Fibre 4 Fibres Giveaway preview 40

I can't believe it's Friday already and we are halfway through January! I am so enjoying putting together the prizes each week. I try to theme them in some way and this week, I think the prize has a definite wintry feel to it.

The prize includes a fabulous Thimble and Thread 'Stay Home' basket which has been donated by @ruthlovestoknit on Instagram. This is a great storage basket with plenty of handy pockets on the outside. To go with this, there are 5 skeins of West Yorkshire Spinners The Croft Wild Shetland Aran roving yarn which has been produced in association with Jamieson & Smith, along with a pattern leaflet for a scarf and hat. Tribe Yarns has donated a skein of Rosy Green merino DK yarn in a beautiful teal colourway. There is a skein of Madeline Tosh merino light yarn in a gorgeous mix of blues, greens and purples and two balls of Regia tweed 4ply sock yarn. Finally, a pretty stitch marker charm bracelet has been donated by my friend Ann who is @busypottering over on Instagram. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated a prize.

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 17th January, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your details with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Last week, the total passed £12,000 which is incredible! Thank you and stay safe! xxx

 

Mistletoe Kisses socks

I have a finished object to share with you. These socks were my Christmas Eve cast on using a sock set and pattern from Ellie over at Craft House Magic. They were a fun knit with the need to concentrate for the stitch  pattern  just under the cuff and then lots of  plain knitting allowing for TV viewing. I love the little bobbles which represent  mistletoe berries. And can you  spot the little kiss at the top of the heel? I knit these on and off from Christmas Eve onwards and finished them in early January.

Since finishing these socks, I've not done a great deal of knitting. But I have had a big tidy up and reclaimed my living room as it was in danger of being mistaken for a yarn shop! All the yarn and most of the project bags have been moved upstairs into the craft room and it feels so much better. I haven't started a new project yet, but am working on mu Halloween socks as they were never completed last year. When in doubt, knit a sock! Easy knitting so I don't have to think, with fun colour changes too. The bonus of plain sock knitting means that I can listen to audiobooks, so I've started with The Beekeeper of Aleppo which I'm enjoying very much. Thank you for all your kind comments and suggestions on my previous post; you've given me some great suggestions. Stay safe and well. xxx

Lost mojo ...

 ... If found, please return to josiekitten ASAP! I am not sure why, but I am feeling very unsettled at the moment. I can’t seem to concentrate on doing anything and just flit from one thing to another without achieving a great deal in the process. It’s not for the want of projects as I have lots of WIPs to occupy me, not to mention my ‘Make 9’ for 2021. I definitely have more than enough gorgeous yarn too. I feel like a difficult child who rejects everything that is suggested with a mutter of ‘boring’ and a heavy sigh combined with a roll of the eyes. Even Flo has started to give me disapproving looks. What has brought this creative slump upon me I have no idea. It’s not as though anything has changed for me, despite the latest UK lockdown, as I’ve been shielding since March anyway. Even the prospect of being in one of the first groups to be vaccinated as I’m in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group hasn’t helped; I think that even once I’ve had the vaccine, I will still have to continue to take precautions because it isn’t known what kind of immune response people who are immunosuppressed will have anyway. I’m also concerned that my treatment will be delayed because of Covid. I know that my local rheumatology consultant is working on the Covid wards so has a lot less time available for her usual patients. I guess that there are lots of contributing factors to help explain my current mood. If you have any suggestions of instant gratification projects or activities, books or TV programmes to rekindle my spark, please let me know. Thank you. Stay safe and well. xxx

Fibre 4 Fibres Giveaway preview 39

 Thank you so much for stopping by today. I was really thrilled with the response to last week's raffle, especially after taking a short break over Christmas. While everything in the world is in chaos, at least we have yarn to enjoy. It definitely improves my mental health both crafting and holding these weekly fundraising raffles, so I plan to continue throughout this third lockdown in the UK. I can post things quite safely as we are fortunate to have a mobile post office van which comes to the village once a week, and I don't even get into the van - the lady comes to collect my post while I'm all masked up.

This week's prize is a real beauty! The prize includes a pretty floral print project bag with coordinating lining and a lampwork glass bead on the zipper pull, made by my friend Michele across the Pond. Her Etsy shop is ThreeBagsFull and definitely worth a visit. There is a skein of the luxurious superwash merino, cashmere and nylon yarn in the colourway Sweet Dreams which has been donated by Ellie from Craft House Magic. Ellie has also donated a pair of Hiya Hiya sharps 2.5mm circular needles. Stevie from the Curated Yarn Co. has donated a skein of her merino nylon yarn in the colourway Mulberry Jam - it looks almost good enough to eat! There is also a ball of Opal sock yarn in shades of pink and purple. Fiona from Scarlet Stitchcraft has donated a set of pretty stitch markers and there is also some tea to enjoy, courtesy of both Stevie and Yorkshire Tea. Thank you so much to everyone for your kind donations.

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 10th January, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your details with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Let's see if we can get to £12,000 this week! Thank you and stay safe! xxx

A new year begins

Hello and thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope that you had a good time over the holidays, even if your celebrations weren't quite what you'd hoped for. Usually at the start of a new year, I look back on everything that I've achieved over the past 12 months and see if I've managed to achieve all my goals. My only hope last year was that 2020 would be the year that I managed to get my myositis under control. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened, despite 12 weeks of chemotherapy treatment and also starting to take a new immunosuppressant. I have appointments with both of my consultants (locally and in London) at the beginning of February, and I'll hopefully find out what their plans are. Fingers crossed that my appointments don't get cancelled because of Covid. I'm looking forward to getting the vaccination and for a gradual return to a more normal way of life. I've spent three quarters of last year at home, shielding and am looking forward to being able to go to the beach and eat a bag of chips with plenty of salt and vinegar on them!

Knitting and crochet has definitely helped me to keep sane over the last twelve months, and I've tried to set myself goals for each month to keep me focussed and also to give my days some structure. I had a sock pattern in Simply Knitting magazine at the start of 2020, and managed to release four more sock designs over the year. In case you can't remember them, here they are, along with links to the patterns in my Ravelry store ...

Squeezebox Socks

Rainbow Ripples

Mermaids' Playtime

Give and Take socks

It's Seagull o'clock

My fundraising for Myositis UK has been really important over the last year, and the yarn raffles and proceeds from my designing have managed to raise over £11,000 so far. Fundraising gives me something positive to concentrate on each week and I feel proud of what I've done so far. I'm carrying on with the weekly raffles throughout 2021 and have set a new target of £20,000. Let's see what happens! Thank you to everyone who has supported my fundraising by donating a prize or buying virtual raffle tickets! 

This year, I'm hoping to knit some more jumpers for myself so decided to create a 'Make 9' grid. There are three jumpers - Susurrus by Joji Locatelli, Bubbly Sweater by Isabell Kraemer and Pavement by Veera Valimaki. I already have the yarn for each of these projects, so shall feel very virtuous knitting from stash. There's one shawl - Nightshift by Andrea Mowry - and again, I have the yarn for this, gifted to me by my lovely friend Kim. I'm planning to take part in the Rainbow Chronicles year long project, which is a collaboration between Kelly Lay and Sew Sweet Violet. At the end of 2021, I should have twelve pairs of socks, the colours of the rainbow! The Habitation throw by Curious Handmade has also made it onto my list. I have no need for any more blankets, but I do love this design. Then there are three projects that I'm hoping to design. I have ideas bubbling away in the background and am looking forward to having a play with some yarn. As well as knitting, I will also be doing some crochet and some embroidery, and I hope to sew a few garments for myself too. So some exciting plans for the year which will definitely keep me out of mischief! What plans have you made for 2021? Is there a new knitting skill you'd like to accomplish? Please do leave me a comment telling me. Stay safe and well and I'll catch up with you again soon. xxx

 

Fibre 4 Fibres Giveaway preview 38

 Hello and Happy New Year to you! I'm hoping that 2021 is going to be a much better year all round! I decided to have a break from my raffles over Christmas, but am back for the start of what I hope will be another amazing year of fundraising. You helped me to reach my target of £10,000 last year so I'm being ambitious and have increased my target to £20,000. I hope that the money that you help me raise will be enough to fund a particular project in its entirety. Fingers crossed!

This week's prize is a riot of colour. The prize includes 6 balls of Stylecraft Special DK yarn, 3 balls of Stylecraft Bellissima DK yarn, 2 balls of Stylecraft Monet yarn, 2 balls of Stylecraft Batik yarn, 1 ball of Stylecraft Head over Heels yarn, a Stylecraft Dreamcatcher yarn cake, a Stylecraft tote bag, key ring and 10 gift tags and a limited edition booklet of crochet patterns. Thank you to Julia Marsh, Elphyn Rose and Stylecraft for the donations. 

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 3rd January, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your details with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Let's see how much we can raise this weekend and start 2021 with a bang! Thank you and stay safe! xxx

Advent socks ta dah!

You might remember that I blogged about this yarn in my daily Blogmas posts, way back on December 2nd. I worked on them every day throughout Advent and on Christmas Eve I added the afterthought heels to two pairs of Christmas Lights socks. I had to use a different mini for the second pair, but I absolutely love them and wore my pair on Christmas Day. The second pair were a gift for my friend Julia who is very appreciative of anything handmade. The yarn is from The Yarn Badger and is absolutely gorgeous! Liz dyes such stunning self striping yarns. I have a couple more sat waiting in my stash to be knitted up. I think I will declare 2021 to be the year of stripy socks! xxx