Progress Report on My letter to Myself

Dear a probably very tired me,

You're now the mother of a nearly 1 year old bubs and you're at the end of what was probably the most challenging and rewarding year of your life. Fingers crossed you managed to not lose bubs anywhere... in which case win! Honestly, if bubs is happy and healthy by this point then this has been successful year. Bubs should have also had most of the Harry Potter series read to bubs already :)

Lily is now nearly 4 months old! (Where did the time go?). Haven't managed to accidentally leave her anyway. So we're doing well. She's also growing really well (15ibs 14 oz when we had her weighed last Wednesday!) and giggled for the first time on Saturday night. Not much progress on Harry Potter - but we do like the Gruffalo. 

Hopefully by next year the blog will have also grown. In 2016 we hit the 100 followers milestone, the plan is to double that by the end of 2017. If we can get there then that would be awesome. With the arrival of bubs I would like to start earning a little bit of money off the blog so that I can start funding advertising and get the blog it's own URL. With bubs there is unlikely to be any money to self fund much. The hope is that I can do some guest blogging and potentially get some paid gigs out of it. If I am funding my own craft habit by the end of 2017 then the other half will reward with serious brownie points :)

Currently hovering between 115 - 118 followers. Need to start posting and advertising more content to keep the numbers up. But not panicking about this too much at the moment. 

So on the job front: the plan is to start back at work around the end of March/ beginning of April time line. By then bubs will be about 3 months old and should hopefully be sleeping through the night (fingers crossed). The plan is then to start hunting out a promotion at work by about the middle of the year. My plan is to have a career, being a working mum is going to be really hard, but I know it'll be worth it in the long run.

So, as planned, I am back at work. Been back a month now and still settling in. But involved in some really exciting events over the next few months. So watch my Instagram feed for more information on that one!

By the time you're reading this, that book will be finished and actually published on Amazon. Because this is getting seriously ridiculously stupid if not as if this is still not done by now you have definitely need to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror. This has now been in editing for half a decade and it needs to be published.

No progress on this yet... Will need to tear myself away from knitting for a month I think and focus edit this one. 

I don't have any massive hopes for my knitting this year (I'm pretty sure that in my sleep induced haze I'll be struggling to count rows and stitches). But if I can get in a few cute knits for bubs then all will be well. The plan is also to really improve my sock knitting - I'm thinking by now I'll have knitted at least 12 pairs (1 a month on average). They'll have been good sized travelling companions this year and I will hopefully have a few cute pairs of pretty socks. Recently I heard of a woman who donated a load of blankets she's knitting to the Salvation Army, so that would be cool if I could have some spare knits by now to donate.

#Edit to knitting plan (Caused by my addiction to buying yarn!)

- Finish the Red/Blue Pram Blanket

I did manage to finish this. It has been used a lot. Baby blankets are a super useful gift (if anyone needs inspiration for a friend's baby) as the baby doesn't grow out of it. Lily also loves the texture and spends most of the time holding it when she's using it. 

- Finish the knitted patchwork blanket

Also done and so pleased with myself for this make :) 

- 12 pairs of socks

Not started this challenge yet. On the to-do list. 

- This jumper for bubs. It's mainly ribbing and stocking stitch - so not a massive stretch of the imagination to get this finished! 

Also on the to-do, but not started yet!

- Get started on this pattern for bubs

To do but not started yet

By now you should have actually completed your first 10K race. After having to put the first one off from April 2016 (turns out that exhaustion was due to bubs!) you should now have got your fitness up enough to be able to run 10K again. If not then I am very disappointed as I feel like the exercise will help keep the stress levels to a minimum and keep some sort of sanity together. You'll also be going climbing at least twice a month in an attempt to tone up some core muscles again - and climbing is super fun.

#Edited Run Plan: 

June/July = 5K Race - Need to Book

My husband and I have booked a 5K park run on the 3rd June. Need to do some serious training. But I'm hoping for an under an hour time. 

August = 10K race - Need to book

End Sept = Half Marathon - Need to book, but would like to do the New Forest one

Nov/Dec Time = Marathon - Need to book

Financially I would really like to reduce how much I spend. If I could do that then we could save a lot more. So hopefully by the time I'm reading this I will have some savings and reduced how much I've been spending. But fingers crossed... I might have even be able to siphon some off for yarn...

Really need to work on this... Addicted to buying baby clothes in Charity shops at the minute! But, on the flip side, I've found Nescafe flavoured coffee sachets at about £1.50 for 8 in Asda. Very tasty and spending less on 8 coffees then I used to spend on 1 from the Starbucks upstairs at work. Also buying snacks in bulk from a local wholesalers and bringing in my own dinner to work. I was spending about £50-£60 a month at work, so the money on food for work is hopefully a lot less now! 

So future me, I hope you've managed to at least meet most some of the above. With bubs keeping you busy I imagine you've had some sort of serious adjusting to do. But fingers crossed you've managed to stay on top of most of it!

Bye me and I hope you've had an exciting 2017!

MrsKirstyHoll

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So I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far. But I think I will check in with this one again in a few months time. It's a good way of making sure I'm staying on track! 

Love to you all and happy knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

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Blankets, Dogs and Chunky Knits

So this week I've really had to sit and have a bit of a think. I used to be one of those people with the luxury of time. Now I'm not. So I've come to the conclusion that having multiple projects on the go is really not feasible any more. The problem is I need to focus my spare time on one project in order to make any sort of decent progress on it. 

Currently, that focus is the Lavender Premature baby blanket. The problem is it is about 100 stitches of 4 ply and each line can take a while to knit - although I am steadily getting faster as I go through. But, on the bright side, I'm actually almost done. 

Essentially, I'm just going to keep knitting until the yarn runs out. It's about 8 lines an inch, so I'm thinking I've got enough yarn for about 3 or 4 more inches. So it'll be just over 20 inches by the time it's done. Which will be a pretty good size I think when it's done. 

On a side note, I've seen one of the women at the group do the crochet version of this pattern... I really can't get it out of my mind. Has anyone got the pattern in a nice blanket or something? Otherwise I'll go and ask her next week. So no panic :) 

My next project is going to be a crochet one. A friend donated this set to me from a magazine she brought (she doesn't crochet). Although the crochet hook is provided, I plan on using one of my own metal ones. I have a feeling this little guy won't handle the tension. The hope is that this will be good practice for making more Octopus's. I'm going to steadily build up a little collection of creatures on Lily's windowsill and she can play with them when she stops putting things in her mouth! 

I've also but working a little on my stocking stitch Harry Potter blanket this week.... my husband and I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 yesterday (amazing by the way!). I may have taking it in with me and have been doing stocking stitch in the dark... But it was useful as I managed to add a couple more inches to it. The hope is that by the time I've finished the dog I'll be ready to start counting stitches for the silhouette of the blanket. Although, I do plan on getting the pattern printed in A3/A4 (depending on the resolution of the image I have) so I have something to mark the stitches off. So that's something to get done in the next couple of weeks. Need to get in the habit of getting organised. 

I've also finally figured out what I want to do with chunky knit pattern for the baby blanket I'm knitting for Lily. I'm currently knitting the bottom rectangle. I'm knitting short rows across on this. Then I plan on picking up stitches using a stash ball of rainbow yarn for a couple of rows. The 3 rows upwards will be picked up from the rainbow yarn. I'll have to mattress stitch the 3 panels together. I'm going to do each one with a different texture - unless I do a one panel 3 texture design.... Then pick up a row for the rainbow line, then pick up another row for the final panel. It should become pretty interestingly textually I think. 

So lots of planning this week :) feeling pretty excited about the prospects for this year. I'm hoping that I can start picking up some commissioned pieces nearer Christmas or next year. I really need to start funding this habit... Especially now I'm starting to eye up more expensive yarn! 

Anyone, I'm off for some more knitting. 

Love to you all and happy knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

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F.O. Octopus for a premmie (Knitted)

After about a month I’ve finally finished knitting an octopus. It’s the first toy thing I’ve successfully knitted  – which does make me pleased with how much my technical skills have increased. 

It seriously hurt my hands though (lots of breaks did increase the time this project took)! Tiny lace circular needles and high tension to avoid holes were a must for this project – although this did mean I had to use a crochet hook and double crochet to bind off the tentacles.

Not very curly tentacles. But otherwise I am pretty pleased with it. The plan is to move onto the flat crochet makes as they seem quicker to produce. Also the crochet seems to give more curls!

Once I’ve made about 4 or 5 tentacle friends I’ll send them off to a coordinator to be cuddled by babies in NICUs in the UK.

Sorry for the short post. I’m frantically trying to get my purple premmi blanket finished because it’s been a WIP for a while and I would like to get it donated a week Monday ideally! Then I have my spare yarn blanket WIP to finish – although I’ll slip a mini octo project in the middle of those. So a few stash projects in progress. 

Love to you all and happy knitting this bank holiday!!!

Mrskirstyholl

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F.O – Knitting Patchwork Blanket

So in some big news – Drum roll please – I’ve finished the patchwork blanket. All the knitting, the sewing and cutting.

After 2 years, this project is finally done.

So after 2 years, 90 squares, a pregnancy and a baby… it’s all done!

This project came at a perfect time in my life. I saw the advertising for the Art of Knitting magazine at a time in my life where I wanted to get back into knitting, but didn’t know quiet where to start. So I started one square at a time.

Since starting this project, I’ve knitted hats, knitted a jumper, a blanket for Lily. It’s been a skill that has helped keep me sane for the last couple of years and really helps keep me balanced. I love how it’s improved my quality of life and I love the people I’ve met both on and offline because of knitting.

So love to you all

Happy knitting!

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F.O – My first Crochet Project

Hello all 

So this blog is pretty much Lily pictures and finished objects for a while. Now I’m back at work, my spare time is very limited. However, the spare time is being spent learning to crochet and some knitting – when I’m not cuddling Lily. I’m managing to fit in yarn related projects during my work breaks!

So in the last couple of months I’ve started to get my head around crochet – inspired mainly the Octopus for a Preemie facebook group. I have been trying to figure it out on and off for ages and it’s finally starting to click!

It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of it. It’s not going to pass muster because there are some holes in the legs – going to use a smaller hook for them next time. But I’m hoping I can use this skill to help premature babies.

It’s my first time using cotton yarn – Patron DK – and it’s really lovely! The purple colour is solid, but the pink is variegated and really nice to use.

Essentially this skills is another excuse to buy yarn – although the hubby will be told it’s a way to use up my stash… what they don’t know?

Love to you all, I spent the day cuddling Lily and we had a lovely family picnic!

Happy knitting

MrsKirstyHoll

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Be W.I.P Update

Hay guys! 

Lily is asleep (for now) and I’ve managed and shower and some housework. So definately winning.

So I’ve started back at work this week. It’s been a pretty gentle catchup week. So that’s been a great way to readjust. Hoping to get properly stuck in next week!

Patchwork blanket

I’ve picked up stitches for my border. So I’m hoping the stocking stitch could be a quick way to finish this off!

About half way through border 2. 

Odd ball/scrap yarn blanket

So this is the stocking stitch Harry Potter blanket for Lily. It’s using up the pile of yarn I have left from the patchwork and some other spare ‘what do I do with these?’ Balls from the stash.

Premmi baby blanket

This is the blanket I’m knitting as part of the preemi knitting group on a Monday. The ripple pattern is simple, but it looks really pretty.

Octo for a Premmie

This is my first go at this pattern. On tentacle number 4 now. I love the look. But my tentacles are a bit hit and miss!

Anyhow, I’m off to do some more knitting!

Lily says hi by the way – she’s 3 months old today!

Love to you all and happy knitting

Mrskirstyholl 

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Stitch markers

Hay guys;

So I’m back to work this week, so not promising much in terms of blogging or knitting. Any knitting time I now have is during my dinner break and I’m also figuring out crochet. So not a lot of wip progress at the moment!

But I did get some time to make myself some new stitchmarkers over the weekend. They still need the jump rings soldering shut, but otherwise they’re done 

Step one was amazon shopping. I brought a multipack of different sized jewellery clasps and a mixed pack of pendants.

Step two was the design. I found the tiny seed beeds in my stash if goodies at home. The marker felt likw it needed a pop of colour. I picked the largest pendants for the largest markers and so on.

Step three was join it all together and digout a storage box.

Large set

Medium set

Miny set

These were a super quick and easy make. I’ve been fonding the plastic ones seem to snap after a couple of outings. So hoping these will last a bit longer!

Thats all from me today

Love to you all and happy knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

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My favourite items in my craft bag

Today I thought I’d share some if my favourite items that are always carried with me in a craft bag.

1. Pony wool needles.

With their large plastic loops, these have been super useful and so much more practical than other yarn needles I’ve previously used.

2. Embrodery scissors

These are special to me because they used to belong to my grandmother. She can’t sew/embroider/knit or crochet anymore due to multiple reasons. But I hope that I can use these to inspire myself to be as good as she was.

Do you have any useful items in your craft bags? Please share below

Love to you all and happy knitting 

Mrskirstyholl 

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