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

Thanks all, I’m feeling much better about the job (for now at least). I’m going to go to my meeting to see what work are going to offer but I’m mostly looking to negotiate my leaving conditions and under what scenario I don’t have to pay back my enhanced mat leave.

I’ve been working on the unicorn blanket for my friend’s little girl. I couldn’t remember the colours for the curly mane, plus I preferred my own colours but I’ve picked a pink and purple that are quite close in colour. The other two colours are a turquoise and bright yellow. I’m not frogging it because it’s lots of chains and I just can’t be bothered but I think they just blend together a bit. Hopefully the yellow and turquoise will lift it.

Is the blanket yearn easy to use @Nat6999 ? I like the look of it but find the thicker yarns hard on my hands.

The colours look great @InTheNightWeWillWish and good luck with your meeting.

I’ve just finished my first bit of fair isle crochet and am ridiculously pleased with it!

Best of luck for your meeting @InTheNightWeWillWish! I think that pink and purple work really well together.

I am a terrible crocheter. Crocheting giant elephant ears would take no time for a decent crocheter but I swear every stitch was zapping my will to live. So my DM took pity on DS and has taken over the ears for me and got one finished already. I am eternally grateful!

I hope your work meeting goes well, @InTheNightWeWillWish. I guess it will be a relief when you've finally made a decision.

I had a bit of an incident at school yesterday which is preying on my mind. Some students who have a grudge against dh have made it a habit of harrasing me (and ds) in a fairly low-level way, but they ramped it up a bit yesterday. I can't wait to get out of there and start at my nice new school!

Good grief @Fairislefandango, that’s awful! The school sound pretty ineffectual from what you’ve said of them so far, will they deal with it? I hope so!

My DM worked wonders and finished both woolly mammoth ears in the same night. I just need to make the eyes and sew the hat all up now! Which I will do, if I ever get peace and two sleeping children…

Sorry that school is so tough at the minute @Fairislefandango hopefully term goes quickly and then it’ll be a distant memory.

They certainly are ineffectual, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound ! Every time I'm there atm I have lovely, fed-up teachers asking me to pass on their best wishes to dh and tell him how much worse it got when he left! Yes, @InTheNightWeWillWish it will soon be over!

Haven't managed to get any knitting done for a few days, but my flyer and bobbins have arrived with FIL and he's going to polish them because they are au naturel atm.

You could all move to NI @Fairislefandango, we get 8 weeks of summer holidays and the schools are excellent😉Your FIL is awesome, so you’d have to bring your in-laws too 😂

I signed up for a natural dyeing class on Sunday. I just checked and we have to bring a packed lunch, raincoats and welly boots! There’s a foraging bit before the dyeing, so fingers crossed for a dry weekend!

That sounds wonderful@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound . Id love to do that.

I'm sorry work is horrible @Fairislefandango . I hate it when kids get a bee in their bonnet about a member of staff. Hassle you don't need.

I cannot boast about any knitting this week because I am still on strike over unraveling my jumper but can I boast about something that happened at work, please? I'm just made up over it. One of the children I have been supporting this year, who was on to get Fs and Es at the beginning of the year when I started with him not only looks like he'll get at least a few Cs but has also just been offered an unconditional place at college for the course he wants to do. I'm so happy for him but also not a little chuffed with myself. You can't say that sort of thing in real life!

Awww that's fabulous, @MerylSqueak ! You have obviously really made a difference to that child!

I'm feeling a bit more cheerful today. I had a lovely email from my new school about the new staff day on 6th July, and Friday is my nice day where I teach my adult class (for the last time!) and the kids at my village school.

I've been so brain foggy for the last couple of weeks due to lingering covid, and I've been having some stomach issues too. So I've got nothing done and my house is a bit of a mess, but the fog is lifting and I'm feeling more myself. Definitely going to try and get ny Cornish Pixie finished and pick a new project or two!

It sounds like everyone is experiencing some positivity in their lives currently (hope that doesn't come across as patronizing), which is lovely to read given the doom and gloom fed to us daily via news outlets.

I have done no crocheting for a few days, the blanket is so time consuming i feel guilty when i pick it up because nothing else gets done! I toy with starting some sort of smaller project just as a filler and to keep my hand in but then i know what i'm like for starting one project and not finishing another. I cannot have many WIPS on the go, the idea of something being unfinished takes up space in my brain that i can't spare 😁.
Anyway my daughter has a red, white, and blue picnic lunch today at school which we, as parents, can go to. So i'm going to pack a lunch, get out my bike and pray the rain stays off.

Have a great day/weekend everyone.

That's lovely @MerylSqueak so nice to have made a difference.

I'm glad you are feeling more cheerful @Fairislefandango you've had a lot going on the last few months and it's bound to take its toll.

I've nearly finished my crochet fair isle cardigan and am starting to feel disappointed as I've enjoyed making it so much.

Oh that’s wonderful @MerylSqueak! Congratulations!

Wow @StillNiceCardigan, you’ve really flew though it! Any pics?

Fingers crossed it stays dry for you @mumsie8 , that sounds lovely!

Here you go @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound the pattern had quite a high neck which I don’t like so I’m going to stop in a few more rows and start the edging.

Oh that’s pretty @StillNiceCardigan! I love the fairisle!

That's beautiful, @StillNiceCardigan !

Lovely colour scheme@StillNiceCardigan

Ah thanks all I have really enjoyed making it. I've started the search for a new project but have no idea what to make next maybe just some granny squares for the time being.

Spotted this this morning, $8 but well worth it for the charts I think!
www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fossil-frenzy-tee

That's fab!

That's brilliant, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound !

That was fun! I can’t believe how much colour you can get from natural dyes, I thought they’d be much less vibrant. I’m home with bags of nettles, dock and mint to try at home and I’m never putting onion skins into the compost again

Fabulous stuff on here as usual. May I put out a little warning? I was thrilled to have 'inherited' granny's old knitting needles - some in lovely colours, not the ubiquitous grey that's for sale these days. I was knitting along and one of them snapped in half right in the middle of a particularly difficult part of the pattern. It was almost the last straw. I managed to rescue it with elastic bands round the ends and all was well - eventually. So, if you have any of these give them a 'snap' test first to be safe.

Also, if any of you have any loom bands still knocking about the house I've found that they're excellent for 'markers' and the little crochet hooks which came with them are very good if you need to rescue a dropped stitch. Thought I'd pass that on.

Oo @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound . Lovely! That yellow is great. What sorts of things did you use?

Nightmare @prettyteapotsplease. I once had my interchangeable needle points come off in the middle of a complicated lace sequence. That was a sweaty five minutes!

I think I have finally settled on a blanket to make. It's a pattern much more compatible with people talking to me family life because you can mark off the repeat sections.