FO Friday

It's been a while since I joined in on FO Friday, but this post should make up for it!

I think I mentioned in December that I was knitting a cardigan for my sisters friends little boy?  Well, I finished it, and I can honestly say never again.  I really liked the pattern, but it felt like it took years to finish and drained me of all love fr knitting while I was doing it.  However, I am pleased with the results.

Garter Stitch Baby Kimono in Araucania Ranco Solid

I embroidered the front to break up the expanse of blue, giving me a chance to brush up on my very very rusty embroidery skills.

My next finished objects came on a knitting spree while I was at my parents.  I had taken some yarn with me so my sister and I could do some knitting and crocheting.  However, the knitting didn't work out because my needles were the wrong length for what she wanted, and she gave up crocheting after 2 hours.  That meant I had lot's of yarn and lot's of time to waste!

Gehry in Drops Alaska

Crochet Turban in New Lanark Aran

Excuse the bad mobile photo

Kami Hat in Lionbrand Vannas Choice

Most accurate colour

Bubble Hat in Lionbrand Vannas Choice

Excuse the photo

Hurricane in Lionbrand Woolease

Altounyan in Cascade 220

My favourites are Gehry and Altounyan, though I do adore Bubble Hat!  Kami Hat and Hurricane were gifted to 2 of my siblings, while the Crochet Turban may be going to live with my other sister.  I regret blocking Altounyan as it did something weird to the foldy bits, flattened them, so I may try rewashing and fixing it.

I have another hat I started for my brother to finish, then a hat for Jitterbug and my dad (I make silly promises sometimes!) then I'm making a start on this beauty.

I fell in love with the Wild Apple Sweater a long long time ago when I saw it on the Rainey Sisters blog (and Bohus in particular from Yarn Harlot a few months prior), despite the fact I don't much like green.  For the last year since my knitting mojo was returned to me it has been a source of obsession, and I would look at photos every so often and dream.  Then I found out you could buy the hat kits, and my birthday present was decided!  I was always quite wary of buying the sweater kit, as it is ALOT of money to spend on something I might not even finish, but this way I get to do the coloured part and see if I love it enough to do the sweater!  

I need to swatch.  God knows I am not knitting a hat that cost £60 only to find it doesn't fit!  I may also need to buy new needles, as the smallest I have are 2.25mm, but my knitting tightens up when doing colourwork so I might be OK.

This weekend should be an enlightening one for me - I am getting every single skein and ball of yarn I own and laying it out.  I really want photographic evidence of how my stash reduces this year, and I also don't think I really fully appreciate just how much I actually own, so I'm going to write a few posts in the coming months about my favourites yarns, their history and why the hell I haven't used them yet!

As always, I'm joining in with FO Friday at Tamis blog, so I'm off to read some blogs!

WIP Wednesday & Yarn Along

I'll warn you now, this may be a long one!  Not because I have loads of WIPs, I have the same number-ish as last week.  No, I am going to write about my secret WIP.  I had to be confident Jitterbug doesn't know about or read my blog, and I am pretty certain now he is blissfully ignorant.  Not that I keep it secret, he can know about it after the secret WIP is no longer a secret.

So, everyone who is likely to come into contact with him, zip it!

I'll start though with the familiar.

February Lady Sweater still no change.

I am itching to get this finished and off the needles, but the Kiss Triangle Shawlette is closer to being finished so it comes first.

I think I'm about 10 rows off being done and ready to start the cast-off.  I'm going to finish the next 10 rows, then make a guess.  I may decide to do one more full pattern repeat - I have enough yarn for it so doesn't make any difference really.

I have finished 2 blocks of my crocheted blanket

I'm doing these while the kids have dinner, so they aren't getting in the way of any valuable knitting time (I tend to need something easily put downable when they eat).

I took new photos of the blocks completed thus far for Lizard Ridge (no, these have not been done this week, it took me 3 years to get to this point :laugh:)

The next block is underway (and has been since February)

And that brings me to secret knitting.  Jitterbug always asks me to knit him a jumper.  My usual response involves hysterical laughter and mutterings usually involving pigs flying.  In April, I saw this pattern and immediately wanted to make it.  I saw an opportunity to be really organised for Christmas, and ordered Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Bramble Heather and confidently started in May.  I am very lucky in that he goes away quite often (he is in Istanbul this week), I go to stitch & bitch once a week, he usually goes and practices with his band one night a week.  So there is plenty of opportunity to knit.

Why is it then that I am panicking?

Two sleeves

It took me 2.5 months to do the sleeves, and I think they might be too small.  I started the body last month, and am crawling through it.

I need this to be done for Christmas.  I need it to not fit as badly as I am imagining it to.  I know Jitterbug will love it regardless, but I'd quite like him to be able to wear it.  I get the right gauge, so I just need to trust the numbers.  

To see some more lovely WIPs, head on over to Tamis.  For more Yarn Alongs, visit here.

FO Friday

And so it is Friday again!

I have a couple of FOs to show.  Well, technically only 1 is an FO, but the other totally could be an FO and totally will be one by the end of the day.

First up, Phytolith Mittens.  I am not happy with these.  Not one bit.  Love the colour, the yarn was a bit of a pain, the pattern is lovely.  The yarn just broke too easily and I know I am going to be worried about the yarn snapping when I'm putting them on.

What an utterly crap photo

The yarn, Shilasdair Luxury DK, is gorgeous, don't get me wrong.  I just wouldn't use it on anything that would need pulling or likely to catch or have any kind of stress placed on it.  The shawl I knit with it is lovely and soft, so I would definitely buy more of it with shawls in mind.  Or maybe hats.

Second FO (but technically not quite but totally could be) is a crocheted square I did last night.  It is big, so could be finished if I wanted it to be finished.  Since it is a pattern from 200 Crochet Blocks, I want to actually finish it to the pattern, which I should get done tonight.

I am using a variety of Lion Brand somethingorother colours which I originally bought for a jumper for Bubba when he was little, but being not so little and also not so into wearing anything I ask him to wear, this yarn has been freed up.  In an effort to do some stash-busting this decade, what better project than a crocheted blanket?

So, those are my FOs.  It's a nice feeling having some FOs for a change!  To see more FOs visit Tamis blog :)

I'm getting the itch again, and other things!

I've not crocheted anything since I did my Festival Shawl, and I'm starting to feel the itch to pick up a hook and do something.  Not the best timing in the world, but what can you do?

I am due to teach my sister how to crochet next time we are in Scotland, and with the sudden need to start making baby things, I got these out my local library (you'll have to excuse the very bad horrible processed photo from my phone, the camera is crap and this is the only way to get photos people wouldn't mind looking at)

Crochet to go, 200 Crochet Blocks, Crochet Motifs

I bought these with a view to buying eventually, and having had a quick browse through them, I will be buying two of them - 200 Crochet Blocks and Crochet Motifs.  I love crochet blankets, and these will provide endless hours of fun.  I am going to order them to be delivered to my parents house nearer the time, and I can just take some hooks and yarn with me.  I recently bought some teeny tiny steel hooks with wooden handles, 1mm-3mm - 1mm hooks are invisible!

So, the books I am going to buy are amazing.  Even the one I'm not going to buy is good, but it just doesn't offer as much as the other two in terms of motifs, layouts or colour combinations (which I won't be following, but look good anyway!).  I have six colours in a box upstairs set aside for a baby blanket, in addition to whatever my sister brings for me, so I will have more than enough yarn for a decent sized baby blanket, and hopefully the colours my sister brings will coordinate with each other!

My mum also requested a scarf like mine for her birthday in December, so I bought yarn for it a couple of weeks ago.

When I think about it, there is a good bit of crochet coming up in the next few months!  I also have a few baby things I want to knit, so have been busy hunting down patterns that will suit boys or girls, and I have some ideas brewing.

In other news, some of you may have noticed a redesign in the last week.  I'm not 100% happy with it, so I am going to be messing around with the code over the next few days if I can't find a suitable theme online.  I hopefully won't mess it up too badly, but please bear with me if something looks odd.

I will leave you with some photos of my two monsters today, who despite the blazing sun insisted we buy umbrellas!  Even as I type this Gremlin is jumping around pretending to splash in puddles while being all 'Singin' in the Rain' with the umbrella.

Yes, they are holding umbrellas up, indoors.  We will be cursed for life!

And some more bonus Holland pictures, just because I may never get round to actually writing about it!

This tower is outside Jitterbugs old primary school, he and 2 friends used to climb to the very top (which I could not actually get in the photo!).  They have now blocked the bottom few metres to stop children climbing it.  And for the eagle eyed amongst you, he is carrying Rose in a Double Hammock with my wrap - he admitted this was way more comfy than his mei-tai!

A very helpful Bubba loved pulling the baskets round the supermarkets!

Gremlin and I on my FILs balcony - she wanted to run about, not sit down.  She is always crying in photos these days....

My little sister and I

A photo of me taking my 100th photo of my sister - she doesn't wait for you to ask for a photo, she suggests you might like a photo of her.  Thankfully she is funny with her cockiness!

There are more photos on Jitterbugs camera, but he takes forever to actually transfer them, but I may just do it myself if I can find the card reader.