August FNSI - Multi Crafting

 Not having a definite plan as to what to work on this FNSI I was pleasantly surprised how productive I ended up being.

In the continuing plan of working through WIPs I decided to continue with the toile for a pair of Tilly and the Buttons Jessa shorts (these have been a WIP for a year so far and if I was a betting person I'd say the finished article won't be ready for this summer!) I thought I'd just get the zip fly in. 

But I was wrong... 

... and actually got the toile to a stage where I could try it on for size. It fit. I have decided to stop making the toile at this point, without as waistband and cuffs, as the fabric is horrible to work with (cheap, thin, with a tendency to shrink if ironed), some of my pieces seem poorly cut (or could've been affected by the iron), and I need to re-use the zip from the toile for the actual shorts. Also if I stop here there's a better chance of the actual shorts being finished in 2020!

I then went on to a bit of baking prep. 

 Pasties are the plan for lunch this weekend and the recipe suggested that the pastry was best if left to rest overnight. 

And after all that excitement I even had timeto squeeze in a bit of sock knitting before bed. 

Hope everyone else had a successful and enjoyable FNSI. 

Fearless Fair Isle - After Seven Years!

 I'm getting through my crafting projects pretty well at the moment, I guess I'm being assisted by all the current Coronavirus restrictions meaning more timd to craft. For example as I'm working from home I can do a bit of knitting during my lunch break (I could've done that at my office and I may do in future) and rather than spending an hour in the car at the end of the working day I get another hour to myself as my partner finishes work an hour after me (he does start an hour later in the morning). I'm also avoiding adding too many new projects to the list or pre-emptively buying materials for projects that are a long way off. 

Sock yarn doesn't count.

I thought pre-emptive buying was a habit I'd got into last year. When sorting out the yarn for my next knitting project I found this wasn't the case.

Price hidden intentionally.

Luckily I still want to make the project as much as I did if not more.

Hard to tell from the photo but this will be the Reindeer Romp Xmas Stocking from Fearless Fair Isle Knitting by Kathleen Taylor. Started well but turns out 7 years ago the shop was out of stock of one of the colours, after umming and ahhing I've now ordered a ball of the correct colour from what may be the same shop I bought it from originally (same name other end of the UK). This is a daylight project due to needing to read the chart so it may take a while, hopefully not another 7 years! 

Feeling the fear and doing it anyway...

...or maybe a more accurate title would be "Having to quilt the quilt on my frame because the central heating engineer needs space to work!".

The Sparkle Punch Quilt was attached to my quilting frame in late March.

In the normal course of things I would have started quilting it shortly after but whilst setting it up I found that, due to being clever when purchasing the fabric and the forgetting that I had been clever, the backing fabric was too short for the quilt. Loading up the frame had been quite an effort so I wasn't massively keen on starting again having bought new backing, likewise the alternative of makinvbthd top shorter also didn't fill me with joy.

This dilemma took me ages to resolve.

Eventually I decided that the better of the two options was to buy a new backing, which actually was quite easy to swap onto the frame. I actuallynalso prefer this second backing and I know the recipient does too.

A couple more weeks of procrastination passed, I enjoy using me frame and once I get going all is fine but this is a big quilt and the machine a use tends to play up a bit in the early stages requiring unpacking.

Eventually confirming that our central heating replacement was going to take place at the end of July spurred me into action as th frame takesmip a lot of space and would make lifting floorboards in the room tricky.

After all my procrastination the quilting went well, no unpicking required.  I also tried out glide thread which had been recommended in various places and it was brilliant and didn't break once. My free motion quilting it still a big wonky but overall I'm pleased with the effect and am thrilled that this quilt that's been on the go on and off since 2013 is almost finished.

July FNSI

My second FNSI in a row, although due to the current circumstances I do tend to spend most Friday nights sewing.

As I guess might be the case for a lot of crafters I had a long list of things to do but that was never going to be doable in the time.

I started the evening with a few post-dinner rows of sweater knitting and then I moved on to some sewing. 

On an impulse I started a Charmed Cushion last Friday, which I continued with. 

I didn't take many photos but I sewed together a pile of HSTs to make QST blocks. Then I spent much longer than I expected squaring up the blocks. Luckily the layout was pretty easy to do, I just didn't think about it too much!

Pleasingly by the end of my FNSI I had both the back and front panels sewn together in rows. Hopefully I'll have a finished cushion to show soon. 

Blythe's Spirit

One of the items in my Plan is the Blythe's Spirit sweater designed by High Fibre Shop. I bought a kit for this sweater in October but only started knitting it at the beginning of June.

The sweater is knitted in baa ram ewe's pip colourwork. The wool has a beautiful halo but there are quite a lot of weak points in it.

I also found out very quickly that the colourwork was not the best thing to work on when distracted (we've been playing a legend of zelda game a lot recently). 

 

I think I've knitted most of the colourwork twice over. 

Looks almost as good on the inside. 

I'm now on the body which is growing faster than I expected given it's 4 ply wool. 

I've really enjoyed the colourwork in this, which is lucky considering there's at least one colourwork item in my Plan. 

June FNSI

I've finally managed to join in with FNSI again after quite an absence and to celebrate I had a multi-crafting evening. 

First up was a quick scone baking session. 

During lockdown, when flour and egg availability have permitted (these have been hard to find items in my local supermarkets for the past 3 months but that seems to be ending) I have been trying out recipes from the National Trust scone book. 

I've generally only made half batches as there's only two of us. So far every recipe has been a success, I've mostly been baking the savoury scones as we watch out sugar intake, although the odd sweet one slips in and I'd really like to try some chocolate ones. And as we don't eat them all at once they've been stored in the freezer with no ill effects.

Tonight's batch were red pepper, onion and cheese and the little taster scone I made with the scraps was lovely. 

After the baking I moved onto knitting, whilst advising my boyfriend who was playing a Zelda computer game.

I am starting to make better progress on a colourwork sweater which has been suffering due to my not paying it full attention. As I'm currently working with 350 stitches I only achieved about a row but any progress is good progress.

When my boyfriend moved onto online gaming with his mates I moved onto my sewing machine in another room. I did have high hope of getting quite a bit done but my machine had other ideas. I did get the quilt binding I'd planned to do sewn on one side of my quilt, but thanks to jammed and broken needles caused, I think, by my walking foot loosening the needle's screw this took me the best part of 2 hours.

But it was all attached and trimmed by bedtime so I'm calling that a success FNSI. 

What did everyone else get up to? Head over to Wendy's Blog to find out. 

52 Weeks of Socks - Gerste

... or the learn-a-lot socks.

The second pair of socks I decided to make from 52 Weeks was Gerste by Verena Cohrs. I went with the suggested yarn in the book and bought some naturally dyed, natural sock yarn from Woolly Mammoth Fibre Co.

And why learn-a-lot socks? Because I used lots of new to me techniques on them.

First up Judy's Magic Cast On and M1R and M1L in the toes. 

This took a little while to get the hang of. 

Next German short row heels. 

(Quite tricky taking a photo of your own heel) 

I love the look of short row heels, but get a bit confused with wrap and turn short rows. I enjoyed these, even more so when I kept a close count on how many rows I'd done (something else I'm learning at the moment). 

Finally I learnt a stretchy bind off. 

A real game changer when putting the sock on your foot, and also worth taking some time to make sure it's relatively loosely done to make sure the stretch is maximised. 

Really keen to make some more toe up, short row socks soon, their fit is great.

All the new to me techniques were found on the Internet, mostly on the kitty or purl soho websites. 

Progress with The Plan

So the beginning of June seems as good a time as any to review my "plan", which was just my list of UFOs and planned makes which I am aiming to put a dent in this year whilst not adding too many new projects to the list. 

I broke my plan into 3 parts, so I'll update in those three parts. 

The first part was the UFOs as follows with progress updates:

1 Hue Shift Afghan - complete (except the ends, don't mention the ends) 

2 Floozy - just needs buttons purchasing

3 Sparkle Punch Quilt - on the quilting frame, getting my nerve together! 

4 Alice cushion - getting close to a completed flimsy

5 Aran squares - one added to the collection

6 Pumpkin mini - complete

7 Xmas stars - nothing much to report

8 Wedding quilt

9 Opal socks

10 Jessa shorts - slow progress has restarted on the toile

There has also been some progress (and removals) on the ready to go list:

1 Highland cushions

2 Colourwork stocking

3 Scheepjes hat - complete

4 Scheepjes Shrug - removed and planning to use the whirl for something else 

5 Hitofude

6 Blythes Spirit - next in line

7 Lottie and Albert Blanket 

8 WM quilt - basted 

9 Bird quilt - must stop collecting fabric for it! 

10 Xmas mini

11 Socks - one pair done, another 3/4 complete

12 Cross stitch bookmark

Of the Requires Refinement List I now know what pattern I will be using for the cat quilt, the joni dress has all the necessary materials purchased so is now in my dress making queue and the cowl may not be a purl soho one! 

All in all quite pleasing progress, and I haven't deviated too much from the lists. 

A first foray into dressmaking

So conveniently my first attempt at making a dress has coincided with me made May and a lockdown where it seems that the ideal is to learn a new skill (or bake a lot of sourdough) but neither of those are the reason I'm now making this dress. 

The idea for it came about in January when I was admiring some cotton dresses in Spitalfields Market and my boyfriend asked whether I could make something like it.

So the research into a pattern began, Simple Sew's Grace dress seemed a good id match from memory. I decided I would make a toile first, as mh sister hadn't shared the tip about using bedsheets, a wearable toile became my option. Then my boyfriend kindly offered to buy the fabric for the actual dress for my birthday, a wonderful excuse to spend a lot of time researching options on the Internet and the at the end of March j finally bought the pattern and waited for enough free time to start. Unexpected good weather and lockdown meaning a new found enthusiasm for making our garden a nice place to be meant thaf the first free time I've had was last week during some time off from work.

So I've, finally but enthusiastically started making a dress. 

First step pattern tracing (and a growing loathing for the non-stick backing paper I was using). 

Fabric for the hopefully wearable toile (for which I already had the perfect pair of matching earrings so this better fit!) was prepared.

A bodice was put together without too much stress and with the hummingbirds on the waistband. 

It has pockets (which will need moving up slightly in the second dress). 

And I have managed to gather and attach the skirt with reasonably good seam matching.

At this point a major flaw in my prep work/understanding/sewing machine accessories became evident. The pattern calls for a concealed zip, I want to fit a concealed zip, I don't have a concealed zip foot! It's easy to find one online, so now the dress is on hold until the foot arrives and until I've practiced zigzag stitching the raw seams. 

But so far so good, I'm really pleased with how it's going and already planning future makes! Hopefully I'll be able to report a finished dress before the end of the month. 

52 Weeks of Socks

Just before all the madness and lockdown I treated myself to Laine's 52 Weeks of Socks, it felt like a bit of a luxury and destined to be a coffee table book. 

Turns out I was very wrong. There are so many pairs of socks in this book that I want to knit,  every time I look through it a few more get added to the list. I think it's a bit optimistic to assume this book will only take me 52 Weeks to work through but I'll give it my best shot.

The first pair I've completed are Erika by Anja Heumann.

The beautiful yarn, with a slight sparkle, was a one of a kind sock set from Pixie Yarn. These knitted up so quickly (took longer than a week), no occurrence of second sock syndrome and might be the quickest pair of socks I've ever knitted.

Found a useful tip in Winwick Mum's blog for how to knit the ends in as I went, a real game changer.

I've already started the next pair, enticed in by the suggested yarn from Woolly Mammoth... 

...natural sock, dyed with natural dyes. 

Gerste by Verena Cohrs, the toe has been challenging but the foot is going quicker. 

Pretty Much Finishes

(Just don't ask about the ends) 
(Or blocking). 

Not much blogging happening recently but Ive actually been doing a fair amount of crafting and have some real progress to share. 

Firstly the Floozy cardigan is off the needles. 

Just requiring blocking, a couple of gaps tidying up and then I have to source buttons. As I don't think there are any button shops near where I live the current necessity to buy them online is normal. Never had to buy buttons for a garment before so I'm having a bit of a dilemma, I think I've found some suitable grey ones but am also tempted by pale lilac. I can see a button box starting. 

Next up the Hue Shift Afghan is finished. 

I needed it over my legs for a couple of evenings and can confirm that it is nicely heavy and cosy. One day I might sew the ends in!

And another one. The pumpkins mini is also done, completely, ends and all, and hung up. 

I'm definitely a convert to mini quilts and am having a think about what else could be hung on this wall as a seasonal swap over. 

I also finally used my Westerlee/Sew Easy quilting ruler for the first time on an actual project and really pleased with the outcome. 

February FNSI - Measure twice...oops!

I had a plan for this month's FNSI - finally get round to hemming my jeans for the first time, put the final borders on the mini pumpkins and then use any time before bed to work on the Hue Shift Afghan.

One jean leg had been pinned to the correct length by my mum so I firmly pressed a crease to indicate the correct length (this is an important point) and then spent a fair time making sure the other leg was the same length and pressed another crease on that leg.

I then carefully lined a ruler up with the crease, double, triple checked it was the pressed crease and not a wrinkle and cut.

You can probably see my major mistake at this point. With a howl I realised I had cut across the crease for the finished length not an inch or so below to allow for the hem.

These are my first pair of Levis, and a reward for losing a chunk of weight, so throwing them in the bin was not top of my list of options.  

After a bit of thinking...

I signed the raw edge to try and prevent fraying and then turned the smallest hem possible.

The second hem was much more conventional...

And the finished effect was ok.

At least until they're washed. Luckily I'd asked my mum to pin them slightly longer so it's not too noticeable (I think) that they're too short.

After all this drama, and not wanting to risk cutting anything else, I moved onto the afghan and licked my wounds.

Not wanting to be a Pollyanna, but I can now see some positives from this:

1. My Janome had no issues sewing the properly rolled hem.

2. I've finally managed to zigzag a fabric edge, previously the machine ate the fabric.

3. I now know how, and how not, to hem trousers.

Hopefully everyone else's FNSI was less dramatic. Pop over to Wendy's Blog to find out.

This and that

I thought I'd share an update on the bits and pieces I've been working on over the last few weeks. No big finishes but lots of pleasing progress. I've also been out and about a bit too.

My main focus has been my hue shift afghan, the number of squares left to do is rapidly decreasing.

This was the final quarter as of Wednesday evening, a little more progress has been made. (Un)fortunately finishing this off will require finishing my Floozy cardigan as they need the same needles, although it will mean I can justifiably put off sewing the quarters together.

As a reminder here are the other quarters...

Truthfully I'm looking forward to sewing this up to see the overall effect.

When I've had time at a sewing machine I've been working on the mini pumpkins quilt from Cluck Cluck Sew.

This has been so much fun to make that I've already started collecting fabric for another! My accuracy seems to have improved since the slam dunk quilt (same designer) but a little was in was require get the vertical washing to fit. Four narrow borders to go and I get the fun of quilting it, this may involve my quilting rulers.

Last weekend we went to London and did the museums, specifically the Science Museum and the Museum of London.

We expected to pay a short visit to the Science Museum but we were there over 5 hours and I finally saw the actual Soyuz space capsule Tim Peak returned to earth in (I'm a bit of a space nerd).

 For some reason I expected it to be bigger, three people fitted in there. The Apollo 10 capsule (also in the Science Museum) seemed bigger.

The Museum of London (covering the history of London unsurprisingly) was a quicker visit as it hasn't changed much since we last visited but I did spot this knitted sock from the 1500s...

Love the fact knitted socks haven't changed in 500 years, it even has a reinforced heel.

We also paid a visit, or two, to one of our favourite pubs The Masons Arms in Teddington.

A really cosy, friendly place with some much stuff to look at, what's in the picture is barely any of it.