Self Indulgent Craft-A-Long (#STSICAL2015) started on Christmas Day and runs to February 29th 2016. The thread will be locked when I get up and get online on 1st March. The CAL is for anything new and exciting that makes your heart sing after all the responsibilities and hard work of the run up to the end of the year, so it shouldn't be a WIP.
. The Wool Barn Alpaca Sock (grey) in the Denim colourway. The is a sock/4ply weight yarn, comprised of 70% Natural Light Grey Baby Alpaca/20% Silk/10% Cashmere and it weighs 100g and has 400m/436yds.
From a generous viewer, who wishes to remain anonymous, The Uncommon Thread, Silky Merino Fingering in the Pern colourway. The yarn is a sock/4ply weight yarn and is comprised of 75% Superwash Merino/25% Mulberry Silk, it weighs 100g and measures 400m.
Katya Frankel is holding an Anything Goes KAL from 20th February to 20th March over in her Ravelry Group, and is offering a 20% discount on all of her self-published designs from 8-29 February with the code anythinggoeskal.
I really like her new shawl pattern Sidereal but I might join in with the Vector pattern from Flatland.
I drew the winners for the STSAL2014, they are on Ravelry on the FO Thread. They are as follows; rosebob won the PLY Magazines, patternwhisperer won the Fondant Fibre Project Bag and Fibre
mariamc67 won the Camel/Silk Punis from Elly’s Knit (in)Sanity.
I was recently asked to talk about where I live on the podcast, which has inspired the next craft a long. I thought it would be interesting to find out more about where our community lives. Essentially you need to craft something that relates to where you live and describe how it relates to your home. eg Using locally dyed yarn or knitting a pattern with a name that reminds you of a local landmark. The craft is flexible, it can be knitted, crocheted, spun or woven (basically any craft on Ravelry).
The Where I Live CAL (Craft-A-Long) will start on Saturday 30th June and will end on Sunday 31st August 2014. The project must be started AFTER the start date and be posted into the FO Thread before midnight on the end date. WIPs and UFOs cannot be used for this. You must be a member of the group and you should post a photo of your finished object and link to your project page on Ravelry. You must explain WHY and HOW your project relates to where you live. The FO Thread will open on Ravelry on the start date, but I will open a chat thread when this podcast episode goes live where you can discuss your ideas and ask for feedback about your choices. You should tag your project STWILCAL and you can use the same tag as a hashtag on Twitter and Instagram or any blog posts. You are free to double dip. I will talk about where I live closer to the start date. Prizes are to be determined once I have a rummage through my stash,
I am doing Stash Dash with The Knit Girllls this year again. I am going to try and force myself to abstain from yarn and fibre purchase until I've achieved my 5000m target, unless it is required for a specific project that is obligation related eg birthday presents. I need to get a handle on this stash!
I love the stitch pattern and how it works with this yarn. Thanks to Jo from the Shinybees Podcast for the mention about my socks in her latest episode.
The other knit I finished was the Cattywampus Hat that I talked about making in the last episode, using my handspun BFL yarn made from Gale's Art fibre. Elizabeth Green Musselman of Dark Matter Knits Podcast kindly gifted me the pattern and I just had to cast on straight away. I could NOT be happier with this hat.
I took the option of adding an extra 5 sts to the cast on, as I wanted a slouchier hat than some of the projects I'd seen, as recommended in the pattern. After blocking the hat is drapey and soft and is light enough to wear in slightly warm weather. I won't be able to wear it much longer though.
I spun some Fondant Fibre rolags I bought last year and was scared to spin in case I ruined them. I finally felt confident enough to try them and spun them long draw. The resulting yarn is a 2-ply fingering/4-ply weight yarn and I have 348 m/380 yds.
I used the Enid Ashcroft Ebony Whorl/Bocote Shaft Tibetan Spindle, which I love. The yarn is fluffy light and soft. As this was spun from my oldest rolags or punis I decided to enter this project into the Oldest Anything Craft Along being run by Emily of the Watcha Swatchin Podcast and Molly of the Deepbluerenegade Podcast.
I started and finished two more spinning projects. The first was Paintbox from Spin City. I spun it worsted with 3 plies and got 144m of worsted weight. I am thinking of knitting some Masonry Mitts by Vera Brosgol.
The second project used Fondant Fibre pre-drafted nests of organic merino in the colourway Smoke Screen. I spun it worsted as a true 3 ply.
It was sport weight and I got around 166m/181yds from 100g/3.5oz. It is very soft and bouncy and it was a dream to spin. It was the first time I'd spun this particular fibre blend from Deb and it is gorgeous. It feels like it has more crimp than regular merino which makes it loftier.
I cast on and finished was Starshower by Hilary Smith Callis. It is a shawly cowl in an interesting lace stitch. I have wanted one for a while and then when I bought a new skein of yarn from Countess Ablaze, Lord Kitchener 4 ply in the Come Back in The Seventh Year colourway, I knew it would be perfect for the project and cast on. I blogged about it here.
Nose to the Grindstone
With the Simene Stole, I have decided to extend the number of pattern repeats I do in each side of the stole. I have finished the first half and I'm about to start the main chart on the second half. I decided to do 7 repeats of the main chart, instead of 6 and I think this extra length will be more comfortable for me as I have quite a long arm span for an average height girl.
My Sleeves project has stalled a bit, but that was always going to be a reasonably long term project, along with Simene Stole.
The second pair is knit in Knitters Nightmare Boogieman Sock in the Seashore colourway. I managed to get my hands on another oops in this base of yarn as my favourite socks are in this yarn.
The project for the Island KAL is a pattern from a new book I bought, Coop Knits Toasty Volume 1 by Rachel Coopey. It's a great book and there are at least 4 projects I want to knit from it. I cast on Ripon, which is a hat knit in Titus 4-Ply, as are all the patterns in this book. It is cabled and slouchy and I knew I wanted to wear it with my new bag. I had a skein of Titus but I wanted something brighter. I bought some Jamieson & Smith 2-Ply Jumper Weight in the 132 Very Bright Turquoise colourway, I've used this yarn before and I knew it would work well as a Titus replacement.
In the spirit of stash dash I decided to cast on a yarn eater type project. I'm using 4 different strands of yarn to knit a cushion cover for use in the garden.
It's nice and sturdy and I think it will hold up well to garden use. Once this is done, if I have enough yarn left over I will cover another cushion we already use in the garden too.
I'm knitting a shawl from the Fondant Fibre rolags I finished. It's Demiluna by Lhevinne Amor. This is my entry into the Got sKnit to do KAL, provided I can get it cast off and blocked in time.
I'm plying up some pretty fibre from Countess Ablaze in the Baby It's Cold Outside colourway. I'm spinning at as 3-ply as I enjoy the appearance of this type of yarn.
I'll talk about the spindle in Toolbox!
I'm also spinning some rolags I made myself, which I'll talk about in Quest for Knowledge!
Toolbox
I got a blending board for my birthday. I used birthday money to buy lots of fibre to use.
I think the rolags I made as my first "proper" rolags are too dense. They have the density of punis, whilst being the size of rolags! Any tips are gratefully received.
New spindle from Spanish Peacock. It is made from walnut and wenge. Thanks to Emily from the Fibre Town podcast for getting it for me.
Quest for Knowledge
I have been trying to find out more about blending boards. I have made a couple of trial sets of rolags and I now have a set that I am working my way through, with the hope of getting usable yarn.
There doesn't seem to be much information about how to use a blending board beyond videos like the one below.
It is hard to gauge how much to put on. Any tips would be gratefully received.
Crafting Library
I got an email on Earth Day from Interweave saying all digital downloads were deeply discounted. I bought The Gentle Art of Plying with Judith MacKenzie McCuin. It's a superb video that taught me lots. I highly recommend it.
Online Community
MaryQEP won the Countess Ablaze Giveaway. Thank you for all the entries, this was our most popular giveaway to date, and I'm not surprised.
I was delighted to hear that my inspiration photo in The Golden Skein contest came first. This means my photo (show above). This means that the yarn dyed for the first quarter of 2015 will be inspired by my photo. I also get the yarn, which is very exciting for me. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the dyers do with this photo as there are some interesting colours in the photo.
Earburning or Magic Linking on Ravelry will notify someone in a PM that you want them to read your comment. Use this in the chat thread if you want to comment on someone's progress photos.
**I have just had it pointed out to me that I got my dates mixed up. The KAL ends on 31st October and I will close the thread on 1st NOVEMBER!" Sorry about that, I ended up having to record the podcast twice and I think I was getting tired the second time through.**
I had to do a second swatch for my Professoressa Cardigan as the first needle was too big. I dropped down a size and the stitch count was bang on, but the row count isn't. I need to do some calculations to see it will be a problem or not. I also need to carefully look at sizing and any alterations needed. I am happy with my revised swatch.
I'm also playing around with some stitch patterns and thinking about doing some design work.
Done & Dusted
Glitz at The Ritz is now a beautiful shawl that I adore. The pattern is free in Knitty and by Helen Stewart. I have no idea when I'll wear it, but I love it. It was knit in Wharfedale Woolworks 4ply Merino/Silk in the Creme de Menthe colourway. The beads I used were clear, with a silver lining, in a size 6. I got them from Charisma Beads.
Because I used Fleegle's technique for applying the beads with a tiger tail hook, I had my beading kit out and decided to make some new stitch markers.
I got my Minerva Crafts T-Shirt finished and I am reasonably happy as it is comfortable, but it isn't flattering. I blogged full details here. I will definitely use the yarn again, but won't repeat the pattern without some serious re-writing to suit my shape.
My second finished shawl is Pogona by Stephen West. The yarn used is Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in WD Gruenfink. The yarn was a destash purchase so I'm not quite sure of the colourway. It was my first time knitting Wollmeise and I can see why there is so much fuss now!
I will definitely knit this pattern again, probably in a variegated sock yarn - perhaps one of yarns from my Splashed Out section.
To match my new shawl I knit a new hat in a very similar shade of green. The hat is Arkanoid by Woolly Wormhead from the Hatopia Collection. I blogged about this project, full details can be found there. The yarn used was Babylonglegs Semi-Precious in the Go colourway, that I had in stash.
I had been seeing Brickless by Martina Behm on lots of podcasts and decided that as I had the pattern I wanted to knit it too, especially as I had time before the start of the KAL. I used Malabrigo Rastita in Arco Iris. I added an extra repeat. It is VAST. Full details on Ravelry.
I have a monster for my nephew that has just been stuffed and sewn up. It's Bea The Basement Monster from Rebecca Danger's book Big Book of Knitted Monsters. I've knit this using Cascade 220 Superwash in turquoise and navy. I highly recommend this book as this is the third monster I've knit from it, and I know there will be more!
My basic vanilla sock, which is toe-up with an fore-thought Sweet Tomato Heel, done with the stitch pattern from Hermione's Everyday Sock by Erica Lueder. The yarn used is Regia Creativ in 1007, which a red-purple colour. I'm using Hiya-Hiya sharps for the first time and I'm enjoying the experience.
Working my way through a selection of fibres that I got from Fibreholics that I blogged about here.
I'm using it as practice for spinning on my Tibetan Spindle.
The rest of my work is background stuff or preparation work, looking at sizing and designs. I'm enjoying the calm before the KAL storm!
Splashed Out
I bought four skeins of Posh Yarn sock yarns. I have to say, for the record, that not all four skeins of Posh Yarn were bought at the same update. I honestly don't buy on every update, though I might want to.
Posh Yarn Elinor Sock in Going For Broke, 100% Merino (365m/400yds)
Posh Yarn Esme Sock in For You I Sigh colourway. 100% Merino (400m/440yds)
Posh Yarn Martha Sock in And Don't You Come Back No More. 80% Merino/10% Cashmere/10% Nylon (400m/440yds)
Posh Yarn Megan Sock in Why Does No One Ever Get My Jokes. 100% Superwash Blue Faced Leicester (400m/440yds).
There was sale on at Fyberspates, which I looked at, to my doom. I bought two skeins of yarn and a braid of fibre. I made good savings and got products I'd never used before, and I'm a fan of Fyberspates and I've never had a chance to use her hand-dyed range.
Fyberspates Sheila's Sock in the Stride With Pride colourway. 100% Merino (365m/400yds)
Fyberspates Nef Sock in the Verdigris colourway. 70% Alpaca/20% Silk/10% Cashmere (400m/440yds).
Fyberspates Sparkle Fibre in plum, gold and brown. 75% Merino/20% Silk/5% Sparkle (100g)
Malabrigo Rastita in Arco Iris. 100% Merino (283m/310yds) and I bought 2 skeins.
Twisted Limone Tangy Self-Striping Sock Yarn in Knock Your Socks Off. 75% Superwash Wool/25% Nylon (400m/440yds). It's nice to find this sort of yarn in the UK. It really is very beautiful and HAS to be socks.
I've just bought Big Foot Knits by Andi Smith, published by Co-Operative Press. It's a book that has been spoken about on several podcasts, so I bought the digital version. I will spend some time working on it and let you know what I think.
Online Community
Giveaway for one of Lara Smoot's pattern has been drawn today and the out of the 18 posts in the thread, the number chosen by the random number generator was 6, which was rosebob's post.
I shall get Lara to contact you, to confirm your choice of Wentletrap.
Countess Ablaze is one of my favourite dyers and she has just made the jump from ETSY to her own website. The website is lovely and easy to use so I'm really happy for her. To celebrate she is offering a discount of 10% using the code of HELLO10, until 15th September. I recommend checking her out, because she is very talented and does fibre too. I might just have slipped up and bought some yarn and some fibre, but that hasn't got here yet!
Thank you so much to Stacie and Steph from the Must Stash Podcast for recommending me not only once, but in TWO episodes. If you haven't seen their show - go and watch them immediately, and not just because they were nice to me!
Many thanks go to Gardening Witch and Red Panda for their reviews on iTunes. I was also happy to see I have an average star rating on the US site, so thank you to those people whole gave me a rating, it means a lot.
The Stitched Together Designs Group on Ravelry has now hit 107 members. It is wonderful to see you all there and it's been great chatting.
Crafting Library KAL/CAL. I have chosen my pattern. It's Professoressa Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio, from Textured Stitches which I bought in Spring 2012. I have got my yarn as I had a discount code for The Knitting Shop and they sell Cascade 220 Sport, and buying a kit was an even cheaper way to get the yarn. If you have photos of the yarn you have chosen why don't you post them on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag of #STCLKAL. If you tag your project on Ravelry too, we can easily find each other when we get started. I have opened a Stitched Together Crafting Library KAL thread on the Ravelry Board so you can start posting your pattern and yarn ideas. You should be getting ready to get started!
Tour de Fleece 2013. I didn't win anything, but I learnt a lot. I blogged full details here.
My most recent Challenge To Myself project has finished and I'm planning my next one. It appears that I will be making a garment for my Sister-in-Law as she has fallen in love with the yarn and pattern I talked about in my recent blog post. She is very definitely knit-worthy! She wants the Cable & Pleat Tunic.
BFL/ramie from Hilltop Cloud is spun and I have 173m of sport weight yarn.
8 wash cloths based on Grandmother's Favorite, using Knit Picks Dishie and some Peaches & Creme I found in my stash.
I'm thinking about buying Dishcloth Diva for my next batch of dishcloths.
Nose to The Grindstone
Got some wonderful rolags sent to me by Deborah of Fondant Fibres in purple, made of alpaca/bamboo/silk and I'm spinning those on my Tibetan spindle. I swapped to rolags after struggling with the Manx Loaghton, which I was trying to spin too thickly. That is on hold for now.
I'm spinning Blue Tit from Hilltop Cloud on my Rakestraw. I'm trying a tighter twist this time. Minerva Crafts stripey tee. I have only half a sleeve left to do and then I can do the collar and placket and get on with the finishing. Summer of Lace and Beads KAL shawl has finally been started, using a Wharfedale Woolworks yarn. I'm using a home made tigertail bead applicator, as described by Fleegle.
If you are interested in joining in with a virtual knit night/day using Google Hangouts, let me know either by email, or on Ravelry. If anyone fancies a trial run, I'd appreciate it, so I can see how it works before setting up a "proper" session. You can find me on +Google.
Thank you, to Jordyndunaway and KnottyLa for your lovely reviews on the US iTunes store. It means a lot when people take the time to review podcasts for me.
Lara Smoot, the designer of the Wandering Wildflower cowl I finished has kindly offered to give a listener or reader of the blog one of her patterns. To win one of these lovely items, go to her pattern store and look at what she has to offer and then visit the thread on the Stitched Together Designs Ravelry board and say which pattern you would like to win. The giveaway will close when I record my next podcast, which is probably about 3 weeks. You do need to be a member of my Ravelry group to win.
, I spun it as a worsted 2-ply and the resulting yarn was 282m/308yds of sport weight yarn.
. I've knit this using Cascade 220 Superwash in turquoise and navy. I highly recommend this book as this is the third monster I've knit from it, and I know there will be more!
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