FO (finished object) Parade

Happy New Year.

Now that Christmas has been and gone, all gifts given and happily received, its time to start planning my crafty year. Over the holidays I have had dozens of ideas for knitting designs, sewing patterns and crafty organization. All I need is time supplies and a clean and tidy workspace. So let the spring cleaning commence.

As I find cleaning boring and have a million different ways to distract myself I have begun the spring clean with my craft area and supplies. The most fun way to clean my craft area is by using the supplies. So far I have tidied (finished) 21 cozy memory squares, 10 wash clothes, 2 socks (from different pairs) and a cardigan. I have also found the supplies and kited up 15 projects, from dresses to quilts, socks to cardigans, the mountain of wish list crafting is growing at an alarming rate and is now threatening to out grow PHD (project half done) mountain, the race to finish existing projects is on.

I am balancing the startitis with the growing urgency to make a dent in PHD mountain by splitting my craft time in 4. I am trying to work on a sock, a large project, a quick finish and a design at the same time. The quick finishes are cozy memory squares or wash cloths feeding my startitis, the socks are second socks from an abandoned pair, the large projects are garments or blankets and the designs are focused around this years holiday gifts.

The best part is cleaning is finally fun. Looking through my craft supplies and dreaming up what projects I can use them in, imagining the finished item as I kit up the projects waiting to be started.

Whatever your plans for a crafty new year remember to live life to express not to impress.

Happy Crafting.

    

Whos the reason for the season?

My 30 makes in 30 days challenge really helped my Christmas crafting. I managed 52 mini stocking which have been re-homed, 2 and a 1/2 scarves, and 3 pairs of socks. It's not quite the me made Christmas I wanted but it is defiantly the closest I have ever got. The gifts I have made are all going to people I know will love and use them. I have really enjoyed picking yarn and patterns for people and next year I plan on making 1 gift a month so I don't have to panic knit till my hands seize through November and December.

My next challenge as the new year approaches will be finishing as many PHD'S as possible, and working through my year stash. I have piles and bags of yarn all over the house, while PHD mountain is almost reaching the ceiling. My challenge will be to finish 2 PHD'S before I start any new projects. The harder prat will be cutting down on the amount of yarn I buy. It all looks so nice and I have so many ideas for things to make.

Enjoy this festive season, spend time with the people you love, and ask yourself who's the reason for the season? For me the answer is Jesus Christ my lord and savior. I think the birthday present Jesus would ask us for is to love one another, be kind, caring, considerate, and generous with our time, and love.

Happy Crafting.

Test Knitters Needed

I have finished typing up the pattern for my sock design. The inspiration for my new sock pattern is my niece and nephews. They are always full of energy running round the garden playing football. The eyelet detail on the sock is the path of the football. I have called them Lightening socks as even the smallest can run as fast as lightening or at least 10 times my top speed.

 

I found the socks quick to knit and the eyelet pattern easy to memorize, (if you can read your knitting).

The hardest part of the sock was working out the stitch counts for the heel turn. I lost count of how many attempts it took me to get the numbers to work. 

 

Before I release the pattern I would love someone to test knit the pattern and let me know if it works, and makes sense. The pattern comes in 3 sizes small (7 ½ inches, 56 stitches), medium (8 ½ inches, 64 stitches), and large (9 ½ inches, 70 stitches).

If you would like to test knit these socks sign up in the Torc Crafts ravelry group (sign up here)

Happy Crafting.

Day 1 Mini tree stockings

My first make is a trip down memory lane. As a child i went to a church Christmas fair where i found and brought a mini stocking with a fun size chocolate bar inside. The chocolate bar was gone in seconds but the stocking made it home and onto the tree. 30 years later the little knitted stocking is still hung on the tree every year.

I have so many happy memories attached to that little knit I wanted to share them with my niece and nephews. I searched everywhere I could think of for a pattern or ready made stocking to give them and when I failed to find anything suitable I decided to make my own. 

 

Every year I make as many as I can to give to friends, family, and charity.

To share the joy of Christmas past, present, and future check out my free mini stocking pattern on the free pattern page or my ravelry store (Ravelry store).

Happy Crafting.

30 makes in 30 days

As i look towards November I am looking for projects that can be used as gifts. As I looked through Pinterest for inspiration I remembered a craft challenge from years ago called 30 makes in 30 days.

There are three ways to approach this challenge, 1: Churn out quick and easy projects as fast as humanly possible, 2: Take the opportunity to finish existing projects or, 3: A mix of old and new projects.

I plan on using option 3. I have so many projects on the go there is bound to be 30 projects close to finishing or at least i can dust off and make some progress on some forgotten projects. I am hoping to finishes some tissue pack covers I started two years ago and perfect my chunky bandanna cowl recipe.

Another idea I have been working on for a few years is mini stocking Christmas tree decorations with a fun size chocolate bar inside.

An accidental make I churned out a few months ago was a pencil case. I was trying to make a project bag and got the dimensions wrong. I cut down the fabric and decided it looked about pencil case size. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the measurements so I need to measure the finished pencil case before I can remake and improve my pattern.

My last Idea is wash sets. A will put together a hand knit wash cloth, home-made soap, and a home-made bath fizzer. I will wrap them in a home made wash bag if I can find the time and fabric.

I also have 1 shawl, 10 scarves, 2 hats, 3 cowls, 3 pairs of gloves, and a few more pairs of socks to make for the ever growing list of people I knit socks for each Christmas.

 

Keep an eye out for my list of fast and funky challenge patterns and let me know your favourites. 

 

Handmade Christmas 2018 is on, What are you making this year?

Happy crafting.

Finally Finished.

In December 2016 I brought a yarn advent calendar from Stardust Homemade crafts (shop here.) and decided to start a cozy memory blanket. Almost 2 years later I have Finally finished adding the 25 mini skeins into the blanket, just in time for this years advent calendar to arrive. As i was starting a new blanket I choose to put the squares in a row, i didn't think about the size of the square which has made the blanket a lot wider then one person needs, but that's what you get for not planning and measuring.

As the weather cools and podcasters pick up there cozy memory blankets i noticed the difference in square size. As I watch the collection of blankets I wonder, What size are the squares? What size are the needles? How many stitches? Which gave me an idea. Why not put all the information in one place? So that is my newest project. Whenever I have a few minutes and don't know what to craft I will grab some needles and yarn and start putting together a table of yarn weights, needle size, stitch count, gauge and finished square size.

I love knitting blankets in squares, so each square can be a different colour and/or pattern, unfortunately I hate sewing the squares together. The cozy memory square are join as you go making life so much easier.

Now to finish the strawberry fields yarn mini skein club I purchased November 2016 till march 2017 for the second row of my cozy memory blanket and only managed to knit 15 of the 25 squares.

I can't wait to wrap up in my finished blanket, and start work on one for my mum as she's been dropping the worlds most subtle hints “Isn't that pretty, I love the colours, and it looks so warm, Its nicer then my Blanket.”

What not so subtle hints do you get for hand crafted items?

Happy crafting.

Making the most of my craft time.

With more projects then there is hours in a decade I find it hard to finish larger projects. Its not always possible to spend and hour sat at the sewing machine or on the sofa knitting. As I watch podcasts I find myself wondering how podcasters manage to work full time, cook, clean, look after kids, and knit a Jumper.

I'm hoping the answer is little and often. Each day when I get craft time I aim to work at least 1 row on a large project, 5 rows on a smaller forgotten project, and if I have any time left I work on which ever project is most interesting. This way all my project get a little attention with out the pressure of having to find large chunks of time to work on the larger projects.

I have been using this plan for about a week and have already managed to finish a blanket, A scarf and a hat. Not bad for a weeks work.

Happy crafting.