A Knitting Update

I finally finished The Neverending Weasley  Jumper. Oh my word, that took a long, long time. It was meant to be easy. In terms of knitting complexity I suppose it was - it's basically stocking stitch. I picked up a few new techniques about finishing off sections and doing necklines and so on but ultimately it wasn't hard. It just took soooooooooooo long to finish.

Then as is usual with me, I got complete post-craft ennui and hated it. I can't get over the feeling that it's too big and too shapeless and too rubbish. Catherine said she loved it and it's the perfect Sunday cosy jumper but ach, I wish I had made it a size or two down. It was meant to be oversized but maybe not quite that much?

I then had a prolonged rest. My current problem is that I don't have the right wool for all the projects I want to start and I can't find things that I want to do that suit the wool I do have. So I set to with a random pretty shade of wool and vague thoughts of attempting some sort of lacy, holey type pattern - Ravelry provided me with a link to this and away I went.

(If I were less honest I would skate over the fact that I was going to make handwarmers but they ended up so big I had to turn it into a snood. Ho hum. This is what happens when you don't know the size of wool you're using and pick any random pair of needles.)

End result: a cute snood!

I'm still super novicey at knitting so I'm taking every project as a chance to learn something new. In this one I managed k2tog and skp and how to do a yarn over properly. Woo! It was very pleasing to knit up as well - anything would seem fun after approx 6 months of chuffing stocking stitch but this was genuinely very soothing to make.

Up next...no idea! I need to investigate some patterns for all the wool I seem to have collected. Eventually I want to give circular and cable needles a try but they both scare the bejesus out of me at the moment, so give it time.

A Bit More Knitting

Operation Get Less Shit At Knitting continues.

After the successful snood, I tried out a much more complicated scarf stitch pattern thing (I'm totally down with all the knitting lingo) which has gone quite bizarrely wonky. Yup, still shit at knitting.

Check out the slant on that!

I know I went wrong right at the very beginning because I was doing it on a train and people kept distracting me, but I recovered that and I don't think it was enough to cause such epic slantiness. Ho hum. Maybe it'll sort itself out when I eventually finish it.

(nb - old women LOVE young(ish) knitters, don't they? Actual quote: "It's so nice to see lovely young girls like you knitting." Bahahaha. Thanks lady. I will take the young compliment and run merrily into the distance with it.)

Anyway, Project Wonky Scarf is on hold for the time being. It's taught me how to do slip stitches and passing stitches over and digging up a stitch from the loop and all that jazz. I'll finish it at some point. 

I decided to do something quick and easy to boost my spirits in the meantime, dug out the special needs needles and lovely chunky wool and whizzed my way through this chunky drop stitch cowl pattern. It was so quick and easy to do.

It's pink so it's obviously not for me but you've got to model your creations, haven't you?

New skill added to the list: drop stitches. I'll definitely make it again but will probably play around a bit and make it thinner and longer as it does seem perhaps a smidge too wide and short. It's cute though!

Never one to massively overface myself with a project or anything, I've now started work on a Weasley jumper as a Christmas present. Current status: stocking stitching my life away.

A Bit of Knitting

Operation Get Less Shit At Knitting commenced a few months ago. I've dabbled before - made a scarf and some mittens and even a headband thingy - but then for no particular reason I can remember, I put the needles down and didn't feel even remotely tempted to start again. I'm a very casual crafter.

The urge came back upon me a few months ago and a scarf seemed a nice easy way to get back into the swing of things. Armed with some green wool and jaunty needles, off I went.

Did a bit.

Then a bit more.

And quite a lot more - it was as long as my legs before I eventually I ran out of wool.  I was gonna attach more wool and do the world's biggest and widest scarf but it happily ended up being the perfect snood length, so I stitched it together instead and voila!

I am very pleased with myself. It is SO COSY. Plus I can hide in it if people are annoying me or the world is getting too much.

Next up is some verra beautiful multi coloured wool (green, obviously) and I'm actually going to make a scarf this time. It's much more complicated. I have to slip stitches and pick up loops and all sorts of things that are bound to go horribly wrong when I'm not paying attention. If I manage not to cock it up then it'll be very pretty!

Handmade Hunchback Horror

I am not happy with this frock.

Well that's sort of a lie. Also I should stop being a negative nancy so let's focus on the positives first eh?

- I made a dress - my first one since December. It didn't take me that long. Yoicks!

- I freestyled the neckline and it looks nice. Woo!

- It's made from a pair of fricking curtains which cost me a whopping £2.49 from a charity shop. Mint!

Yup, one of the skirt pieces is the wrong way round. I realised before cutting.

- It's nice fabric (not sure of the name - it's sort of waffley looking. Same as my Paddington skirt anyway). I love working with that stuff. No stupid fraying. Wheee!

- It's pretty, right? Yay!

- I DID SLEEVES. CORRECTLY. FIRST TIME. Huzzah!!

Bad points:

- Unless I pose like this, I look like an actual square. A plump one. Dunno what I did wrong but it doesn't fit or look the same way that my other 2444's do and belts don't help. Booooo.

- It does not fit at all on the back. AT ALL. I must have a weirdly short torso - 2444s finish too high up my neck so I always cut the back neckline a bit shorter. They don't usually look this baggy and weird though. I put extra massive darts in and it helped but it still looks peculiar and hunchbackish. Methinks the pattern piece needs altering to actually fit me before I go back and attempt making any more. Don't actually know how to do that though. Oh well.

Meh, I'll probably just wear it anyway.

At least nothing is wrong with the delightfully sparkly shoes I've got on. Everyone needs lovely green flats in their life. The same applies to green heels - instant mood enhancer! And when your frock makes you look a bit hunchbacked, you need all the help you can get.

I've Been Crafting

There are very few crafty things I'm any good at. About the only things I can successfully make are beaded baubles and I'm never quite sure if that even counts. All you do is follow the instructions. It's satisfying alright but not particularly creative.

Pretty though! Lots of beads to play with!



You chug along quite nicely, merrily counting 1A, 1B, 1A, 1B, 1C, 3A and loop-the-looping back on yourself like billy-oh.



It all comes together very nicely.



Except it's not quite as simple as it looks: this part goes on forever. I usually end up hunched on the sofa looking somewhat like this:



But on we must plod and eventually the loops stop and you can start doing tassels for a change:



This particular design (Anatolia from Spellbound Beads) goes through a stage where it looks like an alien monster:



Then a stage where it just looks like a massive mess:



Much patience has to be employed by moi. Not my strongest skill, I must admit, so it's usually accompanied by much FFS-ing. Knots have to be untangled, beads picked up from the carpet, tangles smoothed out...

And then it looks BEAUTIFUL when it's finished:



Quite tempted to wear it as a massimo earring tbh.



If you want to give baubling a go then I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. Fabulous as it is, it's quite faffy and I think a beginner may give up in a huff. The Net & Tassel design is lots easier and quicker to do and Swags & Tails is very straightforward (lots of repetition) and looks absolutely stunning.

I've also been making these pretty little snowflakes which look simple and hassle-free, yes? NO. You have to use wire to make these and beading wire is even more annoying than beading thread. It's worth persevering though cos I do love them when they're finished.




When people ask me if I ever sell them, I tend to go, "HA! NO!"

This is the problem with most crafty stuff, isn't it? I always think this about knitted stuff and those amazing crochet blankets that some of my bloggy pals are so brilliant at making. If you charged an actual hourly rate plus materials, they'd cost about a bajillion times more than they're worth.

£60 for a bauble, anyone? No? Thought as much.

Rest assured chaps, if you're ever given one of these as a present then I really like you.

#sewdollyclackett

Afternoon all! I have been at the sewing machine again. Don't all fall off your chairs with shock.

I've been meaning to get back into it a bit more but time and energy have both been issues. That fabric stash was a-calling my name though and then I saw the #sewdollyclackett challenge. Time to get my foot back on the pedal and join in! It's such a fab idea and I flipping loved Roisin when I met her in Warwick last year. If I could sew as well as her I would be a very happy lady.

I know people will be making far superior, more colourful and jaunty creations than my humble monochrome toile print dress but I was working within certain limits here.

a) I am shit at sewing.

b) I can only make one pattern.

c) I am poor and can't afford to buy any amazing funky fabric. This was the best thing in my fabric stash.

d) Did I mention I'm shit at sewing? My most used phrase whilst making this dress was "Arghhh you t****y t*****y t**t!!" (aimed at the sewing machine).

I'm hoping that the fact it's a Simplicity 2444 will score me some Brownie points. Plus Roisin is all about encouraging people to improve their sewing skills and she was mega helpful when I had my first solo crack at dressmaking with the polka dot frock. This is only the second dress I've made by myself and I think I've got a bit less shit at the whole sewing malarkey whilst attempting it, so that's all good too.

I actually felt confident enough to work in a few tweaks and v. minor alterations. As always, I hacked a chunk off the skirt length (I am a midget) but I also decided to go with a contrast waist bow rather than making it from the same fabric as the frock. Et voila, some beautiful black satin ribbon:



LOOK, I DID BIAS BINDING TOO AND EVERYTHING!



It was nowhere near as difficult as I expected and I really love the contrast it gives to the neckline and armholes on this frock. Pretty! Bless Char for texting me a helpful diagram of how to apply it to the fabric.

Hopefully some extra bonus points will be won for wearing one of my fave pairs of Irregular Choice shoes with it. These Bowtiful heels are so surprisingly easy to wear all day. Love 'em.



D'you want closeups? It was an awkward day to photograph it and some of the colouring is a bit off here - the fabric is very black and white, not washed out. But we have a horse and a pump:



A chateau!



And an eavesdropping bovine.



In true Dolly Clackett spirit, all handmade dresses should be given a name. I hereby christen this The Lurking Cow frock.

A Week of Peace and Quiet

November is usually the month where I look at my remaining annual leave, laugh in a slightly manic fashion about how I'm going to manage to take it all before January and then book myself a week away for a solo week of peace and quiet. I like my own company so going away by myself is a definite treat, not the source of horror that it would be to some people.

This year my eye fell upon a very charming shepherd's hut at Morrells Wood Farm in Shropshire. Lovely and peaceful but not too far away from civilisation - just how I like it.

I went to the ballet with Char in Shrewsbury on the Saturday night and then for a jaunt to Sunnycroft on the Sunday. In a final burst of energy (I still had chronic plague at this point) I took myself to Bridgnorth for a wander round the charity shops on the Monday. I love their wonky castle!

Mostly I was incredibly lazy. The plan for the week was basically to sit round in my pj's drinking coffee, making a couple of beaded baubles, reading books and watching Gene Kelly films. Did I manage it? Yes I did! *pats self on the back*

Most complicated instructions ever! It's actually not that hard a design to make up though.

I did venture outside occasionally:

But when somewhere is so compact, cute and downright perfect, why go any further?

Bed at one end.

Kitchen at the other.

Sofa (complete with all my crap) in the middle, plus a very cosy log-burner.

That's all you need really, isn't it? I had a lovely time and would definitely go back there again. The peace and quiet does me no end of good.