A Little Bit of an Update

Hello there, I know it's been a little while since I last posted anything on this blog, and those who follow me over on instagram, I haven't been there much either. I'm sorry for plunging you all into a little bit of silence these past few months. 

As the pandemic has progressed, I have been feeling less and less like I want to make anything, which is hugely unlike me. I decided to take a break when I was feeling at my lowest, and have been making in little bits and pieces here and there, but most of my projects are lying untouched. This doesn't mean they won't get done, just not right now.  

In addition to the pandemic there has been a few other issues that have made their way to the surface. The recent push in recognising racism, and working to deal with that. As well as the issues with the new Ravelry which has left an awful lot of the yarn community without safe access to something that we all have made a huge part of lives up until now. 

I haven't been hiding away from all of these things. I have been on instagram, reading and learning what I can. There just hasn't been any posts as such. 

If you are someone who is struggling with the new Ravelry then please do be careful when clicking through to links on this blog as a lot of the hyperlinks to patterns and makers do take you straight there. 

With that all said, this time off has given me room to think, and I am going to take a step back from blogging for the foreseeable future. I have very much enjoyed my time blogging, but personally I feel it is time to put this to bed for now. I have no plans to get rid of what is already here online, as it feels a shame to get rid of an archive of a year or two of making. So you can scroll back through the archives if that takes your fancy. 

I hope you can all understand my decision, and maybe you can head over to instagram and give me a follow there if you'd like to still see some of my makes. As for the instagram account, I am going to turn it back into a personal account, and will still be sharing makes there, but in a much more relaxed and unofficial way. 

So please do keep safe in these uncertain times, look after yourselves and keep doing what makes your heart happy.

Finished Object - Nora Jumper

A few weeks ago I took a five day shift off work to use up some of my holiday, and had a long list of sewing plans that didn't quite all come to fruition. But one of the things I did make, was a Nora Jumper. Pattern by Tilly and the Buttons.

Shortened Body

I made it with some fabric I had been given, the same as my Heyday Dungarees. I don't know much about the fabric, but it does have about 20% stretch and was lovely and cozy. So given I had the Nora pattern, and it calls for fabric with 20% stretch, I decided to give it a go, and this was my first time working with stretch fabric.

I went for the full length version, of both the body and the sleeves, as I had enough fabric to make it. But after wearing it for a day I decided that the body was too long for me and I shortened it. I made it almost entirely to pattern although I hand-stitched the pieces where I had to do top-stitching. This was because I didn't have a thread that looked nice on the fabric, and whilst I used the colour that most closely matched the fabric, it wasn't quite close enough that I liked it. So the collar, cuffs and hem were hand stitched with a whip stitch, only picking up the fabric on the inside of the jumper. Whilst you can't see any of the stitching, this doesn't make it invisible, but I am pretty happy with it. 

This jumper has already made a fair few appearances in Me-Made-May and I am really enjoying it. So I may even make a Nora tee soon as well! 

Before Alteration

WIP Wednesday - Peppermint Purple SAL

Now blackwork is something I'm quite new to, and didn't really know anything about until I saw someone I follow on Instagram post about this exact Stitch-A-Long (SAL) and I decided to get involved. 

Blackwork uses backstitches to create a pattern on a fabric, which can be, and usually is, cross-stitch aida. Which is what I used, as I had some of it in my fabric stash, I also decided to try and use leftover embroidery floss that I have from when I had done a sampler for the birth of my Nephew. So far I am really enjoying it, even though I hate backstitching my actual cross-stitch pieces! XD

The SAL is free to anyone who wants to join and is running all year long. Every week a new box is released, and on some weeks there are a couple of options for you to customise your own work. There is a lovely facebook page for support if you need it, and even though we are halfway through the year it really isn't too late to start. 

It would be great to say that I had been keeping up every week, but that is far from the truth. I tend to miss out on a week or two, and then catch up on a day off. As the boxes are quite small they are doable in an hour, and a couple doesn't take too long. I find this is a nice no pressure SAL and by the end of the year will have a lovely piece to frame and put up somewhere.  

Finished Object - Leftovers Shorty Sock

A little while ago, before Christmas maybe? I had picked up a cheap set of 2.25mm DPNs to see if I liked the fabric I could knit with them whilst making socks. Sadly they sat in the needle case forgotten about until fairly recently. So I decided that when making this leftovers sock I would use them and see what I thought of the finished product. 

I cast on 60 stitches for this sock, which was a guess at how well it would fit me really, as I tend to use 60 stitches for a 2.5mm needle and 64 for a 2mm needle. But I think it has turned out pretty well. I knit an inch of ribbing and then started the heel. 

The heel is a little bit different to what I mostly use. During Me-Made-May this year I am wearing all my hand knit socks a lot more and I have been rediscovering which of my socks I like the best. It turns out that my socks knit with a heel flap and gusset I find the most comfy, while the majority of my socks are German Short Row heel. I think this is mostly because I really didn't like doing the heel flap, and the German Short Row heel I had memorised and found easy to do. But seeing as my most recent pair of socks I'm knitting are heel flap, I thought I might as well on this sock too. 

So I pulled out the pattern for Hermione's Everyday Socks and I used the eye of partridge heel recipe in that, which I can highly recommend. In fact the Hermione's Everyday Socks are a brilliant pattern if you are a new to sock knitting knitter. 

The yarn I used for this sock is leftover from when I made my brother a pair of socks for Christmas, and is West Yorkshire Spinners, signature 4-ply in what I think is the Mallard colourway. I've only tried on the sock so far, and it fits really well so I am looking forward to when I have some more leftover sock yarn to make it a little friend so I can wear them together and really give it a road test! 

WIP Wednesday - Chapman Socks

First of all I want to say a huge sorry for the posting schedule going a little off piste this past week. I didn't realise I hadn't scheduled a post to go up on Sunday, and after a tiring week at work, I am only now just getting around to getting some things written. So on with that! 

One of the things I cast on recently was a pair of Chapman socks by Rachel Atkinson from the John Arbon Textiles Annual, issue one. The Annual itself is a lovely little book with a couple of patterns as well as a few fun little activities and I am excitedly waiting for my copy of issue two. 

The socks are cabled with a little wiggly two by two cable, which gives a lovely effect, as well as being really easy to knit. I am making the Extra-Small size (there are five different sizes) which uses 56 stitches, and whilst the pattern calls for a 2.25mm needle I have used 2.5mm DPNs. 

I've now knit one complete sock and am now starting on the second. But there was one false start with the first... I accidentally cast on two extra stitches and didn't really work out why the pattern wasn't working until I had done the entire leg and was about to do the heel. After pulling it completely out and starting again it was very quick to knit up, and really quite enjoyable as the pattern is easy to memorise without too much thinking. 

The yarn used is actually from a little weekend break away I had back last year when I went with my parents to Edinburgh. We had an amazing time, but I managed to pop into the Ginger Twist Studio shop and pick up a holiday skein of yarn. I chose a skein of her sock base, Sheepish Sock in a colourway that really spoke to my heart: Factory Girls. It is the most amazing green (the photo above doesn't do it justice) whilst also being lovely to knit with. I can highly recommend. 

Now excuse me whilst I go knit on this sock! ;) 

WIP Wednesday - Arbor Vitae

Yes yes! Another update on this should-have-been-finished-long-ago work in progress. I have finally managed to complete the body of my Arbor Vitae jumper, and I am pretty excited about it. I was finding the body hard going, with almost endless stocking stitch with a 4-ply yarn. I found that I couldn't just sit and knit on it unless I had something else to distract me as well. 

That being said I did manage to get a fair bit done on it when I realised I could walk and knit at the same time, and I spent a fair few walks in the sunshine knitting as I wandered along. 

I decided to cut the waist shaping short, by doing one less increase repeat. That meant that the number of decrease and increase repeats were the same, but also I found that by the end of the penultimate increase the body was the length specified in the pattern before the ribbing started. So I thought there wasn't much to loose and started the ribbing. 

I tried it on after I had cast off and it was a perfectly fine length, it comes down a fair bit further than my Fern and Feather, and had a nice amount of ease to it. (Not 11" ;P) I then added the neckline and that was practically done in a night too. The neckline also isn't quite to pattern. I knitted the neckline until it was a length I liked, trying it on as I went. That meant that it is actually half the size that the pattern suggests. But I'm not too keen on things being tight around my neck. 

So that only leaves the sleeves and sleeve caps to go. I'm thinking of trying to make them two at a time, which would be exciting to try. So I am almost back to where I was when I ripped back this whole jumper. It has been hard going, and I'm a little unsure now of knitting another 4-ply jumper. But maybe this is just because it is the second time round same pattern, same yarn. I'll see how I feel about another one in the future. 

Finished Object - Heyday Dungarees

I had a few sewing plans for my days off and this was the first of them. The Heyday Dungarees by Made By Jacks Mum. The pattern is a brilliant price and available as a digital download, so you can get sewing almost as soon as you buy the pattern. I printed the pattern at home, although there is a copy shop pdf if you are that way inclined, and I glued all the pieces together and cut out the pattern in my size. What I love about pdf patterns is that I can cut around the pieces of my size rather than worry about saving the larger pattern sizes, as they can be printed again later.

The fabric I have used was given to me by my Aunty and Uncle as they had cleared out my Uncle's Mum's loft and had loads of fabric that needed to be put to use. The fabric was only about 90cm wide and I had 2.9m of it. There was just enough to make the pattern if I shortened the legs a little bit, which was fine as it is my back that makes up most of my height. It is a soft woven fabric that had a sort of flannel-y feel to it, it's cozy none-the-less.

I have to admit that it probably wouldn't have been my first choice for a pair of dungarees, but the more I wear them the more I seem to love them! I followed the pattern exactly, and managed to not go careering off the rails as I seem to often do - I'm not very good when it comes to following instructions or being told what to do. But the pattern was easy to follow and the methods of making the dungos good and straightforward. 

I did add a jazzy front pocket. I wanted a little something to shout out me, and I had the perfect piece of fabric leftover in my stash. The aeroplane fabric I got originally to make a Stevie top for my birthday last year, and I still had a bit left. I am super excited about that pocket, and I really am enjoying wearing these for Me Made May this year.