Blue Skies and Breezy Days

 More photo heavy than word heavy today. Tonight I have finished my one skein shawl scarf - it just flew off the hook!

It is one of those patterns that is a real boon because you just keep crocheting until the yarn runs out. You start at the narrow end and then make the rows longer and longer to make a big sort of sword shape. 

I wondered how it would work when wearing it but it is very versatile making a range of neck shapes.

It has an air of Spring about it - light and breezy with hues of blue skies to come.

It was well blocked and stretched to open up the texture of trebles.

If you have been 'hooked' by the photos, the pattern was from here.

Thanks for popping in as always. Jo xxx

March...ing

Marching - on through the months of 2020

Eating - Tiffin which is a real, and very rare, treat in our house.

Building - the last of the shelves in our new kitchen with a wall mounted drainer which collects the water.



Knitting - a hat/beret to use up the last of a hand dyed skein to match these gloves.

Loving - my first try at the Indigo dress from Tilly and the buttons with this wonderful Art Gallery fabric from Minerva.

Gardening - at home: so much to do because the dog tramples all over it. One side done, one side not done.

Finishing - my shirt dress from this fabric. It is a pattern someone gave me called the Charle Shirt Dress by Threaders (crafters companion)

Watching - the girls play outside for a change.

Buying - an oatmeal long sleeved Tee to go under my Loki sweater. It is so much fresher than wearing it with black.

Trying  - to hide a paint stain on Heidi's favourite jumper by finding a piece of applique I cut off a trashed toddler T-shirt many moons ago. It totally works.

Feeling - full of hope with lighter nights.

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xxxxx

This, That and Loads of the Other

Just dropping in with a little soft toy make. This is a very small bear which used up the last of some fawn yarn and miniature ball of left overs from the sock knitting bag. As with all toy knitting, the face is a deal breaker. I am not sure I have the eyes right yet but the nose was a good one. 

I will pop this in the gift box with a long piece of bunting I completed last week from some leftover triangles my aunt gave me after she had completed some community bunting. Here's hoping for a new born boy over the next year or so.

This last week or two I have lost my way a little with crafting. By finishing my epic projects of the Loki sweater and my postage stamp quilt so early on in the year, I feel at a bit of a loss as to what to choose next. Last night I had a scroll through Ravelry and a peruse of my PomPom magazines for inspiration.

Maybe the situation isn't being helped with a dog developing eczema on his undercarriage, my big girl is being tested for Lymes disease and there is only one road in and out of our town due to the flooding in Ironbridge. Making amazing things is a bit low down on our list of priorities at the moment!

Anyway, I wound up a skein of yarn last night, my last unused purchase from Wonderwool last year, and decided to start a one skein shawl. The pattern got going and I feel I will enjoy this over the next month. It also has a touch of hopeful Spring about it.

There has been sewing too but nothing to shout about, a scrappy cherry stone heat pad to finish off the bag of cherry stones that keeps leaking all over the place in the cupboard.

A top that ended up being too small for me in the arm circumference  but will make a nice gift for someone I know. The last of some fabric I made my Big girl a summer jumpsuit from.

A shirt dress nearly complete apart from a waist tie, buttons and button holes.

There was a used up bag of half made Christmas gift tags which I polished off and packed away for December. It made about 20 in 20 mins!

Starting the Indigo dress/tunic by Tilly and the Buttons.

You see, lots of things for sure but nothing that has come to a finale, a flourish or a journeys end. 

The next big thing will be just around the corner. 

Thanks for dropping in though. Jo xx

Wet Play Days

We are well and truly wet but luckily located here in Shropshire. We live on the top of the Ironbridge valley out of the way of flood water but floods are affecting all of the roads out of our small town with many road closures. Others have their wheat crops devasted or their homes ruined. It is a devastating case of affairs. For us, this half term holiday consists of mostly wet play days.

It is one of those weeks where you hunker down and crochet a wacky baby blanket.

I decided to well and truly bust the last bit of acrylic stash I had left in the donated basket. This wool was all given to me in mixed bags over the last few years. By holding two similar coloured strands together and using a 5mm hook it was a very quick make. 

I don't actually love it but I think it is interesting and it will be the right gift for somebody - a carefully chosen someone. I totally get that this is not everyone's cup of tea.

The pattern is called St. Peterburg which is from the book above. The book comes to you highly recommended; all of the blankets are very manageable. 

The version in the book has a lovely soft palette of cotton yarn. Mine isn't! It is one of the first blankets I have ever made that has a very straight edge which did not require a border. 

This blanket has seen me through a weeks worth of evenings with easy repetitive stripes, allowing time for fretful climate change thoughts.

Stay Dry Folks. Jo xxxx

The Loki Low Down

I have finished my Loki Sweater. I say sweater, the more observant of you will notice it doesn't have sleeves, shall we settle on round-necked tank top and I will tell you all about it...

I was stranded on Sleeve Island with not enough wool to get home. I thought it might happen when I started but I was willing to take the risk. I did try and knit 3/4 length sleeves but it didn't look at ease with a northern wintery pattern on the body.

I tried adding some of the cream wool to the cuff of said sleeve but it was more than a cuff really and I knew it wasn't right. It looked like what it was: a woman who had ran out of wool and knitted too much of the sleeve in the wrong yarn. Cream cuffs don't really have a place in my lifestyle either: cooking, dog walking, teaching children; they wouldn't be cream for long. 

So one night I asked Bloke what he thought. Maybe someone who knew nothing about knitting could come up with an idea that I hadn't even thought of but he said, "Why don't you try and get some  more of that wool?" Oh if only. I bought it in an end of line sale bin at Wonderwool last year. I don't even know what it is! To me it was a a great big skein of wool for £10.

Anyway, I decided to add ribbed sleeve facings and turn it into a tank top. I can wear a thin jumper, a long sleeved T-shirt or in this case a shirt underneath. I love the body shaping, length and width so I can use this pattern shape again if I want to and add the sleeves when I have more generous amounts of yarn.

 I also liked a new technique I learnt which was a three needle bind off on the shoulders. Here you cast off the two ends of live stitches together which makes for a really smooth finish and a seam that won't stretch out. It is like adding stay tape to the shoulders (if you sew you will know what I mean). It would have really come into its own if I had the weight of long sleeves hanging off the dropped shoulders but alas I didn't. Still, a good skill to learn.

Some you win, some you lose. I will never stop taking knitting and crochet risks - where would the fun be then? Jo xxx