Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Just Checking In

I haven't disappeared. I just haven't done much since my last post. As I had said, I kept knitting after my last post. After I got back from my weekend away, I did start the next round of the Monsterpiece Doily. I didn't get very far. I made pretty good progress on my knitted t-shirt and I decided I should keep working on that at least until I get to the point I have to start shaping the armholes. I'm about two inches or so from that point. I would probably be finished if I didn't develop a head cold early last week. Between the cold and some stupid shifts at work, I didn't really feel like working on much of anything. I did work on some chainmaille for myself and a little bit of knitting but that was about it.

Hopefully I'll get the knitting completed to a convenient point where I can stop. Then I hope to continue working on the Monsterpiece Doily. I don't know how much I'll get done next week, as there is a lot happening. I'm also doing some volunteer work next Friday/Saturday so I know I won't get anything done then. Till next time.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Tatting Hiatus 2016: What I Have Been Up To, Part 2 Crochet

As promised, here is part two of my post about what I have been up to while not working on the Monsterpiece Doily. This is about the crocheted projects I have been working on. For the record, these were done a few weeks ago when I started my short break from tatting. I've been working on knitting projects this week, and will hopefully continue to do so until the end of the weekend.

The first couple of crocheted projects are, of course slippers. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I go through a lot of slippers as I don't really care for socks, and I'm not a fan of bare foot.



I'm trying to move out of my colour comfort zone with these. The top pair, the ones I'm currently wearing, are made using Lion Brand Fun Fur in the "Tropical" colourway. I don't need to say that I used Lion Brand "Red" Fun Fur for the second pair. Both used Patons Classic Wool in red. If you're new to my blog, these slippers are made using two strands of wool yarn and one strand of fur or eyelash yarn together. The finished slippers are felted or fulled in the washing machine to shrink them and make them all warm and comfy. I love making these!

These next two projects are part of my Mom's Mother's Day present. I will be giving them to her this weekend. Mother's Day was last Sunday here in North America.



The first project is a crocheted cactus and succulent garden. It utilized patterns from June Gilbank from her shop PlanetJune.  She has two collections of four different cacti each and two more collections of four succulents each. If you buy all four, you can mix and match between 16 plants. She also a large and small pot pattern in each collection to make your own customized garden. This was pretty easy to follow and lots of fun to make. I won't link to the collections directly in case the links stop working but they are in the Flowers and Plants part of the crochet pattern section. The link to June's shop is above.

The second project is a crocheted Primrose, another one of June's patterns. For some reason the colours are not quite right in the photos. The primrose flowers are a dusty rose. This was also pretty easy to crochet. If you haven't seen June's patterns before, she make mostly amigurumi style animals and plants/flowers. I love her designs and have purchased a number of them. Most are stuck in my to be crocheted list for one reason or another. Most, I think, need eyes purchased in order to make them and I just haven't done it yet. Hopefully I will get them crocheted.

That's about it for now. Since I posted twice in less than a week, I probably won't post again for a week or two. Unless something important happens or I get a lot done. Anyway, till next time.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Tatting Hiatus 2016: What I've Been Working On, Part 1 Knitting

As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to take a short break from tatting, specifically tatting on the Monsterpiece Doily. I guess I might still do some tatting, but I have many other non-tatting projects I want to work on first. I've been working on both knitting and crochet projects since I last posted. Instead of making one long post, I will post it in two parts. This first one will just be about the two knitting projects that I have been alternating between and that I will probably keep working on for the next week. I'll try to post the second part, the crochet projects later in the week as I will be away over the weekend.

The first project is probably going to take me awhile to complete.




It's a t-shirt style garment. It's called the Egyptian Desert Tee from the magazine Knitting Traditions Spring 2015. I'm using Knit Picks Lindy Chain yarn in the colour Linen to knit it. Lindy Chain is a linen/cotton blend yarn. I chose it because the recommended yarn, Louet Euroflax, would have cost me close to $200 to buy the required amount. I really can't afford that, considering I would still have to knit it after receiving the yarn. The Euroflax yarn is a 100% linen yarn which would be nice to use if it wasn't so expensive. Lindy Chain is 70% Linen and much more affordable. I think I paid about $50 for it. It isn't an exact match though. It is a little finer so I will have to try to factor that in as I'm knitting. I'm using the recommend needles, and it seems to be working. It might be a bit on the open or lacey side, but it still looks very much like the photo in the magazine. You can see a closeup of the fabric in the middle photo. The model in magazine is wearing the tee over top of another shirt, so I don't think the laceyness will be a problem if I did the same thing. If anyone is curious, the tee is made using the Mistake Stitch Rib pattern which looks really cool and easy. I'm going to be working on this for a while, so don't expect to see any update on this any time soon.

The next knitting project is going a little faster. Though, not that fast since I'm using sock yarn.



I started another pair of socks. This time using actual sock yarn and really fine needles.Well they are US 1 (2.5mm) needles, but that is still pretty small. I'm using Patons Kroy Socks yarn in "Route 66". I'm really loving how these are turning out. They look so complicated, but it's not me it's the yarn. I guess this is a self-striping yarn, but it looks like I'm changing colours like a boss, and maybe even throwing in some Fair Isle colour work for good measure. You may have also notice my new knitting needles I am using in both this and the Egyptian Desert Tee above. They are Knit Picks new Majestic interchangeable and fixed circular needles. They're a gorgeous mix of dark purple, blue and green laminated wood with black cables. I've been avoiding wooden interchangeable needles, but I really like these. I bought a few tips, cables, and the fixed circulars for socks. I really needed them! I also bought a case to hold all my interchangeable needles and most of my required odds and ends. I'll have to share a few photos later as I need to retake one of them.

That's about it for now. Like I said above, I plan on working on these two projects for the next week or so. I'll have to write out the next row of the Monsterpiece doily. I will hopefully start working on it again next week. Till then, I'm enjoying my break! Till next time.