Finally finished!

Please forgive the utterly dreadful photo, but I just couldn’t wait to show you this. Its been about 2 years, and an awful lot of procrastination in the making, but today I finally knuckled down to sewing in the last few ends and attaching the buttons.

Loooooooook!

It really needs blocking, but I’m so pleased it’s done that I’ve just thrown it on and started wearing it. I’ll block it when it gets washed.

Now I can allow myself to move on to other projects. Hooray!

What’s the longest you’ve worked on a project for?

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Being brave

There are changes afoot in my life at the moment. As part of that, I am having to make a conscious decision not to be held back by fear, but choose to be brave and see what happens.

So, today, I am binding off the sleeves of my cardigan. It’s taken a while to reach this point, not just because of fear, but I’m doing it today!

 

Summer

Having struggled to fill it in previous years, this summer seems to have ended up packed full of activities and away time.

Shopping with friends for cardigan buttons and other goodies.

A little DIY in the kitchen and the saucepan lids have a new home.

A return to the family ranch is always good for the soul.

The tomatoes are coming along well and we have a pumpkin that has continued growing beyond golf ball size.

There’s also been lots of reading (Swallows and Amazons with Pumpkin is wonderful!), lots of sewing and still a few name labels to go! Lots of fun at the park and meeting friends, cinema, theatre, TV, Scrabble, all sorts! The summer isn’t over yet and there’s plenty more fun to be had.

Hope you’re enjoying yours!

Little green froggy

Today I had another visit from the little green frog. Rrrrribbit!

I finished the body of my crazy stripes a couple of days ago, but I’m just not happy with the bottom hemline where the front left meets the back. I’ve trawled through a lot of finished projects on Ravelry and many seem to have quite a wobbly hemline over the hip in just that spot, and I don’t think it’s something that can just be blocked out.

One project, fortunately, had some notes about just this issue, including a record of what she did to fix it. She was making a different size so I’ve done a little maths myself and think I’ve come up with my own solution, so I’ve ripped back 48 rows (thankfully much shorter ones than last time I had to frog!) and am reknitting to hopefully achieve a better looking line. I quite enjoy a bit of knit-maths but still I hope the numbers stack up!

On the plus side, my new stitch markers really came in handy for this one!

 

 

 

Momentum

The gloves did indeed carry momentum. Knitting is progressing steadily on my crazy stripes cardigan. Indeed there are actually several stripes involved now!

It’s still portable enough that I can take it with me. I got a few rows done during the boys gymnastics classes this week, and even managed a bit whilst I was sitting waiting during rehearsals today.

I’ve just begun the short rows, which requires a little more attention to counting and turning, but hopefully things will continue apace.

 

Crazy times

Life has been rather stressful recently. They do say that moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do in life, and I’m inclined to believe them. We’re finally making some progress, so just hoping for no more major spanners-in-the-works.

In the meantime, I’ve finished all my shows and am taking a break from rehearsals. I read two Game of Thrones books back to back and needed a break from that too (partly also to let the hubby catch up with me a bit), and so at long last, I’ve picked up my knitting needles again after too long away from them.

I dug out all my projects and potential projects to decide what to work on.

• There’s the Clanger which is waiting (in many many pieces) to be stitched together.
• I have a Leaflines shawl which was nearing the final stages before it stalled, mostly because I decided it was in the wrong colour. I bought a beautiful grad in autumn colours at Unravel this year, which I don’t think I ever got round to photographing, ready for a second attempt at this pattern.
• I’m sure I have a couple of balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace kicking aorund somewhere, that I’ve had thoughts of turning into some kind of top-down jumper, probably Electricity, but could I find them!?
• And then there’s Stripes Gone Crazy, which I have loved the look of since I first saw it. I bought the yarn for it at Unravel 2015, but haven’t had the time or courage to go ahead with it before now.

I finally took the plunge and swatched for Stripes Gone Crazy. I was more than a little terrified, since my last cardigan is such a terrible fit, and I’ve never really properly worn it. I knitted a guage swatch, which I’ve never done before, and then spent about a week agonising over the maths. I knitted another swatch, did more maths, realised I probably don’t have quite enough yarn, especially given my tight guage and the fact that I therefore need to knit a larger size than I thought, and took the plunge anyway.

The pattern is really detailed and well written with plenty of explanation and diagrams where needed, and I feel like I’m in good hands. I’m on page 6 already, and here’s how far I’ve got!

 

 

More knitting, less blogging.

I’m sure I’ve been knitting a lot more again recently, but somehow I keep managing to forget to take photos of things, and though I’ve continued reading various blogs, I’ve not had much inclination towards actually writing anything. Actually, that also has a lot to do with life being very busy (though, when is it not!?) at the moment with rehearsals and kids and househunting (and all the stress wrapped up in that) etc. I knew that buying/selling/moving house is reckoned to be one of the most stressful things you can go through in life. Our first house purchase was fairly straightforward, but this move just seems ridiculously stressful and uncertain, and beset by problems of all types, and we haven’t even got to the packing stage yet!

April seems to have turned into birthday central in the last couple of years. My youngest Pickle, my niece and my mum, as well as various friends and children of friends all seem to have their birthdays within just a few days of each other. My niece requested some clothes for her doll, so when I mooted the idea of knitting a little something, my mum helpfully provided me with a bag full of assorted yarn and knitting needles while I was staying with her during the holidays. Fortunately I had my preferred circulars with me, so I had a go at winging it on a little jumper, inspired my a doll’s cardigan my mum found for me. Unfortunately, my estimation for how big to make the neck hole was a little off (dolls have BIG heads!) and I got rather frustrated and I left off before making sleeves for it, instead making it into a little tank top type thing with button down shoulders. It was more than a little dodgy, but hey, button practise is good for kids, so mum claimed it for use by her childcare children.

On returning home, I got a little more accurate information on the size of the doll, and then rooted around Ravelry for a suitable pattern, which turned out very much better! Apologies for the terrible quality phone-photo, but it turned out rather sweet.

Pattern: Sweater from Snickerdoodle by Kristen Rettig

The pattern was good and easy to follow. I made the mistake of slipping stitches at the start of rows for the first few rows, which distorted the front edge a little, but you can’t notice it much when the buttons are done up, and my nearly 4 year old niece won’t mind anyway! The buttons were chosen by Pumpkin. I really liked the top-down seamless construction, and want to try it again on a bigger garment at some point. It was a very quick knit and has been safely packaged off to my niece today.

I’ve got a couple more things on the go at the moment; a pair of fingerless gloves for the hubby (which may or may not get done til the weather gets colder again!) and another baby ripple blanket which I’ll hopefully get finished very soon.

Snuggly

I realised I was rather chilly this evening whilst putting Pumpkin to bed. I found myself mentally skimming through my wardrobe for an appropriate jumper or cardigan I could throw on for the evening, and you know which one sprang to mind? Yes, my newly finished cardigan of doom snuggliness!

It’s been finished for a week now, and I still haven’t managed to get any decent photos, so here’s a quick shot I took on my phone, and a close up of the buttons I used.

As you can see, it’s a little short in the body, which is a little frustrating, given that I thought I had added some extra length into it, but it’s certainly not a fatal flaw. The sleeves are lovely and long, so I can tuck my hands into them to keep warm.

The collar is a little gapey at the back of the neck, but again, not fatal. The fit around the waist could also have been a little closer, but it has a bit of shape to it, and a bit of ease means it’ll fit over layers of clothing in the winter without being too bulky.

All in all, it’s really not bad for my first ever knitted garment!

It’s done!

It’s done, it’s done!

The cardigan of never-ending doom is really, truly, actually, completely, wearably finished! Buttons and everything.

It won’t win any prizes, and I may not even wear it out of the house! But it is finished. Hurrah!

Pictures to follow, hopefully.

Excuse me while I happy-dance around the room.

Maybe now I can allow myself to work on some other things again and more regular blogging may resume.

The end is in sight!

Hold onto your seats, lovely readers…

I have finished the knitting on the cardigan of doom! And have actually progressed onto the final seaming!

Looooooook!

The end is really, truly in sight at last!