Work in Progress - July 2022

A regular update from my coffee table! You can read previous ones here.

This month I have one finished project - it's for Feathered Friends so I was on a deadline. 😆

Little Hootlete by Taiga Hilliard available to buy on Raverly. 

This little jumper features a simple 'owl' cable on the hem. The pattern has a choice of sizes for 0 to 4 years. Knitted in a worsted/aran weight yarn it can be a quick knit at such a small size. The open neckline will fit over large baby heads too.

I started this in April and then completely forgot about it!

It's knitted from the top down. At first you knit back and forth, creating the open neck and increasing your stitches for sleeves. Once you get to the correct number of stitches the sleeve stitches are put onto a spare piece of yarn for finishing later and then you knit round and round for the body of the jumper.

This item will be on sale (with the designers permission) at the Pittenweem Arts Festival community craft exhibition at the Coastline Community Church from Saturday 6th to Saturday 13th August 2022.

I used a now discontinued stash yarn for my jumper but any worsted/aran weight yarn would work.

In the main I've been unable to settle on one project this past month so I've been rotating through my WiPs, making a small impact across several projects.

The biggest change is in my Desert Ripple Wrap.

Desert Ripple Wrap by SweaterFreak (available to buy on Ravelry)

Last month I was debating which colour to use as my contrast shade.

I started the central triangle with Love Your Wallpaper in Don't Talk Back. But the diagonal straight ends, that turn the triangle into a rectangle, incorporate a contrast shade.

I decided on the undyed Tibetan 4ply as it shares the same greyish colour that is the basis of Don't Talk Back. The Tibetan 4ply does include silk so it has a gleem to it too.

Really pleased how it's turning out. The ripple effect lace looks so good in the hand dyed yarn. 

I have been relying on my stitch markers to keep the ripple lace correct. I reduces my need to count my stitches. The ripple lace is worked over 18 stitches so I've added a stitch marker after every 18th stitch. Simply moving them from the right hand needle to the left hand needle when I come to them.

I've also made some progress on my toe-up socks. After a super fast first sock, these have been languishing for a while.

I normally knit my socks from the cuff down. This is how I learnt to knit my first socks and it's remained my preferred way to knit them simply because I can now do it from memory and they fit my feet well. In the interest of professional development I'm trying to improve my toe-up skills.

Most of the techniques used to knit a sock from the toe upwards are not unfamiliar to me but I have only knit 2 pairs of toe up socks. I don't have the numbers in my head and I certainly haven't got a go to heel technique.

I'm using Crazy Zauberball in shade 2429 and Trusty Toe Up Socks, a free pattern from Tanis Lavallee on Ravelry. 

The Trusty pattern gives two options for a heel - short row or afterthought. I have opted for the afterthought heel mainly as I was enjoying knitting the tube and I didn't want to stop to think to put a heel in. I have put a piece a waste yarn in. Later, I will pick up stitches above and below this waste yarn and then pull the waste yarn out, leaving a hole in the tube and live stitches that I can construct a heel with.

When I get to this point I will take lots of photos and share them on the blog!

There has been more progress on my Melting Marl shawl. It doesn't look it as the rows are very long now. 😆

Melting Marl Shawl by Stephen West using 2 strands of 4ply

I'm still going round and round on my Caveat Crop crochet jumper. 

This jumper is even bigger now as my gauge changed! I was bang on the designers gauge when I started but I think I've relaxed and I'm now a bit looser so I've effectively gone up a size.

I got a bit bored with the body so switched to a sleeve. For the sleeves you need to decrease so that was another new skill to learn!

Caveat Crop by Lydia Morrow available to buy on Ravelry .

I am using an aran weight yarn (Woolcraft Heather Aran) and it is worked in treble stitch, so it's working up quickly but it's a BIG project. I am very pleased with how feels. It isn't stiff and rigid but rather soft and drapey.

There's been no progress on my Tumbestone Tee by Clare Blowers. 

Obviously, since I couldn't settle on one project I inevitably started some new ones!

CoCo Vest by Bana Kavanagh, available to buy on Ravelry

CoCo Vest is a v-neck tank top. I'm making it for the teenager. I'm using Socks Yeah DK in Danubrite and Xenon. 

The ribbing - a twisted 1x1 rib across 264 stitches - took ages! But I'm now onto the houndstooth motif which is much more fun. 

The pattern is written for a sportweight yarn so I have adjusted my needle size and I am knitting a smaller size as it will come out slightly bigger than the designer intended. It will also be heavier but I really like the socks yeah DK in the stranded colourwork of the Moonwake Cowl so I'm confident it'll be ok.

I am trying to be extra careful to keep my tension consistent as the neon pink against the grey is very... stark. There's nowhere to hide!

My other new projects are both in crochet.

The first is really an experiment in making magic circles. And no, I'm not diversifying into wicca! This is another crochet technique I wanted to learn as we've got lots of new cotton which is specifically marketed for amigurumi (although you can use it for other things). 

Amigurumi is a type of seamless 3D crochet - usually of small characters. Many patterns start with an invisible circle.

These are not amigurumi. They are face puffs - like reusable cotton pads for cleansing etc. The pattern is part of a lovely set of cloths by Sandra Paul. It is available to buy on Ravelry and on Sandra's website. I've also just found this free photo tutorial for face puffs which doesn't use a magic circle to start.

I don't think I've made a magic circle before and I've never done a puff stitch so I had to make quite a few puffs to get any consistency!

For the magic circle I found this tutorial to be the best for me and my hands. Some tutorials felt quite awkward but this made sense and after several attempts I could do it without watching the video. It does have US terms but that isn't relevant to the circle part.

Hopefully they'll be much more amigurumi content in the future... although long term readers will know not all my grand ideas come to fruition! 😆

One idea I think will actually happen is a one ball crochet shawl. I've been looking for a shawl that was simple enough for my newbie crochet skills. We have lots of one ball knitted shawls and scarves in the shop and a crochet one would add some diversity.

This is Kría by Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir (available to buy on Ravelry). It is written in US crochet terms but it only uses one stitch - US Double Crochet/UK Treble Crochet - so it's an easy translation.

It also only has a two row repeat with increasing at both ends and at the centre stitch. So far I’m managing to keep the centre stitch without using a stitch marker but it’s simple to add one if I need an additional visual reminder.

The yarn is Crazy Zauberball in 2475 - a range of gorgeous darker shades.

And that's it!