Knit, Crochet and Natter 3: Is it really still January?!

[lazylinguist]

All welcome! Previous thread here

bloodywhitecat the buns look tasty, I hope your dh was able to enjoy them!

I'm a counter too. I lose track of what's what easily...or the girls distract me with random Minecraft chatter that I struggle to tune out but makes my brain want to pop

I've finished dd2's heart this afternoon & made myself a sanitiser holder thing to hang from my work lanyard. The bottle falls out of my pocket all the time & the Santa bottle holder I have is actually really hard to squeeze.

I'm quite chuffed with myself actually, I made that one up as I went along!

Mmmm buns! Hope they cheered your dh up, bloodywhitecat.

My cheering-up agent this evening (it is evening at 5:15, right? ) is dry premier cru cider. I'm feeling a bit down atm, which is unusual for me. It seems to have taken nearly a year for me to get properly fed up with pandemic restrictions (I realise I'm very fortunate to have lasted this long!) and my undiagnosed stomach issues have been preying on my mind for over 3 months now. It's hard to keep cheerful supporting the dc with school work and dh with work while feeling like this and also feeling like my only purpose in life atm is cook and cleaner. Sorry for the pity party- I should ve grateful that we are so fortunate in where we live and the fact that dh is still on full salary etc. Other people have it a LOT worse.

Anyway... I fear no CAL will get done today. I'm behind - should be starting Part 3 tomorrow!

lazylinguist I've felt the same the past week or so & had a cry in the shower last night. It's just all so crap at the mo :( But then I feel bad because I'm still seeing other people at work - they're mainly 10 & 11 years old (year 6), and their ears don't work , but that bit of normality is appreciated! I have the last glass of a bottle of wine I bought, on Tuesday, on the go

lazylinguist I think it’s hitting a lot of people now, it’s the realisation that we’re a year into this mess. I’m really struggling now. It’s my birthday in a week and I’ve not seen my family since my birthday last year. I also do an event with work in February and that was the last thing I went to. That event is next week. DH keeps asking what I want to do for my birthday and I just want to go out, it doesn’t have to be too fancy, I just want a nice birthday meal out of the house. See, my first world lockdown problem is far more petty than yours!

bloodywhitecat I love iced buns, they look lovely! Hope your DH was able to enjoy them.

I’ve finished part 2 of the CAL. I really liked the puffs. Told DH he should come feel my lovely puffs The purple seems to be dominating the blanket a bit, my eyes are drawn to the purple blocks, despite there being some other strong colours in there. I need to try and get some photos under better light too.

Evening all @lazylinguist I feel the same your not alone, i seemed to go in a funk from Boxing day and its not left, i miss my family and my friends I miss planning exciting things too

Thats why I loved finding you and everyone on this thread, i loved joining the CAL its really given me something to get stuck into!

Speaking of which wow I have found this part 2 long!!!! No idea why i have just got up to row 1 of the puffs tonight its been a real slog!

Fingers crossed can get them finished tomorrow and set off on to part 3!! But the ends need sewing in first!! I am aiming to do the ends after each part as i cannot cope with leaving them till the end!!

givemebooks you're at exactly the same point as me on the CAL. Will have a big push tomorrow!

I've come to a complete standstill picking a pattern for dd2's blanket. She says surprise her but there are so many to choose from! I think I like the one in the pic, but then I've just downloaded another one I like too 🙈 and there was a similar one but the coloured bits were hearts rather than bricks & the wrong side was wavy.

Too much choice! I'm thinking of making dd1 one of the little bears I linked earlier in the thread while I dither some more

I love that blanket!

I have done my first adult hat, it is going off to its willing volunteer tomorrow

Hi all. The end of a long, cold a snowy week. We had snow over 3 days, but not that much - only about 6 inches in total, but it has been so cold.

Work is crazy, so it has been nice to relax with knitting in the evenings. I made two identical chunky cowls - for me and for Mom, with some wool I bought about 12 months ago. Mine is so warm.

And I progressed my Zick Zack scarf, which is really pretty. That is planned for me.

Everybody's CALs looks wonderful. Isn't it strange how different they look - with the different colors. Also some amazing pieces of work from everyone. I will try and post more often.

I love your Zick Zack scarf spamm!

Also love the rainbow hat whitecat!

Lovely pics, @bloodywhitecat and @spamm! @lucysmam that blanket looks really nice!

I'm hoping to get plenty of CAL done today. Only other plans are a dog walk and a Zoom board game with my dsis and her family. Also some chivvying of dd to get on with her GCSE drama coursework. Still, she did her 6th form application yesterday so that's a step forwards!

Any further thoughts on future KALs from anyone. No hurry, just idly musing. Much as I'm really keen to make that Jennifer Steingass jumper, I'm not sure it would make a good KAL for everyone. I definitely like the idea of a chunky-ish shawl though.

I'd be up for a shawl or wrap KAL, I'm having the envy looking at your CAL photos, they are all so beautiful.

I've decided...eventually! I'm going to do the blanket I posted a picture of for dd2, but single bed rather than baby sized. Although she did ask about a sleeping bag type thing for her bears so I've asked Nanna to pick up some more of the Poundland yarn when she next goes shopping; matching will make her happy :)

And, I'm going to do dd1 a purple bear but with hearts on it's tummy, like the care bear.

So much for one thing at a time ...

one thing at a time

I do not understand this phrase - can you explain?

😂

SoupDragon it was a very silly idea I had; I've seen the error of my ways

I'm actually a bit rubbish at having multiple projects on the go! Once I start doing a new WIP, I only want to do that one and ignore the others. In theory I have my granny squares and my cowl on the go, but I'm only doing the CAL.

So much for one thing at a time

I realised that approach wouldn’t work for me very quickly. I am hoping that the yarn I have in (other than leftovers) will mostly be assigned to a project. That’s getting harder and harder to have a ball of yarn assigned to a particular project when my mum keeps sending me stuff!

We’ve done a very soggy dog walk, got the ever growing puppy even more food, got into comfy clothes with dog walking clothes in the wash, had a big lunch, spoken to both our parents and now I can finally start to crochet. Well, when I’ve stopped feeling so full after lunch. But DH has the rugby, the dogs are asleep and I should be able to crochet in peace!

I'm just settling down for a couple of hours peace & crochet now & reading the instructions before I start.

I have two questions - chain a multiple of 6 plus 5 extra stitches, plus a turning chain means I start with 12 stitches then increase by 6 at a time until I get the width I want?

& carrying my yarn up literally means I pick up & drop the yarn rather than cut it, & then hide the ends with a border.

Actually, three questions - how do I achieve an evenly spaced border? Mark every turning chain & stitch in there seems a reasonable idea but I'm not sure I have enough pins/markers for that.

The amount of WIPs I have is actually embarrassing

Oooo 6th form @lazylinguist! DS1 had his 6th form "interview" yesterday. I'm sure I only just left 6th form myself. How on earth is my baby old enough to be applying?!?!?! And that's with him repeating a year as well! Yikes. What subjects is your DD applying for?

@lucysmam

Yes, chain multiples of 6 until you get the size you want, then add 5 more chains and a turning chain.

Yes.

Erm... I kind of make my borders up as I go along. I would put 1 stitch in the side of a dc(sc if you use American terms) and 2 in a tc (dc if American).

@CrochetBug thank you; I just wanted to be sure I'd understood properly before I started! I might order some more of the little plastic stitch markers I've been using I think.

I was wondering about something like this for the KAL

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/versa-cowl

It's free, got interesting stitch patterns and uses two colours so there'd be lots of variety in the ones people do. I will declare an interest in that I'm pretty sure it's in my queue but I'm happy to do it another time if it doesn't suit everyone for this

Oooo 6th form @lazylinguist! DS1 had his 6th form "interview" yesterday. I'm sure I only just left 6th form myself. How on earth is my baby old enough to be applying?!?!?! And that's with him repeating a year as well! Yikes. What subjects is your DD applying for?

I know - how can we they be that old?! Dd is going to be doing Spanish, history and psychology. How about your ds? Dd doesn't have to do an interview, just submit an application.

I refuse to accept i am that old. I didnt realise DS would have an interview either. He had to apply last month. He applied for Photography, maths and further maths (weirdo). But in the 'interview' (which was more of a chat) they said further maths probably won't run as they haven't had enough applicants for it. So he's gone for his extra choice of chemistry. He liked the sound of Psychology ( and its my best subject) but his English is never going to be good enough. He really wants to stay where he is, but they've suggested we look at the local college as well as they offer more variety of courses.

Dd has shown zero interest in applying anywhere else than where she is, in spite of the fact that she allegedly hates it (she partly says that to wind up dh, who is the deputy head ).

@FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack - I really like that cowl - looks like it would make a good KAL.