Knit, Crochet and Natter 5 - the roadmap to MORE YARN!

[lazylinguist]

A thread for knitters, crocheters and yarn crafters of all kinds. Total beginners very much welcome! Previous thread here

@lazylinguist I took one commission on a blanket but was still reasonably new to knitting and the fine gauge id used meant it took me a YEAR. Was mortified but friend didn’t mind and she’s still using the blanket like five years on to be fair. I say commission, I didn’t charge, she just bought the yarn and sent it to me.

Yes I always get a bit wary of making things for people as I think a lot of people don’t realise the time, effort and money involved and can see it as a bit of a cheapskate present.

Well I'm sure the blanket was worth the wait ! I've got two people asking me to teach them to make the basket now!

I love the basket lazy. Looks quite big and like you’ll be able to hide quite a few WIPs inside. You sure you’re just sticking to 3 WIPs?

Atm it's got my (now a bit reduced!) yarn stash in it. Yes, I'm on 3 WIPs for the moment . I'm finally nearing the end of the cowl though, so it won't be long until I'm allowed to start something else!

I love the basket lazy I’m tempted to make one and actually buy some yarn so it matches my house rather than it being an explosion of leftovers.

Oh wow petridishmystery, that's some gift!

I remember a thread in AIBU where someone's friend 'sold' things she'd seen the OP make to work colleagues for a charity donation and informed OP afterwards. I was slack jawed at the pure cheek of the friend.

I was lucky, @NiceCardigan - mine only matches my house because I used partly leftover yarn from a blanket I made to go in that room!

I've done a bit more jumper with my extra hour this afternoon, while dd2's been at an after school booster class.

I'm really not convinced the size M is going to fit me - I'm not sure whether to frog it & start again in the large maybe 🤔 I've used less than 100g of yarn so far & am onto the sleeve section already

Sizing is a minefield, isn’t it? I think I chose the right size for my Goldwing jumper, but who knows...

Or I could just give up. Which I'm leaning towards doing atm.

Ok, I'm going to frog, do something summery alongside the blanket, and then re-visit in a few weeks when I maybe have something to show for my time.

I think I need about an extra 10 stitches, rather than the whole 20 stitch difference so might work so far up with two balls (one half way between, one size L) and see what they look like.

I will not be beaten

That's the spirit, @lucysmam!

I just need a smart way to re-wind this ball of yarn now so I don't end up in a tangle!

Awww don't give up @lucysmam I think you're right, have a little break from it and do something else fun that you know you'll enjoy!

I'm going to start the jackety thingy that I posted a pic of last thread @sophs29 (I think it was last thread!). That should be easy to figure out if I go wrong .

I want to do the dreamcatcher shrug too but using the same yarn as the blanket, so going to hang fire on that until blanket is done & see how much more (if any...I have quite a lot of it) I need.

I think, but will double check, that it'll have roughly the same wpi as aran so I shouldn't need extra rounds.

I have been bad and started my basket without finishing my two baby jumpers... 😳 they're never getting finished now are they 😂

kate of course you’ll finish them... the baby might be 10 years old first though 😂

I’m slowly plodding through some WIPs but the thinky patterns take too much concentration at the minute and the others patterns are a bit boring... I’ve done a few more rounds of the Phoenix blanket. I was a bit worried about the dark green but it seems to work in with the other colours. I also had a yarn delivery today, not that I’m running out of yarn, but I like having a choice for my next WIP when I get round to it.

@Kate105 - did you say it was a knitted scrap yarn basket you were starting on? Where's the pattern from? Is it very similar to the crochet one? I haven't done any knitting or crochet today - plenty of faffing about though! Getting a bit twitchy waiting to hear whether I have an interview. Deadline for applications was only this morning though.

This is the pattern @lazylinguist - not sure if it's for leftover yarn but that's how I'm using it! Just starting with two colours and will swap them out as they run out... We'll see! It's going really quickly so will be an easy experiment if it doesn't work out the way I planned.

Good luck about the interview! Hopefully you'll hear soon x

I suspect that re-wrapping this ball around a loo roll middle was not my best idea after all 🤣

You'll all be thrilled to know that I'm 3.5 rows into my jackety thingy & so far so good . So good, in fact, that I'm wondering about some sort of fancy edging on the bottom once it's done!

Has anyone seen any good tutorials for embroidery eyes? I'm making some baby gifts and so want to give safety eyes a miss.

tizwozliz sorry, no but if you find one I’d be grateful if you can share the link. My embroidery leaves something to be desired. I attempted on one amigurumi and had to frog the whole head. It looked quite sinister, more like something that belonged in a horror movie

lucysmam hope it continues going well.

lazy hope you get an interview soon!

@tizwozliz I've got some (what look like) good eye instructions. But it's a paid for pattern so I'm a bit wary about sharing it.
I've seen some on Insta as well but annoyingly didn't save them

@lucysmam I think that's a brilliant way to wind a ball. I usually just roll it round on itself. Glad your latest jackety thing is working well

A question for you all. How do you block things?

I've only made blankets and amigurumi up until now, having taught myself a couple of years ago, so managed to get away without blocking. But I think Sophie will need it, plus I have a vague idea of trying to make a cardigan soon, so assume I'll need to do it then.

Can I do it on the spare bed, or will I just end up with a really soggy mattress? Or are there any other options which don't involves buying actual blocking boards, which I probably wouldn't use enough to make it worth buying them?