Woolly whimsy

I was doing some pretty knitting lately for a friend’s wedding. Here is a poor photo of some of the cute and delicate buttonholes I knit. I ran out of time to take proper photos of them, but they are really pretty, knit using 3.5mm needles and a Rowan yarn called Kidsilk Haze Glamour in cream, a fine yarn with sequins in it. Not the easiest yarn to work with for this kind of thing, but the pattern was thankfully not too difficult itself and easy to commit to memory, so that I could concentrate on keeping an eye on where my needle was going. I think it is easier to knit with using a slightly larger needle but we liked the effect of having smaller stitches. Only one of the flowers has been finished with a button in the photo below.

And there were also other flowers made using the Rowan Kid Classic yarn which I haven’t photographed. I crocheted a couple of takeaway coffee mug cosies for the happy couple with the leftover yarn. Here’s the beginning of the first one, using a well-written photo tutorial from the firefly hook as a guide. I’m using a 4mm hook here with the yarn in drought and then I crocheted a couple of small hearts in feather and sewed them on:

Ahh! I managed to get my act together and take some photographs of the finished mug cosies. Although I was tempted to add a border of some sort with the Kidsilk Haze Glamour I ran out of time… I don’t have a takeaway cup at home, but the cosies fit these glasses and really make them so pretty!

A closer view… I love the colours. I think I might make myself something with the remaining yarn too! No idea what yet… but in the meantime, I’m dreaming of creating gorgeous yarn storage like Stephanie’s from the lovely blog All About Ami and I’m catching up with The Great British Sewing Bee on the BBC iPlayer. I’m still working on eventually breaking out the sewing machine I’ve had sitting under the stairs for almost two years, but I haven’t prepared a good space for a sewing corner yet, so… this girl will just have to dream for now…

Advertisement

Wrapped up and warm…almost

Just a little photo of my 97% completed scarf #2. The colour has greyed out a little in the lighting at home.

I’ve hurt my shoulder and have been forbidden to knit until I’ve completely recovered. I need some time to decide how to finish off the ends of the scarf anyway, so I’m not complaining. I don’t like tassels too much and I’m not sure about pompoms. I’ve used a simple moss stitch along the entire scarf and it’s knitted in felted tweed, so a nice chunky wool. I’m thinking more along the lines of some sort of lacey crocheted edging. Any ideas?

Mulling it over

It was a bit of a rubbish week last week. Although I managed to finish my first scarf by Friday and am now wearing it. I ran out of wool to make the length I wanted for a scarf… but the wool is out of stock, so instead, I sewed it up and made a cowl 🙂

I guess I have to learn to do that more often. Be prepared to change course more readily. Take action to make things better even when they don’t turn out the way I would have hoped.

It’s all been coming to a head recently. Somehow things are a bit more intense and rubbish than usual. Although, let me get one thing straight right now… I’d not swap being me, for anything else. Some days I don’t even have the energy to feel depressed. But those moments bring me through to a clarity afterwards that I have to pounce on and get creative with!

I’ve been feeding off some of your incredible posts lately, and they are helping me to get some of my thoughts in order. Here’s a couple I found inspiring at just the right time – and by inspiring, I mean, they challenged me personally and helped me to take a step back and a deep breath:

Be happy in the moment, this moment is your life. The title says it all. I’m not going to get all self-help and “hippie” (quoting Sarah) on you here. I was simply reminded that now is my life. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Right now. And I have to do something with now, or it’s going to leave me.

Morning walk on the Detmold countryside. Wendy took me on a beautiful walk through her lovely photos. It’s the kind of walk that I relish and haven’t been on for a while. She shared some of her own thoughts on life at this point in time. She ends with “Carry on…” Enough said. Life never stops, you’re either going backwards or forwards.  Sometimes it’s the former, sometimes the latter… either way, we carry on for as long as we have the strength to.

Apple, by Addia

And. I have been meaning to feature this photo for some time now. It’s by the lovely Addia who was so sweet as to send me the original and allow me to feature it here. I feel happy every time I look at it. I just love the intense colour of the apple. But it’s so exposed, vulnerable, all open and half-eaten. I guess its fragility and intensity against the gritty grey surface that it is lying on is what makes it so beautiful for me.

I feel so alive when I see something so beautiful.

So here we go again, I’m rooting for you to go out there and keep on keeping on too! Have a good week.

Wonder Wool

OK…so I’m a tiny bit late to the party. National Wool Week was last week. But then, I was ill. Aaah. But, I’m still in the recovery position this week. The near-solid slime, glueing together my ENT passages is showing no intention of shifting. Sorry, tmi. At least my sexy voice has left me. Unfortunately, that means the only external clue to my being under the weather has dissipated, and I appear to be well enough to do all things.

Well. I haven’t been blogging so much. But the thing is, as I hinted here, I have been getting cosy with this:

I love wool. I picked up knitting and crocheting again last winter. It didn’t seem to make much sense, seeing as wool is expensive in the UK. And Primark is cheap. And let’s not beat about the bush, I am also expensive when it comes to hiring myself to knit. I recently bought some four jumpers at £6 each. Whereas, the total amount of money spent on that is not enough even to buy me the wool required to knit myself a jumper.

But in short, I will knit because I want a good quality garment. Even though synthetic yarns are cheaper, I will only bother with good quality stuff, because otherwise I can buy it for cheaper in the shops. Even if it is not Primark. I will buy synthesised yarns, but only when the synthetics add to the texture of the yarn. I will only do this, if it is good quality and it does not make up the majority of the fibre.

So. When a friend of mine requested a warm woolly hat, I took the chance to knit this. My head is massive (I have big empty braincells). So sorry, I am not modelling it. But I hope you’ll agree, that pompom is like candyfloss. Beautiful, wonderful, super soft merino wool. It’s also my first foray into thick and thin. And with the same yarn, I am knitting myself a scarf. It’s getting chilly, and I’m almost done. I will soon be the envy of you all 🙂

I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves the good old sheepies. I LOVE WOOL 🙂 And to prove it, as well as the abovementioned scarf, I have two others on the go:

I’m also researching baby blankets, I have a plan to deliver a hat with a surprise gift inside! Any pattern ideas? I’m thinking I might crochet it. I’m so excited 🙂