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

I've never blocked anything, but the foam squares you get for the floor are meant to be good and cheap.

@BookShark I just pin things out on a beach towel (or two if it’s a blanket) and leave it spread out on the floor somewhere till it dries.

I have some of the cheap interlocking foam squares. I use them and t pins for things that need serious stretchy blocking. For some things I just use a towel on the floor. For example my Fairisle sleeveless jumper - it was quite heavy and didn't need stretching out- so thoroughly wetting it and flattening it on a towel was enough.

New yarn day!

I needed an extra ball to finish the baby blanket I'm making and of course it would be silly to pay for delivery I'm sure I'll find a use for the rest

Ooh very exciting tizwozliz some nice colours in there.

Oooh - new yarn!

I use the foam mats I used to have on the floor for DS BookShark but steam blocking by using an ironing board and iron works well on lace. You hold the iron well above it so the heat can't touch the item but the steam can. Sophie is going to be big and unwieldy when it's damp, so I'd be more inclined to steam block it than pin it out. You just have to be careful depending on the fibre, you don't want to get it so hot the fibres melt if it's got acrylic content.

Oh nice Liz! What's the bamboo like to work with?

I'm still slogging away on my lace tee. It's so boring I've been spinning at night instead though and only do it when I'm in the car waiting.

How are you getting on with your goldwing lazy?

@BookShark

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?

You can do it on a bed - just put a bin liner down as weirdly this helps the water to evaporate quicker (and stops your mattress getting wet!)

How are you getting on with your goldwing lazy?

Slowly, as I always do with colourwork! I was seduced by the speediness of the basket, so was doing more of that than the Goldwing, but now the basket is finished I've got no excuse! Of course,once I finish the (pretty extensive) yoke, it will be all one colour , but I'm not half way through the yoke yet! I'm enjoying it, but as always I'm fretting a bit about my float tension and the sizing!

Hello, can I join for a natter? I'm an on/off crocheter. I enjoy doing it, but finding the time can be difficult. However, I've made a resolution to make more of an effort.
So, I have finally finished an attic24 blanket I've had on the go for ages and took up a Janie Crow sampler blanket which I'd abandoned when I got to the flowers as they were too fiddly.
I've posted photos of my completed blanket and the progress I have made with the other. Once I've got a chain of 21 flowers, I need to join it to the other strip. I dislike sewing my ends in, so slightly dismayed at how many there are going to be. 
Love the new yarn @tizwozliz and very impressed with everyone's projects.
I really want to do a crochet basket now @lazylinguist just need to finish this wip first.

I didn’t realise I had my feet in one of the photos.
I’ve just had a pedicure, so good timing.

Hi Ginnie! The flowers are pretty, look forward to seeing the end result.

I've just spent a good portion of the day resetting my laptop so printed the many patterns I've downloaded, from my phone, while I was supervising it...including the HOS For... CAL.

Think I need to get cracking; there are loads of them!

I also need a nice folder to stop them getting damaged. Any suggestions? :)

It's taking me 4 attempts to get nearly matching eyes. One eye is easy, a matching pair is still a skill I need to master

I also need a nice folder to stop them getting damaged. Any suggestions?

Oh a nice folder for your patterns is a must!

tizwozliz - he looks so cute. In an 'Argh,why is she holding me horizontally by the neck?!' kind of way.

lucysmam it looks like you can buy proper organisers but this one is pretty pricey. So you could just consider a ring binder, plastic wallets and dividers or maybe one of the display folders. I used to have a recipe folder which had plastic folders in, so you could try to find a non-food related recipe folder.

Yikes! That is a bit pricey Maybe I'll check Wilko's for a nice ring binder & treat myself to some new plastic wallets instead!

lazy, I might have printed the dog eared ones again too so they look nice to go in whatever file I find for them

tizwoz the eyes look good to me! He doesn't look angry like my bee with embroidered eyes does

@lucysmam if you get a dry wipe pen keep them in the plastic folders and you can mark and wipe off as needed. Saves reprinting the pattern if you like to add reminders and whatnot to the patterns.

@GinnieHempstock LOVE those flowers! They will be well worth it but I can see what you mean by fiddly! Also love the colour on your toe nails 

@tizwozliz he is so cute!!

@lucysmam I've just used a folder and plastic wallets for mine which seems to do the job well enough! Although I hardly look through it so I end up downloading patterns that I basically have in my folder!

My DS is outgrowing my favourite little knitted jacket of his and I'm desperate to crochet him one similar in the next size, I'm just on the hunt for the right pattern! It's been made using cotton and it's just so lovely!

[quote sophs29]@GinnieHempstock LOVE those flowers! They will be well worth it but I can see what you mean by fiddly! Also love the colour on your toe nails 

@tizwozliz he is so cute!!

@lucysmam I've just used a folder and plastic wallets for mine which seems to do the job well enough! Although I hardly look through it so I end up downloading patterns that I basically have in my folder!

My DS is outgrowing my favourite little knitted jacket of his and I'm desperate to crochet him one similar in the next size, I'm just on the hunt for the right pattern! It's been made using cotton and it's just so lovely! [/quote]
Consider drops merino cotton for the jacket if you haven’t tried it before - my absolutely favourite for kids clothes!

Oh thank you so much @SinkGirl I'll have a look!

That’s a dead ringer for the ducks from Shaun the sheep like that liz I love those ducks.

Those are lovely ginny!

Sounds good lazy! I definitely find managing the tension easier when I’m doing it two handed!

I’ve started the scout shawl I saw on Instagram. I’m using stash and my colours are two greys, purple, orange and green so it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out, not the tasteful muted version the original is anyway

It turns out StitchFiddle does work on my laptop! My browser was apparently out of date & I didn't know it 🤷‍♀️

So, now I can use it, I wondered what the ideal length & width for a scarf is?

I've gone for 12" wide x 60" long in hdc. Chart's half way ish done but I can feel my eyes straining so turned off for today. I'm not sure how to work out how much yarn I need so that's my next job! Just not today.

@lucysmam what's stitch fiddle? Haha sorry if that's a really stupid question!

It's for designing charts/patterns @sophs29.
here :) Quite addictive "colouring in" the little squares of the chart!