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


 

Stash down preperation.

When my Auntie saw the Party on my needles shawl I made my mum for Christmas, she wanted one. The Party on my needles shawl is a large 3 colour crescent shaped shawl. The shawl took me 3 months to knit. With 12 months warning till Christmas knitting one should be no problem, except two of my cousins want one as well. Well that's 9 months of knitting, plus socks for three of my friends, plus jumpers for my niece and nephews and at some point I would like to knit my self something.

The next problem is finding 9 different colours of yarn in my stash suitable for shawls and machine washable. Solution Shopping spree. You'd think after my pre Christmas spree I would have dozens of skeins to pick from but that would be boring. 

Luckily or unluckily depending on your point of view I have 24 hour access to the internet which enabled me to buy 75 skeins of yarn totalling 12,100 meters in less then an hour.

My first stop was Knit Picks for 5 skeins of fellici for socks and 21 skeins of Dishie for my mini spa sets. I mean it's not as though I already have 30ish skeins of Fellici or 15 Skeins of Dishie in my stash waiting to be knit. My excuse is my friend has adult size feet that need 60-70 grams of yarn for a pair of shortie socks and Fellici only has 50g per skein meaning I need 2 skeins per pair. I like to give wash cloths in matching sets of colours that remind me of the recipient which means I need a large selection of colours to choose from, and most importantly I love gift shopping almost as much as I love Yarn.

Next came the shawl yarns.I picked out 9 colours of drops fabel and 3 colours of drops delight.

The main reason I pick Knit Picks and Drops yarns for gift knitting is they are cost effective.Dishie, Fabel, and Fellici yarns are also machine washable. I aim to buy machine washable yarns so when the recipient puts them in the washing machine the items won't be destroyed and I won't be devastated. 

I may also of brought a variety of yarns to make myself some reward knits. I can't wait to get knitting or see the looks on peoples faces when they open their gifts.

Wish me luck in my year of socks and shawls.

Happy New Year and most importantly Happy crafting.

Me Made Christmas Success

After 3 years of trying I finally managed to make a gift for everyone on my gift list. It took me all year and was worth every second. All gifts have been gratefully received which just leaves one question. What should I make for next year?

This Christmas I have made

• 16 Cowls
• 15 hats
• 1 scarf
• 5 shawls
• 18 bars of soap
• 2 pairs of socks
• 9 pairs of shortie socks
• 30 wash cloths
• 1 cardigan 
• 1 tea cozy

With big plans and an even bigger gift list its not surprising that my stash has grown at a terrifying rate.

In November I purchased 83 skeins of yarn containing 16,293.2 meters of yarn while I used 6,001.5
You'd think I would have more then enough yarn for all my Christmas knitting but oh no in December I brought more. To finish my Gift knitting I purchased 49 More skeins adding 12,293.2 extra meters of yarn to my stash with just 4,958.8 meters leaving the yarn mountain.

As the new year arrives my stash is out of control. I can not go on a yarn diet, if i tell myself not to buy yarn I will buy a metric tonne of yarn. Instead of banning myself from shopping I am challenging myself to use more then I buy on a meter for meter balance. Starting January 1st 2020 I will be keeping track of my progress in the stashdown 20 thread in the torc crafts ravelry group (Link to Ravelry group).

Wish me luck as I dive into my stash, and if I'm not back in a week send help.

Happy new year and Happy crafting.

Rachael

New pattern Coming soon.

As I was working through WIP mountain Looking at each project deciding weather to finish or frog it, I got sidetracked by my pile of knitting books. As I looked through the books avoiding the ever growing pile of WIPs I noticed a stitch pattern I couldn't take my eyes off. As I thought about the stitch I started putting the stitch pattern into different items and finally settled on my favourite combination.

The swatch is done, the stitch count caculated all that is left to do is write up the pattern and put out a call for test knitters. 

After months of thinking about what to design and trying to force the process I went back to the inspiration journal my cousin brought me several years ago. Within minutes of rereading the introduction I realised what the problem was, I was to focused on searching for inspiration to let the inspiration find me.

When you stop and clear your mind you create space for ideas to form, sometimes from the most unexpected places. Now I have a new problem to many ideas. Which one should I focus on first, Which combination of stitch patterns to use, which item to place the stitch patterns on, and the biggest problem of all where do I find the time to knit them all.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Happy crafting

Rachael