The Edwards Menagerie project marches on!
Foxy fox is complete, and joins the bunnikins.
But who’s next?!
Back with another soon…
Category: News
Project Caravan
This little beauty, a little long in the tooth but perfectly fit for purpose, has recently come into our possession:
And while she is very comfortable, her age makes her one of the less well insulated, and she gets very chilly at night. We have countered that with a little oil-filled heater, but… you know… really there ought to be some wool in there, right? 😉
So, Project Caravan has begun! So far we have a cushion made in simple stocking stitch in Drops Polaris (dark grey) on 15mm needles, and what began as a stashbuster blanket crocheted in triple crochet (UK) in as many colours and as randomly as I fancy. It’s probably a little over halfway there.
So, ladies and gents, I give you: Project Caravan: The Beginning.
After School Knitting Club
Oh, I’m loving it.
I tootle in on a Tuesday afternoon, laden with baskets full of needles and wool, and I’m greeted with such enthusiastic little people. Granted, we’ve lost a couple along the way, but of the original fourteen, twelve stalwarts remain, and of them only two have still not quite ‘clicked’. But they’re determined. I love that.
I bit the bullet between the last session and this, and bought a bundle of chunky bamboo needles – 9mm – as the 4mm they were using were proving just a little too fiddly for their little as yet untrained fingers. And I grabbed a few balls of chunky wool I had, ahem, lying around (let’s not talk about my wool mountain).
They were cock-a-hoop and we have got more done in one session today than in both of the others together.
We now have some little ‘squares’ and the beginnings of some big ones. We have some with ‘extra’ stitches, some with unexplained holes, some with interesting ‘loops’. We have some advanced little bodies who even mastered casting off today!
We have all agreed that when we have joined all these squares together, we are going to be left with a cushion cover that is quite unique. 😉
I am ever impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication with which they manage to greet me every week, in spite of just having finished a day at school.
Oh, and quite apart from the knitting, the conversation of 8-10 year-olds is absolutely killing…
“You’re Jazzy Jack. I’m Jumping Jessica.”
“I’m Dancing Daisy!”
One little girl approaches me shyly.
“Alice…? I’ve got a name for you, too.”
(A little nervously) “You have?”
“Adventuring Alice.”
“Jessica, I like that!”
A Jack Russell, a Tunic and an Adventure.
Oh, I know, I know. I’m rubbish.
Life hurtles along at breakneck speed and before you know it months have flown past and now… SPRING! And hallelujah, because frankly winter can jolly well do one. There have been enough bugs under this roof to sink a small fleet of battleships and this family is emerging, battle-scarred but undefeated, blinking into the sunlight.
But I have been busy. Honest.
First of all I have this to share with you:
I mean loooooooook! And before people get all stuffy and snippy about dogs already having coats, take it from me that the harsh blooming winters up here do not agree with our dear teeny skinny Juno’s demeanour. Admittedly, pure wool may be treating her rather more as a Princess than warranted 😉 but she is most grateful for an extra layer.
If you fancy making something similar, have a little look over here, where you can download the pattern for free.
In other news, I have completed a granny square tunic, which will be on the backburner till autumn:
And I have just embarked upon a little after-school adventure with 14 of the children from our village primary.
This afternoon, armed with a great mountain of goodies from loveknitting.com (bless their hearts), I headed off into the unknown:
The hour flew by in a flurry of
“Miss, I can’t do this! Miss, is this right? Miss, what’s happened to this?”
(I know… “Miss” >.< It cracks me up)
But they were little troopers and are coming back next week for more punishment, and I am proud to report that we have a few already managing garter stitch, along with a valiant few who have yet to ‘click’, but we’ll do it!
And here are the fruits of the first session’s labours:
I will be very happy to report on our continued progress next week 🙂
Because winter, that’s why.
So, it started with these. Well, with this one to be precise. And I loved it.
But… do you see that seam curving up the side? Well, I loved that too. Until I realised that it would be exactly the same on its partner. Hmmmm. Which would make it look like two left (or right) feet.
So I tweaked it. But that didn’t quite work. Don’t get me wrong. I believe they’re beautiful. But I see their flaws all too immediately.
I decided to attempt a little embroidery on them, in an effort to draw the eye from the seam. But now I just see beautiful, embroidered, flawed slippers.
So *shucks* I guess these ones are mine:
But armed with this experiment, I tweaked some more. And… Ta-dah!
Of course, now the whole family needs some. So here are Teddy’s in a bit of a clog style:
I’m now experimenting with soles, so nobody breaks their neck on our wooden staircase.
Will report back soon.
TTFN <3
The Google Tunic
Or maybe the Pinterest Dress.
Call it what you will, it is essentially a sampler. A top-down, in-the-round, seamless yoke fair isle sampler. A project for me to learn about colourwork and fair isle.
As is so often the case in my life knitting, I didn’t really have a set idea about what I was making before I began. Much of what I do is intuitive, experimental and heart-in-mouth-will-it-fit? It is also a smaller gauge and therefore longer knit than I am used to. I like to use Aran or chunky because I get impatient and want to move onto the next thing, as evidenced by the fact that many of my previous posts showcase items I began after this tunic and finished well before it was complete.
This dress began with the optimistic working title “Spring Tunic”. We’re now well on the way through summer. See? 🙂
It began as it usually does: with a clearance section on a wool website. I trawl them too often, looking for the bargains. I have one stipulation: natural fibres. And I usually stick to it 😉
I found Sublime baby cotton kapok dk. I don’t usually knit with cotton. But I was working on the premise that knitting (and crochet) being something I love, I don’t want to only do it in the autumn and winter, and there must be pretty knitwear for the rest of the year.
Rather than babbling on about it any more, here is the sampler tunic, finished with crochet around the hem and sleeves: a progression in pictures:
Now… Back to the million-and-one other UFOs on my list..!
Back in Business!
Just a quickie 🙂
I have, at last, begun restocking my little shop. If you fancy a look, pop on over here.
These are available at the time of posting:
Yarn Bowls!
Who knew?!
I have a new Instagram account and through my travels encountered Wendy Fowler, aka yarnbowl987
I was instantly drawn to her beautiful yarn bowls, though having treated myself recently to a dressmaker’s dummy, I was a good girl and simply put it on my wish list.
But she stymied me 😉
I logged in to my account, and there was the prettiest bowl, a ‘slight second’ because it had become slightly misaligned in the kiln, which didn’t affect it’s functionality at all, but its price considerably.
I failed to resist.
But look!
Can you blame me?
Enormous Distractions
I haven’t got any photos for you.
Not of knitting, anyway. Or crochet.
I have a multi-coloured blanket underway. And I’m customising a jumper I bought in a charity shop – hand-knitted and brand new for £6 – a fraction of what the wool would cost.I’ve also completed a shawl/scarf/wrap, which I think is *beautiful*. And I promise pictures of them all.
But the biggest news of the summer is that our business went up the spout. Our friend and business partner jumped ship with threats and demands and it was horrible. (It’s nothing personal, you know, just business O.o )
So we started over. And if you are closely, or even vaguely, acquainted with anyone of the bearded persuasion, I urge you to take a look at our beautiful, handmade, organic, delicious oils. You can get to us one of two ways: www.beard-oil.co.uk or www.firstolympian.com
And normal, woollen service will resume as soon as the dust has settled (not to mention the small-fry settling into the new term, new schools, new nursery…) 🙂