Unfinished

I’ve come to the conclusion today that I do enough “craft” during the week to justify 2 blogs a week.  It makes more sense to break down my posts into smaller chunks, then try to bombard my readers with a plethora of information (and miss telling you stuff because there’s too much to say).  So, lucky you, you get to hear from me twice a week 😛 .  Now to organise my life around that!

Yesterday Mr HKWT and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and #1 Son celebrated his 5th birthday.  When we found out our 3rd child was due on the 4th of March (the day before our anniversary), Mr HKWT stated that we’d never get to celebrate our wedding anniversary again.  I blame him for our son being born on our wedding anniversary, he jinxed it 😛 .  But he was right, every year our anniversary becomes less and less and #1 Son’s birthday takes over a little bit more.  I think it’s par for the course, #1 Son is only a little boy, he doesn’t understand the importance of Mummy and Daddy’s wedding anniversary and that’s ok.  It won’t always be that way, in fact, one day he’ll be all grown up and will be happy to not be the centre of our attention for the entire day, at least that’s what I’m hoping.  At least Mr HKWT will never have an excuse to forget the date we were married 😀 .

Saturday night I went to another card making evening.  Well, it’s a craft night with the option to make cards or take your own craft.  I took my knitting but I also took some stamps with the view to make at least one card.  As you know (if you’re a regular reader) I’ve been participating in the Postcard Swap on ravelry and the next theme is Bobmas (which I’m assuming is the birth of ravelry).  So I made a knitting themed card.  Not sure if my swap partner is into knitting or crochet (she may hate this card 😕 ) but I wanted to use my very cute knitting stamps from Stampin’ Up.  I’m pretty proud of myself to be honest, it took ages to get the creative juices flowing.  I also made another little Tea themed card for a friend to go with a tea cup I’ve bought her.  I would have kept going but just those 2 card took about 3 hours to make, like I said it took a while to get the creative juices flowing.  Since then I’ve signed up for a stamp club which operates every 2 months (it’s kind of like a yarn club but I get to choose my products) so there will be lots more stamping and card making in my future.

Sunday afternoon found me knitting away like some crazy knitting woman as I tried to finish off the V Junkie sock.  I got there, eventually.  As it was I didn’t need to add extra rows at the end of the foot before the toe decreases.  I didn’t follow the pattern to the letter with the toe, Alice Yu has the toe decreased to the last 6 stitches (or some other tiny number) before grafting, I think I left it at 9 stitches on each needle (18 all up using the magic loop method).  I have thin feet so I don’t think it would matter all that much, going down to the smaller stitch count, but I don’t like the idea of having an almost complete triangle at the end of my foot.  I don’t know why.  I doubt it would change the fit, I just prefer a more rounded toe.

I’ve been trawling my way through the Socktopus book and I’ve settled on Om Shanti as one of my next sock projects.  Aside from the lovely pattern I’m intrigued by the short row toe, the toe up short row heel, and the cuff which I think might be grafted on somehow.  It will have to wait awhile though as I have a few other things to get through first……. I will resist the temptation to work on it!  According to the pattern though, it’s a provisional crochet cast on……. I don’t like crochet 😐 oh well, it will be worth it to learn a new technique.  Why is that everywhere I turn crochet in knitting comes up.  Maybe it’s just my taste 😮 .  Anyway, I’m going to alter it a little bit and make them longer in the leg, I have no call for ankle socks and those particular socks are too pretty to be relegated to luxury bed socks – they need showing off!!!!!

Since finishing off the V Junkie sock I’ve made the decision to finish off some of the other WIP’s I have sitting around.  I’ve picked up J.J’s Artichaut and made some progress down the right front.  I’ve made so many mistakes though that I’ve had to rip it back more than a few times.  I think I need to slow down.  I’m in such a rush to get everything finished that I’m making careless mistakes, aside from the fact that I’m really really tired and that’s not helping my ability to follow simple instructions, especially at night.

For a while now I’ve had the Gimli socks on my mind.  I started these last year for Mr HKWT but made so many mistakes in my sleep deprived newborn baby haze that I ripped them out (I’m not sure why I think I’m going to have more success now).  Yesterday I started them up again, and yes it is no coincidence that I started them again on our anniversary.  So far so good, mind you I’ve only worked on the cuff.  I’m knitting them in Top Draw Sock yarn from Skein.  I love Skein yarn, it is so soft and so smooth, and best of all it’s Australian 😀 .  It’s absolutely beyond beautiful!  Since purchasing the yarn last year there have been quite a few new colourways added to their range, I am so keen to add some of that to my stash, but first things first, use up what I have!  I’m really looking forward to getting to the Legolas socks that I’m planning on making for me.  I have a thing for those Middle Earth Elves 😛 !

From me and my little Easter Bunny to you, hope you’re having a great week!

See you soon

Christy

Restore thy Soul

It has occurred to me recently that in order to be a good mother and wife sometimes I need to put myself first and take care of me.  I will be the first to acknowledge that putting myself first grates against everything that I am.  For the last decade I’ve become well practised at putting my needs aside (although as I write this I’m also aware of how selfish I can be) but because I love my kids and my husband, I need to show myself some love too.  And it’s not always healthy to show that love by buying more yarn or even casting on another project 😛 .  Last weekend I endeavoured to show myself a little love and ventured across the road to my neighbours Stampin’ Up party.  I spent 3 hours without children, 3 hours of talking to other adults without the interruption of my little ones, 3 hours of being creative, and 3 hours of concentrating on a craft other than knitting.

I had a great deal of fun.  A short while after Mr HKWT and I got married I started making cards, I had a decent assortment of stamps and inks and it wasn’t long after the birth of J.J that I was hooked on scrapbooking.  There’s something really wonderful about choosing pretty coloured papers and embellishments and marrying them together.  It’s a whole different tactile crafting experience that I love and hope to do more of.  I gave up scrapbooking because there were too many little hands leaving little gifts of fingerprints all over my pages, and to be honest I don’t think I could go back to that particular craft.  I’m very particular about how I do my pages and I tend to steer away from bombarding each page with as many photos as possible, so I think if I were to take that up again I’d be 200 years old and still not anywhere close to finishing off an album for my 3rd child 😛 .  But making cards and playing with stamps, now that is something that is a lot like knitting – what insanity is that woman going on about? I hear you say – well, it’s pretty and it’s practical.  I can make a card and give it to someone who needs a little cheering up, far quicker than I can knit them up a shawl (although that is something that I will continue to do).  I can make several cards in a few hours in many different styles and colours, I can’t do that with knitting.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to stray from my first love, I’m just going to have a little hanky panky on the side with card stock and stamps 😉 .

This last week saw Aestlight finished.  WOOHOO 😀 !!!!!!  Unfortunately the weather has not been kind and it still remains unblocked.  But it is finished!  I think my stitch count was off at some stage, either on the lace section or in the border, I’m not sure which.  However, I resisted the temptation to rip it back, recount and then start the edging again.  You can’t tell, at least I don’t think you can tell.  I’m happy with it and that’s the main thing considering I’ll be the one wearing it.  I bound off the centre garter stitch triangle with the Banana (light), Elizabeth Bennet yarn I was using from Yarn Love, 2 friends of mine made that suggestion and I’m glad they did (and I’m glad that I listened to them), it looks really good.  I used a traditional Shetland bind off that Chrissy Graham of Snappy Stitches talked about in one of her podcasts.  It’s a really pretty bind off, which I know probably sounds a bit strange, but because the bind off has been done in the contrast yarn you can see it.  Seriously, if you plan on making the Aestlight – or any other shawl that needs a stretchier edge – use this bind off, it’s worth it, and it’s so easy.  I’m finding myself hoping to cast on a pair of toe up socks soon so I can see if the same bind off will work well with the cuff.

In a fit of anxiety and stress I wound up a skein of Loft from Brooklyn Tweed in the Blanket Fort colourway.  As with so many of my online purchases I’m still unsure of the colour.  I’m hoping that once the Sempervivum has been knit up it will look far less like the colour of dryer fluff.  I love the colour believe it or not (there is something about cleaning off the lint filter on my parents tumble dryer that I’ve always enjoyed – yeah I know, I’m weird) but I’m just not sold on it for this particular project.  I’m not so sure what it’s going to look like once it’s finished, it’s such a pretty pattern that I want the finished project to look striking, not a confused mix of purple and grey which is what I think it looks a bit like at the moment.  I love the pictures of Sempervivum on the Brooklyn Tweed website so much that I don’t want to be disappointed with my end project, I feel like that would not only be letting me down but a designer that I admire – not to mention all the hours spent working on the shawl.  I also bought the pattern and OH MY GOODNESS!  This is going to keep me on my toes!  All I can do is give it a go and cross my fingers, arms, legs, and toes that I’m able to grapple my way through it without making too many mistakes.  Wish me luck!

The V Junkie socks have had a whole lot of love this past week and I’m happy to report that the short row heel fits my foot wonderfully.  I’m really really happy with that heel construction and plan on using it again and again and again.  Does anyone out there know what the wear on that is like compared to a traditional heel flap?  Hmmmm…….. Anyway, I am through the foot and onto the forefoot part, the pattern stated to end the foot section on row 15 once a certain measurement was reached.  I didn’t do that.  I was a centimetre off the measurement and the pattern repeat is 2cm long (yes, I sat there and measured it like the knitting dork that I am), so I decided that instead of adding an extra centimetre to my sock I was going to start on the forefoot section and add extra rows before the toe decreases if necessary.  I think that’s a good decision.  I just have to remember to make sure I take good notes so I can make the next sock exactly the same, otherwise there could be trouble.

I realised the other day that I have 2 pairs of finished socks and 3 single socks currently, plus 1 on the needles (well 2 if you consider the Pomotamus socks I started a while back but I’m planning on frogging them).  I think it’s time to start on the other socks…… why can’t I grow an extra set of arms just for sock knitting?

Last year I got a bee in my bonnet about sewing up a drawstring bag with a boxed out bottom for my sock projects.  Well, after far too long I finally got around to sewing one up.  It’s not perfect but boy am I happy with it!  Not only is it pink, it has those cute little houses on it (reminds me of the Smurfs or some other cute cartoon character), it makes me happy and it’s the perfect size for my current sock project.  It holds my yarn, my extra long circular, the project, the pattern and a small notions tin, with a little bit of room left over (I managed to stuff the Aestlight in there as well on Thursday to take to my craft group).  I am very very happy with it and I’m looking forward to sewing up more in the not too distant future.

The next week is a going to be a fun one.  On Tuesday we celebrate not only #1 Son’s 5th birthday but our 13th wedding anniversary.  I’m hoping this year everyone is well  as last year everyone was throwing up 😕 .  What a way to celebrate a wedding anniversary by delivering a baby!  At least that is one anniversary that I’ll never ever forget!!!!!  Or even be able to celebrate without thinking of my son.  J.J is generally so sweet on our anniversary, making sure that we don’t get forgotten in all the birthday festivities.  I really do have the sweetest kids.

What do you think of the new blog theme?

Have a great week 😀

Christy