Knit, Crochet and Natter into 2021

[lazylinguist]

A thread for chat about woolly crafts. All welcome, including complete beginners.

Previous thread here

Yes do message her @lazylinguist. I hope she's ok!
I'm going to brave the cupboard to see what I can find for the CAL. If I'm not back in an hour send help

I made it out alive
Now I just need to work out what is aran/dk/something else and pick some colours

I like your gung ho approach, CrochetBug I like the idea of making something from a combination of yarns in my stash, but my stash is mostly made up of nice whole balls of yarn that would make a good little project in themselves (e.g. socks, a scarf or gloves), so I'm a bit reluctant to use bits of them and create lots of odds and ends iyswim. I do have some odds and ends, but not enough to make a whole blanket.

There was an odds and ends crochet project that someone posted way back on the first thread which I really fancy making at some point though - it was a basket/bag/plant-pot-holder type thing, made of lots of strands of random dk/aran held together. It looked kind of rustic and brilliant!

I've sent a pm to Mindy. Shall we set a start date and assume she'll either join us or not by then? How about Saturday? We can always hang fire if she pops up and says she's about to get a yarn delivery etc.

Sounds good to me @lazylinguist I have a wardrobe being delivered Saturday so after I've put that together will be nice to sit down and start the CAL

Also - I think I've decided to simply change between my colours for each whole stitch section. The sections won't be the same width, but that would be the case however I divided it up. I definitely prefer the idea of broader stripes with the two colour approach I'm going for.

SoupDragon - my tension is bang in the middle for knitting, but not for crochet! Having said that, I normally crochet on tye loose side, but my swatch for the CAL was too small . I think maybe I've tightened up as I've got better at crocheting. When I first started it was easier to see stitches and put my hook in if the loops were a bit baggier!

I have been scrolling back and back and back to find out what these 'boob lights' were. I was imagining something like the knitted breasts I used to make for breastfeeding workshops!

Why do you need to swatch for a blanket?

Ooo I'm the opposite and my tension has got a lot looser than when I started!
Embarrassingly most of these are full balls Either ones I've bought just because I love them, or where I've over estimated how much I need and ordered too much. Annoyingly a large number of them have lost their labels. I seem to have a better selection of colours in Arab weight so will go with those. Apparently using 2 strands of DK works out the same so I might chuck a few of those in too

Saturday is good for me to start

@Dilbertian

Why do you need to swatch for a blanket?

To work out if the recommended hook size is right for your own crochet tension. Some people crochet tighter than others, so need to use a larger hook to get the right drape.

You don't need to swatch for a blanket at all. I didn't do it for sizing, I just wanted to see how stiff/loose the blanket fabric would be if I made it with the suggested hook size. Easier to do that with a swatch than start the blanket and rip back those loooong rows and start again if I wasn't happy with the texture!

Dilbertian - I'm assuming you found the boob lights when you scrolled back? They are very useful (as I'm sure the knitted breasts were too).

My Mum made me some knitted breasts back in my breastfeeding peer supporter days. DS2 stole them and used to cuddle them in bed.

Saturday is good for me too. My other lockdown activities of puppy zoom class and chasing velociraptor (lego Jurassic park ) have all come to an end now, so I can completely throw myself into my next lockdown activity of the CAL!

Yes, I found them - and remembered that I have some as well! (Somewhere )

I see about the swatching. Yes, getting the right drape, that makes sense. I tend to crochet quite tight, I think, because often my crocheted things do not drape well unless they're lacy. C can't think why it has never occurred to me to swatch and try different hooks before commencing and then giving up on a project. Actually, I can: too lazy to swatch first!

I can identify with the too lazy thing! But doing a swatch was a way of starting on the CAL while I'm waiting to start it iyswim. Also, arguably, sitting making a crochet swatch when there are umpteen housework and admin tasks I should be doing is kind of lazy.

Speaking of which... about to blitz my kitchen (while listening to a Spanish audiobook). I cleaned the kitchen floor yesterday, then cleaned the dog's muddy pawprints off it when he came in, then came down this morning to find the cat has put muddy footprints all over it. Bloody pets!

I am so jealous of of these amazing wool/yarn collections! Been so new to crochet my order from wool warehouse for the CAL is all i have! Plus the wool for my sons blanket I am doing now! So very greatfull for the organza bag it came in!!

Saturday works for me, do we just crack on? Are we doing so much each time how does this work?

I am putting all my effort in to my sons blanket now to try and get it finished before starting the CAL :)

@Dilbertian I am also too lazy to swatch. Much rather do several rows of the full width of a blanket, realise it's wrong, frog it and start again

Saturday works for me, do we just crack on? Are we doing so much each time how does this work?

Good question. The whole thing is broken up into 6 parts (including the border, which is part 6). I just looked, and when it was released as a CAL, they did a whole part per week. With the exception of the border, the parts range from 18 rows to 31 rows, but most are mid 20s. Is it just me or does that sound quite a lot? Depends how quick you are and how much spare time you have, I guess?

What do people think would be a reasonable amount?

I’m not sure I can do a whole part each week. I think I’m still quite a slow crocheter. But if everyone races ahead I won’t be offended and I’ll just post my finished blanket later (which means I expect extra compliments ). I’ve got evenings and weekends to work on it. Weekends my only limit will be my arms getting sore and tired (especially after a week of home working at my desk which isn’t quite the right height).

Ha!! @InTheNightWeWillWish I am so new and so slow I am expecting praise at the end of every row!! Just warning you now ladies I also don't want to hold people up so don't worry about waiting! 6 parts in 6 weeks sound WAY yo quick for me especially with home schooling 3 boys to contend with!! :)

I don't mind how much people do, I can't commit to a certain amount though due to having a toddler and newborn, the amount I can crochet varies 😂 but as @InTheNightWeWillWish said, I won't be offended if people race ahead ☺️ hopefully I'll get time in the evenings to crochet though!

Good - we're all pretty chilled out about potentially racing ahead a bit or being left behind a bit then!

I'm thinking that aiming for 2 stitch sections a week might be doable (for me, at least). So for example the 7 rows of Granny Blocks and the 5 rows of Grannies in week 1. If even that proves too much, then one section a week, I guess. We can all just see how we get on!

In the meantime I should get back to my cowl instead of mucking about with random granny squares!

Definitely @lazylinguist
Looking through the pattern it looks like it starts fairly easy so I'm hoping it will come together quicker than expected

I'm behind but will catch up. Could some kind soul share the wool warehouse code please 😊🙏

Im making a cat bed today
Well, attempting..... 👀