Hello there!
Nothing is finished, but there is progress on everything.
Crochet & Knitting
After writing this post (Yes, I don’t write from start to finish.), I dropped my ambition to join the Sophie’s Universe CAL. I would not be able to finish that this century.
Is it possible I will change my mind and join later after I am bombarded with everyone’s blankets? Absolutely. This kind of freedom is what makes hobbies even more awesome. No pressure, no real deadlines with consequences. For now, I will enjoy the progress others are making.
Works in progress
The Ugly blanket
It’s growing! I worked on this for a few days before bed. As the blanket grows, the rows grow as well and take longer. It’s still not as wide as I want it, so I will keep increasing. Currently, it’s 85 cm/33.5”.
If you can spot the yellow dot in the middle, that’s a stitch marker showing the progress since the last week.
Still love how straight the edges are. I don’t think I will put a border on it.
Foxy the Squirrel
I was planning to finish Foxy yesterday, but… I got stuck playing a game with friends. But that’s fine, right? We don’t hurry with projects here.
The legs and body piece is finished apart from the stuffing. The arms are also done - so the only thing is the tail and the bag. And sewing. Did you hear me sigh? Because that was a loud one.
I wish designers would realise that surface crochet exists and utilise it a bit more so that we could start an arm from the body, ears from the head and so on.
Or maybe! I should shush about not-wanting-to-sew and learn it properly. I did the same thing with weaving in my ends. At first, I did not mind doing it. Then I worked on a big project with so many ends it was driving me nuts. So I learned that weaving in the ends does not mean the only way to undo that would be using scissors or a furnace.
Anyway.
I got great tools for sewing = curved/mattress/upholstery/whatever-you-wanna-call-them needles. For stubborn pieces, I use something rubbery to gain traction.
For weaving the ends in amigurumi, I use these long needles because I like to go through the body a few times to secure it.
Traveling Afghan
Another square is finished!
Notice how beautifully it shows how much stockinette curls - hence the garter border on every other knitted project.
I also noticed that my stockinette is not exactly showing the nice even Vs - one side is almost a straight line, but I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, so I googled. According to this article, I did nothing wrong; that’s just how the yarn wants to lie.
I was mindful while purling so my stitches wouldn’t be twisted, and I did a good job. Also, this is the first project that did not require me to fix any mistakes. Which might be good, but I wanted to practice that skill - also on edge stitches. Anyway, that will come. I am pretty damn sure it will.
I don’t know yet, which square I want to do next. But I gotta tell you, <warning, rant coming!> the people who organised this project should be… …not allowed to do anything like that. Ever. Again. There is not a single place with all the patterns - some links from the landing page don’t work. Some are on Ravelry, and some are not. Every single one is done differently - could you people maybe agree on a layout for the pattern? Or maybe could you follow the same gauge? I will not swatch for 24 squares.
Some of the designers were awesome. They took a clear picture of their square - so that I could see the stitches I’d never seen before. I know I am too demanding. They added video tutorials for the unusual stitches. And one lady even added written and charted instructions and a chart!
So, I did my own thing. I created a layout myself, added the best picture I could find of each square and the pattern and printed it out. It took me about two hours, but it was worth it. Because now, I can see all the squares and decide which one I want to make next. I don’t have to dig through 24 websites, ugh. I cannot jump to the most complex one, my skill level is still pretty low, and I need to build up my knowledge slowly. Rant over.
I will continue working on it; it’s a great learning opportunity, including properly checking the whole project before I start. There are some squares I don’t like, so I might substitute them and also add more of my own. It would be good to have a stitch sampler. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; I should not worry about the whole blanket having just two squares done.
It might be cool to start another knitting project in case I get stuck on the squares. Hmmm. I feel the startitis coming.
Cable hat
This is technically not a work in progress. But I have the yarn picked, the pattern is open in my browser, and I plan on starting it today or tomorrow, depending on how Foxy seaming goes.
I was talking about the malabrigo yarn and wanted to make a hat from the archangel. And I found a pretty skein in my stash that is approximately the same thickness as malabrigo. So I can practise the hat on this yarn and then make it with the ~10 times more expensive merino.
I made the tunisian project bag with the same yarn but different colour. So I figured it would be a good project bag for this hat.
I am still on the fence about pulling out the metallic thread. I’m not too fond of it, it’s a pain to crochet with it, and if it comes out, it’s challenging to tuck it back in the hat. … Yep. I will spend the time and take it out.
Yarny chit-chat: New Year Recommendations review
Setting NYRs is one thing, but keeping up with them is a whole new world. I’d like to do a review with you because the first month of the year is almost over. It would be good to check on the NYRs and decide whether their original version is still feasible.
- Make a blanket that an adult could use - the ugly blanket is in progress. I assume this one is on its way to being finished.
- Make a knitted hat - I made the wobbly hat, and now I consider this one finished. The hat was a means to an end; I wanted to learn the absolute basics of knitting, and somewhat, I did that. Right now, I don’t want to make another hat.
- Make a knitted pair of socks - that is still feasible, but I need to practise a bit more.
- Send 50 postcards to the world - Five cards were delivered this year, and five are on the way. But they were all sent in December, so I don’t count them here. Right now, I consider this NYR as not in progress. But I will get back to it; I have 11 months to catch up.
- Be mindful about buying yarn - I think that so far, so good. I bought two hanks of malabrigo, that’s all. And I was tempted so many times, but I always told myself, “you have enough, chill”. And those two hanks already have a project assigned to them, so buying with purpose is kiiiiiinda there, but a bit too late. Gotta do better.
Regarding my other NYRs, that I deemed too personal to share, I mostly totally suck. And seeing that one-twelfth of the year is already gone, uuugh. I have two NYRs with a deadline in January, and I will not be able to tackle those. Maybe one of them. Yep, if I sit my ass down and do it, I could make it in time.
Some of my NYRs are more long-term, but I somewhat ignore them. Even though they are good for me and my growth as a person. Do you crafty people also sabotage yourselves?
I will think of some reminders and schedule them directly into my calendar. I am a calendar freak; if my calendar stops working, I stop existing.
Wish me luck; I might do another check-in at the end of February. Just to keep me accountable.
See you in the next post ~