January update

Well my plans changed again.  But only by a little bit.   I'm still working on Fairytale for the HAED SAL and aiming for 6 pages, still working on Mini At the Steps, aiming to finish in November  and working on Cat Nap.  However I've changed my mind about starting both the Aimee Stewart Sanctuary for stitchers and Lakeside Cabin Crop.   I know Aimee Stewart patterns are hugely popular, but I feel a lot of detail is hard to make out, even in the super sized versions. I would never do a supersized version, as I want a chance of finishing and even the regular sized version is bigger than what I want to work on.

I toyed around with cropping the Lakeside Cabin crop, but it was still too big and do I really want a huge picture of basically an armchair, on my wall. So I abandoned that idea.

 So here is what I did in January.

Mini at the steps.

In January I put in 5829 stitches over 10 stitching days and did 28 hours.  This takes me to a total of 27,152 stitches out of 61,200 and 44%

Cat Nap was started on Xmas Day and this is what it looks like now.

I have a page finish.  I've done a bit more than in this photo, but havent taken another picture.

In January I did 5561 stitches over 7 days and did 22 hours.  In total I've done 9826 stitches out of 179,000 for 5%.

On 1st January I started Fairytale for the HAED SAL.   

I've done the first page for a total of 7795 stitches out of 88,650 for 8.8%. I worked on this for 12 days and spent 22 hours stitching. 

  I had a yearning to do another Long Dog piece.  I decided on a small one called Flirtation, from their Peccadilloes range.  This is what the finished piece will look like.

And this is what it looks like now. 

I'm using Silks4u left over from Sans Souci and it is 2 x1 on 18ct Aida, full cross. I started on 14 January. 

I am stitching 1 thread a day on this, which gives approximately 100 stitches in 30 minutes. I've so far done 1581 stitches and worked on it 14 days for 8 hours.   1581 out of 7643 for 21%.  This is a small project so I expect to finish in April.  

In total for the month, I did 20,766 stitches, 19185 on full coverage,  stitched on 29 days and a total of 101 hours.

Plans, continue working on the above. In February I am going to start my first Stitches Sew Beautiful pattern.  The one I want to do is Gloria and the Gargoyle by Alisa Smith Williams.

I just love this picture. It just makes me feel happy when I look at it. 

I will be entering the Stitches Sew Beautiful Sal. The conditions are to stitch either  250 full cross or 500 tent each week for a month and get a reward chart at the end. I will be doing my usual 25 count 2x1 tent. 

I also finished a knitted garment, the zipper vest by petite knit.  

This pattern calls for a bulky weight yarn. I used Southlander from Skeinz in the colour oatmeal.

That's all for now.  I will update again at the end of February. 

Finally some finishes.

 It's been a while.  Gracie is growing and now she's fully vaccinated so we're enjoying going on walks together, well as much as possible in winter.  We've had one of our wettest ever July's. 

I finished The Frank Shawl by Joji Locatelli.   

I love the size of this.   I like wearing them like a blanket over my shoulders and due to the shaping it sits very nicely without slipping off. This was knit in yarn from Purple Sprouting. 

I also finished a couple of pairs of socks. 

 These are Morning Coffee from 52 Weeks of socks.  

I made these from various scraps of yarn.

Another finish was a pair of vanilla socks

You may have noticed my puppy got herself into both photos.   She is interested in everything .  

Speaking of which, here are some more photos of Gracie.

I got a puppy! Brioche and mitt finishes and wips

 Not a lot of knitting has been done over the last few weeks as I got this cutie.

This is Gracie.   She is a cavoodle and I got her at 8 weeks,  she is now 11 weeks.  She is adorable but has so much energy I can barely keep up.  The photo above is when I picked her out of the litter and she was 7 weeks.  

This is her now, she has grown so  much 

Anyway on to knitting.  Before I got Gracie I finished a pair of mittens. 

These are Pieces of Home mitts, a free pattern on Ravelry. 

And finished this week is my brioche sweater.

This is Broadleaf by Wool and Pine.  It looks great, but was so slow to knit.  I think it's put me off brioche for a while.

Onto wips.  I frogged the Krumeluuri socks.  Again brioche just takes too long and I get bored.  So I cast on Morning Coffee from 52 weeks of socks 

These have 5 colours and are a great way to use up scraps. 

Also cast on are another pair of vanilla socks 

Another cast on is The Frank Shawl by Joji Locatelli 

The cozies memory blanket is seeing some progress

Hopefully  puppy will start quieting down soon and I can get more knitting in.

Update, life and knitting.

 Its been a while since I updated this blog.

Sadly I lost my beautiful boy Sandy 2 weeks ago.

He was a month short of his 19th birthday.  I am missing him very much.

On to knitting.  I have a few finishes since last time.

I finished the tam.

and a pair of scrappy socks.

I started the Broadleaf sweater and have finished the front.

That is all for now. Just a brief update. 

Knitting with advents

 Its been a while since I posted so I have a bit to catch up on.

In the pandemic, we now have Omicron in the community and our cases are rising and expected to peak in 3 to 6 weeks.  I am learning to live with it.

Knitting is keeping me sane.  I've had a few finishes.

I finished Juxtaposition by Anna Johanna

This was knit with the advent from yarntherapy.  I love how it turned out.  I have enough yarn leftover to make a Stripes sweater by Andrea Mowry, using the 100g skein in the advent in some of the stripes.

Another finish is The Collective Shawl by Joji Locatelli

This used up yarn from the Louie and Lola advent and also some of the Little Acorn Yarn skein that was in the Hygge box.  This is my first mainly brioche make.

Next was another Brioche knit.  The Harlow hat by Andrea Mowry

This used up yet more of the Louie and Lola Advent.  As you can see the hat is reversible.

And I finished my Xmas socks.

This was knit in this years Christmas yarn from West Yorkshire spinners.  You can't tell from the photos, but they are sparkly.

Off the needles is my Ranunculus sweater

This was made with fingering and mohair held together.

On the needles are some brioche socks.

These socks are Krumeluuri by Anna Johanna.  I've had this sparkly orange yarn in stash for a long time and not really known what to do with it.  They are paired with yarn from West Yorkshire spinners - the one included in the Christmas box.

Also on the needles is a Fair Isle Tam by Janet McMahon, a free pattern on Ravelry.

This is yet another project using yarn from the Louie and Lola advent.

My longest term project is coming to an end.

This is the Soldotna by Boyland Knitworks.  The pattern calls for DK but I adapted it to a fingering.  I had the gold yarn that I wanted to use up, also the other colours are leftovers from the Stephen West Shawlography.  I had hoped to be able to make it long sleeve but didn't have enough of the gold yarn so going with short sleeves, but still longer than the pattern calls for.  This has been the first time I've changed a pattern.

A new start this week will be a long term project.

This is the Coziest Memory blanket by Kemper Wray,  free on Ravelry.  First I'll use up what is left of the Louie and Lola advent and then add other scraps to it.  I've only knit 2 squares, but enjoyed knitting them.

One advent goes a long way.  From the Louie and Lola Advent I've made:

Stripes

The Collective Shawl

Harlow Hat

Fair Isle Hat

Cozy Memory blanket

2021 advents and a finish

 I can't believe it's been a month since I posted.  Omicron is wreaking havoc around the world.  Fortunately we have so far been able to keep it out of the community, but experts say it is a matter of days, not weeks, before we too are affected.  In the meantime our Delta numbers have been very low, below 50, for a few weeks.  So for us life is continuing almost unaffected, apart from mask wearing being the new norm and vaccine passes being required for entry into cafes/ restaurants/cinemas/gyms/hairdressers/event, etc.

I had my booster shot on Friday so I hope that will give me some extra protection when  Omicron arrives.

On to knitting.  I haven't shared all my advents that I opened in December.  I have been very happy with all of these, unlike last year.

Louie and Lola, My Tassie Country Garden, was a 24 mini skein and 1 full skein set.  Along with treats like scented candle, fancy stitch markers and progress keepers.

I got the Summer Solstice Calendar from YarnTherapy.  This was a 20 mini skein and 1 full skein set, along with extras like labels, stitch markers, small project bag and tea.

Next was Mamawooling Cast On Calendar.  This was a parcel to be opened every week for 4 weeks and contained at least 1 skein of yarn.  There were also extras like progress keepers, chocolate, coffee, scissors.  My favourite is week 4.  A fingering and mohair in my favourite colour pairings of pale green and pale pink.  This will make a gorgeous shawl. I'm already knitting week 2 into The Collective Shawl for the mamawooling NYK.

Next was the West Yorkshire Spinners Xmas box that I got from Eskdale Yarns.  This came with this years Sparkly sock base and a choice of one of 2 colours for another skein.  There were also surprises in this.  A project bag, already being used for a sweater, a sock pattern, progress keepers and stitch markers in a candy cane theme, scissors and chocolate.  I opened this on Xmas Eve as I wanted to start the socks for a Xmas Eve cast on.

Last to be opened on Xmas day, was a Hygge box from Little Acorn Yarns.  There was a choice of tea or coffee, I chose tea.  Included in the box was the tea, a beautiful blend, 1 skein of yarn, a beautiful pottery mug, scented candle, book on Hygge, bookmark, 2 postcards and a project bag - being used for my Collective shawl.

So what have I been knitting with all these goodies?

I started and finished Stripes by Andrea Mowry.  This was with the Louie and Lola advent.

I've nearly finished Juxtaposition.  Made with the advent from YarnTherapy

I've started my first Brioche project, The Collective Shawl by Joji Locatelli.  This is knitted with Mamawooling caston calendar and Louie and Lola advent.

I've nearly finished the first sock with the WYS Xmas colours