Cactus makes perfect!

Its that time of the year where I end up having to fit in a few prick knits, else I end up in a right prickle come the end of the month…

What am I on a-drought? End of the school year teachers gifts. I actually have planty of time this year as I realised with three weeks to go , as opposed to some years where its the weekend before…but I digress.

Felix has two teachers in her class (one is a TA but I like that she refers to him as an actual teacher, not just an assistant) and for them, she has chosen a duck (which I already have knitted up in my spare knits bag, or the bag of old craft stock, or the bag of knitted whimsy’s) and a cactus.

This is where I go, ‘the best laid plants of mice and…’

I actually have a cactus in The Bag, but she was browsing through my copy of 100 Little Knitted Projects by Sarah Keen (Inkling needed it for his teacher, but thats next post) and…

She spotted the ‘Cactus in a Pot’ pattern and it was love. Managed to use up a small oddment of wool at least, and I may have had far too much fun with Felix digging through all the wool, but, its done!

Next post: Inklings foray into knitting patterns for his teachers…

But that aside!

It’s been a weird week where I feel like I have done loads and loads but don’t feel I have much to show for just how busy I’ve been. I have been doing a fair bit of reflection this week as well though – which definitely explains why my head is so tired – clearly been thinking too much!

No non knitting news or viking news this week. Just a quiet one.

And yes, I am fully aware that I have had a quiet week yet also stated I have been getting loads done. These things are completely exclusive of one another and I stand on that hill!

Anyway, till next post where I think you will be prickled pink at the knit I will be sharing…

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 54 (Used 3 – productive week!)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 22
Wool given to me – 28
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 11

Total – 861 (Net difference: +20 – creeping back down again…)

Can’t cedar wool fir the trees…

Seeing as we’re over halfway through the year, figured it was thyme to give you an update on a long term project.

Some of yew may remember that fir this years Christmas decorations the plan is to knit a 100 tiny Christmas trees.

Well, despite it feeling like its taken a centertree to knit them, all 100 have been knitted!

Only, small problem… well… I suppose a picture pinet-s a thousand words…

So lets do some clearing shall we?

The plan is now fir Felix and Inkling to decorate all the trees, and once done, I’ll knit the trunks and sew them closed. That shouldn’t take quite so long as knitting them, although tree-ing to find the time to get these decorated may be the more difficult part…

In non knitting but related to wool news, another batch of natural dying was done, this time Felix chose black currants as our black currant bush is overflowing with berries once again. So many berries…

Personally, olive the muted pinkish purple colour, Felix significantly less so. So no further experiments done on this batch (when it’s my turn to play with the dye pot again I am totally repeating this one and trying a few different things with it – including fleece, I think this on my distaff like some form of forbidden candyfloss wood be amazing.)

In non knitting viking news, I passed another two tests! I can now recall all manner of viking facts, carry sharp knives, light fires and act my nalbinded socks off! Was a really good weekend but yew woodn’t be-leaf how tired I am from it!

And that’s about it, really. Oh, turns out a few of the other vikes are as bad as me fir wool and there was a wool shop near the test site and… impromptu wool shop! I was good and walked out with three balls in acrylic DK in colours I knew I was lacking fir toy knitting (yes, wool is better, no, I am not knitting a toy that’s going to be dragged through the mud every five seconds that requires hand washing. That’s a special kind of cruel.)

And with that I bid yew to keep safe until the next post!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 51 (Used 5 – productive week!)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 22 (Up by 3)
Wool given to me – 28
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 11

Total – 864 (Net difference: +22 – creeping back down again… Just need to refrain from getting more wool!)

In Great Ant-icipation!

Its been a few weeks since this one was completed and gifted to a friend at work, but its also been a busy few weeks full of Viking mischief and mayhem.

(Yes, you can all bee excited that this is a non viking post! Kind of. More on that later.)

On the run up to my friends birthday, I was debating just what to make for her. Idea after idea but no ant-ser came to mind until…a conversation about pets.

As well as the cutest bearded dragon and the fluffiest main coon kittys, she also has several insects which she keeps. Some ant-astically bee-autiful beetles, and a few different breeds of ants. And it was these that gave me an ant-cellent idea…

This is one of the more exotic but beginner friendly ants you can have – Messor barbarus (Harvester ant).

And this is my knitted version. (Ant from Amigurumi knits by Hansi Singh) I’m pretty happy with the result, although everyone who saw it in progress (The Valkyries, my pathfinder group) all felt it was less antsy and more eldritch nightmare. I mean, it does look right at home on my Cthulhu Death may Die board…

The little critters went down a treat, and my friend was like the ant who got the honey.

Not sure my other work colleagues are quite so smitten with it, most look at it, and my tardigrade, with bee-musement.

On to other wool news, I have done quite a bit of spinning (three skiens since last week) and Felix has begun the great dying experiment. Nettle was first:

Such a nice greenish yellow (or garlic butter coloured as Felix has informed me) and then a second skien was put in the dye bath with a pinch of iron, giving it a slightly duller, darker tone (skien on top).

Do excuse the lighting – the sun is out and everything looks either bleached out or strangely dark…

Anyway, right now we have another cooking away – black currants, as our black currant bush is looking to be producing another bumper crop. Not as much as the 5kg of berries from the other year, but there’s a lot!

Will share that one next post, if it’s a success or not.

In non knitting or spinning news, we have viking news – I passed my history test and I’m now a Frihal! No longer am I slave to the title thrall, and I have a pendent and certificate to prove it! Not going to lie, studying for that test was hard – I hadn’t realised how little time I had to commit to something like that. Although between full time work, full time mum around said work, all the hobbies (weaving, knitting, spinning, dying, carding, shield making), vikinging, cthulhu, boardgame club, pathfinder… Yeah…

Hmm. May need to adjust my work-life-hobby balance…

Anyway, it’s been busy. But it’s been the good kind of busy. Oh, I snuck off to Alton Towers on Monday with Timbercat, highly recommend the nemesis reskin – it’s bee-rilliant! Especially if you get front row seats!

Until next post, stay safe and try and keep out of the worst of the heat!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 46 (Used 1)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19
Wool given to me – 28 (Engel picked me up two)
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 11 (up by three)

Total – 866 (Net difference: +24 – creeping back up – but it bothers me less when it’s hand spun wool, as I am using fleece that’s already taking space for that)

Now entering warp speed!

Thats certainly how this year feels – I genuinely don’t know where it’s gone. I feel like if I stop, I’ll get weft behind!

Enough of that, let’s shuttle along…

Its been a whirlwind of a weekend – Rabbie, Missy, vikings, oh my!

Rabbie does an excellent job as always summarising things her end, and yes, dog napping was attempted, no I did not meet Mr Motivator, yes there was an endless bag of bacon, yes, there was a meeting of the coven (Rabbie even brought the cauldron) and sadly yes, OwlLady did take a tumble and hurt her wrist.

Thankfully it has been confirmed as not broken, but it’s in a splint for a few weeks and already OwlLady is getting a bit warped about not having her knitting or arrows.

The whole weekend was great, but it was also a blur, and I am still shaking off the tiredness. We got two new people last night, so all the hard work Rabbie and Timbercat put in has well and truly paid off.

But where is the crafts? I hear you cry, well, not knitting today. I know, you win some, you loom some.

I have been doing a lot of tablet weave, just shy of seven meters in fact, following an adapted version of a viking age find from Birka. This was cut off the loom last Monday and was sewn into all the edges of my cloak by Thursday. Friday was spent sewing leather onto my full sized shield after working out how to use an awl on Missy’s mini one (pictured)

And with that, I’m out. I need to get some rest before the next wave of chaos hits!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 47 (Used 1)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19
Wool given to me – 26
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 8

Total – 862 (Net difference: +21 – creeping down now!)

Can I axe you a question?

Have you ever needed to attack / defend yourself from hoards of knitted monsters?

Or perhaps your little (or large) viking needs an axe-essory to sharpen their day?

If yes, axe-ellent! You have come to the right place!

So, I had a commission to knit the tiny axe (four actually) I did for my Christmas decoration last year and…I hadn’t written the pattern down… Which in hindsight, was axe-tually a bad idea… and thus, I now present:

The little axe pattern! As always, free on the blog!

Aren’t they axe-orable?

(And yes, I am laying it on heavy with just ‘axe’ as the pun because if you list all the parts of an axe – bit, head, shaft, butt – you end up with innuendos, not puns, and I’m trying to keep it fairly clean here!)

In non knitting news, but spinning news, I have spun two balls of Romney fleece. Nice, soft, springy wool and more importantly, white in colour. Why? Felicity has a grand Viking related plan for a display she wants, and it involves nettles, hand spun wool, and lots and lots of natural dying materials… When this begins to come together I’ll be sure to share!

In non crafting news, Vikings last weekend, Vikings this weekend. You can tell we’re deep in the Viking season. Does mean that my crafting time is severely impacted, and also being used for very different crafts. Again, when it comes together, I’ll share!

That’s all for this post as I have a lot to do, nowhere near enough time, and despite being really excited about things behind the scenes, I could actually kind of do with a nap…

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 46 (Used 1)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19
Wool given to me – 26
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 8 (up by 2)

Total – 863 (Net difference: +22 – creeping up, but that’s cause I’m using my fleece so…cant complain?)

Lets get ready to Ragnorock!

Shed your cloak and take a seat be the fire, have a horn of mead (or tea) and settle down to an epic saga. Tonight I shall weave a tale of fearless warriors, a tapestry of adventure and intrigue…

So be prepared to shield yourself from the pillage of puns coming your way!

Last weekend was the first big viking event for us – myself, Inkling and Felix spent three days as vikings at the Birmingham Games Expo (Engel was on hand to child wrangle of necessary and as a civillian was mainly dispatched to get things for us – ah…so nice to have a thrall to ourselves). It was a raiding good time. There was much laughter (no slaughter), lots of learning (no looting), lots of sharing (nor pillaging) and explaining things to the public.

It was a fantastic plunder-cise for the kids, involved enough they got the feel of a proper show, but with so many vikings (142 approx) they could happily sit back and have quiet time away from the public.

Not that they wanted quiet, all they wanted to do was axe questions! We learned to make nettle cordage, Felix learned to blow a viking horn, Inkling learned to play hnefatafl. We learned about natural dying, and did loads of foraging. We even took part in a viking spa and learned about all the products they would make to ensure they were fighting fresh!

Dont be surprised if things relating to all these start cropping into the blog, it’s already become odin-ary for the kids to pop up with a bag of foraged leaves and things to start an epic natural dying display…

But I will worry about the tiny nettle baskets after I finish my shield. That’s gonna be a post in itself once it’s done…

But enough of this saga, let’s get to the good bit – the knitting!

(Credit to Timbercat here who was precariously balanced to provide more light to get this photo just right)

I was given this pattern, Shields & Axes by Amanda Berry, by one of the fellow vikings at my viking club and I knew I had to make the longship asap. I Keely needed to knit it like now. So I did. This project barged all the others out of its way, leaving them abandoned in it’s wake.

And I’m glad I did, even to me it’s rudderly oar-some. Keeping things above board, I managed to actually follow the pattern for this one. Sort of. Oar-most. I changed the sail colours and altered the shields to match my viking groups. The pattern also includes little (historically incorrect) vikings which, I wreck-en with a few tweaks, I could turn into all the members of the group…

But that will be a project ferry far into the future, as I am battening down the hatches to concentrate on a whole bunch of things to make and do right now. Don’t axe, I’ll just shield you from the chaos until it’s time to reveal it here in the blog!

So until next post, I raise a horn of mead (tea) and wish you safe adventures.

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 45 (No change)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19
Wool given to me – 26
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 6

Total – 862 (Net difference: +21 – no change, which is better than it going up again…)

Careful, they byte

If you scroll through your history or tap into your short term memory terminals, you’ll remember how I warned you that I would end up with quite a bit of non knitting posts this year. Well, heres one.

Craft medium: Paint

Subject: Battletech

Subcategory: Geek

As many of you know, Engel loves wargames. 40k, Fallout and Battletech to name three.

He loves collecting them, playing them, building them…just not painting them.

I on the other hand will throw up a 404 error when confronted with a sea of grey plastic minis…

With this in mind, I started to chip away at a bit at this sea of grey. And then found out that there was a Battletech tournament. With that, all projects on hold and the paint was out!

The tournament has passed now, Engel placed an amazing…13 out of 15. Our friends Ratman (10th) and…a friend whose online user name I don’t actually know, placed third.

He had a good time, people complimented my painting and I had a very fun weekend with the terrors instead. And all my soft crafts where out in full! Needle felting, knitting, spinning, kumihimo, latch hook, oh it was glorious!

And with that, I can hear them calling for more attention. Apologies for the lack of puns, a bit hard to fit all the nuts and bolts in sometimes, and trying to do so was making my screws come loose!

Until next post, which I can guarantee will be glorious in it’s woolem finery, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 45 (Up by one!)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19 (Up by 9)
Wool given to me – 26 (Up by 1)
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 6

Total – 862 (Net difference: +21)

Bee yourself

Do your own sting!

Or in my case, look longingly at vintage daisy makers then cobble my own together…

But what has that to do with bees? Well, its un-bee-lievable that you asked, so lets stop bumbling and get to the knitting!

Another window wreath (I haven’t forgotten them!) And this one quite simple for the summer time. The bees I have knit before, and again they have proved a quick, easy-beesy, versatile knit. The pattern for them is Buzzy Bee Motif by Kippers Ning and its free – who doesn’t love a free-bee?

(And no, I won’t bee-hive myself, the bee puns will continue! I have a buzz-illion of them!)

Ahem. Here’s a close up of a bee-autiful bee…

One of the main reasons for wanting to make this wreath was, as mentioned at the bee-ginning of this post – after longingly looking at vintage daisy makers (I blame Retro Claude over on youtube) I decided to DIY one.

(Excuse the mess, I was buzzing about and clean forgot to take another photo before it disintegrated.)

After a few goes I was getting some pretty cute daisies. Then even cuter dandelions!

And that is the un-bee-lievably dull tale of why I was knitting bees. I’d say the ending stung, but it’s really cute and I love the placement of the bees and flowers. (Shout out to my fellow Valkyries Rabbie and OwlLady! Especially OwlLady for her patience with positioning the bee part of the wreath just right to give a crescent moon, and a slightly asymmetric look.)

In other news, first viking show of the season (for myself, there’s been a few before) has been and gone and I am buzzing with excitement for the next – Felix and Inkling will be coming along as proper little vikings!

Now to make sure they can properly yell ‘For Valhalla!’

Until next post, stay safe, and bee yourself!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 44 (Up by three!)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19 (Up by 9)
Wool given to me – 26 (Up by 1)
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 6

Total – 863 (Net difference: +22)

Optimist Prime or Negatron?

Usually I’m a realist, but in this case I can transform myself.

Yeah, I know, what a bunch of beryllium baloney…

I can hear the Gears and Ratchets turning, but I imagine most of you will already know where this is going… So let’s transform and roll out!

Inkling is about to turn seven (I have no idea where the years have gone) and wants a few friends round for his birthday.

But what to make for a bunch of unruly Constructicons lest they transform into Devastator?

Well, coincidentally, Inklings birthday is also the 40 year anniversary of the classic Transformers Movie (that is no Mirage, the movie is older than me). The same movie Inkling has watched about a hundred times as a small child growing up.

When Engel ‘casually’ mentioned there was a cinema screening of that very same movie on his birthday…well, problem solved! But what to make?

Autobot hats! Cute, practical, great stash buster, and not a lot of sewing etc required. (This is my own basic intarsia hat pattern that lives in my head, just so you know.) But there’s something missing…

For one to stand and one to fall, we need a deception in the mix. And it’s hardly a Shockwave that Felix has claimed this one as hers!

In other news, viking events are picking up so expect to start seeing some of that creeping in!

I also, for full disclosure, had a very weak moment after being given 6 balls of gorgeous wool at an insanely good price, had to go and buy a further nine… Its an alpaca, yak and lambswool blend! Its like energon to a dinobot – me grimlock, grimlock like soft wool… But I have ploughed through a load of wool this week and used up loads of odds and ends and scraps in the hats and a few other projects!

Until next post, stay safe!

…

…

Has to be done: Bah weep gragnah weep nini bong!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 41 (Up by twelve!)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 19 (Up by 9)
Wool given to me – 25 (Up by 6)
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 6

Total – 865 (Net difference: +24)

My goal this year is to break even, it’s the best I can hope for at this rate…

Lets Dune it!

Before I get into the knitting part of this blog, lets do the more sand-imental parts first.

El DiPablo was…very much a ‘Dune not disturb’ type of cat, but with a lot of perseverance, time, treats, patience, the spicy kitty started to accept that humans exist in his space, and they wanted to interact with him, not just throw food and walk away. Felix got the big breakthrough moment of being able to boop his nose with no consequence, just an ear flick of amusement. Or bemusement.

Eh, lets not sift sands on that one.

He is back home and actively engaging in play and wanting fussed, didn’t even take a full 24 hours of getting his pawprints back in his home turf.

Back to knitting and the reason behind these sand-sational puns!

A few weeks ago, some friends and myself went to watch dune. One of my friends who went was Spectral Phantom and much like myself, he enjoys a good pun. And the fact that spice and dice play into that…

“The dice must roll”

Its classic, its funny, and an idea began to worm its way into my mind then onto my needles…

When there is spice, there are sandworms. When there are spice dice (yes, Spectral Phantom also got inspired) there must be a sandworm dicebag.

This crazy dice bag is entirely out of my own head. I picked up the needles, looked at some sandworms, and just let the knitting flow… When it came to the mouth, I had already worked out that running a drawstring through it would give that rippling effect you see in movies etc. Problem was, how do I do a drawstring on a sandworm and make it look cohesive?

Well, when there is spice, there are sandworms, and where there are sandworms, there are Fremen riding those sandworms. And his little ropes and hooks could quite conveniently be the drawstring too. Its just all looped inside to draw in the right way.

I think I can safely say, this sandworm has thoroughly wormed its way into my favourite geeky dice bags. Will I be knitting more dice bags in my future? Well, does the desert have sand?

Until the next post, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 841

Wool used – 28 (Up by two!)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 10
Wool given to me – 19
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 6

Total – 862 (Net difference: +21)