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.

The Rest of the 2020 Plan

I mentioned in my 2020 Plan post that I'd broken my projects into 3 groups, I shared the first group, the started projects in that post, now I'll own up to the other two groups.

Ready To Go
1 Highland cushions
2 Colourwork stocking
3 Scheepjes hat
4 Scheepjes shrug
5 Hitofude
6 Blythes Spirit 
7 Lottie and Albert Blanket 
8 WM quilt
9 Bird quilt 
10 Xmas mini
11 Socks
12 Cross stitch bookmark

The list above are projects for which I have the pattern and all the materials ready to start whenever I need a new project. 

Require Refinement 
1 Cat quilt
2 Freya dress
3 Xmas lucy's terrace
4 Advent socks

5 Joni dress
6 Rainbow quilt
7 Purl soho cowl

And this list are projects that still need some elements purchasing for them. There is a chance that enthusiastic buying will cause one or two of these to change lists quickly!

So I have plenty to keep me entertained for the year and that's before any side track projects come along! And just a reminder that I have no target to finish a certain number of these projects, this is purely for interest (a reminder for myself). 

And just in case you think I'm being over optimistic I have made progress on three on my WIPs this week:

The third quarter of the Hue Shift Afghan is complete. 

And a little sewing has been achieved on the Alice cushion and the Xmas Stars quilt. 

Making Cakes

I have always enjoying baking, making cakes and biscuits. But, I haven't done it so much recently for two reasons, firstly there's only two of us and we don't snack much so a batch of cake or biscuits would be wasted (in theory, practice has shown this isn't the case!), secondly recently my bakes have been hit and miss, the hits are definitely becoming the norm but there is still the odd issue (I blame a dodgy oven, too much bake off causing overthink and occasional miscalculation). Anyway we had some baking ingredients that were starting to get near the end of their life and work colleagues who like cake so I decided to do some baking. I also wanted to try out my mini victoria sponge tin, I've had it 3 years and never used it!

The tin looks like a muffin tin but it has vertical sides and loose bottoms. My biggest concern was the cakes sticking but none of them did. 

Filled with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam, they turned out very nicely if I do say so myself (of course I tried one). The work colleagues have asked what's next on the list, I'm thinking mini carrot cakes.

I tried an alternative but of cake making this week too. 

With a recent increase in yarn buying I've treated myself to a swift and winder, not being sure if I'd get on with it I only bought a cheap winder with a view to upgrading if it was useful. 

Well I'm not sure if it's an upgrade that is required of just some practice but this cake doesn't look as good as the edible ones. Having said that it's usable and ended up like tv his quicker than if would have with hand winding. Think I'll look up some yarn winding hints and tips. 

First FNSI of the Decade - Results

I only had a couple of hours to dedicate to sewing this Friday but I think I made the most of it. 

I decided to work on my Mini Pumpkins Quilt from Cluck Cluck Sew; she was also the designer of the Slam Dunk Quilt. There's a lot of 1 inch and 1.5 inch pieces so I was nervous that it would be very fiddly.

Not the case at all. 

The pieces flew together and even lent themselves to chain piecing. 

This was the results after two hours of sewing (and snooker watching) - 8 leaves, 8 big pumpkin bodies and 4 stripey blocks destined to become pumpkin bodies. 

I'm really enjoying this pattern, which is lucky as I'm already hoarding orange scraps for a second!

I also managed some rows on my Floozy cardigan after dinner. 

Hope everyone else had an enjoyable FNSI. 

The 2020 Plan

After some consideration I've decided on a plan for this year. I'm not going to set resolutions or target a number of projects to finish, I'm just going to work through my WIPs and see what I achieve and if I get distracted there's no pressure.

Luckily I have quite a lot of WIPs in various states of progress and across all my crafts so I shouldn't get bored!

I've broken my projects into 3 groups (there is a fourth but this is more of a wishlist of ideas so won't be featuring).

The first group is UFOs - projects already started, the second is the ready to go's - projects that are ready to be started whenever, the third is requires refinement - projects that need some extra bits, in at least one case a pattern, before they can be begun. 

The UFOs are as follows:

1 Hue Shift Afghan 
2 Floozy 
3 Sparkle Punch Quilt 
4 Alice cushion 
5 Aran squares
6 Pumpkin mini
7 Xmas stars
8 Wedding quilt
9 Opal socks
10 Jessa shorts

All things which have appeared previously on this blog and some items on which good progress is being made and to prove this here's the progress on the Hue Shift Afghan in the last three evenings...

I think I'll save the other two lists for later in the month. At least I'm not trying to complete any of them, in fact I'm expecting to add to them! 

12 Things in 2019 - End of Year Summary

At the beginning of the year I joined in a challenge to complete 12 craft projects in 2019.

My list of projects was as follows:

1. Highland cushions (sewing)
2. Xmas quilt 1 (sewing)
3. Xmas quilt 2 (sewing)
4. Hue Shift Afghan (knitting)
5. Colourwork stocking (knitting) 
6. CBTL (crochet)
7. Floozy cardigan (knitting)
8. Keep It Simple Shawl (knitting)
9. Hat (knitting)
10. Cat quilt (sewing)
11. Scheepjes Shrug (crochet)

12. Sparkle Punch Quilt (sewing)

It turns out it was quite an optimistic list. 
I completed 4 of the projects:

The Keep It Simple Shawl 

CBTL 

And Xmas quilts 1 and 2.

I also made progress on three other projects:

The Floozy cardigan, the Sparkle Punch Quilt and the Hue Shift Afghan (photo is my progress on the third quarter). 

Looking back to create this summary it's become clear that I didn't focus solely on the 12 Things. I've also finished a baby quilt, another CBTL, the Slam Dunk Quilt and a pair of socks this year and fiddled about with two EPP projects and made some tentative steps in clothes sewing. 

Do I have a favourite Thing? Nope, I'm the kind of person that my favourite thing is my current WIP or latest finish, often both. Having said that I'm enjoying the Hue Shift Afghan more than I expected to when I first received the kit. 

I've kind of enjoyed having a set list to work from, but I've also found myself feeling a bit pressured to complete more (12 Things feel like you should finish a project a month) . I think I will challenge myself to get things done next year, but not set myself a fixed number, more of that in another post. 

Christmas Crafted Gifts

I'm not sure how it happened but I ended up crafting four Xmas gifts this year, three quilts and a shawl. I don't really like the pressure of a deadline and have previously managed to gift a quilt top as I ran out of time to finish (I did finish the quilt a little while after). There of the items I started in the summer and one was an autumn, relative last minute idea. Amazingly all four were finished by the 20th (if I can call an unblocked shawl finished) and one even made it into the post a day before last posting date. This has surprised me as much as anyone.

And so to record this momentous achievement for posterity here are my first presents finished in advance of gifting date...

A Crochet Between the lines shawl designed by Tammy Canavan-Soldaat in Scheepjes Whirls.

Sundial by from Jelly Roll Quilts in a Weekend in Sweetwater's The Cookie Exchange for Moda

Simple Bento Boxes found at Making Scrap Quilts From Stash in Lewis and Irene's Small Things at Christmas

And finally... 

Slam Dunk by Cluck Cluck Sew in random fabrics. 

Really chuffed but must try to avoid doing so much again in future. 

November FNSI

A short report on my FNSI progress for this month due to a 50% success rate. 

I planned to start my FNSI early by quilting my second Xmas quilt on my Cotton Orchard frame. 

Unfortunately I instead found out what happens when you thread you machine slightly incorrectly and ignore the odd noise it's making instead. Lots of loopy thread on the back meant that my quilting afternoon changed into an unpicking afternoon. 

A break for dinner and then onto my second planned project (ignoring the remaining unpicked stitches in my Xmas quilt for a while). 

Second project was a quilt for my brother in law for Xmas. This has been causing me a few snags due to some inaccuracy early on. Luckily, except for having to reinforce some very skimpy seam allowances, this one behaved beautifully.

The blocks went from... 

to... 

I also got white borders on two other blocks and the green borders on the remaining 4 blocks. 
Pleasing for three hours work and no sign of a quick unpick! 

Thanks to Wendy for hosting, if you want to see what everyone else got up to visit her blog HERE

12 Things - October Update

It's odd I feel like I'm making good progress on my projects and the I do a monthly review and I don't seem to have got far. Not helped by working on some additional Xmas presents (probably shouldn't be) and my crafting time in October being limited by trips away and work events taking up a lot of my free time. 

Anyway enough of the excuses on with the progress. 

The second quadrant of the Hue Shift Afghan was completed. I really love the colours in this, I wasn't sure when I first got the kit but I've changed my mind. The third quarter is blues and greens so different again. 

Floozy almost has a second sleeve. Just the body to go, although as its all plain stocking stitch it may drag. 

The second Xmas quilt was loaded onto the frame. The first one just needs its binding hand stitched but I haven't managed to get a photo of it. 

The Frame

I don't know what's more amazing that I've finally used my Cotton Orchard quilting frame in anger (after having it well over a year) or that I'm actually blogging about it!

First challenge was to set it up. When I'd last taken it down I'd deconstructed everything, and those side panels were fiddly to put back together with no instructions (a sure sign they shouldn't be taken apart). 

Embarrassingly getting to the point where the quilt was loaded and ready to go took me all afternoon and into the evening. 

Nerves and a few failed test runs meant that it was then a few days before I got the courage to actually quilt. 

But with the right thread and a bit of care I was off. 

The actual quilting was quick, easier than wrangling the quilt through the sewing machine and satisfying. The end result is a little lumpy due to not always remembering where the limits of the quilting area was, but I'm happy. Just the binding to go. 

You'll be pleased to hear that loading the second quilt, including building the frame and pressing the backing, took less than two hours.