Swelter

Whew…

Summer has been hectic and oh so hot. We don’t have air conditioning in our house, like a lot of UK houses (at least a lot of UK houses not owned by rich people…?), and our upstairs computer room is regularly hitting 33+ celsius. I’m finding it really hard to focus! Outside of being a knitter/maker, I also paint and make 3D models. I’ve got a commission I’m working on but I haven’t done any this week due to being tired out from work (not being able to sleep at night because it’s so hot) and because it’s so hot that I feel I can do only a little at a time. I’m sure if I forced myself I could get it done, but would it be the best it could be? My client is very understanding though 🙂

I thought I’d pop by this Friday evening with a brief list update of things that have been going on and projects on the go 🙂

1. I finished my sister’s ankle socks!
2. I’ve almost finished the Hedgehog Fibres green socks that I started when I was teaching my friend to knit.
3. I made my first project bag and it wasn’t too bad… I’ve also cut out the pieces for a second, half size bag.
4. I started the second F is for Fidelio bobbin! Fibre from Countess Ablaze, my LYS ❤
5. Progress continues on the Farmhouse Cardigan. I’ve almost finished the ribbing on the bottom hem of the body. Not a ton of progress but that’s ok, as I’m focusing on eliminating some of my smaller sock projects 🙂
6. I’ll probably cast on some vanilla socks for my mum next, although I should really give vanilla socks a break, because they end up being the ONLY thing I produce…
7. After a soak and a bit of time drying flat out in the sun, my Featherweight Cardigan is all done! Soaking and kinda-blocking really smoothed out a lot of the less well tensioned areas of this project. I twisted stitches when I picked them up by accident on the sleeves, I got ladders in them due to using DPNs on laceweight (something I’m not used to but probably would be fine with if I had more practice – but I will be using magic loop for sleeves from now on)… I just had wobbly tension in general throughout, not being used to laceweight yarn on 4mm needles. I’m so glad it all worked out fine! I was expecting to get a sorta-ugly cardigan that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing outside… Need to take project photos of it in its glory. Would knit again for sure!

Thanks and take care in the heat!

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Jobs, creations, shop, whatnot

I’m writing to you from my parents’ house in Essex today.

Job update

The company I mentioned previously got back to me! I will be starting my new job on 29th May and am looking forward to it. Until then there is the task of resignation and organising what happens to my pension and all of that too. I will tackle those things once I return from my parents’ house.

Also, the reason I came back here was for a careers advice meeting in London. Prior to this I had filled in multiple surveys and completed tests. I had my 2+ hour meeting on Wednesday. It was useful, and involved answering a lot of questions and being presented with several career suggestions. It was overwhelming in a way (not in a bad way) and I don’t think I can remember all of the advice and suggestions given. Luckily they follow up with a written report later on so I will deal with that more once that comes through… before making any decisions and so forth.

Knitting update

I’m plugging away, trying to finish my sock wips. Although I admit to casting on a new vanilla sock due to the fact I was going to be flying home for my career advice meeting. The vanilla sock is progressing quickly though and I love these types of projects for their portability and simplicity as a travel activity.

The Michele Wang hat  (Treccia) took a back seat due to being busy, but luckily I was able to use my parents’ printer to print the chart out, so it should be easier to work on without having to stare at the computer screen for chart instructions.

Craft update

I finished a bit of freelance work and was paid very quickly (which I love). I put half into our house account and treated myself with the other half. I ordered some fabric and sewing supplies! I have been wanting to get back into sewing for years but have resisted due to time, not having the tools or financial resources. Unfortunately, PayPal changed my delivery address while ordering to our previous house! So we will see if things arrive smoothly (due to mail direct) or if somehow I end up losing £30+ of fabric. Fingers crossed!

Shop thoughts 

The ‘smol shop’; a casual low pressure shop space for all my made things. I mainly create small drawings on nice paper, but also want to include my handspun and other things that I can create. For example, I am still quite interested in dyeing yarn; which I did get done but had to take a break from due to finances! I didn’t have the capital to invest in more yarn and I will probably try to knit more stash before working on it. Also the sewing; this is a thing that is going to happen, I’m going to low key practice this and if it gets good I will think about selling stuff (as I end up thinking about with all of my creative pursuits). I really don’t want to pressure myself too much as I know it will make me hesitant and fearful. I want to approach it with a ‘see how it goes’ mindset. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Why I Knit Socks

Hi all!

First of all I just want to share with you this link to a lovely sock designer on ravelry. A bunch of the patterns are free surprisingly (they are so good looking I would be happy to pay). Another designer I like is Sunflower Knit, they have a bunch of sock patterns among a variety of shawls, garments, etc. Ash had a sale on from 14-28th Feb so I bought a couple shawl designs! Actually I’m posting this on 27th Feb so there’s still time if you’re fast!

Anyway, the thing I wanted to write about… Last year I knit 12 pairs of socks for Yarngasm Podcast‘s Box o’ Sox KAL (knit along). I still haven’t actually worn those socks yet – they feel too special! I will at some point, I’m just wearing through my old store-bought socks and I still have to weave in some ends (shh).

I’m still knitting socks, I usually have 1 or 2 pairs on the go alongside longer term WIPs, and my family and other people sometimes seem confused and ask me why I bother to make socks. I’ve been thinking about it and here’s a little list… aside from the – ‘well, why not?’ response.

1. They’re a very portable project – I can carry them around and knit on them while travelling.
2. They can be meditative, ‘mindless’ knitting – meaning I don’t have to concentrate too hard on them, so they’re good for knitting while watching TV etc.
3. They don’t require much yarn – good for budget knitting! Sweaters would require at least 400g of yarn…
4. They can be as challenging as you want them to be. Granted I’ve only done vanilla socks plus a couple classics like Hermione’s Everyday Socks and Mercury Socks, but I do aim to do some more challenging ones too. They would be a great way to build skills in lace knitting, cables, colourwork, etc.
5. I want to have a handmade wardrobe. I want to be self sufficient. I want to push towards being more environmentally sustainable with my choices (this will also involve moving away from superwash and also from nylon blends – eventually).
6. I want to sample gorgeous hand dyed yarns from indie dyers without buying a ton of skeins.
7. I want to connect with a historical craft – this fits in with all of my crafting activities, really!

Do you have any more reasons for knitting socks? Or for doing any craft?

Thanks and take care!

E

The Gift Knitting List

Hey all!

I hope January is treating everyone well.

I have a bunch of knitting requests for 2018.. and ideas for gifts for certain people… so I’m just popping on to post the list here so that I can keep track of it!

Do you do much gift knitting? I have done a reasonable amount, scarves for family members and occasional hats. A few friends are expecting babies so I would like to knit up things for them now too. I think gift knitting for me felt a bit tedious when I was trying to knit up simple bits for friends way back in Christmas 2016 when I was fairly new to knitting… but now I’m thinking that gift knitting may be a good way of trying out new patterns and techniques.

This month I completed a baby hat using the free Luuk pattern on ravelry, it was an incredibly quick knit and lovely hat, although I’ll have to admit like many on the comments for the pattern I was a little perplexed by the crown decreases chart.

I’m probably going to knit a couple more of the Luuk hat as they are so fast and a cute design. But after that I should keep my eyes open for other cute (and possibly challenging) baby hat patterns. If anyone has any suggestions let me know!

Anyway, without further ado I will write my list.

1. Sister – headband – not yet decided on pattern
2. Sister – Bedford Sweater by Michele Wang
3. Sian – baby hat (Luuk again)
4. Mum – hat (She Rises by Rizzaknits?) – ended up doing Ysolda’s Snapdragon Tam
5. Memere (French grandmother) – mittens – not yet decided on pattern – ended up knitting a simple hat with yarn I was gifted – the yarn wasn’t suitable for mitts.

I’m pretty sure the list was going to be bigger! At least, in my head it was. I’ll think about it more and add to it!

Have a great week all and take care!

E

What yarn diet?

Yarn diet update!

So I’ve managed to avoid Qing Fibre updates… I looked up the site when updates hit but reasoned my way out of buying more. I loved all the colourways of course but I know that I have no projects in mind for QF right now and I can’t afford multiple skeins anyway.

I have however cracked a little and bought some commercial yarn (some acrylic too!) for a Christmas present for my dad, and some baby hats. I would have used stash yarn for the baby hats, but a large chunk of my yarns are not superwash and the other chunk are fancy AF and I’m guessing tired new parents aren’t going to be too thrilled with specialised washing instructions for knitted gifts. So for now they will be given knitted acrylic items…

In future though I’d love to switch to solely non-superwash, non-plasticy yarn although I know that’s not necessarily practical for things like socks. I’m finding it hard to find non superwash blue faced leceister yarn, ideally high twist. If anyone knows of a supplier, please do let me know! Even if it’s undyed, I would happily dye it! One day when I can spin decently enough, with a behaving wheel, I could perhaps spin BFL myself for socks. That’s a far off goal though.

Apart from the yarn diet update, on my needles so far… I have my featherweight, which is lagging due to tension issues with lace and fiddly 4mm DPNs which I bought with far too much length.

Other projects include some new mercury socks in a non nylon blended yarn (although superwash), my penguono (which is huge and an amazing stash buster) and a tiny first sock on 9 inch circulars – this is a baby project which I just cast on for a simple mindless knit while travelling by car to South Wales.

Lastly, I also have my weareknitters Pyry sweater which is so close to completion, it just needs to be sewn together. I sewed the shoulders and arms but I still need to do underarm and sides. I have two days off in a row this week so I might set aside 30min or so to get that done. I’d love to get some of my projects out of the way and have a reasonably clean new year slate.

As for the hopeful thoughts about selling my yarn and other bits, I have a yarn spinning commission! I have to sort it for January which might be a push as I have a lot on but I’ll try. And I’ve ordered some fibre for the project. More on this when I get to it!

Goals for 2018 knitting/crafting… knit a Michele Wang pattern… spin more… finish up my projects… do less vanilla socks and more challenging knits. Dye yarn for projects where appropriate. That’s it for now but I haven’t given it tons of thought. This festive period has been a bit hectic for knitting and contemplation but I’m hoping my 6 days off for Christmas will give me time to re-centre myself.

Happy holidays all!

Woolillbedamned has an IG account!

So I decided to separate my woolly instagram posts and make a separate account for them, since they’re threatening to outnumber my arty posts on my main account. You can find the woolillbedamned instagram account here.

In other news… I’ve finished my Honey Badger Socks and only have to do one more sleeve of my Pyry Sweater! Getting close to casting on another project, maybe Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig.

The Ultimate Destash

So, I have a confession that most (if not all) knitters might make… Right now, I probably have way more yarn than I need. Since starting knitting in August 2016, I’ve accumulated a load of bits and pieces. When I first started knitting, I got excited about malabrigo yarn, so I have a bunch of worsted and other weight malabrigo… Then, I got really into indie dyed yarn, so I have a good amount of mostly fingering weight sock yarn. I’m still in my indie dyer craze and I have a big hit list for small businesses I’d love to support. BUT since January 2017 I have had a much smaller budget; basically, I really cannot allow myself to buy much yarn at all; maybe once a month or once every two months (if it’s indie dyed prices rather than the bigger companies).

I also have a massive project queue on ravelry, plus a handful of WIPs (works in progress) that need finishing off. Thus, here we are, with an ultimate destash blog post! Herein I will outline my plans for efficiently using the yarn I already have and annihilating my unfinished projects…

On The Needles

• Honey Badger Socks – I’m partway through the second sock! (update Nov 2017 – done!)
• Seed Stitch Socks – I’m on the leg of the first sock. (done!)
• Weareknitters Pyry Sweater – on the front piece; back piece is done.

Ready To Go

• Hermione’s Everyday Socks – I have Olann sock yarn in Bloodmoon and… I forgot the colourway! I’ll check and get back to this.
• [Undecided Pattern] Socks – In some grey Coop Socks Yeah! Yarn – I’m thinking of a non vanilla sock since it’s a solid colour yarn.
• Featherweight Cardigan – I have 2 skeins of Countess Ablaze OOAK ‘Cult’ yarn waiting to be balled up and knitted into this cardigan.
• Hat – for my sister, using Malabrigo Worsted which she bought and is sending me. (done)

Stashbusting Projects

• Snowmelt Shawl – I have 2/3 skeins ready for this, when I have finished my main projects I will buy the 3rd. Would love to start this though.
• Beekeeper’s Quilt – A good plan for using up my languishing (yet beautiful) sock yarn.
• Granny Stripe Blanket (crochet) – I can’t crochet… but I would love to do this? I would probably have to choose between this and the Beekeeper’s Quilt though.
• Baby Socks – Babies on the way from relatives; I could use my left over sock yarn for them. The only worry is that even though these are superwash merino I’m scared they’ll be destroyed by the first wash as I can imagine the new parents may be tired and I’m sure ‘washing instructions’ may not be top in the priorities list…?
• Swatch Placemats/Coasters – I would like to practice some more lace knitting and other bits and pieces… And to use up all my worsted weight yarn perhaps I could then use these swatches for coasters and placemats? Hmmm…
• Frankensocks – I am quite interested in making some striped socks from all my sock yarn; although will have to see whether the colours mesh well together!

Even if I do this, I know there’ll be a handful of unused bits; tell me, what’s a good way of destashing assorted bulky & super bulky yarns? I do have a mini weaving loom although maybe would prefer to use the yarns for something else. I could felt them, I suppose. I also have a ton of yarn ends from sock knitting; what do people do with those? Maybe some pom poms are in order?

 

Podshare

Today’s blog post features a picture of my Honey Badger socks! I have a half-object, going to cast on the second sock soon. Ideally I’m hoping to start making some silly knitting related illustrations for this blog but rather than have this particular blog post in incubation for ages I’ve decided to just post it and hope I can do illustrations in the future.

I wanted to do a quick feature on my blog to share some of the knitting podcasts/vlogs that I keep track of. I don’t watch that many regularly but I thought I’d share my favourites!

1. Yarngasm: probably my favourite! Knitting, sewing, spinning and other crafting inspiration, plus lovely colourways dyed by Kristin, who owns Voolenvine Yarns.
2. Sticks + Twine: I enjoy following Eric’s podcast as I like hearing how he talks about projects, appreciate his aesthetic and also I feel encouraged by his progress as he hasn’t actually been knitting for a super long time. His first pair of knitted socks inspired me to get over it and give it a go. I also want to try cables out too after seeing how well he’s doing on all his cabled projects.
3. Brooklyn Knitfolk: Jaclyn is really inspiring, I really like her aesthetic, hearing about all her projects, seeing her cats, etc. and the occasional quote at the end of the episode. Her giveaways always have the prompt ‘3 good things from the past 24 hours’ (or thereabouts) in order to enter, it’s a great way to get me to appreciate things a bit more and I enjoy reading other peoples’ responses!
4. Pinfeathers and Purls: I love Candace’s projects and colour choices, she has a cute pet birb and has great taste in video games, TV and anime!
5. Creative Musings: Casey Maura is super cute, I love her style and seeing her knitwear and sewing projects.
6. Michele Wang: Michele Wang is a beautiful lady with amazing skills in knitting and designing, I enjoy listening to her chat about knitting & anything else. I hope to one day knit from her patterns but I don’t think I’m there yet skills-wise.
7. Dyer’s Notebook – Laura is a pro at yarn dyeing, in particular striping sock yarns. I enjoy listening to what she has to say, what projects she’s working on, hearing the recipe for milk tea, etc. 🙂

Non Knitting Podcasts

1. Hello from the Magic Tavern – Improv comedy podcast set in a fantasy world – possibly my favourite ever podcast!
2. Welcome to Night Vale – A close follower to Magic Tav, the famous WTNV podcast is a fictional community radio station set in a dark and mysterious world. I listened to this podcast since about 2012 and I have found it to be a real comfort during hard times and also a source of fun and laughter.
3. Alice Isn’t Dead – By the Night Vale Presents crew – love the story and the voice acting. Mysterious and creepy.
4. Lore – Exploring stories of hauntings and weirdness throughout history, calming and creepy.
5. The Guilty Feminist – A new one for me – a UK comedy feminist podcast, each episode with a specific theme and pretty much always (as far as I’m aware) relating to current issues in the news – love it.
6. Offices and Bosses – This is a ‘want to watch’ for me as it is featured on the paid for podcast platform Howl – I can’t afford right now to do paid subs to anything really so this will be one to listen to in the future when I get a better-paid job!

Okay… apparently I’m a big listener of podcasts?

Continuing Spinning

Here’s a progress update on the spinning…

First of all, I wanted to get my brown & pink initial handspun projects off the spindle, and I didn’t have a niddy noddy, so I wrapped them around a tupperware lid, soaked them, and now they’re drying while weighted down. There’s too much twist in them, though! I need to research how to avoid this next time.

I was eager to try spinning the yarn I cleaned and carded myself (first image), so I got started; here’s the problem… the fibre is a lot rougher than anything I’ve used before- it’s not top, I’m guessing? The fibre comes from random bits from the fleece that a friend kept, so maybe that’s why. Perhaps we need to card the wool even more… Is this what you call a rustic yarn? A REALLY rustic yarn.

My second photo is some more fibre from Witch Fibre Co. This time, instead of pulling bits of fibre separate from the main bulk, I’m trying to continuously draft from the fibre so I don’t have to keep joining stuff and stopping to prepare. It’s working better. I still can’t draft and have the spindle spinning at the same time but it’s an improvement, I think!

Knit Wise

I thought I’d give a mini update on the projects I’m working on in knitting; pictures will come eventually too.

1. Honey Badger Socks – free pattern – I’m on the first sock, leg and heel flap done, going to turn the heel soon.
2. Vanilla Socks with seed stitch panel – I’m using the fish lips kiss heel pattern I bought on ravelry. Am also referencing the Hermione’s Everyday Socks pattern in case I need a bit of extra help in terms of stitch numbers etc. I haven’t reached the heel yet so we’ll see how it goes.
3. Pure Joy Shawl – paid pattern – by Joji Locatelli – this is the second Pure Joy I’ve knitted; this time for my mémère (grandmother). It’s almost fnished; I don’t have the yardage on my 2nd colour to do as much of the final panel as in the actual pattern but it will still be nice!
4. Pyry Sweater – paid pattern/kit – by We Are Knitters – I bought this ages ago and still haven’t finished it. It’s a lovely colour and the wool’s nice, the pattern’s easy, but I think I got bored of not working on circulars, and of doing rows and rows of pure stockinette. Hoping to get this done soon. It’ll be nice when it’s done! I love the taupe colour.

Projects are linked to my actual ravelry projects so you can see pictures, progress and the patterns used. Feel free to add me, I’ll add back!

Self Introduction

I thought I’d write a quick little intro post for this blog; I’m not even sure if this blog will catch on with me or if it’ll gather dust, but I have been thinking about creating a craft-centred blog for a while!

My name is E and my main pursuit in life is art; specifically, I hope to make artwork for video games. I did work as a generalist artist from summer 2015 – early 2017, but unfortunately the company I worked for couldn’t pay wages on time, so I needed to work somewhere more stable. I also wasn’t learning as much as I wanted to, so that was another factor in my leaving. Anyway, now I work part time in a cafe and I work part time on trying to improve my artwork and develop my portfolio.

In the gaps between, I knit and craft. I don’t know why I started knitting in August 2016, I had learned when I was a teenager but didn’t get very far as I didn’t realise I had to bring the yarn in front when switching from knit to purl! Finally, when I did start learning again, a friend enlightened me, and I’ve been addicted ever since.

Recently I became more interested in learning the process from sheep fleece to finished object (and I want to try and be more self sufficient and be better for the environment), so I started spinning, and also acquired some fleece from a friend. I’m going to try and document my adventures and experiments in craft on here!

In addition to yarny things, I would love to take up sewing as well. I also have made soap in the past and hope to get back into it – so hopefully these craft will feature here too.

Anyway, I hope this will be interesting to some people! Please add me on ravelry if you like, too!