Hello there!
Crochet
Rainbow blanket
My beautiful headache project has finally begun! It took me a couple of hours to start it, though. My first chain was too damn long (I did not count). But I wanted to make sure that the chains between peaks and the ripple would not squeeze the width too much.
So I did the first row and a second one and realized I did not have enough yarn. It would be as wide as a queen size bed. So I spent a few hours carefully frogging the second row and a few peaks from the first row to narrow it a bit.
This is the current progress; I have already added the first white stripe.
And a detail:
One row takes me about half an hour, so this will be a long time WIP. But it’s okay; there is no rush.
I enjoy that the project is brainless. Apart from the chains, I don’t need to count anything. And if there are nine or twelve chains, no one will notice, not even I.
Gamer bunny
Here is the bunny:
All his body parts are done. Since the last time, I made his arms and both parts for his hinge legs. Little progress but progress nonetheless.
I may put him together before I start fiddling with the accessories. But I need to check the assembly instructions first.
Knitting
Shorties Socks
As I said, I want to have one pair of socks on the needles permanently. Or at least until people around me have enough and until it’s still fun for me. I cast on 64 sts on 2.25 needles, did eight rounds of 2 by 2 ribbing and eight rows for the leg.
I am using VlnaHep Lofoty for this, and I noticed that I started from the wrong side of the cake. But do I care if my socks don’t come out the same as the yarn maker intended? Not really. I don’t even care if they will match. I don’t want to waste yarn to get to the same spot for the second sock either. Maybe later, when I will do fancier than vanilla socks, I may attempt to make them the same. But for now, a wearable pair is good enough for me.
Retro Raglan
On Sunday, I said I was not brave enough to start a sweater. On Monday, I started one.
It is the most vanilla sweater I could find with many finished projects. And it’s in the worsted weight yarn. You can find it for free on Ravelry.
I chose red heart retro stripes because I don’t have enough skeins in another thick yarn, and I didn’t want to spend money on yarn for the first sweater that might be most likely unwearable.
I did a gauge swatch in the round, and gosh, getting a gauge is annoying. I had to go down to 4.5 mm needles to get a semi-decent gauge.
I worked on it during the first workweek, and here is the progress after the first three days:
Love the wrong side as well:
And here is where I stopped:
I love it. It’s colourful, and the pattern is well done. I am doing the XL size because I like sweaters to be bigger. I may not have enough yarn to make it as long as I would like, but I could always finish it with black. So I don’t stress about it.
I finished the increases, and I’m waiting for inspiration to flow in and give me an idea of how to attach another skein. I don’t want to add a knot because the knitted fabric is too thin. I may look up some tutorials, but right now, I’m pretty darn happy with the progress.
Cross-Stitch
Sunflower
I gave away all the counted cross stitch kits I had, but one. I don’t have the stamina to count. But I will do my best in terms of self-discipline and not start another one before I finish the sunflower. And since I spent so many hours on it, I want to finish it. So here is the progress
The good thing about the counted kits is that I met a sweet older lady that was very happy to have them. I also gave her the hoop because I don’t feel like using it even on bigger projects. We have decided to meet again and have tea and chat. Yay for new crafty friends!
Acquisitions
I bought a skein, cone, or whatever of crochet thread. A friend has two daughters, and both love the new Wednesday show. So now I have a good excuse to make some Wednesday-themed amis. The younger one can have a doll, but I think I will make a key chain or a backpack buddy for the older sis.
But I need to finish the bunny first; I can’t have that many amis on the hook. Self-discipline, self-discipline, I can do that!
Yarny chit-chat:
As I said last time, I won over procrastination with a bit of magic (or introspection, however you wanna call it).
It still works. But I had difficulties because these two weeks were more stressful at my job. I accomplished something my boss didn’t believe could happen. (I have yet to tell him “I told you so” because he is on vacation XD) But that little win brought more work, more responsibilities and dealing with high-level managers. Plus, we had some changes in my team in these two weeks, so it was a lot.
Even with that, I did not procrastinate as much as before. Instead, I tried to relax and gain the much-needed strength to survive the next day.
But I did procrastinate, even if a little bit; I hate it. If you have some tips on how to deal with stressful times at work, please do share.
All this might be a longer process, but it’s worth it. Look at all the progress I made on my crafts, with a lot of overtime at work and all the other life stuff.
Regarding my reading habit, I am almost at the end of the book, and if the following week isn’t crazy, I will finish it.
I had people over this weekend, so I need to catch up on cleaning, cooking and laundry. So, I will meet you at the next post. Bye~!