It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 9: So Many Projects, So Little Time. (Oh well - I almost made it rhyme!)

[Fairislefandango]

A thread for woolly crafters of all types and levels.
Previous thread here

[tizwozliz]

Thanks for the new thread.

It's cold and damp here so it's prompted me to pick up my coast blanket again. It's big enough now to cover my legs as I crochet.

[StillNiceCardigan]

Ooh that looks lovely @tizwozliz

Thank you for the new thread @Fairislefandango

[Fairislefandango]

Cold and damp here too. That is a beautiful blanket!

[MerylSqueak]

Thank you@Fairislefandango I hope you're feeling better.

That looks lovely @tizwozliz

Tough time in the Squeak household ATM but I've managed to get the hot water bottle cover going and it's a really fun, quick knit. DD is very pleased too. A million ends to sew in though.

[Fairislefandango]

Sorry to hear you're having tough times, @MerylSqueak . Hot water bottle cover sounds good.

Dh and I are feeling quite a bit better today, though ds has covid too now. Dh starts his new job on Wednesday, so he'd better be better by then!

[Fairislefandango]

I've just ordered myself a new Kindle (just a basic one) as a 'well done for finally getting a proper job' present to myself, as my old one died. So my next new, quick project is going to be a cover/sleeve for it. Can't decide on a pattern though...

[sophs29]

Oooh a shiny new thread 😍 a kindle cover is a nice little project @Fairislefandango are you going to knit or crochet it?

[MerylSqueak]

I hope you're all feeling better now @Fairislefandango . How is DS?

I've been looking at courses locally for a birthday present to myself and have been wondering about this. I'm torn between thinking it will get me confident to do colourwork and thinking I might feel I have wasted my money because I understand the essentials. What do you all think?

www.makeitinwales.co.uk/craft-courses/learn-fairisle-hand-knit-with-helena-horrocks-sept-2022

Wool colours are nice. I'll get a link

[MerylSqueak]

www.northernyarn.co.uk/products/gwlan-cambrian-wool-4-ply?_pos=2&_sid=78c85169d&_ss=r

[CrochetBug]

Just checking in. I'll be back later to 'decorate'

[Fairislefandango]

I think that course sounds great, @MerylSqueak . Lovely wool (at my local shop, I see!).

Ah glad to see you've arrived, @CrochetBug - it was looking a bit drab in here. Looking forward to the decorating .

Speaking of my local shop Northern Yarn, it's going to be a lot more local now that I'll be working right near it!

[Fairislefandango]

In fact, I've just checked and it's literally 2 minutes' walk away. That could be dangerous...

[StillNiceCardigan]

The course does look great @MerylSqueak I think you do get a bit more out of them if you have a bit of an understanding of how it works beforehand.

Do we need some jubilee decorations @CrochetBug? I have a spare queen with corgis.

[MerylSqueak]

I wondered if you'd notice the shop @Fairislefandango. I can see you now: hitting the yarn hard after a tricky last lesson on a Friday 😀


Fabulous@CrochetBug !

[Fairislefandango]

I wondered if you'd notice the shop @Fairislefandango. I can see you now: hitting the yarn hard after a tricky last lesson on a Friday 😀

That's exactly what I was thinking... And then I imagined what 25 year-old, non-knitter me would think of that. Back then it certainly wasn't yarn I hit hard with my colleagues on Fridays after a tricky last lesson. 4pm until closing time. Oof - not sure how I survived that! More like a chamomile tea and a crochet square these days . Mind you... maybe I'll have some sociable new colleagues!

[MerylSqueak]

A couple of years ago my DH arrived home to a living room full of our new kittens playing, DD playing piano, D's building Lego and me knitting, fire on. He stopped dead and said that if his fifteen year old self had seen this vision of his fate he'd have run a mile. I could see his point.

Frustrating day with the hot water bottle cover. I'm doing the neck but didn't have the right needle so spent the entire day trying work around and scrapping them finally ( I think) settled on one but was too tired to finish it.

And I couldn't go and get one because the other thing that happened last week was this

[Fairislefandango]

Eek - oh no! What did you do?!

I'm finally feeling almost entirely better from covid (after a weird couple of days when most of my symptoms were gone, but I felt like I had vertigo and motion sickness ).

I'm still working on the Cornish Pixie, which is currently a sausage with a head. Dh keeps sniggering and saying it looks like something else entirely

I'm also making my Kindle case- I decided to just do a basic, made-up moss stitch one, but I need to work out how to decrease for the flap and put a button hole in it.

[MerylSqueak]

I'm doing a flap! My current plan is to
SL1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog,
K1

Then knit the next row.

Buttonhole I'm going to K2tog , yo, yo, ssk.

My ankle ? I just stepped off a kerb and went over on it. I'm not sure what I've done because I think it was too swollen to tell in A and E but I have had physio for 2 years on the other ankle for a very similar accident. At least I know what the physio will be for this one!

I've had good news too. I passed my first BSL exam with 87 %. I'm amazed! Another one next week.

[Fairislefandango]

Oh ankles are stupid bloody things, aren't they? So easily injured. Running made my ankles much less feeble, but it messes with my other joints if I do more than Parkrun once a week these days .

Thanks for the flap advice - that's really useful!

[Fairislefandango]

Oh and big congrats for the BSL exam! Are you doing it for work? It's something I've wondered about learning, in case it came in useful at work. Plus I'm an absolute sucker for a new language . Currently addicted to Ukrainian on Duolingo!

[MerylSqueak]

I was JUST getting back to thinking I might run sometime in the future. I don't think I will now.

I should finish the flap this morning so I will post a picture and you can see if you like it.

I don't have to do the BSL for work but I wanted to and it's going to come in handy as they've lost a signer. I'll be in with kids who've been signing all their lives though when my y 11 leaves so that'll be daunting! I think a linguist would really enjoy learning as there's a whole different visual dimension to the language learning.

[tizwozliz]

Bad luck on the ankle @MerylSqueak fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. Mine took months and I had to have a lot of physio to learn to walk normally again but left with no long term issues fortunately. Perfect excuse to sit down and do plenty of crochet/knitting though.

[sandwiches77]

I have a weeks A/L next week and I am thinking about making (crochet/knit?) a blanket. She has cancer and feels the cold. But I am hopeless at both, I have looked at YouTube but I think I need someone that I can ask questions of. Hobbycraft have some online ones, anyone tried and which is easier for a beginner crochet or knit? I am really rubbish at all things craft!!

[MerylSqueak]

@tizwozliz thank you for the encouragement.

Here's the flap on DDs hot water bottle cover. I'm not sure it'll be what you're after @Fairislefandango

[MerylSqueak]

Flap