Sunday 6 January 2019

Tying up loose ends and unravelling new ones


You may remember that I set myself a couple of Advent challenges - to crochet the Attic24 Hydrangea blanket and to knit the Madewell cardigan using mini balls of Opal sock yarn from previous years' Advent calendars. Things didn't go quite to plan, although I did finish the blanket before the start of 2019! I love the soft colours of the yarn and decided to make a wider border. The crochet linen stitch is very effective. Prepare to feast your eyes on a lot of hooky loveliness!








As you can see, Flo has made herself at home on it. Someone on Instagram commented that she was a bit like the Princess and the Pea! I thought that I'd spotted a cat-shaped dent in it a couple of days earlier, but caught her red-pawed one morning! I'm happy to share my blankets with her. 

I'm stuck on sleeve island with my Madewell cardigan. The ribbing around the bottom took me ages and I haven't picked it up since then. But it's in my pile of things to be finished before starting any more knits, so it will be done sooner rather than later. I'm going to try and make the sleeves match up as best I can, by knitting half of each mini ball for each one. At least the colours will match, even if they are showing different sections of the pattern. 




 A friend asked if I could make a couple of baby things for her to give a baby due any day now. I don't normally say yes to knitting requests, as I have quite enough things of my own to keep me busy, but baby knits are pretty quick. So I knit a Puerperium cardigan and a simple hat using a ball of Stylecraft Merry go Round yarn. The colour is Dark Rainbow and I thought it would work for either a boy or girl.




I am working on a late Christmas present for a friend - a crochet poncho. The yarn is new to me - Bernat Pop! and I really like the colour changes. It's hooking up fairly fast so hopefully I will get it finished in the next week or so, as long as not too many more yarny distractions come along!!




Speaking of yarny distractions, I have opened all of my miniballs from my ThreeBagsFull Advent yarn swap. The bright turquoise blue ball is sat in the middle because I wasn't quite sure where it might fit in my gradient. I'm wondering if I have the patience to knit another jumper in 4 ply yarn! 




I also treated myself to a Twelve Days of Christmas yarn calendar from Pixie Yarn. I gifted one to my dear friend Snoopydog and I wanted to share the fun too. It was an absolute delight to open a bag each day and see what micro skein had been dyed up. There were plenty of thoughtful gifts along the way too and if you take a look on my Instagram page, you'll be able to see each one. There's a link in the sidebar of this blog. I think that they will become a pair of socks in due course. What do you think?






Oh yes, more yarny distractions alert!  I have started another crochet blanket! The Attic24 Sweet Pea CAL started last Friday and as I love sweet peas, I knew I would have to join in! I resisted the temptation to start hooking until the baby knits were done and I'd made some headway on the poncho. But I can tell that this blanket is going to fly off the hook. It's very simple and intuitive and just full of gorgeous colours. I can almost smell the scent of the blooms just looking at the yarn!





It's always exciting starting new projects off. I can't wait to see how they grow over the coming days. xxx

5 comments:

busybusybeejay said...

I am doing the Sweet Pea CAL as well but I am doing the other colourway.

weavinfool said...

I’m pretty certain that Flo believes she shares HER blanket with you, not the other way around. 😊 that’s why she is always doing quality control checks on your knitting. Only the best for Flo.
I love both your blanket and sweater. I started an Attic 24 blanket a number of years ago and never finished it. I need to get back to it. Yours is lovely.
I hope 2019 is kinder to you than 2018. Last year was rather stinky for many.
As my hospital roommate said every time I was taken away for tests. (Years ago), keep your pecker up.

VeggieMummy said...

Your post is really a feast for the eyes; so many gorgeous projects. I've made several Attic 24 blankets - 3 as gifts and 2 I've kept. Not only are they beautiful, they are incredibly hard wearing. My 2 have survived the rigours of family life really well, with nothing more than a sling into the washing machine now and then. The sweet pea one does look very sweet pea-y! I love your Madewell cardigan. I too am stuck on sleeve island with one of my projects; they're taking me forever. Happy New Year to you and the adorable Flo - she looks extremely fetching against all that colourful yarn. You didn't think the blanket was for you did you?! xx

Christine65 said...

I really like the cardigan and hope you get off Sleeve Island soon! I started a 4ply jumper at the weekend (Breathing Space by Veera Valimaki), using Drops Baby Alpaca Silk and Drops Delight, so I know how sweaters in thin yarn can feel like a slog. I'm at 330-ish stitches at the moment, with another 64 to add over the next 15 rounds (it's a top-down raglan) before I divide for the body and sleeves. It's also striped; with a biased body, involving short-rows. Just call me a glutton for punishment! I've resisted the Sweet Pea CAL from Attic24 so far, but as DD2 has appropriated all my DK acrylic yarns, I might succumb. She's autistic and I'm not going to complain as crocheting means she spends less time looking at either the TV screen when playing on her Wii, or on her laptop. I'm thinking of signing up for a yarny advent calendar this year as I've seen some lovely ones around in the last month or so.

Jennyff said...

How lovely to have so much colour at this time of year, and so many projects on the go. Inspired, I’ve ordered a surprise pack of sock yarn, which makes it all your fault.