Knit, Crochet and Natter 8: Keep Calm and Carry Yarn!

[crazyjinglist]

A thread for woolly crafters. All welcome, from total beginners to experts!

Previous thread here

Mrs Russell space for WIPs and marmalade sandwiches, what an impressive hat. You are a very clever little bear

Quantum use the tail end of one of your hexagons. If you’ve already sewn your ends in on the hexagons, use one of the colours. It doesn’t matter which one too much as you’ll pull the hexagons together with the stitch and go through the back loops so it shouldn’t be visible or just see a tiny speck of colour but as long as it’s one of the colours it sort of blends in.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius those colours are stunning! I'm quite taken by your storage for them too!

@QuantumWeatherButterfly I agree, just use an end or one of the matching colours - it shouldn't be too visible as the sides sort of meld together if that makes sense

I've finished sock one - just ends to sew in on that one. I've run out of steam for the night though with three rounds of ribbing and the top of the 'tongue' to do on the second one. I'll so that tomorrow, hopefully, along with their laces. Then I'll pop up a few pics...hopefully with a leg in them, so you can see properly.

Watching with interest re the hexagon joining as I haven't decided how I'm joining my temperature blanket hexagons yet.

I've done the ribbed cuff of my first mitten in the larger size. I just can't get over how easy this magic loop thing is. I'm wondering if I'll ever bother with dpns again!

Well, the first 9 hexagons are successfully connected together in a loop, using mattress stitch. I only connected a hexagon to the wrong edge once (concentrate, Quantum!).

I had indeed already sewn in all my ends, congratulating myself on being so tidy and organised - if only I had known! I'll take a picture of progress later, but I'm quite pleased with it.

Oh nice Quantum!

I find magic loop can knock my gauge off crazy, I definitely knit more loosely on dpns, especially for socks...

That's lovely InTheNightWeWillWish!

Gorgeous colours SDTG!

I'm about half way through my sample knit at the moment, it's wierdly so much easier to knit the actual thing than the swatch as you can get into a rhythm with the charts.

Slightly off topic (I mean, other than being outed as being from Darkest Peru, obviously) but we had a tree taken down today and I've garnered a pedal bin liner full of lichen to dye some wool.

I think there are three different species-es on there, so I'm hoping to do more lichen dyeing over the next month or so!

I find magic loop can knock my gauge offcrazy, I definitely knit more loosely on dpns, especially for socks...

Hmm - interesting. I think I'm actually knitting more loosely on the magic loop! Although actually it might be that this yarn is making me knit more loosely - it's quite thick and squidgy.

Wow there's so many gorgeous things being posted on here since I last posted!!
That rainbow ripple blanket 😍 the basket full of rainbow yarn 😍 the raven fingerless glove 😍 wow!

A cowl made from 18 hexagons sounds quite a nice little project to just pick up as you go! It's inspired me to make a granny square cardigan..at some point! I like the idea of making squares as and when and then eventually putting them together to make a thing! I haven't finished my eccentric jumper I started before Christmas though so I should probably do that first 😬

@sophs29 Well, I'm enjoying it so far. I do like that I can do a little bit or a lot, and not get lost in remember how much of the pattern I have done.

Plus it's my first time using chunky yarn and a 5.5mm hook, and I like how quickly it grows - very confidence boosting for a beginner like me!

This is the pattern: bellacococrochet.com/the-hexi-cowl-by-tarhyn/

Once I've connected all the hexagons, I will tackle the 'even-ing out bits, which is a bit daunting, as I think I'm right in saying that the number of stitches left by the combination of my hexagon skills and joining is going to matter quite a lot. But I'm hoping I can make it work regardless. What's the point of having something handmade if it looks so perfect you could have bought it, right??

That pattern looks good Quantum I may steal it! I have a bit of a stash but all the yarn is too fine for my beginner crochet and ends up floppy so need to do some shopping.

My Lego brick doorstep is finished and it does the job!

I signed up to Simply Crochet just to get the free gift yarn, NiceCardigan - it cost £30 for 6 issues and 20 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Aran. Instant stash!

Here's the progress so far, 1 loop completed and the second is 2/3 done. Then I connect the two loops together and do the wobbly bits. See, I've got all the technical terms down already!

Oh, and I forgot to say how much I love the doorstop!

@NiceCardigan I love that doorstop! My DS would love it, I'm trying to get him into Lego!

@QuantumWeatherButterfly that looks great! I love the colour way you've gone for! 😍 And that sounds like a great way to build up your stash! Is that offer still on do you know? I don't have any Aran in my stash and keep coming across patterns that need it!

Sorry, @sophs29, looks like it's finished now.

Slightly off topic (I mean, other than being outed as being from Darkest Peru, obviously)

I think I’m responsible for about 70% of the derailments in this thread

Quantum that’s always the case! If you see your ends in as you go, you end up needing them or needing to frog it. If you don’t sew your ends in you end up with hundreds and the project sits unfinished. Love the colours. Don’t worry too much about the edging and border stitches, a border neatens a lot of things up. Most crochet projects you can spot your mistakes (usually after finishing the project) but other people won’t be able to. Other crocheters might notice if they look close but they won’t say anything in case you go and spot a mistake on something they’ve done

sophs there’s a granny square blanket which is different sizes of granny square, so you can just do what you can fit in. Some might be big squares and some might be tiny, you then just have to work out how to piece it together.

I’ve not managed to do much on my cowl. I’ve set myself up with crochet nests around the house, so whenever DD is settled I can crochet no matter which room I’m in. My cowl is in our bedroom nest so I’ve managed 2 rows today. I might need to move it back downstairs and a different project to our room then I have a hope of finishing something.

Fab doorstop, @NiceCardigan!

@QuantumWeatherButterfly - those colours are a lovely fresh combination. And your hexagons look beautifully neat!

I think I’m responsible for about 70% of the derailments in this thread - at least they are fun derailments, @InTheNightWeWillWish - mine tend to be about job applications and school-related crap!

I really want to get on with my mittens and ds' socks, but I just don't seem to get much time at the moment. Between work, housework and two dog walks a day, knitting isn't getting much of a look-in!

I'm not doing any knitting or crochet at the moment - ds1 is getting married next month, and I've embarked on an embroidery for him and his fiancee - but it is on cream fabric, and uses lots of light purples and blues, and is damn near impossible to see, so I'm not getting much done each day. I really need a rocket up my backside each day, to make me get on with it - please!

Awww what a wonderful project to have @SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius! - get on with it!

Thanks, @crazyjinglist, it's really nice of you to say so. I started the wobbly bits at lunchtime, and they are... well.... less neat. I'm sort of having to wing it a bit where I don't quite have the right stitch count. I thought if I pressed on with it, I'd get better at it, and then if any of the early ones are terrible, I can unpick them and do them again. Actually, the ones where I trusted myself to make it even look better than the ones where I did exactly what I was told. Time will tell how wise this approach is.

The most brilliant thing ever.
mailchi.mp/3fb960f73c21/crafty-cavaliers-newsletter-its-time-to-knit-a-battlefield

Knit your own English Civil War soldiers for the National Civil War Centre!
(I've put the crow skull pullover aside to knit myself a cavalry company.)

Also @SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius, may we see the embroidery, or is it a secret?

Are any of you able to direct me to a crochet pattern for an adult sized one of these? My nursery colleague's jokingly tagged me in a pic so if it's not too complex I'll surprise her with one. Preferably super cheap /free.

@CrochetBug you strike me as the sort of person who may have just the thing up her sleeve!

Good morning everyone! I'm just posting because I keep trying to catch up and keep being called away to do other things.

Doesn't January last an absolute age?

I finished dd's socks yesterday after work. No leg pics yet but they photographed better than I thought, laid out on a chair.

Meryl January is incredibly long!