WIP Wednesday

Another WIP post this week - mostly because I seem to be in the kind of mood recently where I'm permanently distracted by new ideas, and so nothing gets finished!

For instance, I sat down yesterday evening with the intention of starting the swatching for a hexagon blanket... and promptly started the Snowdrop Shawl that I've been contemplating for the last couple of months!

The Babylonglegs yarn I'm using has been in my stash for a few months, bought on something of an impulse and put to one side when it first arrived as it was somewhat darker than expected. Still, it's lovely yarn, and every time I spotted it I was determined to make something with it... Likewise the Snowdrop Shawl has been in my Ravelry queue for several months, and flicking through my (surprisingly well maintained) queue last night, inspiration struck and I set off... glancing guiltily at the open instructions for hexagons that I was pushing aside!

Both yarns are 100% merino in the "Feel the Teal" and "Pie" colourways, and both are slightly variegated, although this is random and pretty subtle, meaning that (so far) there's no unsettling pooling of colour. The pattern calls for Aran weight yarn with a 6mm hook, and this is a 3 ply sock weight yarn, so I initially worked it on a 3mm hook, which gave a dense and quite firm fabric. So I frogged and started again on a 4mm hook, which gives more drape to the fabric, without it becoming lacy.

Also on my hook recently was the beginnings of a pair of cushion covers for my Mum - we're planning to trade so she can knit me some socks! However, I forgot to bring these back with me after my visit over the weekend, so I need to collect them at some point... meantime, have a slightly over-exposed picture I snagged at the weekend.

I've been pretty good on the spinning front however, as I focussed on just one project!

This is Spin City UK's Paintbox, in fibre form and part way through spinning. I wasn't too sure the first bit I span, mostly because there's a surprising amount of yellow in it, but it got considerably better as I progressed. I think this is going to end up chain plied, although the end product may depend on the yardage I get and how the finished yarn looks.

Still, it was affectionately nicknamed "Technicolour Yawn" by my Mum, and the name kinda stuck!

My next big, ongoing project is the Stash Dash 2014... which is actually more of several smaller projects *shrugs* but it gets the point across! So, basically this is a stash busting exercise organised by the Knit Girllls - the linky there goes to their Ravelry group, since that's the easiest way to find information on the Stash Dash and their podcasts.... which, by the way, are well worth watching! They're funny and informative, and possibly the best thing to crochet/spin along to!!

Anyway, the aim is to get through 5000 metres of yarn between 23rd May and 7th August - which I think someone calculated as 500 yards per week. It's a large amount... until you realise that they encourage you to bend the rules in your favour! So, anything that is a WIP before 23rd May, that you finish after this date, counts towards your total! So the three projects above totally count for my total yardage for the dash!!

Anyway, I'll be keeping a running tally of yardage etc through the summer, the same with my progress on the Tour de Fleece - which I'll ramble on about another time... since I think I've gone on long enough today!







(In a short side note - apologies if some of today's pictures are a little dark, it's tipping it down with rain at the moment! I'll replace them if/when I get the weather improves!)

A very quick WIP Wednesday

It's been a hectic few weeks for me, and it doesn't look like getting much better for the next month or so - my only free weekend in May has just been claimed, so free time is going to have to be grabbed wherever it can!

Consequently, my WIP's haven't changed very much, I'm still plugging along with my Steggie, my ripple blanket has been put off until some cooler weather when I don't mind sitting on the sofa under a half finished blanket, and I picked up some chunky yarn and a rather large hook to make my Mum some cushion covers... and then promptly left everything at my parents' house so I can't work on it or take pictures until the next time I head over there!

One thing I have been working on recently, is some spinning! No, I don't have enough time for another hobby; no, that didn't stop me from buying a 'learn to spin' kit!

Anyway, spinning is quite easily as addictive as crochet, and much easier to do whilst watching the TV. So, my learn to spin kit quickly turned into a couple of spindles, a slowly growing pile of fibre and an entry in to Ravelry's Tour de Fleece.

Seriously... they're so pretty and squishy, and spinning (when it's going right) is so relaxing!

Anyway, most of the fibre I have at the moment is meant for specific projects. and there will be a post at some point with more pictures and details... when I can get my pictures to upload properly at any rate!

Meanwhile, have a few WIP photos...

Oh, and I made my cheap Ikea step stool look a bit prettier... figured I might as well, since the one thing I rarely use it for is standing on!

WIP Wednesday

Uhm, well I think it's safe to say that my WIP's are getting a little out of hand at the moment! My mum asked me the other day how I manage to fit all of it in... the obvious answer being that it's the reason I never seem to get anything finished!! It's not helped by the fact that I'm pretty busy at the moment with work, so I'm not exactly full of motivation to set to and get things finished - I'm much more likely to be distracted by whatever simply little thing catches my eye.

First, something that's kinda finished, but not...

I have a chronic lack of vases in my flat at the moment (not helped by my tendency to use the ones I do have for holding small balls of yarn that have no other purpose) and the over-sized jars I use in place of vases are kinda ugly. So I crocheted a cover for one of the jars to make it look better! The cover itself is finished, though I intend to make some decorations to attach to it... just struggling to decide which ones in particular at the moment!

I'm probably now about half way through my Elise shawl... or at least halfway through the yarn :) It's already proving to be something of a pain to photograph, so have an up close and personal picture of the yarn and it's unblocked texture!

I also have no idea how I'm going to block this when it's finished...! It's going to need some pretty harsh pinning to stretch the pattern to how it should be, so I'm thinking a dunk in the bath and then pinned onto a sheet or something on my living room floor.  Images of that palaver will, naturally, be posted at a later date :)

I've also made a start on a small mountain of African flowers for my Steggie! It's pretty slow going considering they're so small, though the size of the hook and the absolutely tiny starting chain circle mean that my hands cramp up after a couple of them and I need a break... still, loving them so far!

And here's one in-progress... on a 1.75mm hook!

No, really, a 1.75mm hook! My mum promptly declared me crazy when she saw it... and I don't think I can really argue with her on that one!!

My OUAT sampler is on a little bit of a hold for the moment - I'm saving it to take back home with me over the Easter break, but I was tempted down the sewing path once again by the Frosted Pumpkins, with their new pattern released on the 1st April... this one practically begged to be bought, especially considering I already had some suitable fabric on hand and just needed to order the thread. At least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! Here's the progress so far:

WIP Wednesday

Only a couple of things in progress this week that I can post about here...

I finally managed to get enough decent light to photograph the progress on my ripple blanket:

I started my Elise Shawl:

And finished off February on my OUAT sampler:

WIP Wednesday

So... inspired by Tami, here are my current works in progress.

I like to have a large project and a couple of smaller projects on the go at the same time - sometimes it's nice to have something you can see the end of rather than a seemingly endless project such as a blanket.

My current quick gratification project is a gingham inspired cushion, with the front worked in 4-round solid granny squares and the back worked in simple stripes of treble stitches. It's made in my favourite so-good-for-a-low-price yarn - Stylecraft DK. I'll happily splash out for more expensive yarns for some projects, but considering my cushions suffer a fair amount of wear and tear, I want something that will wash fairly easily and isn't going to make me cry if I need to replace it.

My large on-the-go project is a ripple blanket, working from the neat ripple pattern by Lucy at Attic 24. It's a lovely pattern, easy to pick up once you get past the small amount of math at the beginning. It's a nice repetitive pattern to loose yourself in while sitting in front of the TV.

There are a couple of colour progressions not shown here - the light has been awful the past week or two (too much grey, rainy weather), meaning I've not had chance to get an updated photo. 

I've not planned the colours in advance on this project, meaning that there's been a couple of stalls in my progress as I've not been completely sure of a colour choice. When that happens I generally put a stitch marker in at the end of the row and leave the blanket where I can see it for a few days... at the end of that time I've generally decided that I like it, in which case I finish off the row, or I hate it, in which case it's easy to frog it!

I think I'm about halfway through the main portion of the blanket - I'm aiming for it to fit a single bed, that way it's also a good size to drape over the bottom of a double bed or for snuggling under on the sofa. When I'm a little further through I'll start brainstorming edging ideas.

I've other, smaller things on the planning list for when the gingham cushion is finished (this week, hopefully) and another blanket in the planning stages for a Christmas present - considering how slowly I work, I'll need to start soon to be finished in time for this Christmas!!