite the crappy weather while driving there and back, it was a day well spent and I came home and cracked on with some research into an individual in my study, who appears to have had three wives and 27 criminal convictions!

On the weight loss front, I lost another 1lb this week which brings me to 7.5lb in total and which meant that I got my half stone (7lb) award.  Very happy with that - the only drawback being that the lunch at yesterday's seminar was not exactly slimming friendly, so I will just have to try harder this week.

It's getting a bit late and unfortunately I have to go to work in the morning, so I will leave you here.  Wishing all the best to you and yours.