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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

First of all, my apologies for not blogging last week. I was getting down to the wire with the project I am about to show you, and all distractions where thoroughly being cast aside.

My sister Rabbie summarises the day brilliantly on her blog post here, but in my own telling of events, this is how it went:

Last year: My sister Rabbie: We had an amazing time at a Vikings event in Duncarron! You have got to come to the next one!

Me: Definitely!

Still last year: My sister Rabbie: We had an amazing time at a Jacobites event in Duncarron! You have got to come to the next one!

Me: Definitely! Just, more warning next time!

Still last year, again: My sister Rabbie: We had an amazing time at a Pirates event in Duncarron! You have got to come to the next one!

Me: Right, that’s it, next time for sure!

And I waited. And waited. And waited…

Finally! The first event of the year, and it was through the ages, right up until WW2 this time! Amazing! When? End of summer holidays? We’ll make it happen.

So, vikings, what do we need to make?

Only…no vikings. And with only a few weeks to go…WW2 it was! The kids were child evacuees, complete with knitted sweater vests, and myself and Engel would be homeguard. My sister joined the theme and, after a lot of coaxing, nudging and nearly pleading, she was bullied into making a full on red cross nurse propoganda outfit. If you haven’t looked at her blog yet, you must, it’s beautiful.

My fur niece also matched!

Was I to be outdone? Of course not. Much deep diving of the internet and I got hold of some scans of actual 1940s magazines, complete with knitting patterns. Then I saw it, and I knew it had to be knit.

Did you know Betty Davis was. Knitwear model in 1941? She was, and apparently this was her favourite pattern as it was ‘as warm as toast and ever so smart’.

It was actually too warm on the day to actually wear it, but seeing my two battle with knights, challenge a centurion, play the drums with a Jacobite and ask million questions and then get answers was more than worth it.

However, I would have liked to have stayed at the women’s war effort stall, with it’s beautiful handknits, photographs of original patterns and even a few actual knits knitted during the war time for maybe a few more hours…

And with that, I am going to recover for the rest of the week. Maybe start looking at some historically accurate viking clothing / costumes… Hmm… They raised sheep and made their own cloth from the wool… And they had their own form of ancient knitting…

Perhaps I shall follow that rabbit hole and see where it leads…

Until next post, keep safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 68 (11 since last update!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 32 (3 as birthday gifts!)
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 832 (Net difference: -11!!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

And picking fruit…

Its that time of year where the different berry gluts are overlapping with the other delights from the garden and beyond. In particular, the beginning of apple season! And so, to commemorate this:

A summer harvest wreath! I am aiming to eventually have one a month, but it’s going to be a several year long progress as I wait for inspiration to strike. With this wreath, I only used one actual pattern, Blackberry by Lesley Stanfield, and everything else was just winged. I also wanted to add a little touch of sparkle and texture so raided the bead collection for the seeds of the strawberries and the berries of the blackberries and raspberries!

It does make me hungry though looking at it…

In other knitting news, I have finished one of my multiple projects and subsequently started two more. Unfortunately I can’t share what I’ve made for a while yet, but when I can, I will!

I’m not going to cover the non knitting news this week because a lot has been going on – nothing bad-bad, just a lot of little things all going on at once.

Life is just going far too fast!

Until next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 57 (1 since last update!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 29
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 840 (Net difference: -3!!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

As those of you who read last week’s post will remember, there was supposed to be a fitting for two teapots that failed to arrive…

But now, ladies and gentlemen, I can reveal two wonderfully dressed teapots!

Pattern used was Little Black Dress by Charmaine Fletcher from the book ‘Tea Cosies 2’.

What? I don’t like seeing teapots naked! They should be adequately dressed for both their modesty and to ensure their contents the stay nice and toasty.

Moving on swiftly…it’s that’s time of year where everything is beginning to ripen and getting ready for harvesting. We’ve done well this year, blackcurrants, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, lettuce, Pak choi, Chinese leaf, courgettes have all been harvested, with our first batch of aubergine cut off the plant today! I’m looking forward to our apples, plums, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes….

Ok, now I’m hungry!

No wool count this week, the collection has neither grown nor shrunk, and in regards to projects, they have multiplied rather spectacularly – lots of knitting but no progress!

Until next week, stay safe!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

I’m not the one who acquired new skills – Felix has!

I’m taking a moment to be a very proud mum, please do indulge me a little! Felix has long been able to do the knit stitch. Not necessarily well, but she understands the option and mechanics of it. We bumped it up recently to include Purl stitch and…she took to that like a duck to water.

I don’t know if it’s because she’s left handed and knitting right handed like how I knit, but the purl stitch just seemed easier. We did rudimentary increasing and decreasing as well, and more importantly colour changes, to make the super cute rainbow square rabbit pictured above.

Ok, I’ll stop now. The finished knit I had planned to show you is still sitting, unsewn. Not due to procrastination, but because I need the teapot it’s meant for before I sew it to ensure a perfect fit! I could guess, but then it runs the risk of not fitting, of being lop sided…nope. We’ll have to wait.

In non knitting news, Inklings room had a long overdue overhaul. The weekend was spent ripping out his old bed and building a cabinbed – essentially a bunk bed with a desk underneath – where his computer, cannibalised from the parts of others lying around, sits, waiting for his e-learning that is due to start at the beginning of the next school year.

So, without further ado, I shall say cheerio and get back to tidying up and reorganising Inklings room!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 56 (1 since last update!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 29
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 841 (Net difference: -2 I am below my starting total!!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

I am tired. With a capital T.

Other descriptions of my current state could be bone tired, sleepy, sluggish, weary, worn out, needing to hit the hay, burning the candle at both ends…

My mother came to visit this weekend, and after a somewhat traumatic journey, she arrived as I was helping out the school fete on the teddy tombola. Fun was had, teddies where won, and off home with very giddy children. Saturday saw us at Lowther castle, where my sister Rabbie and I had hatched a surprise for our mum, my two and the nephew.

Surprised they were, and the crazy running and frolicking for 6 hours made the 2 hour there and 2 hour back drive worth while.

Sunday was spent desperately trying to get the house in order before my mum went home and suddenly it was Monday with work then family visit to the dentist…

But amidst the chaos, I was able to give nephew his belated birthday present, and right now, it suits my mood perfectly!

Snorlax , the sleeping pokemon, is his favourite pokemon. Knowing this, I couldn’t help but knit his own Snorlax hat as well as a cute little Snorlax toy! I modified Ginger Tom by Sue Stratford from her book ‘knitted Cats’ to create him, and I’m pretty pleased with the outcome!

Now, I am off to go be a Snorlax myself, until next week, stay safe!

(No Wool Count as no changes)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

More like flaming ball of death and tiny knits as it’s too hot for anything else…

My grumping about the ridiculously hot weather aside – it was 20C at 6:30am! And it’s not 36C outside now! And I know lots of countries are going ‘thats not hot’ but they have the infrastructure and population knowledge to deal with that kind of heat – we don’t!

It’s been a fairly quiet, uneventful week. Caught up with a few friends, ate some nice food, avoided the heat…

Yeah, a nice, quiet, uneventful weekend. May many, many more of these occur…

Oh, I did look after a work experience kid last week, and I must have made an impression as she gave the lab a box of chocolates to share, and a second box just for me and two balls of wool. Won’t deny this made my day!

As for the knitting, it’s coming up for end of school year for my little terrors and that means a small knitted token gesture! I hasten to add that as a class, the parents all put into one pot and get some vouchers etc for the teacher, which is better than 30 boxes of chocolate or something!

That said, I wouldn’t say no to 30 boxes of chocolate…

Anyway…much like last year, the kids wanted the teachers to have rainbows again!

I followed the pattern Rainbow by Sarah Keen from her book 100 Little Knitted Projects but, to make it practical, I added a braid and a tassel and voila, a bookmark.

Isn’t that just the cutest? I also figured out why rainbows – the lower years have a cloud – rain cloud – storm system, with rainbow being super well behaved and, if the kid is rainbow for a certain length of time, they get to go to pot of gold, and have a prize from the prize drawer.

The only downside to making these was…I got a little carried away…I needed six. Maybe seven. Possibly eight? And…

I’m sure I’ll find homes for the rest in time!

Until next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 55 (4 since last post!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 29 (2 for this week)
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 842 (Net difference: -1 I am below my starting total!!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

So I imagine for those who read last week’s post that the first thing you want to know is:

What did the Reliability Raptor get called? Well, drumroll!

Flapjack.

Yep. Flapjack.

An independent audience (friends and kids) picked the top three names – Dendrite, Roar-y and Flapjack – and Flapjack won. There was lemon cake as a celebration and…

This little tiny cutie decided to follow her mum and come to work too and be the main prize. For those curious, I modified Bag of Troodons from ‘knitted dinosaurs’ by Tina Barrett to match the velociraptor in colour and fluffy wool.

Immediately the competitive atmosphere was in full swing debating a name for what I was calling ‘Flapjack Jr’, much to my initial surprise.

But you know…

I think Flapjack and Cupcake make a very cute pair.

In non knitting news, the blog is a day late due to Engels work commitments (drinking beer with his work counterpart from the German branch) but a good laugh was had by all.

My mum was supposed to visit this weekend gone but, alas, finally caught covid despite avoiding it this entire time. So we had a very spur of the moment type weekend which had me giving Felix and her best friend knitting lessons during a heritage diesel train engines day!

They are both doing amazing! And I blame them both entirely for once more falling off the band wagon and purchasing some wool they both felt was ‘amazing’, and some they thought was ‘awesome’ and a few that where ‘squee! It’s so fluffy!’

Thats why there are nine more balls of wool in my stash. Though I have used three this week. But still.

Eventually I’ll have the same number of balls of wool that I started with this year! Maybe. Hopefully.

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 54 (3 since last post!)
Wool bought – 32 (9 new balls…)
Wool given to me – 27
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 850 (Net difference: +7 Sigh…)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Who doesn’t love a good play on words?

So, to rewind, the morale in my team got pretty low – I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that it only needs one bad apple to spoil everything – and as such I wanted to boost moral.

Rewind further back, and there was talk of the big, big, big boss visiting our site, and what could we do, as a team, to stand out? There was several serious suggestions and then the more silly ones… How about a motto? And if we have a motto, we need a mascot, right?

So Engel and I got nattering and I asked if he could think of anything – he was thinking on mottos and I was thinking on mascots…after a lot of back and forth, Engel came up with the best ideas…

“Device will find a way” – a play on “Life will find a way” which is from Jurassic Park, and for the mascot…

The Reliability Raptor. As I work in Reliability and Raptor begins with “R” and Jurassic Park… It was tenuous enough we had a laugh and left it at that. Then with morale being low…

Time to get Operation Theropod Trouble underway!

And here it is, the Reliability Raptor, knitted following the pattern Velociraptor by Tina Barrett from the book ‘Knitted Dinosaurs’.

And yes, I know it doesn’t look like the one from Jurassic Park, but that’s because I wanted something more scientifically accurate – and who can resist fluffy wool?

So last week, this little guy came to work, with his credentials and a cute smile and well, by the end of the week morale was better than normal!

A contest to decide his/her name was run last week, and the top three are now being voted on this week. So next post I’ll be able to tell you if this guy is called Dendrite, Roar-y or Flapjack.

In non knitting news, I saw Rammstein the weekend before last, which is why there was no blog post in Monday. I was feeling far too tired, and needed to nurse my poor throat from losing my voice shouting/singing at the concert…

It was amazing!

And on that note, I shall leave you all until next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 51 (3 since last post!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 27
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 844 (Net difference: +1 I’m nearly at my starting total!!!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

And the chaos mentioned last weekend did indeed continue.

After the jubilee parties it was a trip up to Dundee, which Rabbie has outlined very well in her blog, but needless to say there was beaches, boats, pies, museums, adventuring, more beaches, painting and lots and lots of laughs.

It was the good kind of holiday where much fun was had by all, but also where I got to take a backseat and rest a bit. Rabbie kindly did all the driving, for which I am eternally grateful!

Now, I mentioned painting, in this case it was pottery painting and I am looking forward to the results! But there was more crafting than just that…

So long story short, I saw wool that had been hand dyed inspired by the various Eeveelutions. I was unable to get said wool, and subsequently Rabbie suggested we could do our own Eeveelution scarves… Seeing as I have a of wool, and she has a loom knitting machine…

I won’t lie, I am super happy with how they came out!

Rabbies Instagram post focuses on the classic trio – Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon, so I will give you just the close up of the Umbreon set we made, a classic and shiny colour way.

And with that, I bid you farewell for this week. I am knackered, in a good way, but also chipping away at all the things that have to be done when you leave the house for over a week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 47 (10 since last post!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 27
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 849 (Net difference: +5 the net goal is looking a lot healthier now!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

The bunting has been taken down, the cake eaten and the tea drunk, but the chaos continues!

My sister Rabbie hosted a jubilee party yesterday, I did help with painting bunting and decorating and putting together sandwiches, but my main contribution was these cuties:

A set of little crowns! Made following the free pattern Innocent Big Knit Crown hat by Kay Massingham.

I hope you all had a great weekend, and as the chaos continues, I shall see you all next week!

But first, an official word from Outbreak:

Bow before me, minions, it is I, Her Royal Meowness, Queen Outbreak the first. Do not pander to the princess Poppy, thief of dreamies and scritches! Marvel in my cuteness!

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 37 (2 since last post)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 27
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 859 (Net difference: +15 I’m gonna aim for net zero my the end of the year I think. That’s my big goal!)

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