Knitting & crochet

I decided to persevere with the  knitting of the hat, because I know I can do it and once it is done I can knit something else out of  the 246 wonderful knitting patterns already in my Ravelry queue.  The hardest part will be choosing what to knit next.  I don’t have cable needles, so am using double-pointed one of the same size to do the cables – kind of awkward, but I suspect that I wouldn’t feel all that more comfortable even with the cable needle as this is my first attempt at cables.  However if I get through it, I’ll gift myself some cable needles so I can do Georgie Hallam’s Milo – maybe three of them in matching yarn in 4 year old, 3 months old and doll sizes.

The solution to my ever growing Ravelry queue seem to be to add more crochet patterns as I managed to get two crochet items started and finished in a very short time.

Wristies for my daughter to keep her hands warm while scooting. She also wants leg-warmers and neck-warmer, please don’t mention to her any other warmers, because she’ll want one for herself.

String with spiders on the both ends to tie my Halloween spider-web cape.

 

Nine Degrees

The highest temperature yesterday was only 9 (NINE!) degrees.  I made a mistake of deciding not to wear my winter coat and came back home totally frozen.  On the upside I got to wear the beautiful super-warm green neckwarmer Stagasaurus sent me as part of her swap package.

Mobius cowl

 

Latest creations

My daughter stays up later in summers while the days are longer and in the last few months the choice seemed to be between blogging or making; and I kept on choosing the making. Hopefully I’ll be able find some time to write again until the next summer comes along and the shift in sleeping patterns will repeat itself narrowing the amount of time I get to myself.

I know few new babies and there are few more coming next year and therefore I have a new mission to make some handmade baby presents. Yesterday, while stuck at home with a sick toddler & both of us overtired and grumpy, we tried making some wet-felted balls. If you are acquainted with any toddlers, you’ll know that playing with water, soap and wool equals to lots of fun. We managed to make two balls and to increase the output I’m planning to pre-felt some more on my own out of undyed wool to be decorated by us together. I need to make at least four more.

I’m debating about whether I should continue to knit. I keep on adding new patterns to my Ravelry queue, but I’m a very slow and not very good knitter. For example, I want to knit a hat for myself out of the gorgeous Araucania Ranco Multy yarn Stagasaurus sent me in a swap. I knitted a sample dolls hat as my gauge swatch, I choose the pattern and now I’m stuck because I keep on making silly mistakes in the same three simple rows and keep on having to re-knit them. So should I persevere and improve or should I give it up for now and concentrate on the crafts that are more familiar and therefore produce faster results (I’m sure I can crochet a hat in few evenings)?

 

Zucchini snack

Zucchinis (from our garden) sliced, sprinkled with the freshly grated Parmesan cheese and baked in the pre-heated (180-190 degrees C) oven for about 15 minutes. Delicious.

 

Thoughts

First Thoughts are the everyday thoughts. Everyone has those. Second Thoughts are the thoughts you think about the way you think. People who enjoy thinking have those. Third Thoughts are thoughts that watch the world and think all by themselves. They’re rare, and often troublesome. Listening to them is part of witchcraft.
Terry Pratchett “A Hat Full of Sky”

 

Importance of a Backup

I haven’t backed-up my computer files for about three years. I previously worked in IT, so I know only too well the importance of making at least one regularly, but somehow it was never getting to the top of my To Do list. Last month my husband got me an external harddrive, which was the push to just sit down one evening and to back up everything. Was I glad to have a copy of all my files and photos when a week later our house was burgled and my laptop stolen.

I have a new laptop now thanks to the insurance company and am slowly adapting it to my needs and likes. During my forced break from the online world I managed to get few craft things done.

Every time I wore my Chinese knot necklace my daughter would “borrow” it or ask for one of her own. During last Australian holiday I found the rainbow coloured cord at Clegs and got just enough to make one necklace, because my daughter likes anything multi-coloured, but everyone else would probably find it too colourful (or so I thought at the time). Since I wanted it to be a surprise for her I could only work on it after she went to bed. I’m glad to say that she loves it and wears it often (unlike some of the other things I made for her). I like it as well and wish I bought more cord as I would love to have a cheerful necklace to brighten up some of my plainer outfits.

I finally got around to making more items for my daughter’s fruit&veg basket, which I started about a year ago. I still have to make an apple, a pear, an aubergine and some strawberries. I suspect by the time I’ll get around to making them there will be few more new requests to add to the list.

Pattern for Peas in the Pod by Lindsey Lee, the rest are from Crocheted Fruits and Vegetables Basket by Michele Wilcox
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Glace
Crochet Hook: 3mm

I managed to crochet half of Celestine (it supposed to have 12 points), which was in my Ravelry queue for about 2 years.
Pattern: Celestine
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Glace
Hook: 3mm

I made some progress on knitting a shawl. I’m separating each leaf with a stitch marker, but after three repeats I run out. So now I’m debating if I should make more stitch markers (and maybe some earrings) or brave knitting without them.

And I finally successful made a starter and baked white sourdough bread. It tasted delicious and today I’m trying a bit more interesting recipes and looking forward to having a nice sandwich (or two) for dinner.

 

Procrastination as Part of Synchronicity

Today I learned that sometimes procrastination turns out to be simply another step towards synchronicity. I bought this gorgeous Rowan Kidsilk Spray yarn on sale about two years ago, because I loved the gentle and light mix of green, brown and yellow. I could imagine myself wearing a flowing shawl in the early autumn days when the air just acquires that crisp edge and the colour of the leaves starts to shift from green into multitude of shades. However I kept on putting off casting on.

Today I finally decided to choose a pattern from the many in my Ravelry queue, only to stumble on this new one, which looks exactly like I imagined my shawl (triangular, simple, with leaves). Plus I can read both English and Russian instructions. Hence today I have the perfect yarn and the perfect pattern; tomorrow I will cast on.

 

Few Words

We have so many thoughts and so few words that we must express many thoughts in every word.
From ‘Memories: A story of German love’ by Max Muller

 

Sunday Quote

There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do.
Terry Pratchett “A Hat Full of Sky”

 

Into the Woods

Every week my daughter and I go to the woods, bringing with us snacks, drinks and extra cloths, which doesn’t leave much space in my bag for a picnic blanket.  Therefore I decided to make a small one that is just big enough for the two of us.  I couldn’t justify buying more fabric (due to owning somewhat large stash of the various craft materials) and after looking through all the 5″ squares selected the ones that seemed to go well together.  I followed the instructions for the Picnic Blanket by Erin of house on hill road, but as the blanket was too small added a border.

The final (perfect) size of the blanket is 30″ x 34″ and I love the subdued earthy colours. Next time I’ll have to attempt some quilting.