so much yarn...

In my effort to fill my time by using up all those unused balls of wool and leftover bits and pieces, and with a complete inability to focus on anything for long, I am flitting from one project to another!

Some years ago, I bought some yarn online, thinking it would be chunky yarn for a squishy blanket. 

Only when it arrived, it seems the 'tiny' bit means that its actually not much different to an aran weight and wasn't what I had in mind for a chunky blanket at all. Plus it has a chenille like finish and is 100% polyester and although it is very soft I'm not mad keen on the feel of it. I have tried several times to knit something or crochet something and I have unravelled it each time, so it has sat in my wool store staring at me each time I go to make something!

Then in my pattern scrolling a few days ago, I came across a pattern on you tube called "Very easy to make baby blanket crochet knitting pattern for beginners" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JncCpTYG9y0&list=UULFcEnqXHB3a8A4oMeyW_HyYw&index=76 - it uses a thicker yarn but I figured it was worth playing with and a day later...

I had made a squishy infinity scarf! Which is the first thing I've made with this yarn I haven't wanted to pull out! Only I still had another full ball...

So I made a mitten, which I kind of made up on the fly... and although it looks a slightly odd shape, it fits my hand! Which maybe means my hands are an odd shape! Better on...

Only, rather stupidly, I didn't write down what I was doing, so now I have to try and figure it out to make the other one to match 😂. Good job they are just for me!

The colours are a bit rubbish because the light has been so awful - maybe I'll take a better one outside when I have a pair!

S x

Remembrance Day 2018...

I always find the sound of the bagpipes moving and yesterday was no exception, with a small crowd gathered outside the great West door of Norwich cathedral to hear a lone piper play 'Battle's O'er'  at 6am along with pipers at 2,000 locations across the UK and elsewhere. 

Followed by candles lit for peace in the cathedrals peace globe...

When I came out of the cathedral there was a solitary bird singing its heart out and the sky was lightening. I walked down to the river and slowly home a rather scenic route as the day woke up...

There was an incredible stillness in the air, with reflections like mirror images on the river...

I was home by 7.30am so snuggled up with coffee and my growing stash-busting project for an hour before getting ready to head back to the cathedral with my mum for the remembrance service. There is something very rhythmic and restorative about steady progress of rows of crochet.

I am quite enjoying this project. It is very satisfying to see all those odds and ends and half balls of wool disappearing into something useful. There is no plan to this at all - 2 strands of yarn at a time, one dark and one bright colour, random changes and half trebles worked with a great big hook that makes for rapid progress.

I am using up a complete mix of yarns - mostly double knitting but some aran and some 4 ply, with the lovely colours but slightly scratchy feel yarns getting 'softened' by the soft cottons or cashmerino blends. And the slightly 'yucky' colours or overly bright 'why on earth did I buy that' colours getting toned down a bit with a more muted shade.

I am not really thinking too much about the colours but every so often just photograph it to do a kind of check that its not too wildly unbalanced. I still seem to have stacks of yarn but beginning to make a dent in it! And the end result will be a mixture of memories of makes for family and friends going back over almost 40 years from very first projects many years ago. It feels like times and places are woven into the fabric of this project that just fell out of a bit of boredom and a rummage through my left over yarns...

A day of quiet reflection and thankfulness...

S x

Stash-busting...

There is something about this time of year that makes me want to reach for the yarn bag. Or in my case the yarn bag, box under the bed, odd bag in the cupboard and chest of drawers in the spare room! I seem to have balls of yarn stuffed in every spare space, from projects over the years (some many years!) and the onset of colder, dark evenings made me want to reach for the crochet hook and get blanket making.

I finished the baby blanket that has been stored for 25 years half made...

I have no baby to give it to yet but at least it can go back in the drawer completed and just wait for the right occasion. I do love this pattern and think I would make it again but after all that white I was craving for a bit of colour. Then when hunting for a crochet hook I came across this stash of cotton yarns...

It was like falling upon a rainbow! Some of these date from my very first forays into crochet several years ago when I treated myself to a few balls of lovely Rowan hand knit cotton each time I spotted one in the 'end of lines' box in my yarn store. Of course, when you do this a bit aimlessly without a project in mind you often don't end up using them! Or I don't! So I decided I should do something with these but didn't want to make another granny blanket. Initially I wondered about a ripple but I had this urge to do a rainbow on the diagonal and came across a corner to corner pattern which grow in blocks - perfect! 

It grows quickly in blocks of 4 trebles and I am loving it. It is easy enough once you have the pattern in your head to do in front of a film or easy TV but different enough for me to keep my interest. And relatively few ends to sew in which is always a bonus in my book!

I had pretty much decided to just use up each colour but in fact the first 3 colours conveniently finished at the end of rows and when I got to the yellow it became obvious that a) that would be way too much yellow at once and b) I really needed another round of colours to balance things across the size of a blanket.

I slightly regret the few blocks of green at the beginning of the row but in the spirit of stash busting decided to leave it. Only guess what? Now I need to go and get some more of the dark purple, the light blue, green and orange so that I can repeat the rows! I still have a similar darker blue and the yellows and reds and I don't mind if they are not an exact match but it does rather defeat the object if I end up with more left over at the end!

I am trying to be a bit careful with pennies at the moment so I have put the rainbow project to one side and am really going for it with the rest of the yarn I have stowed! The current project is a complete mish mash of all the dark and bright yarns I have - using a huge hook and 2 strands of different yarns with easy rows of half trebles. I can't quite decide if I am going to like it or not but there is something satisfying about seeing these balls of wool that have been kicking around for years get used up and it is making a very cosy blanket to sit under of an evening! Might post photos at a later stage!

I wonder whether I will ever have the discipline to only buy wool for what I am making and not extra odd balls...

S x

losing it...

Today has been a bit rubbish. Most of it I don't want to think about, never mind write about. And to top it all, I think I've lost my camera. Well I know I have, as I can't find it - just not sure if this is a permanent state of affairs. I know I had it with me when we were in the secondhand shops on Sunday, so maybe I put it down while i was poking around. Don't know. Just know, for now, I only have my phone for photos.

And...I've lost a hat and some gloves. Also had them on Sunday... sensing a bit of a theme here. Darn.

Today has been so cold I really missed my hat. So I had a little splurge on some half price Rowan Kidsilk Haze Glamour...

Need to get my knitting skates on so I have something to keep my head warm!

And, for those who were wondering...yes, finally, after several attempts and 3 different drill bits, my coat hooks and little shelf are fixed to the wall...

Hurrah.

Night all, let tomorrow bring better things.

S x

walks, woolliness and equipment overload...

I have made much more effort to go out walking in recent weeks. In part, because it gets me out of the house and also to try to improve my fitness a bit! I don't mind walking alone - sometimes its nice just to go at your own pace and not have anyone mind you stopping for photo opportunities!

I live very near the Norfolk Broads but for some reason, I rarely go across to the heart of the Broads. Somehow because its on your doorstep you don't think to go there in the way that people who holiday here do. I wonder if the same is true for other regions - I can't imagine taking the Welsh or Scottish mountains for granted, or not noticing the mountains and lakes in the Lake District or the hills of the Peak District or the Yorkshire Moors? But maybe its easy to let the beauty of our surroundings just become part of the background to our lives.

Anyway, I am making a conscious effort to appreciate what's around me and the next few photos are the last of my 'catch-up' pics from when I was unable to get onto the net for a while.

Salhouse Broad was always a favourite with my boys when they were small - it has a sloping 'beach' area and space to run around. You reach it via a short walk through woodland, past marsh plants until it opens out into the broad itself. At this time of year there are no boats and very few people (just a few hardy walkers!) and it is very peaceful.

The light was low in the sky and golden on the tree trunks...

From the edge of the broad you can walk up through gorse bushes towards this lovely viewpoint...

...and then you can walk back at a slightly higher level overlooking the broad from a bit of a vantage point...

By the time I was heading back to the car park the sun was dropping fast in the sky...

The nearest broad to me is Whitlingham Broad - on the edge of the city, this has been turned into a leisure facility and is well used by families, walkers, runners and cyclists all year round. Although it doesn't have the peace of the less accessible broads it is a lovely place for a walk and the place I go to if I just want to walk without having to think about routes etc

The sky was deceptively blue on the day I did this walk...

There was no warmth in the air at all and a really strong breeze that made the broad choppy, nearly took me off my feet and by the time I was halfway round, brought dark clouds across the sky...

It was lovely but I was frozen by the time I completed the circuit!!!

There are a couple of city parks that I can walk to from home. One of these, Eaton Park, was the source of a couple of my scavenger hunt photos for January and I am enjoying early walks there at a weekend, with the frost still on the ground plants...

Eaton Park has a rather grand formal layout which I rather like...

On the woolly front...this just fell into my hands today...

When I say 'fell'... it would probably be fairer to say 'required some serious rummaging' in the bargain bin :-) but it is so soft and such a lovely colour, it just had to be done! I managed to find 10 balls at just about half the usual price which felt like a good deal. I just have to decide what to do with it now! I have found a couple of free patterns so am having a play to see which I think will work best. Will let you know!

And finally... I have to admit to having something of a problem in terms of equipment...

Whilst trying to have a bit of a sort out last weekend, I realised that I probably have a bit of an issue with needles! This is most (but not all!!) of the knitting needles I have acquired over the years! It's not entirely my fault; I accept that I have, probably more than once, been known to buy duplicates but the black bag was passed on from my Nannie, the tartan bag contained my Mum's cast offs. The end result being a serious excess of standard, circular and double point needles (both imperial and metric sizes) plus a few other random bits and pieces!

I didn't even know these were in here! The wooden gadget is for cutting even lengths of wool for rug making and the gauge is a handy little device (although the needle sizes are all in 'old money' so to speak).

I think I'm going to sort this lot out and try and rationalise them a bit so that I just have one of each size. Maybe I need to make one of those nice needle rolls I've seen on various blogs? And perhaps offer the extras to anyone who needs them? or charity shop them?

Right, enough waffling on tonight! In the time I've been on here the world has gone white outside! We have a layer of snow on the ground and more promised for overnight so may be going for a snowy walk in the morning!! Til then, going to curl up in bed with a book as its so cold!!!

Sx