Yarn Along

Knitting in the car at night by the light of the glovebox. I'm not driving(!) I've got the shingles. I'm sure I didn't feel that stressed, but when I sat down and looked at all I was trying to fit in my days, clearly, I was stressed. I am the person who puts their hand up, every time. I need to remember that I have four young kids, who came along In a relatively short space of time and being their mother is enough for now.

So I'm on enforced relaxation. My lovely doctor recommended a week minimum of complete rest. Her philosophy is, for a family to be healthy the mother must be healthy. "If this were 50 years ago, you would be sent of on convalescence". When did that go out of fashion I wonder. This seems out of the question to me. We have four kids! If I don't help that means he has to do it all. And there is nothing more stressful than watching your beloved do all the domestic and child related duties, while you lie on the couch and knit. Which is what I've been doing. Knitting is allowed, surely! I will be finishing this Tiny Tea Leaves tonight. I will be wrangling with Multnomah for several days after that. Last night we finished The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. What a great book. I've just ordered the next three in the series .

Today, somewhere between putting a load of laundry on and scraping some of the kids dinner from last night of my sock, I realised rest at home was actually an impossible feat for me. So we're off to stay with grandparents. Who will hopefully mollycoddle me(us) back to a healthy state before next week. Oh and shingles, well, it sort of feels like your skin is being pricked with razors and the codeine makes you constipated. Not pleasant! Happy knitting. X

Yarn Along

I'm in a very happy knitting place right now with three projects on the pins all at the stage of pick up and knit any time.  This is my absolute favourite place to be, maybe because I'm at home with small kids and anything (other than them!) that requires my full attention usually results tears.  Sometimes theirs, sometimes mine!

First up my handspun Milo which I'll be binding off tonight. This was an adventure and I'm not sure about how it looks right now.  I chose to do a cable, but the handspun doesn't really lend itself to cables too well.  It will keep her warm anyway and thats the main thing - right?

Second in line is a Tiny Tea Leaves, for Tadhg, for school in blue. I've knit this pattern so many times now, its knitting itself. Last but not least I wrangled my way through the heel turns of both my socks.  I attempted this toe up two at a time, but I had to resort to separating them out for the turn, it just didn't work for this pattern (which is not meant to be two at a time I think). Sock knitters out there - how does this work? And have can you recommend a good toe up two at a time pattern for kids? They are both back on the same needle again and I'm off on the cuffs. 


We're nearly finished  The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  I've also been finishing off How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran - and I bought I Quit Sugar yesterday.  I need to get in on this IQS bandwagon everyone's raving about!

Happy Knitting!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Class four cross stitch. I've dabbled in a wee bit of cross stitch here and there. Those little packs where you get a 10cm square of cross stitch fabric a little bundle of embroidery floss and a cross stitch chart to follow. If I'm honest I found it a bit tedious and boring, but I was pleased with the results which I think ended up as Christmas decorations or gifts.  

It was a daunting to start this cross stitch project with a blank piece of fabric that didn't even have visible squares to count your stitches let alone a nice chart to follow!  We started with a row of crosses along one edge.   Once that was there it seemed a little easier.  We worked on a pattern with symmetry and took it from there.  We talked about all the ways you can make a cross and how each way makes a different pattern on the back of the fabric.  We talked about the nine year old crossing and and how the repeating of the cross over and over supports the child at this stage.  We talked about how important handwork is for children these days - even more so than it was in the past.  And we got to use green wool for the first time all year!

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today. 

Yarn Along

Did I say adventure!?! I think I cast my handpun Milo on 5 times in total.  Not knowing the gauge of my wool or really the correct needles to use and of course guessing at both had something to do with it.  I managed to knit the whole bodice at one point only to realise that it would have fit me.  I finally decided to go with the NB size and 5mm needles.  Its going great, but I have run out of wool . . . .

Its a good excuse to practice some more spinning. I just hope I don't miraculously manage to nail it and get a beautifully even yarn this time!  

Tadhg brought her school cardi (Sweet Peasy in Malabrigo Sock) home in a state of disrepair on Friday.  Its been sitting like this ever since.  I don't know where or how to start mending.  I think I'll just cast on a tea leaves for her instead.  Dubhessa wore this cardi for 18 months and never so much as pulled a thread.  Tadhg in 3 months has trashed it. She lives hard and plays hard that girl!  Beautiful sisters so very different.  Reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  My girls don't know what Turkish Delight is! We are thinking of trying to make some. Anyone out there ever tried or got a favourite recipe?

Happy Knitting!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

My class two/ three temperament gnome finished this week.  Yes, he has a blue face.  Real life face colours were not allowed here. Yes, that was a challenge for me!  By class three the child's most dominant temperament will be noticeable and shows itself most between the ages of 7 and 14.  More reading here if you are interested. This knitted doll should represent in a way the temperament of the child who makes it mainly through the choice of colours.  By the time you reach adulthood your dominant temperament has mellowed,  although I've chosen blues and purples, melancholic I 'aint!  

                                            

You may (or may not) have noticed that in all the craft I've done for my course so far there's been no sight of the colour green. Well, its coming! The 9 year old crossing is a significant transition in every child's life after which the colour green is introduced to craft and drawing.  This is followed strictly in some schools and not so in others.  When Dubhessa was at Kinder she consistently came home with drawings of beach scenes.  I assumed it was because she loved our beach holidays so much.  She told me later on that she had to draw beach scenes because there was no green crayon to draw grass! Shes in class two now and has since learned how to use her yellow and blue crayons to make a beautiful green if she needs to. 

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today. 

Yarn Along

This is my handspun effort plyed and drying (very slowly in this arctic weather) by the window.  I really hope I've spun enough for the Milo I plan to cast on this evening (if it ever dries). It's turned out kinda fingering here and bulky there. Knitting with it will be a bit of an adventure.  One day I'll be able to spin evenly and to a particular requirement.  For now we'll have to settle for the rustic look!

 

You can't tell from the photo, but the roving was pale blue and maroon, a bit of an odd pairing if you ask me, but now that its spun and plyed its morphed into an all over purple colour, which is a pleasant surprise.  Good things can happen when you step outside your comfort zone!

Starting The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe tonight.  I'm so happy to finally know who they all are and where they all come from after 30ish years.

Happy Knitting!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

 

I'd love, love, love to be a good at this, but every time I start again its like I'm doing it for the first time. Ok, maybe not the first time, that was a train wreck.  I blamed the wheel.  Troy bought it off ebay.  It is an Ashford, so I knew it had potential, but it had a piece of string for the drive band and some fishing line and elastic bands on the tension knobs.  I was sure herein lay my spinning woes.  I brought it down to the spinners and weavers guild for some advice.  They replaced my piece of string and fishing line with  . . . more string and fishing line! This is actually what they use - ahem.

 I think I've pin pointed my weak spot as of yesterday and its the draughting.  The gentle process of getting just enough fleece between your fingers before you let the twist take it.  I really struggle to get an even draught - and I over twist every time.  When I spun on a drop spindle I'd pre-druaght out the fleece before I spun it  - It took forever, but it worked and that process was OK for the smaller quantities that I spun on the spindle.   I can't see myself doing it for jumper quantities! For now I'll slog on and put my faith in practice and repetition. Any spinners out there - your words of guidance would be appreciated.

Yesterday I spun two bobbins worth of this pre-dyed Australian Merino.  I'm plying it today with my home made lazy kate - a shoebox with some dowel.  I'm hoping that will prevent it from pilling so much when I knit it.  I'll be casting on a Milo for Sadhbh tomorrow, who has all of a sudden grown out out all her winter woolies. Why I'm surprised by this I have no idea - they keep growing until they are 21 or something like that . . . .

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today.