Milo May

Finished another milo, and in time for the actual milo May not the extension lol Used the lace cable from the milo bambino pattern and really liked it :) I love this red semi solid too, wish it'd had enough to make my son one in this colour.

Happy Crafting!

FOs and test devistation + a little spinning

I got a spindle and rolags set from Fondant Fibre, they're so soft and squashy I don't want to waste them on my novice spinning lol The spindle is pretty but the whirl is a little higher than I'm used to, I usually wrap some spun yarn around the shaft and into the hook but there isn't the space on this one, testing it out to see how it actually spins :)

I finished my eleventh hour shawl but with a stretchy yo bind off instead of the icord bind off as in pattern, I tried it on a couple small samples and there was just no stretch to it. Yarn is just DK, aran and chunky acrylic form my LYS on 6.5mm needles (pattern calls for bigger but I'm a loose knitter), it has turned out a little smaller than I'd have liked but it may stretch out a bit when washed. I really like this colour combination too, the DK is red, aran is grey and chunky is brown.

This is the milo with the new cable (from the milo bambino) I've cast on, I'm a little further along now but no up to date pictures, one or two repeats to do before the bottom section. I'm really enjoying this lace cable and will defiantly be doing it again. I quite like the semi solid red too :)

I cast on the test knit for Sparklepunk, got 14 repeats into the lace section (of 20) and discovered I was using way too much yarn and was really loose. I'm a loose knitter but thought I'd be ok with the lace section as on socks I do stocking stitch on 2mm and lace on 2.5mm, I thought I may need to go down for the body section but I didn't get that far lol So I had a choice, find a yarn to match and carry on with a bigger than expected test knit, or frog it and start again with smaller needles...

I decided to frog it and start over, I rewound the yarn, though I'm rubbish at center pull balls so it knits from the outside instead :) I tried new needles and needed to go down further still so now it's looking good (I think) but with very different needles than called for. How many repeats I've knit and frogged and knit again I could have finished the lace section by now lol It feels like a wasted 3 or 4 days of knitting but it's better to get it right than be stuck with the yarn running out and nothing that matches it to carry on knitting the pattern. I've enjoyed knitting it, I just wish I'd got the needles right to start with :) Lisa has been helpful and patient with me, bless her, I think I'd have given up on me by now lol

I used one of my small Fondant Fibre samples to test out my new spindle, I'm not sure about the whirl being so high as it's about a cm (maybe less) from the hook and so it's fiddly to get the thread through each time I'm winding on yarn. I'll try another sample to be sure but it may not be for me sadly, will see how it goes.

I've been putting my FOs into a stash dash post and am currently over 1000m so I think I should make the 3k but still not sure about th 5k as I'd need to finish before my holiday which means I'll have a week less and might be pushing it haha I'll see how I go. I keep updating my chat threat post with projects so that when I decide I should be able to just copy it over to the FO thread of choice.
My son still isn't fully better so sleep is elusive, meaning knitting gets difficult too when I;m really tired, wish me luck and my son health :)
Happy Crafting!

Barley hat

I finally got around to making myself a hat that matches my spiced cocoa mitts. This is the barley hat by tincan knits and is knit in babylonglegs sw merino aran in the crushed candy colourway (I think, I bought it a couple years ago, it'll be on my ravelry somewhere though) on 4mm needles.

My son has a seriously limited diet and people say, don't let him eat those things and he'll soon eat when he's hungry, but he won't, he'd rather starve. He has sensory issues and it is possible that with food more than one sense is the problem; texture, taste, temperature, colour, shape, size and smell can all be issues, and seeing as taste is about 80% smell that can be a major one. Not just for autistic people but everyone. I myself am a very fussy eater and texture and taste are big ones, sometimes something smells yummy but the texture puts me off. So please try to be understanding when you see someone struggling with food as you don't know what the issue might be.

In other knitting news, I've cast on another milo, the deadline for milo May has been extended due to the late release of the milo bambino pattern, which has new cables in and is sized for preemie and tiny babies in 4ply yarn.
Happy Crafting!

Milo May and test knitting

I finished a second milo for the month of May :) it has an owl cable on it and is cute, but has a longer garter stitch bottom as didn't check sizing properly lol but it'll fit someone and keep them warm :)

I'm doing a shawlette test knit for sparklepunk with this gradient yarn I got ages ago from fondant fibre :) I'm nervous but hoping I'll do ok with it :)

This is true for both myself and my son, he has autism and I live with chronic pain, neither of these problems are visible and so people don't understand, it can be difficult and frustrating but with the help form my mum and my sons god father, things are mostly manageable, but we defiantly have good and bad days!

I've also cast on the barley hat I was thinking about while waiting for some info on the test knit, not far in but the colours are looking great. Need to remember that last time I made it too long so I need to try remember to start the decreases sooner lol
I've tonally caved and bought more yarn lol and tempted by some mystery yarn form countess ablaze too lol
Happy Crafting!

Milo May and update

My first Milo May for the month, a little late but done, and for charity in a blue sparkle yarn. I hope the parent of whoever gets it likes sparkle for boys or blue for girls. I'd have put my son in this but I also let my son have pink things which some parents don't lol

I ordered some new project bags in the sale with Alexandra McKenzie Mason on etsy, I love tartan and the others were just cute and lovely :)

I've wound this laal bear yarn (no longer available) into a cake, thinking it will become a handbrake cowl :)

We went down to the ducks and had fun throwing stones in the water :) he tried to climb over the rail at one point which scared me but he didn't manage it so that was a relief lol

The ducklings are growing fast and we even spotted a couple of rats. I don't mind seeing them there as it's in nature, rather there than in my house lol it's their home too but some people really don't like them.

I finished another square for charity, I used the 10 stitch blanket pattern but only went to 8" I need to keep referring to the corner instructions but the rest seems easy enough.

I finally finished my trillian shawl out of babylonglegs sw merino sock yarn in the caped crusader colourway :) and in time for it to go in the GGKSSK and Foxes In Socks catch up KALs as well as be included in stash dash :) I had only 2g left when I cast off and had been worried I'd loose yarn chicken for the last few rows :)

I've had this left over aran yarn in stash for a bit, I think I've enough for a barley hat or a bonbon and trying to decide which I'd prefer :) it would match my spiced cocoa mitts if I made a hat lol

Happy Crafting!

Bunny, beauties and quick update

My apologies in advance for the blunt descriptions and lack of details, my back is quite sore today, I've not been sleeping well as feeling ill in the night and I'm getting stressed with my sons ipod, which I may need to take to Manchester to get fixed, or if needed, replaced...preferably this week as it's half term next week and I'm not sure how he'd cope without it for such a long time.
I finished the bunny for a friend, she made a blanket for my cousins baby and wanted one so I made this as a thank you. I used 2.5mm needles and 9mm purple safety eyes.

My cable needle necklace arrived and is very pretty :)

New yarn from Fondant Fibre arrived too and is lovingly in my stash lol

I also bought more fibre, even though i haven't spun in ages, but it's so pretty and I like the small amounts of each colour. 

She also sent a stitch marker and a lollipop :) Thank you Deb :)

I made myself a few stitch markers too; stars, shells, a shell disc and an anchor clasp marker (progress keeper).

I've cast on a milo for charity, as it is Milo May over in the ravelry tikki group :) And my eleventh hour shawl needs just one more section and the bind off doing, trying to hold off till stash dash (with the knit girllls podcast) starts on Friday so the yardage will count :)
Happy Crafting!

bunny bits

I've knit the bits for my next bonbon and need to start the body.

I've been catching up with podcasts and looking after my awesome new tattoo :) I couldn't go see Pitch Perfect 2 with my sister and niece so I watched the first one while my son had a frustratingly long and late nap lol
Happy Crafting!

Charity square and epic costumes!

I've knit another charity square, this one is a little geeky lol a subtle trekkie image in the middle :)

I so wish I could sew right now lol came across these Dr Who patterns for a TARDIS and dalek dress with corset feature, I do love a nice corset and Dr Who is awesome, not that I ever go anywhere to wear either lol

I've been thinking of lots of tings I'd like to knit and I'm still so slow, I want to cast on socks again but I'm worried my finger will split again so I keep putting it off. I also sadly need to wind a sock blank into a ball as I need it to start at the opposite end lol just my luck:)
One of my cousins got married today, I'm one of the last single people in my family...odd! I don't think I pictured myself alone, in fact I'm almost certain I didn't, but now I struggle to see myself with somebody. My son is a big responsibility and he isn't always understood or accepted, I worry no one will want to take on the added baggage of not only a child but a special needs one with violent out bursts too. Sorry I got all down on you. Hope all your crafting is going well and if anyone ever makes a Dr Who dress please feel free to share it with us :)
Happy Crafting!

Chewing, Tattoos and Sock Club!

My son has autism, he has sensory issues; one thing he does a lot of is chewing, everything, from toys to clothing...this is one of his school shirts, as you can see it's rather holey, his jumpers have holey sleeves and his coat is wet through everyday from chewing it (as well as his clothing). It can be frustrating at times, he's literally chewed buttons off clothing before, but I thought it was something to share incase anyone else has the same problem and wondered if they're alone. I kept thinking I was but know there are others who feel like I did, and have to admit, still do sometimes. Good luck!

I got my Calcifer (from Howl's Moving Castle) tattoo today, he's so cute and a great shape for the space I had to fill, and took half the time anticipated :) even managed to sneakily book in for another in the summer. 

While getting tattooed also got the outline of the big bang theory logo and Ponyo fixed too as needed a touch up after it lost some ink during healing. 

Happy mail day! My final sock club shipment form countess ablaze arrived, it's super vibrant and should definitely be interesting to knit with :)

You can see all the different areas of dye and how some are more subtle than other areas so I think the over all effect will be crazy interesting together. It's on her BFL/nylon base 425m/100g and I would certainly recommend the club to anyone thinking of signing up next time, all the colours have been really different and complete surprise on arrival.

Happy Crafting!

Rhymes and lovely things

I've been watching Howl's Moving Castle to choose my next geek leg tattoo :) I'm getting Calcifer coz he's awesome!
While watching, I noticed this cute toy on Howl's bed.

Funny poem I saw and wanted to share, in hopes it brings a smile to people :)

I love The Little Mermaid, so this rhyme made me chuckle, especially as I always want more lol Speaking of mermaids, the Goddess Summoning book 1 (Goddess of the Sea) is brilliant, though not for the young in some places :)

And speaking of more haha I was kindly passed on a coupon code so again I have more yarn, both aren't showing up great but especially the purple, it's way deeper and richer than it appears. 

Happy Crafting!

At Knit's End! + ducks, geese and a swan :)

I've recently been reading At Knit's End on my kindle, I love Stephanie Pearl-McPhee books, well of the three I've read. She's funny and conversational so the reading is addictive and genuinely makes me laugh out loud. This quote made me chuckle as my stash is seriously out of hand and I keep ordering more yarn, and at times fibre too lol

A huge congratulations to the bakery bears podcast hosts; Dan and Kay Jones, who in just one month of sales have raised £900 for cancer research by selling the handbrake cowl/scarf pattern. Very well done!

We went to visit the ducks this weekend, and we saw some ducklings, and goslings too, very cute! There was also a rather large and intimidating swan, I'm glad it was in the water rather than chasing us down the path lol

But I digress lol back to; At Knit's End...a magnificent read. It is true that cable needles have a tendency to hide from us but to some (myself included) learning to cable without a cable needle feels a little daunting :)

And so this rather nice looking and practical necklace which is also a cable needle has been invented :) I think it's really nice in it's own right as a pendant before you take into account it's knitting use...and so I've ordered one (as I so often do lol) from the lovely lady who I got my shawl pins off a while back. Which funnily enough I wore one this weekend :) The spiral is nice and easy to insert, I was however finding it difficult to get the infinity one in and look nice...ahh well my brain will figure it out eventually, or it'll be gifted haha I can always get another pretty spiral one incase I need a second lol

This weekend I was going to a formal occasion and so I thought taking my knitting, or indeed my kindle would be inappropriate...When my son was out of the church within 15mins (he was being a little distracting) and I was sat bored while he played on his new Go Go Thomas app, I found myself wishing I'd including something to keep me entertained lol

Hope you all enjoyed my love of this book, and I really hope you give reading it a go as I found it highly entertaining and a joy to chuckle along to, as well as giving bits of sage advice for the sanity of knitters every where lol
Happy Crafting!

mini bonbon :)

Made a mini bonbon bunny for Kyla. It's on 2.5mm needles so it was eligible for the mini mania along over in the Susan Claudino ravelry group.

I used 9mm purple safety eyes and my 2.5mm hiya hiyas which are usually for lace socks :) I think it's really rather cute :)

The first one I knit for her was with chunky yarn so there's a bit of a size difference lol but means the small one is a good size for now and the bigger one for when she grows :) My son loves his big one and it goes all over the place with us, including to Kylas christening :)

It really is a great pattern, though a little painful on the joints at times, probably coz I have joint problems rather than the pattern lol but it's fun to knit and totally adorable, as many of her patterns are :)
Happy Crafting!

Fruit, and egg muffins!

Ok for anybody who actually knows me...don't have a heart attack, but I got 2 of my 5 a day today lol not a common occurrence lol I had an apple and some orange juice before going to zumba, not managed to get there for 5 weeks so it was nice to go again but difficult. I can't go next week due to getting tattooed but fingers crossed I'll get there in 2 weeks, if not gonna be 4 as school holidays coming up again...

I've been wanting to make some egg muffins for a while and finally did for lunch today,they didn't look very tasty during prep lol made with eggs, smokey bacon, garlic sausage and a tiny bit of cheese.

The top one had spray oil in the tray and bottom had butter in it, the spray oil seemed better made. I had them with a toasted whole wheat roll and some beans (the cheese wasn't noticeable), it was nice but a little different :)

Craft wise...I finished a christmas knit, a little early but nothing wrong with that :) it was the champagne punch shawl and b/w pics are on my instagram, col on my ravelry.
Happy Crafting!