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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

A while ago you may all remember me knitting various Harry Potter inspired baby things, well, the baby has been growing and coming on in leaps and bounds and his parents decided to have him christened.

I for one, am not religious. My take on it is: you do you, as long as you don’t hurt anyone. And that’s how I felt about this. After, of course, the knee jerk reaction to the word ‘christening’ being ‘shawl’.

Checked with the mum and, shawl I tell you what the next knit I have to reveal is?

Well, for shawl intents and purposes, let’s pretend you haven’t figured it out…

Its a monster. I significantly reduced the number of repeats in the original pattern, Hush Little Baby Please Dont Cry by Cookknitwine Cook, a free pattern found on Ravelry, but it still came out huge.

But it was worth it, even if it was my shawl and chain for over a month, making me crave knitting anything in any weight and colour that wasn’t lace weight white…

Like seriously. I knit this at home. I knit this at work. I knit this at National Trust sites. I even knit this whilst running Cthuhlu! (I like to think a GM welding small sharp needles adds to the air of terror, but I suspect I came off as more crazy cat lady than cultist)

I probably could have done it faster with less procrastination and less “quality control testing” from my furry helper Outbreak…

Oh, and for those curious, I worked it out and there is just shy of 2km of yarn in there…

In other knitting news, I have immediately started another large project, well, one that will spawn two actually…and an array of accessories…

But we’ll get to that when we get to that.

As for the week just gone, like always, it’s been busy, busy, busy. It has also been very painfully hot… I went to Alton Towers on Monday with my good friend Timbercat and my AC completely died. There had also been massive storms knocking out power to more than half the rides, so I have a free ticket to go back again, and I look forward to it. Just with AC. And not on a blisteringly hot day.

October maybe? Or November? I’ll figure it out nearer the time.

Oh, my car is fine, the valve had gone in the AC unit and she had just slowly leaked away. She’s got a new valve and has been regassed. Seeing as my battle tank is 8 years old now and that’s the first major thing (other than consumables like tyres and brake pads) to go, I am well pleased.

Until next blog post, stay safe!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 21 (+1)
Wool bought – 13 (+2, but needed for the new large project)
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 884 (Net difference: +4)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Or in this case, blanket!

The final Harry Potter inspired baby knit was actually the first I made – a baby blanket. It did however…grow…into more of a lap blanket or small sofa throw sized item, but the baby will grow into it eventually!

So without further ado:

To make this, I used the following charts from the book “Knitting Magic: More Patterns From Hogwarts & Beyond”, the House Mascot Hats by Lisa K. Ross, the Hogwarts Express Cowl by Tanis Gray and the Delivered By Owl Mittens by Kristin Ornolfsdottir. To finish off, I backed it with some Harry Potter fabric so that no little fingers would be caught in any floats…

I may be a smidge pleased with this one!

Short post this week as it was a busy weekend and I have so many chores and jobs to catch up on and things to organise now that it’s coming to that time of the year…

Honestly, I have no idea where my year has gone. If anyone finds it, please let me know!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 97 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 51
Wool given to me – 32
Wool gifted to others – 5
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 827 (Net difference: -16)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

I realised when looking through the archives that I never posted Felix’s baby blanket that I made whilst I was pregnant:

It’s knit using the pattern ‘Embroidered baby blanket’ from Kitty Knits: Projects for Cats and their People (a Christmas gift from Rabbie long, long ago that keeps getting loved and used) by Donna Druchunas.

Donna actually got in touch with me via Ravelry when I posted it! I was really happy she complimented it.

Anyhow, the purple blanket was made over three years ago, and now this one:

Was finished just last week. It’s a lot brighter in real life, more of a lime green. Felix chose the wool, so I shall blame her, though it was nice knitting something so bright with the days being so dark and grey!

So, what does this mean? It means Felix has a brother on the way, and in the spirit of fairness, I made them the same baby blanket. (I will not deny that I actually really like this pattern – simple enough for baby brain, complex enough you don’t have the urge to throw it out the window). It also means that there will be more baby knits no doubt in the near future.

That’s all for today’s post!

Wool count:

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 14 (3 since last post)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 46

Total – 682

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Uncategorized 1 Comment

There’s really not much to say or show knitting wise or life wise – lots of working and chores and a baby blanket that’s taking an age to knit is all.

So I present to you, From the Archives – It’s cold!

Ok, so not so much a theme as a response to the temperature but it is cold.

As the temperature drops, I instinctively start making a cocoon for myself out of blankets and hot water bottles. I keep hoping to emerge as a beautiful butterfly come spring, but the best I can manage is a moth…

So blankets first. I’ve posted my ten stitch blanket before. And my chunky bright green weekend TV lapghan.

Here is my ‘Knitted Blanket of Awesome’. Done on 5mm needles, no pattern and primarily a giant stash busting project as well as desperately needed sofa throw/blanket back in 2011.

And lastly for the blankets, my pride and joy: Free pattern A Recipe for Fish by April Broken.

lt took 2 years to complete (namely because I kept abandoning it for months at a time and the moment the weather got warm) but I did manage to complete it just in time for my wedding, and subsequent honeymoon in Aberdeenshire. It was needed. There’s 375 fish in there, for those curious.

On to the hot water bottles:

I’ve already posted my Aperture Science hot water bottle cosie, but I haven’t shown you:

The hot water bottle pattern is based on the free pattern EXFOLIATE! Dalek Cloth by Penwiper – I put the image (tweaked to be in colour) on a hot water bottle cosie pattern I made up as I was going along. The tiny matching Dalek? He’s based on another free pattern, Dalek Egg Cosy by Lyles Knit.

Speaking of Daleks, I have made this guy…

Back in 2008. He was huge! Used the free pattern EXTERMIKNIT! by Penwiper for him.

Thats all for today – keep warm guys!

Wool count:

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 11 (4 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 46

Total – 685

…

Ok, no one’s going to just let 46 balls of wool slide into the wool count, I was given a work friends Mrs wool oddment stash – she knits blankets and jumpers, so all those odd balls of wool, partially used balls etc, kind of sit there, not doing an awful lot. She was clearing her stash and as I’m primarily a toy knitter who only uses a bit of a ball here, a bit of a ball there, she figured I’d like them in my stash.

I won’t deny that this is a very true fact, and I’ll just have to knit extra hard this year to bring the wool count back down. At least it hasn’t hit 700! Yet.

 

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 2 Comments

For lots of baby knits!

This is a little blanket for Felix’s childminder’s daughter’s baby. (Say that five times fast – I knit a blanket for her first born last year) and is based on the free pattern ‘Jericho Baby Blanket’ by Shana Schasteen. I also added a fluffy trim to make it even more snuggly! The photo is it folded up, just so you all know!

Another two adorable pair of bootees for the new mum whom I made a set for featured in this blog post. Same bootee pattern, just different detailing. The pom poms I winged, the butterflies though are a free Ravelry download ‘Springtime Wreath, Butterflies’ by Frankie Brown. So cute!

But I couldn’t just make two pairs of very (pink) bootees, that’s a bit boring!

So I made these monster feet! It’s a free pattern again – ‘Monster Baby Booties’ by Needyl and they are so very, very cute. But a baby needs a hat to match such cute shoes! Especially with winter approaching…

L

It’s a monster hat!!!! And it matches (same fluffy wool, same contrast wool). Yet another free pattern – ‘baby monstaa’s very scary bonnet’ by Jones & Vandermeer.

OK, I’ll admit, no Christmas knitting has taken place at all this past week, but the main reason wasn’t because of all the very cute distractions, but because it was Felix’s third birthday on Wednesday! I took the day off work and we had a ball at the ice cream farm, and today we had a few friends and family attend a little gathering at Stockley farm (it’s dog friendly so Felix’s doggie ‘cousin’ Missy could join! She has her own blog btw, it’s worth a look for those looking for doggie adventures of their own)

Alright, it’s been a long day and I for one am tuckered out. So I’ll leave the blog post here and finish off with the wool count – five balls used this week! OK, almost all of that was in the blanket, but hey, five balls used is five balls used!

Starting total – 697

Wool used – 105 ( 5 this week)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 7

Total – 612

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Uncategorized 1 Comment

Or perhaps the road map playmat of Sods Law. Super cute blanket, but I had a bit of a nightmare making it!

Let me tell you my tale of woe…

I was stash busting, as you know, my current goal being to get that number at the bottom of each post down to skmething bordering reasonable, but Sods Law, I ran out of wool.

Grr.

I needed more but, Sods Law, couldn’t get the same colour…So I then had to use two shades and tweak which squares had which one.

Grr.

This happened not once, but twice. The green and yellow.

Double grr.

After what felt like knitting all the squares I needed twice over, I ran out of green again! Seriously?!

GRR!

So I changed the road layout to accommodate.

Grr.

Finally, I had knit all the squares, and started to sew it up, when Dashie, one of the cats, ran in, stole a square and hid it.

Photographic evidence of Dashie ‘helping’. Sigh.

Upon retrieving the stolen square from where the cat hid it (under the sofa) I found several more complete knitted squares.

I had 39 squares, not the 35 the pattern required.

GRR!

Turns out I did have enough of the second green not to have tweaked the pattern… But was a bit late to do anything by then!

I’m taking this as a sign from the great elder God Cthuhlu to rethink my blanket making strategies…

Wool countdown!

Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 17 (Despite the shenanigans, none where used up this week!)
Wool bought – 9

Total – 689

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Updates No Comments

Engels incredibly bright, not too warm-not too cold blanket, as per his request. Snuggles decided to photo bomb the photo shoot as the sea of green was just destroying my retinas…

And yes, this wool is just that bight. Its neon. And UV reactive. It actually glows under black lights!

The pattern is based on the ‘Weekend TV Lapghan‘ by Lionbrand, different needles and wool used, and subsequently this was the monster of a blanket where I accidentally cast on three times the number of stitches…

But that is the last of the blankets! For now.

I’ve got another bunny commission on at the moment, so a pause on the personal projects, though I did squeeze these in:

These are based on the ‘Miss Marple Scarf‘ pattern by SusanneS-vV. The black one is for Felix as the weather gets cooler, and the pink one is a gift for one of Engels relatives. The photo was taken at a sushi place in Manchester which is where I did the final bits of the pink one, along with some very yummy salmon and cracked black pepper with rice…

Other updates: Life, super busy, between work, Engel, and the growing terror that is an almost two year old Felix, very little time is left for much else!

Wool update: The past two weeks, seven! Very nearly finished a few more, but colour changes, I’ll have to go back to those later…

Wool Count down:
Starting total (28Feb15) – 747 balls
Extra stash found – 20 balls (so far)
Wool used – 76 (7 balls this week! Woot!)
Wool given – 3
Wool bought – 13

Total – 708

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Hooray! One blanket is off the needles!

Its based on the free pattern: Western Hills – The Blanket by Julia Stanfield. Its knitted in a pale blue and mint green, and as I was knitting it, I felt it needed a little pop of colour. Hence the crochet border and fish in orange.

It also made me remember one of my past knits:

The fish motif is from ‘Kitty Placemat’ in ‘Kitty Knits: Projects for Cats and their People’ by Donna Druchunas.

I do like goldfish, they make me smile…

Anyhow, short post today as its been a bit hectic with work and family life at the moment.

Wool Count down:
Starting total (28Feb15) – 747 balls
Extra stash found – 20 balls (so far)
Wool used – 69 (3 balls this week! Woot!)
Wool given – 3
Wool bought – 13

Total – 715

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

I was working on a christening shawl, made in very fine cotton, for my then boss’s little one christening in Australia. The finished result, looked like:

Lovely, isn’t it? Its a free pattern, Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood. The pattern suggests a cozy wool and 6mm needles, I worked this with 2ply cotton and 4.5mm, I think, maybe 4mm.

Why do I mention this knit of mine from the archives? Because this year I’m knitting Engel a throw and a baby blanket for an expectant friend at the moment. Both these projects are very slow going, as is the nature with blankets, so I had nothing interesting to show this week…

This week has also been horrid as I’ve spent the entire time revising for two exams that I had on Friday. At least it was a bank holiday weekend to recover with! Helped along with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream, a giant bar of Galaxy chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate cake and cupcakes…and lots and lots of family time with Engel and Felix, which despite my love for knitting, come first.

So those are the reasons why not one ball of wool has been used this week. And why my wool count has actually increased by ten…it was commiseration wool! Very nice, very squishy, commiseration wool!

Wool Count down:
Starting total (28Feb15) – 747 balls
Extra stash found – 20 balls (so far)
Wool used – 66
Wool given – 3
Wool bought – 13

Total – 718

See you next week!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting, Little one, Uncategorized 2 Comments

It’s been another busy week. Work, team building day involving playing Rambo by shooting my work colleagues and superiors with laser guns running about the woods, the conclusion to Cthuhlu: Horror on the Orient Express (it was epic, and so far off course the actual written recommended ending that no matter how much I could try and explain, no one but those who were there would understand.)…and Fallout: Shelter was just released on Android (my platform of choice).

Because of all this, mostly my new game, this not-so-little owl lay languishing in pieces for four days.

Free pattern courtesy of  Rachel Gallagher-Miller

Cute, isn’t it? It’s for Felix’s childminders birthday this week (cutting the sewing close here) and the colour choice, well, this is what happens when a not quite two year old gets let loose in my wool stash.

And that’s it for this whole week. In shame, and frustration at my own addiction, I’ve deleted Fallout:Shelter from my tablet. Productivity has quadrupled…

However!

Last week I finished this cute project.

Centre panel is a free pattern – Paw Print Cloth by by Rhonda White and I just winged the rest…

It’s a dog blanket for my dog-niece Missy (or Mishap) and I had far too much fun making it!

No wool used this week, so no wool count.

Not sure if any will be used this week either as I have lots of little projects on the go, and two blankets, but they’re going slowly…

Chat to you all next week!

 

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