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.

End of radio silence

Firstly, my apologies - I hadn't realised quite how long it had been since I last posted.  Every so often I would think "I must write a blog post.  I'll do it on Xday." and Xday would come and something would happen, and the blog post didn't get written.

But I am back now.  I had my week off at the end of June, and spent it mainly knitting and pottering.  Since then I have been back at work, and done knitting and pottering and playing a lot of Gardenscapes when not at work.  The knitting has had results in the form of finished objects.  On the other hand, playing Gardenscapes is not very productive.  And the pottering - well, the results of that vary from day to day.

So, finished objects.  First up is my second RAK project.  It is another hat and is actually a pattern that I have knitted before.  And I used up the yarn left over from the first hat, which was part of the point of the whole RAK exercise.

This is a second Knit Night Hat, a free pattern by Judy Marples, knit in King Cole Riot DK in the Dude colourway.  I have enjoyed knitting it both times.  It is quite straightforward, starting with a nice purl and slip stitch brim and then just stocking stitch to the end. 

My second finished objects are my Petty Harbour socks.  This is a free pattern by Rayna Curtis, which I knit in Opal 20 Jahre sock yarn in the "Wir sagen Danke" colourway.  Again an enjoyable knit.  This was my first pair of socks knit on 2.5mm needles, having dropped down from 2.75mm needles because my tension appears to have finally loosened up.

Now a quick diversion to stash enhancement.  At the end of July, I went to Fibre East, which is a yarn festival held in Bedfordshire.  I did have a budget, but I also took one of the best/worst enablers I know with me.  So this is what I bought:

From left to right, the first three skeins are Charisma by The Knitting Swede, a 55% wool 45% silk fingering weight yarn - the grey is Greystone and the blues are Nautilus.  These are destined to become a shawl from a pattern by the dyer.  Next up is three skeins of Ariel by Wrigglefingers, which is a 80% Blue faced Leicester 20% Firestar (sparkly nylon) fingering weight yarn in a one of a kind colourway.  I was only going to buy one skein (for socks) but my enabler friend was with me, so now I have enough for a garment!

Then comes the odd one out - this is totally out of my comfort zone and yet was the first thing I bought!  The dyer is Siobhans Crafts and it is a sparkly DK yarn in the Unicorn colourway.  I have no idea what I am going to do with this.  Next up is a 70% superwash merino 30% silk fingering weight yarn from Bellica Yarns in the Wolf colourway - again no plans for this as yet.  Then comes a skein of Pulsar by Sparkleduck, a 55% superwash Blue faced Leicester 45% silk fingering weight yarn in the Sea-quine colourway.  There is a sad story behind this yarn.  Heather, the dyer behind Sparkleduck, died unexpectedly and far too young earlier this year, so when her husband decided to exhibit at Fibre East with some of what she had been dyeing, I was not the only one who felt the need to buy one last skein.

My final purchase is already on the needles.  If you watch the Brooklyn Knitfolk podcast on YouTube (and you should!), you will know that Jaclyn is running the Hipster KAL.  This is a reaction against the multitude of Faded this, that and the other which have been all over the knitting world recently.  The KAL runs from 1 August to 31 October 2017 and whatever you knit must be over 50g and must have had less than 30 projects listed on Ravelry at the time you chose to knit it.  My choice of pattern was the Windshield hat by Niina Talikka and I am knitting it in Triskelion Heulwen DK in the Upstream colourway.  Heulwen DK is a gorgeous yarn - 70% alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere.  I haven't a picture yet to show you as it is a top down pattern and trying to wrangle 5mm dpns for a 6 stitch cast on followed by increases done with knitfrontback has been interesting!  I will put in a photo next time.

I am still knitting on my Seaspray jumper (working the neck and armhole decreases), my Berries Snuggle (about halfway through ball 3) and my Ring O'Roses sock (just turned the heel on sock 1).  I am also working on my third RAK, which is the Honey Cowl, a free pattern from MadeleineTosh, which I am knitting in James C Brett Marble Chunky.  Finally I also have a new cast on from this morning.  I want to knit all the socks so this morning I cast on a vanilla sock using my West Yorkshire Spinners limited edition Marie Curie sock yarn using a ChiaGoo red cable 9 inch circular, which is a new brand of needle to me.

In other news, I got my Club 10 the other week at Slimming World.  This means that I have lost 10% of my starting weight and am now down to 11 stone 13lb.  I am now in two minds about my target - originally I opted for 11 stone 7lb, but am now thinking that if I go down to 11 stone 4lb, I will have lost 2 stone exactly.  Decisions, decisions.

What else?  Eldest niece will be moving to big school in September, so her year put on "Bugsy Malone" as a final hurrah.  She played the part of Louella, the wife of Dandy Dan, a gang boss.  She looked really good, did a very fine job and we were very proud of her.  Performing in the Gang Show earlier this year has done wonders for her self-confidence.

And my knitting horizons are going to be expanded.  At the beginning of September, I am going on a double knitting workshop run by Nathan Taylor, who has the Sockmatician podcast, which I am really looking forward to.  And then in December, my local yarn shop is running a brioche workshop which I have signed up for.  So by the end of the year, I will have stranded colourwork (Ring O'Roses socks), double knitting and brioche all under my belt as well as the techniques I had already picked up.

I will finish here and go and do a bit of knitting before bed.  So, all the best to you and yours, and I will try to post more regularly from now on in.

Preparing to March Forward

So February is over.  I'm reasonably glad to see the back of it - it was far too cold and damp for my liking.  However there have been some signs of Spring - crocuses and snowdrops in the gardens - daffodils in the shops.  So now I'm looking forward to March.

Progress has been varied this last week, so I'll start with the most progress and work down to the least.

 Beginning with the Panda Hat, the basic hat itself is finished - it just needs the back seam sewing up and blocking.  The two black pieces are its ears, which need blocking, oversewing round the edges and attaching to the hat.  Still to do are the two eyes, which will also need blocking and attaching to the hat before I embroider the pupils on.  However I do have another week in which to get this done, so fingers crossed.

Moving on to Baby Express, I have completed the stitching on the second carriage and started the back stitching.  I am unsure whether the black and white creature is a zebra or a cow - what are your thoughts?  The next stage is to finish the back stitch on this section and then stitch the right hand border.

I did manage to get one more cable repeat knitted on my handwarmers, but at the moment it looks like they won't be completed before the weather changes for the better.  However, if I can get at least one repeat done a week, they will eventually reach the finishing line.

And finally a new start!  My fingers were getting all twitchy because I had no socks on the go.  So, having finally managed to ball up the yarn I wanted to use, today I cast on for "Hermione's Everyday Socks" by Erica Lueder.  The yarn is "Clovelly" in The Natural Dye Studio's Godiva HT 4 Ply/Sock (100% single spun merino).  It feels absolutely lovely!

In other news, I had a day off on Friday to have my new toilet fitted.  The porcelain on the old one was disintegrating and my plumber said that he had never seen anything like that before.  The replacement only took about 3 hours and I had the rest of the day to myself.  The only drawback was that the car had had to go into the garage to have a flashing dashboard light investigated (no definite conclusion reached - just have to wait and see what happens), so I just pottered about at home, knitting and stitching.  At least I didn't have to go to work :-)

I didn't get weighed on Thursday, partly due to the car issue and partly because I had to go to a meeting that evening, so I don't know whether I made any progress in that area or not.

I have a busy week ahead of me, so will finish now and wish you and yours all the best and may the frog steer well clear of your needles.

First Knitting Goal of 2015

Dear Readers, this is going to be short and sweet.  I'm cold, I'm tired and I'm not feeling brilliant physically or mentally.  I'm going to write this post, sort out tomorrow's lunch, make a hot water bottle and go to bed.

As per the title of this post, this week I achieved the first of my knitting goals for the year.  The first bootie was knitted last Monday, the day my cousin's baby was born, the second bootie and the first mitten on the Tuesday, and the second mitten on the Wednesday, when I steam blocked the set.  I sewed them up Thursday and Friday, and popped them in the post on Saturday morning.  The only remaining question is how long they are likely to fit a 10lb 1oz baby boy!

The focus on baby knits meant that progress was limited on Baby Express.  There is still a long way to go before I can tick this goal off, but at least when it's finished, it can go straight off to its new owner, who will probably have grown out of his booties by then.

Last but not least for this week is the Panda Hat.  A lot of work went into this once the baby knits were done.  Basically, once my new needles came, I ripped out everything I had already done and cast on again for the larger size hat.  I re-knitted everything that you saw in my last post and an extra five rows of the white.  That leaves me with eight rows of white stocking stitch before I start the decreases.

In other news, I put on a further 0.5lb last week, bringing me up to 11 stone 8lb.  However I know what caused it so am not too fussed.

Right, I think that's everything for the time being, so I am going to call it a day.  All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.

2015 WIPocalypse - February Full Moon

Dear Reader, I will be brutally honest with you - I am fed up to the back teeth with this brass monkey weather that we have been subjected to for the past several weeks!  I want not to have to scrape my car every morning, I want not to have to make a hot water bottle every night, I want not to have to sit here typing wrapped up like an Eskimo and wearing fingerless gloves.  I want the sun to come back and to just be able to put one layer on to walk out the door, instead of three!

Anyway, enough whinging!  I have progress to report.

My second pair of hand-knitted socks is now finished.  I completed the toe decreases last night whilst babysitting and then grafted the toe this morning.  Once again they are not perfect, but I am looking forward to wearing them.

I won't be casting on any new projects just yet.  We are expecting an addition to the extended family any day now and as it is going to be a surprise, I am waiting to hear before I cast on yellow or pale blue baby knits.

In the meantime, I did cast on my second cabled hand-warmer this week and have completed the ribbing section and the set-up rows for the cabling.  This will be my on-going knitting project until such time as we hear from Wales about the new baby.

Still on the baby front, I have completed the back stitching on the centre section of Baby Express and moved on to the next section of stitching.  Cold fingers and stiff fabric are not helping progress on this piece.

Measi's question for this month's WIPocalypse post relates to how one manages when you get stuck in a rut with a project.  I find this a bit difficult to answer because the projects that I get racked off with most tend to be the ones where I am working to a deadline.  I get to a point where I have to put everything else on one side and just stitch/knit on the deadline piece in order to get it done in time.  But part of that will be because I'm a dreadful procrastinator - if I used every spare scrap of time, projects would get done a lot faster, but I don't.  Like this evening, I would have been on-line about an hour earlier had I not borrowed some books from my Mum and been reading those instead of writing this post.  Sorry, not very helpful.

In other news, I made a flying visit to Slimming World this week and was delighted to discover that I had lost another 1.5lb and was back down to my target weight of 11 stone 7lb.  So that was 3lb off in two weeks and I reckon it was down to changing what I eat for lunch at work.  Now I just have to maintain myself at this weight - easier said than done.

Its getting late so I will leave you now with best wishes to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.

Trying to keep warm

In the words of the song, "Baby, it's cold outside!"  The snow that we had a few days ago has gone but the temperature round here is through the floor.  I know we don't get it as wintry as other places, being an island, but we also don't deal with it as well.  I tell you, my bed is like the Princess and the Pea in reverse - I don't have thirty mattresses under me, but I do have two duvets, four patchwork quilts, my Girl Guide camp blanket and a couple of fleece blankets on top.  I also take a hot water bottle to bed with me nights and even then sometimes I wake up chilly.  I'm what people round here call "nesh" - it means I feel the cold more than most.

As a result of the ensuing cold hands, I have made more progress on some things than others.

I managed to finish the cross stitching on this section of Baby Express, but didn't get very far with the back stitch.  The aida is so stiff that it is difficult to get the needle through when your fingers are cold.  Hopefully this coming week I will be able to finish back stitching this section.

I did however manage to finish knitting the first cabled hand warmer.  I cast off at Knit Group yesterday, so now need to cast on for the second one.  I hope to get that well started this week.

And I made good progress on my second sock.  I finished the leg, knitted the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up for the gusset, knitted my decreases and started knitting the foot.  I even knitted on it at Slimming World this week.  If I could get it finished this week, that would be very nice.

On the Slimming World front, I managed to lose 1.5lb this week, bringing me back down to 11 stone 8.5lb, which made me very happy.

Anyway, I had an early start this morning and I'm feeling tired, so I'm going to love you and leave you, with all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.

Waving January goodbye

I am so looking forward to seeing the back of January.  It has been cold and dark and miserable -  a month with few, if any, positive points in itself.  February will bring half-term, Valentine's Day and a new baby into the family - little bubbles of happiness as the sun comes back to us.

Last week was a busy week in the outside world so a tad slow on the creative front, but I do have some nice progress to show you.

Baby Express now includes an elephant in a blue and green bonnet.  The plan for the coming week is to finish the roof of the carriage - there is a little cupola on top - and then to back stitch as much as is possible, before moving on to the next section.

On Second Socks, I have reached the bottom of the leg, so the plan for this week is to knit the heel flap and turn the heel.  If I can get started on the foot, that will be a plus.

The Cabled Handwarmers have made least progress this week.  I still have a couple more cable repeats to do before I can knit the last section of ribbing.  I am still waiting to hear from the wool shop about the extra yarn I need, but I can't currently locate an email address and the mobile number on the website goes through to voicemail.

In other news, I was rather disappointed this week because I didn't lose any weight.  I didn't put any on either, but having turned down all sorts of goodies and tried to be really good, it was somewhat annoying to find that I had maintained - so still 11 stone 10lb.

Next time I post, it will be a new month so here's all the best to you and yours for the last few days of January, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.

Getting better ... slowly

Well, after a week of steady improvement I am now at the slightly snuffly stage, and generally feeling much better.  As a result, I do have a decent amount to show you this week.

I'm pleased to say that I have made good progress with Baby Express this week.  That is supposed to be a lion wearing a yellow spotted green bib.  I am hoping that the backstitch will perform wonders in due course.

Progress on the cabled hand warmer has been slower, mainly because I don't take it out with me.  However, about 4 more repeats of the cable pattern and a little more ribbing should see this one complete.  The question then will be whether I have enough yarn for the second one.  The shop I bought it at is supposed to be ordering some more in, but I am still waiting to hear from them.

However I am delighted to be able to show you my socks.  I finished the first one on Thursday night and cast on the second one after work on Friday.  It was Knitting Club on Saturday so I spent a very enjoyable few hours knitting and chatting with like minded people.

In other news, I went to get weighed on Thursday night and discovered that having a streaming cold had caused me to put on 2lb.  I couldn't face cooking so just ate what was easiest i.e. takeaway etc.  So I really need to lose weight this week as I am just on my limit before I have to start paying again.

It's getting late now and they've threatened us with a very cold night, so I am going to call it a day, fill a hot water bottle and turn in.  So, all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.

The lost weekend

Thanks to a number of my amiable colleagues who do not believe in taking sick leave even when it is patently obvious to all around them that they are plague carriers who should be cast into the outer darkness, I lost a whole weekend of stitching and knitting and consequently do not have as much to show you as I had hoped!

I did however manage to make a little progress before I was struck down with the dreaded lurgy.

This is a new cross stitch start - a kit from Dimensions called "Baby Express".  Completing this for my cousin's baby due next month is my first goal for 2015.  I am stitching it on the rather stiff 14 count aida from the kit with the threads supplied.

I had hoped to be further on with this sock by now.  My intention was to have finished this and cast on the second sock before Knit Group this coming Saturday afternoon.  It may still be possible - it just depends on how the rest of the week goes.

Neither have I made as much progress with my cabled hand-warmer as I had intended.  Each repeat of the cable pattern currently takes me about half an hour, so losing a whole weekend was not helpful.

On a brighter note, I went to Slimming World for the first time since before Christmas and found that I had lost 1lb, so am back down to 11 stone 8lb.

I will finish here as I still feel a bit under the weather and will hope to be able to post at my usual time on Sunday.

All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.

2015 WIPocalypse - January Full Moon

I know it's a day early, but I do feel that that is slightly better than about a week late, which is the alternative option :-) 

So here we are in 2015 - I'm still not quite sure what happened to 2014, but it's too late to worry about that.

I'll start with the finishes that I couldn't show you last week because I didn't have photos, then my works in progress and then go on to my goals for the coming year.

Here are the Christmas ornaments that I made for my nieces.  As usual, the finishing was a last minute rush and is not very good.  However they loved them, which is all that matters.

And here is Breeze (I can't work out how to pixellate bits of my photos so have just used the erasing tool).  My friend is wearing it as a neckerchief rather than a headscarf, but so what?  She likes it, and her sister tried to steal it off her, which I think is a good sign.

On to works in progress.  Having finally decided which is the right side and which the wrong side of the ribbed section, I have now started the cabled section of these handwamers.  There is a way to go yet, but I'm looking forward to the finished item.

And then we have a sock - very good progress on this over the last week.  The leg is finished, and I have turned the heel and picked up the stitches for the gusset.

So what do I have in mind for 2015?  Well, the list contains some projects for me and some for other people.  Let's take it from the top!

1) Start and complete a birth sampler for my cousin's baby due on 13 February - I have the kit for this and have photocopied the chart - just need to get started.

2) Knit something for my cousin's baby - could be more booties and mittens, could be something else - we don't know whether its a little girl or a little boy yet.

3) Finish Guardian Angels for Mum's 70th on 18 November - this includes metallic threads and beading.

4) Start and complete Crypt Club for Mum's 70th - this is for the Patchwork Group joint gift - I have the chart but need to sort out fabric and threads.

5) Complete the cabled handwarmers.

6) Complete the current pair of socks and knit x many more pairs in 2015.

7) Complete the current pages of Train of Dreams - this is a carry over from 2014.

8) Start first sweater - I have a couple of possible patterns for this.

9) Start and complete Christmas stocking ornament for my cousin's baby - the design will depend on the gender of the baby.

10) Knit or stitch Christmas ornaments for my two nieces.

11) Start Hitchhiker shawl - I have the pattern and the yarn so it will be finding the time.

I may have bitten off more than I can chew here, but I'm aiming for the stars and leaving myself plenty of room to fall.

What are your stitching and knitting plans for the New Year?

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015, and may the frog steer well clear of your needles.

The end of the year is nigh - 2014 Goals

"The time has come" the Walrus said "to speak of many things ..."

2014 will come to a close in two days time and so I felt this was a good opportunity to take a look back at the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year and see what I achieved and what remains on the To Do list.  Apologies in advance - this is going to be very picture heavy.

The first goal was to start and complete a wedding present for one of my oldest friends.  This piece was all ready to be framed when the wedding was called off two weeks beforehand.  So I am counting this as a completed goal.

The second goal was to complete "April" by the second Thursday in August to hand over to V for her 70th birthday.  This goal was also completed and I received a very nice thank you card from V afterwards.

Goal 3 was to start and complete "Corgi" by the second Thursday in September to hand over to I for her 80th birthday.  This was a great success and she loved it.  Major tick in the box!

My fourth goal was to complete "Guardian Angels" for my Mum by Christmas at the latest.  This was an abject fail as I have not worked on this piece since about April.  I will be carrying this one over into 2015.

Goal No. 5 was to complete at least one page on "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" and I am delighted to say that the last stitches were put into page 5 on 27 December 2014.  So a happy dance for the end of the year!  This piece is now going on hold for the time being.

My sixth goal was to complete the pages that I was stitching on "Train of Dreams".  This was also an abject failure and will be carried over into 2015.

My final goal for 2014 was to stitch my annual Christmas ornaments for my two nieces.  This goal was completed, but as I did the finishing on Christmas Eve at my parents' house and without my camera, I don't have a photo to show you yet.  As soon as I can get one, I will put it in.

So 5 goals completed out of 7 - relatively good going, I think.  However there were also the other achievements that weren't on the list of goals for 2014.

At the beginning of May, I learned to knit again, having knit briefly in my early teens.  The results of this are as follows:

My scarf, known as "Learning Curve" which is made up of sections in 13 different stitch patterns.

Three sets of baby booties and mittens - two in yellow and one in blue - one for a work colleague, one for a former work colleague and one for my sister's work colleague.  The set shown here were my first knitting finish after I started knitting again.

My first pair of hand knitted socks, courtesy of my sister and brother in law who gave me a sock knitting workshop as an early birthday present.  They aren't perfect, but they fit and I have felt so chuffed with myself every time I put them on.

"Breeze", a lace edged headscarf knitted as a Christmas present for my oldest friend.  In the beginning, there was much frogging and language, but eventually I got the hang of it and am very pleased with it.  I'm hoping to get a picture of it in use to show you.

And finally I hit target at Slimming World - I won't say that I am currently right at target (blame it on Christmas), but I did get there!

So that is my goals for 2014 covered and the extras that came along during the year.  What next?

Well, first comes Christmas.  This is the crazy patchwork lap quilt that my Mum gave me for snuggling up under when I'm knitting or stitching on the sofa.  My parents also gave me two pairs of sock blockers for drying my hand knitted socks on.  My sister and brother in law gave me another workshop - this time to learn how to knit socks from the toe up.  Most everything else was non-craft related.

And finally my current WIPs:

As you will appreciate, the Christmas festivities have cut into my quiet time so on the sock front, I have managed to complete the ribbed cuff section and move onto the leg.

In the case of my cabled handwarmers, I only managed to finish the ribbed cuff section.  Although I can knit stocking stitch in the round while my family play Scrabble right next to me, I am not yet up to knitting cables in company :-)

So that is 2014 for you.  I have already started mentally planning my list for 2015, but that is for my next post.  I am back to work tomorrow, so will call it a day.  

I wish you and yours all the very best for the coming year.  May 2015 bring you all that your heart desires, and may the frog stay away from your needles!

A Curate's Egg Week

In other words, good in parts!  I went out with my team on Wednesday night after work and had a good time.  I went out with a couple of old school friends on Thursday night and had a very good time.  I went to Knit Group on Saturday and also had a good time.  The Christmas shopping is done (just needs wrapping).  The Christmas knitting is done (just needs wrapping).  All well and good.

The carol concert was mediocre and disappointing.  Other people's Christmas shopping issues were a pain in the posterior.  I've got a stupid cough and am suffering somewhat from the blues.

I also didn't quite achieve all my goals this week.

Despite everything else, I stitched the next block on Carnation, which leaves one block for this week and one block to stitch before the New Year.  I am determined to greet the New Year with a page finish on this one.  So this week's goal is to stitch one block.

I finished Breeze and washed it, so this is a photo of it blocking on my bedroom floor.  I will be wrapping it up tonight and hope to be able to show you a picture of it being worn at some point.  So that's two goals down for last week.

And this is where things went astray.  I have stitched round three sides of the H piece and need to trim it down, turn it inside out, stuff it, and stitch up the top, adding a ribbon hanger as I go.  I started to stitch the A piece, only to find that it is one row too short in depth and one row too wide.  So I need to frog two sides, redo them, stitch the three sides and then do all the things that also need doing to the H piece.  Before Christmas!  So the main goal this week is to finish these ornaments.

Moving on, when the Christmas knitting got cast off, I cast on some new pieces.  This is the first of two cabled handwarmers to be knit in King Cole Baby Alpaca DK.  The colour is called Heather and the yarn is very soft.  I am going to enjoy knitting these.

At Knit Group on Saturday, I cast on for my second pair of socks.  This time I am using five double pointed needles instead of four as it should make a difference as to the amount of laddering you get.  So goal number 3 for this week is just to knit.

So there we go - some good bits and some not so good bits.  I am going to finish here so I can get Breeze wrapped before I turn in (haven't been sleeping well either).

I would like to wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas (or whatever you celebrate at this time of year)!  Have a good one!

Will get there eventually

Well, here we are again - Christmas is creeping closer and closer - are we ready yet? Of course we're not - there are still 101 things to do before then!

However I did complete all my goals for last week.
 

I stitched my two blocks on Carnation, and now have just three blocks to go to finish the page.  My goal for this coming week (which will be busy) is just one block, which will leave one for Christmas week and one for the few days before New Year.  I'm really looking forward to getting this page finish under my belt.

I more than passed my goal on Breeze.  Not only did I knit all the remaining repeats, I knitted the increase row and got started on the final section.  So my goal for the coming week is to knit the last 7 rows, cast off, wash and block this piece.

And I also achieved more than my goal on my nieces' Christmas ornaments.  Both back sections are now complete and they just need putting together.  So this week's goal is to wash and press all four pieces, stitch up the sides, stuff them, attach ribbons and stitch up the tops - in other words, finish finish them.

On top of all this, I need to finish my Christmas shopping, write the remainder of my Christmas cards and post where necessary, go to my last Pilates class for the year, go out for two meals, go to Knit Group - oh, and go to work!  Can we do this ... yes, we can!!!

No Slimming World this week - too busy.  So much to do, so little time.  And on that note, I will love you and leave you, wishing you and yours all the best for the festive season and may the frog steer well clear of your needles.