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

The ones I have seen are between £9 and £15. I've seen one for a pirate shirt I could make into a nightie 😊

Good going, @MerylSqueak ! Looking forward to sone photos of your sewuling efforts! I am always lost in admiration for people who can actually sew things. I'm atrocious at sewing. My needlework teacher at school used to look at me with a mixture of pity and exasperation. I once accidentally sewed a duck to my school skirt in a lesson. And I swear sewing machines broke when I so much as looked at them!

I moved from sewing to crochet as it's so much more portable. I still have loads of fabric samples from my fabric designs that I really need to find a use for (and free up some space)

@MerylSqueak sewing patterns are very expensive. I haven't done any sewing for about ten years but have just bought this one. I'm waiting for the fabric to arrive so I can make it very slowly as I'm so rusty!

I've finished my cardigan too despite feeling horrible.

@MerylSqueak I agree that patterns are expensive! I used to be a seamstress and I LOVE sewing! I have so many patterns upstairs from when my DM got me a years magazine subscription, I was waiting to take them to a charity shop, when I'm back off hols I could always put some pics on here and if there's any you like I'd be more than happy to send them your way ☺️

@StillNiceCardigan that cardi is gorgeous! I love it!

Im similar to fairIsle in that I cannot sew and my textiles teacher at school used to be really exasperated with me as I’d always break the sewing machine. I’m sure she’d be shocked to learn I was in a crochet and knit chat thread!

@StillNiceCardigan that’s a lovely cardigan. Sorry you’re feeling so rubbish. I started feeling rubbish on Wednesday, tested positive on Thursday. I’d say that this afternoon I’ve started to feel a bit more normal. I think if I can get a good nights sleep tonight, I might shift the bulk of it. I felt awful this morning. I think you’re about the same time as me so hopefully it lifts for you too (and I’ve not just jinxed myself).

I'd love to sew more. I bought a sewing machine a couple of years ago. But patterns and fabric are so expensive! And you can't just frog it if it goes wrong!

For the sewing aficionados in the east there is a craft outlet at the springfields outlet village, which might be useful. They didn’t have a great range of yarn when I went in but they did have a big fabric section. They were selling 3m of fabric for £10, which seems cheap to me but I must admit I don’t know what 3m of fabric would make. Obviously at an outlet you are limited by what they have there but they did have a couple of the same fabrics if you needed more than 3m.

I've just splurged on a lazy Kate, a niddy noddy and some fibre - 2 x 200g batts of undyed Jacob fleece (one white, one grey) and a 'tutti frutti' bag of brightly-coloured slivers of Corriedale in 8 different colours (25g each).

I am feeling a bit better this evening @InTheNightWeWillWish I’m hoping I’m past the worst.

Its hard to find affordable fabric @CrochetBug i found some really nice Liberty fabric but it was £25 a metre so I’d be terrified of cutting it at that price!

😁@Fairislefandango I think you have taught yourself another language!

@CrochetBug I'm thinking maybe curtains and altering clothes. Mind you, I can't see it being cheaper than Asda curtains, which can also be really nice!

Great cardigan @StillNiceCardigan and a lovely offer. Thank you. If you have a kimono or dressing gown type hing and anything that could be a nighty I'd be very grateful.

Oh that’s pricey @MerylSqueak I don’t remember them being that expensive! I suppose you do get paper patterns instead of digital files like knitting patterns… I like the sound of your shirt/nightdress! I make curtains and things now rather than clothes, it doesn’t work out cheaper but you do get more choice and better linings.

Lol @Fairislefandango The mind boggles, a toy duck, a rubber duck, a live duck? 😂 I like the sound of your splurge!

@StillNiceCardigan your cardigan is lovely, it’s a great colour and fit on you! Fingers crossed you’re on the mend now.

@InTheNightWeWillWish Hope you get a good nights sleep and feel better tomorrow!

A stuffed felt duck, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound. I think I was sewing up the gap after I stuffed it. I had it on my lap and had somehow gone through my skirt with the needle a few times. I felt very silly when I stood up...

@MerylSqueak - yes, and there's nothing I like more than a new language!

The other, rather more mundane, thing I've ordered for spinning is a cheap rubbery mat off Amazon. I have discovered that as soon as I try to treadle, the pressure from my foot makes the spinning wheel scoot away from me across my laminate wood floor!

This just arrived...

Oooh, lovely!! Now you’ve to decide what to start on first, or have you already decided? 😀

I did some gardening last night because some plants mugged me on the way into Lidl and made me buy them. They’re Coreopsis and I’m not sure if they’re the right variety but some can be used for natural dyes. If it doesn’t work, at least I’ll have some pretty flowers!

I haven't decided what to start on! I've been doing a bit more practice on the small amounts of fibre I already had though, and I've already noticeably improved! I'm still trying to get the hang of what my ideal tension is.

I have no idea how long it will take me to spin the fibre I've bought or how much yarn it will yield, so it's a bit difficult to know what I'll be aiming to ply,and whether I'll ply different colour singles together or same colour. I'm a bit clueless really, but it's fun!

Can I ask for some advice please? I'm trying to make a crochet vest for my daughter - similar to the image below but a bit longer. I'm a self taught beginner. Couple one of you crochet experts please advise me how to make and attach the straps?

The straps just look like chain stitch to me @thinkfast . I'd attach them by attaching however you usually join a new colour yarn, chain to the required length and then join to the back with a slip stitch.

@CrochetBug thank you so much. That sounds really simple.

There are some crochet animal books in the John Lewis haberdashery sale.😉

Hello @CrochetBug

I've been looking through some of the gorgeous work here and thought I'd share my first attempt at mosaic crochet.

I also did my 2nd piece of amigurumi I won't be doing any more! Far too awkward for my liking.

Oh wow! Those are amazing @frazzled101! I absolutely love your blanket!

@thinkfast that’s gorgeous, oh to be a teenager again, I would have given my left arm for that😄

@CrochetBug <waves> hope you’re feeling more yourself!

@Fairislefandango sure playing is most of the fun 😃I’m sorting out my plans for the tour de fleece, I bought a sample box of mixed fibres to try a while ago and haven’t had a chance to spin them yet so I’m going to spin that I think!

Beautiful work @frazzled101 ! That blanket is a stunner! I'm currently doing my first attempt at amigurumi too (knitted) and am not really enjoying it either tbh. I've certainly ground to ahalt with it now that my spinning wheel has arrived!

My lazy Kate and niddy noddy have just arrived. They are in unfinished wood though, so I guess I need to oil or varnish them.

I've ordered some wax polish. Goodness me - is there no end of things I have to buy for this spinning wheel? She's very needy!