April #30daychallenge Results.

As with the worlds health situation, April had a rocky start in my crafty life. With no desire to craft for the first 3 weeks my #30daychallenge seemed doomed to failure. With no crafts taking up my time I decided to clean and sort the craft storage areas, also know as my entire house.

I have always had a love hate relationship with spring cleaning. I have a tendency to empty every draw, cupboard, box and hidey hole into the middle of the room and failing to find room to put everything away. This time I decided to tackle one area at a time. I started with my wash cloth cotton store. Looking at all the colours I have collected over the years my desire to craft came back and I began sorting my wash cloth cotton by using it. Over the next 7 days I knitted 20 washcloths removing 9 skeins of yarn from my stash and most importantly making me look at my mountain of abandoned craft with new found joy and a need to finish all my makes.

The new question is which project to start with. I want to work on all of them so I'm just going to dive in and work on the first project I find that speaks to me.

Stay home. Stay Safe and happy crafting.

#30makechallenge update.

April 27th 2020

After a rough start I am catching up on my #30makechallenge completing a total of 19 wash cloths in 1 week, all I have to do is weave in the ends. As my stack of wash cloths grows and plans of what colour and scent of soaps and candles to match with the wash cloths,  my thoughts drift to my ever growing gift list and the hardest question to answer is always would they like / use / need that I can buy or make and give to them.

With my will to craft still in hiding the search for this years Christmas make is ongoing. Last year I made hats and cowls for the whole family from Tin Can Knits Anthology Pattern. The Anthology Pattern is a quick and easy knit with loads of colour work options and sizes for all the family. 

What is your Favourite gift make?

Stay home, stay safe, keep crafting

Washcloths to the rescue.

April 22nd 2020

Way is it every time I set myself a crafting challenge, I lose the will to craft. Since the starting the 30 makes challenge on the 1st of April I haven't touched any of my crafts. That was until I started sorting the stash and found an embarrassingly large collection of Knit Picks Dishie. With so many colours to choose from I find myself collecting skeins every time I get board.

Knowing I can knit a washcloth in about an hour I dived into the stash and started knitting up the Dishie. Using the yarn stash is the same as tidying up right? In one day I managed to knit 5 washcloths kick starting my crafty impulse.

The best part about washcloths is they are so quick to finish. I can cast on dozens of new projects every week without adding to the ever growing mountain of discarded projects.

With a mountain of washcloth growing in the corner of the room, the next challenge is what to do with them all. Last Christmas I paired up the wash cloths with home made soap for the standard toiletry gift with a twist. The gift sets went down really well and I got several requests for more of the same next Christmas and birthdays to.

With so many requests for gift knits I best dive back into the stashand find this years must make gift.

Stay home, Stay Safe And Keep Crafting.

Crafting Through Corona

With Social distancing turning to self isolation turning to lockdown, I can't help but wonder how people who don't craft will stay sane. With my ever growing pile of PHDS, Now is the perfect time to once again try and make a dent in the pile and get some projects finished.

Knowing how much I love to start new projects I trying another 30 makes in 30 days challenge with the focus on quick and easy gift projects. With a new caston everyday my almost empty git box should get a much needed boost.

I will be spending my isolation making washcloths, soap, bath fizzers, candles, hats and anything else I can put in the gift box.

To spread the love I will try and add a free pattern or tutorial for my daily make, some will be mine some from other people.

How do you plan to stay sane in this caotic time?

Stay Home, Stay well, and happy crafting

Catching up

As the winter cold passes its time for a mental heath crafty catchup. When I'm ill the first thing to go is my crafting and my mental health suffers as a result. Now I'm feeling better it's back to the craft starting with my nieces jumper.

I had almost finished her jumper when she had a growth spurt leaving me unsure whether to add length or reknit in the next size up. I finally decided to add length and finished the jumper.  She loves it. Then I moved on to the second of my Christmas knits.

Christmas 2019 I gave my Mum a Party On My Needles Shawl by Joji Locatelli. I knitted the shawl out of Drops Fabel and finished faster then the last one, Putting Party on my needles top of the gift knit list.

Then I remembered it's mums birthday and decided to knit her the jumper she has wanted for 18 months. With less then 2 weeks before my mums birthday knitting a jumper in a different gauge to the pattern should be no problem, If you do the maths. I didn't do the maths and the jumper was a total of 10 inches bigger then I needed, 14 inches bigger hen the pattern sizing. So I did the maths, Right. Wrong I guessed a different size and tried again. This time the jumper was a infuriating 2 inches to small, so near and yet so far.

So with just 7 days left until my Mum's Birthday it's 3rd time lucky. Heres hoping that I've got it right this time.

Remember when knitting garments always check your gauge and if it doesn't match the pattern either do the maths or try again.

Happy crafting.

Stash down update. Week 2.

With 5 skeins of yarn arriving in my knit in a box subscription I thought this week would have more yarn entering the stash then leaving the stash. Then I tried to put the wash cloth cotton stash away. The cotton doesn't fit in the cube I have to put it in. My solution as always was to stop tidying and start knitting. As I finished the second skein I spotted 4 Giant Skeins of Aran weight yarn destined to be 3 tops, 2 cardigans for my mum and brothers ex, and a jumper for my niece. Those skeins take up a lot of space so I finished one of the cardigans. To celebrate finishing a adult sized cardigan I cast on the shawl that came in January's knit in a box subscription.

This week I have managed to knit

• 7 Wash cloths
• 1 Blanket Squares
• and 1 Adult Cardigan

My total in meters is
Meters in 978.4
Meters out 1650.7
Result 672.3 meters have left my stash this week, So far this year my stash is 1,049 meters smaller then it was on new years eve.

With so many amazing yarns and patterns avalible I wonder how long I can keep the stash shrienking.
Wish me luck

Happy crafting.

All the KALs

As I take a break from spring cleaning and start catching up on podcasts, I started making a lsit of all the KAL's I want to enter. How many knit along's can I enter a pair of socks into, so far I have found 4. There is the Yarn Hoarders Free all the house elves 2020 year long sock KAL, Grocery Girls January sock bash, Craft House Magic Retro MAL, and The Bakery Bears Patron Race to the moon KAL.

I love looking at everyone's finished makes, Adding patterns to my queue, and yarn to my stash. I find joining a KA*L motivates me to finish projects in a reasonable amount of time. With a long history of never winning I rarely join KALs for the prize's, I join for the inspiration, motivation and conversation with other crafters.

With so many KAL's to take part in this year I should have no problem completing my gift crafts.

What motivates you when you lose steam on your projects?

Happy crafting

Post Christmas clearup

As the spring cleaning starts the first task is to tidy the craft supplies. Everything I own seems to get pulled out during the Christmas makeathon, unfortunately very little gets put away. I decided to start with the mountain of yarn that has snuck into my house and multyplyed. As I put the yarn away I am making sure it has been listed in my Ravelry stash and was shocked to discover how little I had listed.

I find the Ravelry stash is an amazing feature. When you look at patterns on Ravelry it has a link that says yarn ideas. As I update my stash and look through my pattern queue I was surprised to see how many patterns I already have yarn for. Maybe I will be able to shrink my stash after all.

My favourite find of the clean up so far is the 26 skeins of Drops karisma to knit the Silver dream Cardigan by Drops. I brought the yarn back in March and wanted to make the full set of hat, gloves, cowl, and cardigan but had never knitted colourwork before so I brought the Oh deer cowl kit from Deramores to practice on. I started knitting the cowl in May and haven't finished yet so thats the housework over. I have a colourwork Cowl to knit.

Knitting is the same as tidying up the yarn.

Happy crafting

Knit in a box.

For Christmas I got a 3 month subscription to the ladies Knit in a box. My first instalment arrived Saturday morning, and I couldn't be happier. When I opened the box the knit was exceptionally well packaged, with a great deal of thought and care going into the selection of each and every items included in the box.

 It contains a pattern, yarn to knit the pattern and a few extra goodies. I can't wait to cast on my new project and already know who the finished item will be given to next Christmas.

I love every item in the box and went straight to the website, saved it in my favourites, and will extend my subscription as soon as the gift subscription runs out.

Looking through the previous boxes I wished I had found it sooner. I can't wait to see what I get in future boxes as their arrival is sure to be the highlight of the month.

I would recommend Knit in a box to anyone and everyone looking for a crafty gift to give to a knitting friend. The boxes are definitely worth every penny.

Happy crafting.

Clubs don't count.

My 2020 shop the stash challenge was going really well for a whole 18 hours, Then a Bellica yarns posted on Instagram that they had released a new mystery sock box. so I brought it. In my defence I have been collecting Laura's sock boxes since September 2016. I love all the colourways I have received. Out of the months I have knitted I have been able to get a long pair of socks, a short pair of socks, a mitred square, a granny square, and still have left overs. with 2 blankets on the go that contain only Bellica yarns mystery sock box yarn I couldn't not buy the new box.

Apart from the sock club I have made no purchases and have used more yarn then I will be getting in the sock box.

This week I have finished

• 1 Dishcloth
• 1 Adult hat 
• 1 Adult cowl
• 1 Baby hat
• 1 Pair baby mittens
• and 11 Blanket squares 

This used a total of 367.3 meters of yarn and 1 full skein from my stash.

I am happy with my progress so far and have no guilt over my purchase. Most of the projects I knit are knit out of 100% acrylic yarn, so I am choosing to see my hand dyed merino nylon blend socks as a reward for all the gift crafting I do.

Join the Stash down 2020 Challenge over in the Ravelry group
Chatter Thread   Prize thread

Enjoy your crafting and never feel guilty about what you use, make, or buy.

Happy crafting

The never ending skein.

On December 14th I purchased 3 skeins (300g) of Sirdar supersoft aran rainbow drops in the 0861 Pick and mix colourway. I picked this yarn to knit a jumper for my nephew knowing I would have a spare skein. I made the a Flax jumper by Tin Can Knits in the 2 - 4 years size which used 1.68 skeins (168g).

 After checking yardage I decided to make a Flax jumper in the 0 - 6 month size for the gift box, which used 0.79 skeins (79g).

I thought Knitting a Anthology hat in the newborn size would finish off the skein but no it only used 0.18 skeins (18g). I still had 0.35skeins left (35g), I don't know what part of a 0.18 skein hat made me think knitting Baby Mitts by Susan B. Anderson would finish the skein but off I went and surprise surprise the mittens only used 0.07 of a skein (7g).

 I am know sick of the sight of this yarn and want it gone. With 0.28 of a skein (28g) left I can't decided weather to do baby socks or 4 more pairs of mittens either way it has to go.

I have been knitting for almost 33years and in all that time I have never know a skein of yarn go so far. Living on benefits I try to make my money stretch as far as possible. I knit because I get the fun of choosing the yarn, days of entertainment knitting the item and have a garment to ware or a gift to give at the end, Instead of going to the supermarket and buying the cheapest cloths and toys I can find.

This yarn has been amazing for keeping me entertained. I have lost count of the hours spent on Ravelry looking for patterns, trying to use the last little bit. At £4.05 a skein I have defiantly got my moneys worth out of this yarn and will be buying more in the future.

I hope you have as much fun with your crafts as I'm having with mine.

Happy Crafting. 

Clearing off the needles.

As I sort through my stash trying to find room for all my purchases I keep finding yarn that is perfect for one of the far to many patterns in my ravelry queue. I excitedly gather the yarn download the pattern and no needles. As with everything else I have to many PHD's. Before I can cast on any new projects I need to get some of the long forgotten projects off the needles.

First on the list for completion is my new beginning  socks by Laura Britton. I got the yarn and pattern in the Bellica Yarns mystery sock box January 2018, in my defence I hoarded the yarn in my stash until October last year. I can knit a pair of socks in 2 days, the only reason I can think of for these socks still being on the needles is that I started gift knitting or got distracted by a new project. Either way my feet are cold so I really need these socks finished.


So I tracked down the pattern, worked out where I was and knitted half the leg, the heel turn and half the foot. Then I tried them on. Youve guessed it my gauge has changed and now they are to small. So the sock is getting frogged and cast back on with a larger stitch count. I'm starting to wonder if these socks will ever get finished.

As I stare at the pile of frogged yarn I keep thinking I should move on to a different project except my gauge has changed and none of the socks, or garments in my mountain of PHD's are going to fit. I find socks so quick and easy that reknitting these socks will help me work out how my gauge has changed and what to do with my other projects.

Wish me luck as I fight with knitting needles, yarn, gauge rulers, calculators, and maths. this could take a while.

Hope your crafting is more successful then mine.

Happy Crafting.

Rachael