WIP Wednesdays - Scrappy Sock Cardi

This little cardi has been on my needles for about 6 months. I always, always stall on the sleeves! It is technically still a WIP because it need buttons...

It's a great pattern by Fawn Pea. It's simple but a good way to stash-bust your leftover sock yarn. I used Araucania Ranco Solid and The Knitting Goddess 4ply bfl superwash which is now discontinued. The bfl could be a little scratchy to wear and the Araucania needs to be handwashed and bled a little when I soaked it in soak. This little sweater, therefore, cannot be gifted to just anyone! I think I will have to gift it to another knitter.

How serendipitous that one of my favourite podcasters has announced that she is expecting! Hopefully she'll accept knitted gifts once the playful baby is born :)

I did like this pattern but I think it's a bit too simple. I probably won't knit it again unless I find myself with lots of sock leftovers aka sock orphans.

New memes and weeding!

Today I weeded the front drive. Unemployment is driving me mad and making me do productive things at home and *gasp* sometimes garden and housework!

Before 

Before

After

After

Aaaaaah that's better :)

In other news, I have had ideas for new memes! Squee Sunday, where I gush over pretties and patterns - inspired by a vintage UK programme called Ski Sunday which my mum watched religiously when I lived at home.

Random Awesome Nice Thing (RANT) is something random that has made me smile or brightened my day. I have noticed that some blogs like to rant about muggles, inlaws, politics etc so I thought I'd redress the balance with occasional rays of sunshine.

Do you guys have any meme ideas?

FO Fridays - Helena

I recently finished my Helena made from Rowan Cashsoft DK which really is lovely and soft :)

This was a stash-busting project so I did the lace section in stripes to use up some navy, red and green scraps. It's a bit of a weird colour combo but I think it just about works!

I really liked the pattern and it was very well-written but it took a while for me to complete due to the sleeves and the picking-up of stitches for the button bands and collar. I tend to take ages to get round to doing them but they don't take long when I actually set my mind to it!

I like the ties, and they were much quicker than sewing on buttons - safer too.

Helena modelled by the Easter bunny, showing the differing dye lots of the  chicory Cashsoft!!

WIP Wednesdays - Million Stripes Loop

I'm currently loving my Million Stripes Loop and am knitting it using scraps of Rowan Cashsoft DK and some colourmart yarns. So it should be nice and soft and comfy round my neck. Hopefully I won't have any pilling problems because a cowl does not need washing often.

It's my first time using a provisional cast-on and will be my first grafting!

Combining colours make me happy when it works but sometimes it can look plain awful. The Mason-Dixon ladies like to use all colours except pastels, black, white and primary colours. I broke this rule and deeply regretted it. I started a red and cream section, but it looked a bit too much like something a football supporter would wear! It clashed horribly with the rest of the colours, so I had to rip it out. I'm now waiting on delivery of some more yarn so I can finish.

Please tell me that I'm not the only knitter who ended up buying more yarn for a project that was supposed to bust the stash!

FO Friday - Stripe Study

First off - this is a brilliant pattern, if you're pondering whether to make it, do it! It's simple without being mindless. Interesting without being taxing. I think I will be making this again!

I used Zettl Treviso/Cortina yarn which is a sock yarn from Lidl. It isn't soft but it is pleasant and warm, not at all itchy. They're very good value and feel hard-wearing so I'm happy that this shawl will last well and not pill. I plan to handwash it due to some felting issues with the Cortina yarn. The solid colours really suit the graphic nature of the stripes.

I finished my stripe study about a week ago. I only did 11 stripes instead of the 12 in the pattern because I was fed up of the short rows! The border took aaaages because the stitch count got up to around 300, but I enjoyed the way it ate up the yarn.

If I was to make it again, I think I would persevere and make 12 stripes as the shawl is just a touch small due to the asymmetry of it. Theoretically, if I had knit all the stripes it would have added about 100 yards of yarn to my FO. It is currently around 785 yards, the pattern calls for 880 yards.

 I like the colours I used, it's very unusual for me to use orange as it used to really hate it! But I think it is a positive colour and hope to use more oranges and yellows in the future.

I had a little problem with the blocking as you can see! But the stash guardians did guard it for me and aid the blocking process with their body heat! My blocking mats are not quite large enough for me to stretch the shawl out, so you can see that it's a little curved. The central spine is not as straight as I would like. When the weather warms up, I will re-block it but I think it's adequate as it is :)

P.S. May the Fourth be with you!

3KCBWDAY7 - Crafting Balance

I learnt to knit while I was at primary school, I think I was 8 years old. My mother taught me using squeaky green acrylic and red plastic needles that would bend when I tried to pull my stitches through. I hated those needles but in a funny way I wish I still had them! I remember one of my first projects being a garter stitch scarf for my teddy made in pastel pink, blue and purple. It was a little wavy with dropped stitches but I was very proud of it.

I re-discovered knitting after university. Someone gifted me a copy of Stitch n Bitch by Debbie Stoller, I bought a big bag of yarn from a charity shop and knitted a cat bed. 

My cat, Tilly and her kittens using the fugly but wonderful cat bed :)

It made me deliriously happy at a time when nothing else seemed to. It continues to make me happy and has introduced me to a lovely community of crafters through Craftster and then Ravelry.

When it comes to crochet, I can crochet...........a chain. I have heard that the first row of crochet after the chain is the hardest row, and this is definitely true. I did try making a granny square but it was misshapen, so I put down the hooks feeling that I had made a real effort to learn. This was in February 2011.

(c) Betsi Brunson

Pattern: Amigurumi Monkey with banana

I have seen some beautiful crochet projects, amigurumi and jackets and hats - oh my! I love the fact that crochet is so quick and has real substance to it, without having to use bulky yarn. The portability of crochet is also appealing, and the fact that it's more difficult to drop stitches, since you only have one live stitch on your hook (I think Tunisian crochet is different). I am planning on taking a learn to crochet class in the summer at a local college, because I am a kinesthetic learner, I need to physically do things to learn. Watching Youtube and reading books doesn't seem to be working.

(c) Vogue Knitting

Pattern: #33 Circle Jacket

So, to sum up, at the moment I'm a knitter through and through but I hope to be a crocheter too! This may take some time though as I seem to have more plans than time or money!

(c) The Dainty Daisy

Pattern: Shell Stitch Beanie

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3KCBWDAY6 - Skillums

Improving Your Skillset
How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.


I've been knitting for 5 or 6 years seriously. I've been happy to do simple projects because I am a process knitter. The FO is important to me but the process is what really makes me happy, so I'm happy chugging along doing miles of garter stitch or stockinette. However, I'm realising that some of these simple projects are a bit uninspiring and I recently had a clearout and donated some FOs to charity.


Perhaps I am slowly becoming a product knitter....


This year I would like to learn cables and socks. Both seem like a mystery to me at the moment but like other techniques I've tried; it should all become clear after a few stitches. You just have to jump in and try! As a champion procrastinator, this is the hardest part for me. I'd really like to learn colourwork but all those floats scare the beejesus out of me, I get crazy-tangled just doing stripes!


I think my first cable project should be a small one. I currently have Salty Dog Mittens in my queue. Bella's Mittens are also a possibility...


For socks, I plan to follow Silver's Sock Class which has been in my queue for over a year. A YEAR! See? Procrastinating again :)


I'm hoping the Ravelympics will give me a kick to get started on one of those projects! Go Team Sasquatch!


3KCBWDAY6