Friday 23 August 2019

Beginnings of a Floozy

Don't panic I haven't changed the purpose of this blog - Floozy is a cute cardigan designed by Truly Myrtle Designs. 

I got fascinated by it towards the end of last year but have waited a while to start it as I have been losing weight and didn't want to knit it and then find it was too baggy. 


The cardigan is knitted in 4 ply, the recommended yarn was something beautiful from Nez Zealand but as I haven't knitted an item of clothing (excluding socks) in forever I thought I'd go for something a bit cheaper. I could always try again in a more luxurious yarn if it all went well, you can't have too many cardis! Almost forgot, the yarn I'm using is Cascade Heritage.


After being very good and making a swatch, and after tracking down the right sized needles (Knit Pro Zings, if you're wondering) I cast on.  The cardigan is knit top down so the photo above is of the yoke. 


After two weeks this is what I have. In reality this is probably about 5 evenings of knitting as its my weekday project and I've been away during the last fortnight. The true colour is probably closer to this photo. I did have a wobble about my colour choices as the dark purple is supposed to be a pop of colour, but I think they work. The next one can be in more poppy colours! 

Friday 9 August 2019

12 Things in 2019 - July Progress

Yet more steady, though not particularly quick progress in July on my 12 Things.


The CBTL shawl has been successfully blocked, at least to my mind. I need to get an action photo but otherwise it is complete.


The first quarter of the Hue Shift Afghan is complete. I wasn't sure about it when I started but now I'm enjoying it and love the way it looks. A really simple technique but so effective.

The afghan is taking longer than I thought so I've decided to do another 12 Things yarn project alongside it. So my final achievement for the month is hand winding the yarn for my Floozy.


The photo's a bit washed out but it's a nice sage green.

In an ideal world 7 months through the year I should be over halfway through my list, I'm not. Having said that, in an ideal world I wouldn't keep on doing other projects alongside, I am! Maybe next year I'll be more strict about sticking to the list, more likely I won't. 

And if you'd like a reminder of the original list it's HERE.

Tuesday 6 August 2019

Crafty Saturday

After a highly enjoyable Friday evening watching Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Sheridan Smith and Jason Donovan at the London Palladium, me and my sisters of what to do with a Saturday spent together.

It didn't take much figuring out and we all settled down to our various craft projects. 

In what turned out to be a bit of a mistake later on I started off by getting a bit more of my Alice in Wonderland EPP done. 


I had been using the flat back stitch on the Christmas Stars EPP but for this one I've gon with the whip stitch which I am definitely finding faster and less fiddly. Though that's probably because it was the only stitch I knew when I last did EPP. 

My sisters decided to work on some time critical ish projects. 


R wants to get two of these cowls finished by November, I think she's got a good chance seeing how this one's growing. I really like this pattern and the baa ram ewe yarn is so soft. 


B decided to get another item of clothing made for a dress up doll destined for her friend's children. Hopefully she'll get it done before they out grow the doll, it's been a WIP for 3 years so far. 

After a bit of EPP I gathered my nerve and made a start on my Jessa shorts. If I'd had any idea how long tracing a pattern and cutting out fabric takes me I'd have skipped the morning EPP session!




But the pieces for my practice pair are all cut out now and ready for me to underestimate how long the sewing will take!

All in all a highly productive Saturday. 

And in case you were wondering, Joseph was excellent. I've seen it once before but forgotten how much fun it is.