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

Well, MerylSqueak I sometimes ask why we do this to ourselves - we either like a challenge or we have a masochistic streak.

This is the blanket I have picked although it won't look like this because I am using chunky wool. It's going fine so far.
www.ravelry.com/projects/akemi/mistral-blanket

Wow wow wow @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound - they are amazing! Astonishing how colourful they are!

Eek @prettyteapotsplease - I am not an accomplished knitting-crisis-rescuer and that gave me the heebie-jeebies just reading about it. Mych sweaty and sweary panic occurs when I have jnitting errors!

I've done no knitting this weekend, for no good reason except that Imnot enjoying making my Cornish Pixie that mych and I'm yet to settle on a next project! Spinning Wheel arriving on Thursday though, and FIL says it's running well without the replacement parts, so we'll see whether anything still really needs tweaking!

Just checking in. Sorry I can't keep up with who's doing what work wise. My brain is a bit wiggly.

I haven't done any crochet for ages.

Oh no @prettyteapotsplease! I’m glad you managed to save it!

@MerylSqueak we used onion skins, comfrey, Brazil wood, log wood, cochineal, rosemary, parsley, dyers camomile, a type of daisy and a couple of others I can’t remember! We used an alum mordants except for one without to compare and then there were iron, copper, acid and alkaline modifiers to dip your yarn into after you dyed it if you wanted them. It was really interesting. There wasn’t enough time or pots to try everything there so I’m definitely trying more at home.

@Fairislefandango ooh, Thursday! I’m so excited for you!

Hi @CrochetBug - always good to have you aboard, wiggly brain or not, crojo or no crojo!

I went on a dog walk with dh today, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound and the footpath took us through a farm. Newly-shorn sheep in the field, and the barn was full of big open bags of fleeces. They looked lovely- surprisingly clean compared with others I've seen, some creamy-coloured ones and sone very dark brown, almost black. I'd decided I'm not going to get into processing from raw fleece, but they did look fab...

It’s so hard to keep up with this thread at the minute as the site is just so clunky. Let’s see if I can finish typing before it refreshes.

The cardigan posted was lovely and the blanket pattern is gorgeous and I think will look lovely in a chunky wool.

DH has covid. I’m waiting for it to get me, I have a headache starting so I don’t think it will be long. We did well lasting until now and not getting it. I guess the best I can hope for is that we get a mild version and I feel well enough to crochet. I need to try and get back to knitting too, I’ve put it on the back burner while I’ve been trying to do some crochet projects but I’ve not mastered the skill well enough to drop it and pick it up again at a later stage, I’m still in the needing to practice everyday phase I think.

Sorry to hear that @InTheNightWeWillWish . I hope you do manage to dodge it and that everyone is feeling better soon.

Yes, nice to see you @CrochetBug . How's your wiggly brain today?

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound oo I've never even heard of Brazil wood. Are you going to do more?

@Fairislefandango image of you stalking sheep now. How's school? How's DH's new job?

Oh I hope you get it mildly if at all, @InTheNightWeWillWish and that your dh is better soon! I've still got an intermittent sore throat and slight catarrh over 3 weeks after catching it. I feel ok in myself though.

It's hard not to stalk sheep round here, @MerylSqueak - they are absolutely everywhere! Fortunately ddog is not remotely interested in them. Actually he's a bit scared of them, and utterly petrified of cows, the big wuss.

As for school... I've told them I'm not doing any more supply because I've had enough of the behaviour, so once I finish invigilating (on the 23rd) that's it. I'd pull out of the invigilating too, but I can't bring myself to let the lovely exams officer down. I will if there are any further incidents though. Dh is having a lovely time at work - it sounds very grown-up and civilised

@Fairislefandango oh, that is close range temptation!😄 I know what you mean about working from raw fleece though, it works out way cheaper but the logistics just don’t work for me at the moment really. Glad you don’t have to do more supply with them, fingers crossed the exams go smoothly!

I actually tried nettles last night @MerylSqueak, it didn’t turn out green the way it was supposed to (apparently) but I added a tiny bit of turmeric at the end and it turned out buttercup yellow which is quite nice. I suspect it was impatience and lack of time that was the problem!

@InTheNightWeWillWish oh no, I found taking paracetamol every 4 hours helped a lot even when I didn’t think it was bad enough to need it. Hope it’s just a headache and you avoid it though!

I normally check the thread in the evening but the site is so terrible at the moment that I can’t post anything then. So I am following everyone’s progress and am particularly impressed by the dyed fleece @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound I really do want to try that.

I needed some buttons to finish my cardigan and had to buy this pack to get the ones I wanted

@StillNiceCardigan that’s a good pack but now you have to work out what to do with the sequins!

One of my WIPs is a throw for my friend. It’ll be her wedding present so I wanted slightly nicer wool, something really soft and really squishy. I’m having serious yarn regret. I’ve used the Sirdar country stories and there’s just so many shitty bits and it’s not just on one colour but all 3 I’ve used so far. It’s a shame because the yarn is working up well and it is soft and squishy. It’s a very simple stitch, I love the finished piece so accepted it would be a boring make but worth it for something that is visually very nice but the yarn is just making this project a bit of a drag.

Oh it's lovely though @InTheNightWeWillWish - I love the colour scheme!

I've just finished invigilating and have a 'free' afternoon now. Except... I have an optician's appointment and need to pick the dc up from school and tidy and clean the whole house and change the spare bed because PIL are coming tomorrow afternoon (with my spinning wheel!) and I'm at work all day tomorrow. Eek! <scrolls idly through MN, surrounded by chaos>.

It looks lovely @InTheNightWeWillWish! I hate it when you’ve bought yarn that looks lovely then is a nightmare to work with!

Ooh, today is spinning wheel day then @Fairislefandango, how exciting!

Should be arriving any minute now....

Drumroll… 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

She's here! She needs reassembling, as FIL took her wheel off to transport her, and now he's having trouble getting the pin back in .

Oh no @Fairislefandango I can’t stand the tension,

It will be fine. FIL is a wizard! I mean...the man makes guitars from scratch as a hobby!

That is wizardry!

I’ve been swatching with my wool from the weekend, I was thinking I’d knit it up into squares to make a small blanket using this pattern. I don’t have enough wool of each colour to do the motif plus garter stitch boarder so I’m experimenting…

You can't leave it like that @Fairislefandango !

@InTheNightWeWillWish it looks lovely. It's awful when yarn is difficult to work with. I can't see any hitches though.

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound I love that blanket. Let us see what you come up with.

I have, unbelievably, a day off with no one in the house. Pure luxury for me. I have decided to do absolutely nothing constructive. Tea, toast and movies I would have to justify watching if someone else we're around 😀

Thats a lovely blanket pattern @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound

I think today is going to be on of those rare days in England when it’s too hot to knit it’s already 21degrees here.

I think what’s really annoying me about the yarn is that it cost just short of £6 a ball! @MerylSqueak I have cut a few of the really bad bits out.

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound that blanket is lovely. It’ll be lovely with your hand dyed wools if you can get the swatches to work.

Definitely too hot to crochet/knit today. I’ve come down with covid too and I’m at the stage where the world feels like it’s on fire. Great timing with the temperatures predicted to be so high today! It doesn’t help that all my WIPs are blankets and I really don’t need a blanket draped over me today.

Oh no @InTheNightWeWillWish I hope you feel better soon. I suspect DS has come back from his festival with Covid he's been coughing for days and someone in his group has just tested positive. Me and DH are just starting to feel unwell too.

@InTheNightWeWillWish hope you feel better soon! That blanket looks stunning, shame it's a PITA!

@StillNiceCardigan oh no hope you feel better soon too!

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound all those colours were so nice together I think whatever you come up with would look great!

@Fairislefandango how exciting to finally have your spinning wheel! So will it be ready to go then or do you still need some bits for it? Sorry I'm struggling to keep up with the thread 😂

It's 26° where I am now and I definitely can't hold any yarn in this heat! We're on holiday next week so I won't be able to get any crochet done then either! I managed to make my mum a little bag to put her phone in around her neck as she uses a walking aid so she needed something to carry it round in!