F.O – Julia’s house donation knit

So.. drum roll please… this is now a finished object. For a number of reasons this ‘quick project’ has taken a lot longer then it should have.

But it’s finished on time to donate for a raffle to raise money for a charity for Julia’s house – it helps support families of disabled kids. So really hope it helps and it’s always feels so rewarding to donate knits.

This infinity scarf design is in ladder stitch pattern on 6mm straight needles – which always feels weird as I usually knit of circular where I can. But it looks so effective in the pattern with the single block colour. In all honesty, I have enough of this yarn to knit another scarf for myself… which is seriously tempting and will happen next time I need an easy project and I loved the yarn to.

That all from me for today (want to get some sleep in before Lily wakes up for a feed!).

Love to you all and happy knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

x

Wip - Julia's house donation knit

This is the original pattern. 






I got asked to knit something for a raffle at work. Wanting to ensure I could get it together on time (deadline end of July) I thought I would play it safe as go for a scarf.















I'm knitting it out of some beautiful yarn that I found for 50p a ball (I came home with 4 balls) in a charity shop. Punch - brushed chunky. It's not a brand I've used before. But its such a pleasure to knit with.
I'm currently trying to work out what to knit with the rest of the yarn. I'm thinking I might need a scarf for myself! Anyhow, let's get this finished ASAP.










Love to you all and happy knitting
Mrskirstyholl
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To make list – the beginning

Right… so I keep adding stuff to my make list. I really felt like I needed to get all the ideas together for planned projects in a list so I can focus on the projects I have yarn for before I buy more of it…. Although I can’t promise I won’t come back from the knitting and stitching show with more yarns and more patterns… 

I’ll confess those yarny sins when I get back… 

1. Firstly I want to get this blanket finished. Another 10 rows to go and then the border.

2. Then I want to get this blanket finished. 20 squares, then to sew them together before adding the border to go.

3. Then I want to finish a Star Wars scarf WIP I found in my wardrobe while tidying last weekend. Sample tension square done and needles / yarn purchased.

4. This freebie lace shawl pattern. This would be my first lace pattern. So pretty exciting. Yarn came free with mag and needles purchased.

5. Knitted baby sock. Yarn already purchased. This will be the first if 12 socks I want to knit this year.

6. Jumper for Lily. 

7. Cardigon for Lily.

8.  Scrap yarn blanket. I found this crochet pattern yonks ago. Now I have enough scrap yarn this I think I can make the background look really funky. Will probably end up giving this to Lily for a Christmas present or keeping it as a family blanket for the sofa. 

Original Source of Chart Image – Happy Hooker

So that should keep me busy for a while. But I really need to focus on 1 project at a time to ensure that they make some decent progress. I think that needs to be a resolution for the year!

Off to carry on knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

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Finished object - Rainbow Cowl

So this actually got finished in a day. Which is a bit of a positive twist on the tooth ouchie issue.

This wool is chunky but knits as super chunky. I'm using 7mm circular needles with 80cm length.

How fantastic does the stocking stitch look with this wool??

This is a pic of the whole scarf.  I wore it to work this morning. It's really warm!!

I am totally in love with this make. It's really useful and looks awesome - which is a total win!

What do you guys think?

MrsKirstyHoll

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F.O. – Cosy Cowl Scarf

My Sunday was suddenly planned. With the arrival of the 10mm needles and my chunky emerald wool (which had turned out the week before) I suddenly had all the ingredients to make my cowl scarf. Having never done any chunky knitting before this was pretty exciting. On Sunday I managed to finished about half the rows.  I was feeling really pleased with my colour choice!

The issue I was starting to find on Monday morning was that the needles were about half the length I needed to cope easily with 150 stitches. Highly recommend longer needs (min 40cm) for attempting this chunky knit! We had a few holes in the finished piece as I didn’t notice when I dropped stitches. But I am rather proud of it!

I’ve brought myself a long pair of 10mm needles. So planning another cowl scarf – although colour and design have yet to be decided 

Yarn Addict Signing off

MrsKirstyHoll

x

F.O. – That Black Scarf

For those of you who don’t know – this has been a rather epic long project for me. 

It was originally started life with the intention of being a christmas present for my husband 3 1/2 years ago. At that point I had no idea about size of wool in relation to needle size.

“I’ll just knit a scarf and that will be really easy,” I thought to myself.

What I didn’t twig onto for a while (at which point I was too stubbon to restart) was that knitting with chunky wool on 2 3/4 needles is actually a form of self punishment.

Stitch: garter
Needle size: 2 3/4
Length: 75 inches (14 rows of 50 stitches per inch).
Stitches: 52500

Yarn Addict Signing off

MrsKirstyHoll

x

New years resolutions. Feb 2015: Craft update

Feeling rather proud of myself. I have actually managed to continue this resolution into February! 

During my day job I spend the majority of my day glued to a computed screen. So I find crafting a great way of unwinding. In addition, because I usually end up learning something new, I sustain the internal drive to do something productive during my spare time.

If I do say so myself, this month craft wise has been rather productive. :)

Project 1: Scarf

I can happily report that the scarf has actually progressed! 

Week 1 - I admit, I was still struggling with the knitted patch squares so the scarf got forgotten about again (Sorry to my husband!). 

Week 2 - I can now happily report that 10 additional lines of knitting have progressed onto this scarf! In addition, I have also finished the 4th ball of wall and am now knitting with what will be the final ball of wall of the project! (I think I deserve a glass of wine). I think I might treat myself to a bottle of bubbly when this damn (beautiful) scarf in finished! 

#knitting & #wine = #rockandroll pic.twitter.com/lGLLaiDvbo
— Kirsty Holloway (@MrskirstyHoll) February 8, 2015

Project 2: Sewn patchwork quilt

Week 1: 

Based on my own suggestions from last month  I have actually drawn myself a line sketch pattern from the original Pinterest image.

Unfortunately, the quilt didn't progress any further. 

Project 3: learning to knit

For those of you who don't know, I have subscribed to the magazine 'Art of Knitting'. Each magazine comes with a ball of wool and a pattern for a square.

Onto the second square of the throw. This is my first attempt of ever doing the stocking stitch. To do this you have to alternate 1 row of pearl stitch and 1 of garter stitch. What happens if you do 2 of one by accident is the line effect seen in my first attempt.

As you can see I also did not bother to count the stitches as I went through. I learnt my lesson though and this led me to a more successful square. Where you have to be careful is when you swap between knit and pearl stitches in the same row. I had not actually realised I had to move the wool from one side to the other when I swapped between stitches. Life was easier once I worked this out.



I also progressed onto the really funky third square - the chequerboard stitch. Having now worked out how to swap between the knit and purl stitch this was easier than it could have been. The overall effect also looks pretty cool.

In addition to the squares, I also thought I'd have a go at some of the project patterns. I was rather pleased with my egg cosie. However, I can't get my head round why anyone would want to make an egg cosy? I have never had problems with cold eggs. Would make a really cute easter gift though.

On another note, my neck has been rather warm this month! With a set of 10mm needles and some chunk wool I have managed to make a rather cool Chunky Cowl for myself. Another project from the #artofknitting . Although I did find that the free needles were a bit short at 23cm, so I have brought myself a longer set. I'm thinking Christmas presents...

Project 4: Cross stitch Harry Potter Monopoly

Again, my resolve has weakened and I have started yet another craft project. Oppss....

One of my friends found this fantastic pattern from this very talented ETSY trader. I would put a link, but it's not available on Etsy anymore. 

The Monopoly Pattern - What the whole pattern should look like

The Huge 50" x 50" Aida piece

And so it begins....

Knitting, Sentry guns and Airsoft

Apologies for the lack of content posted up this week. This week has been a strange few days.






Thursday night was a straight finish work and go. My husband and I were picked up by my parents and driven off. We were taking a trip to see my brother for the day. So that was a really cool as it was the first time we've seen him since he moved out. It's amazing seeing him growing up as an adult.

After arriving home on Friday afternoon, we discovered that we had a puncture! That was so not funny as we still had to make a drive up to Coventry for a show the following morning. Thankfully though my husband and father-in-law are both mechanics. So after an our we have a successful puncture repair and a new valve. It was also a good opportunity to do the same to the 'spare tire'. By 6 we were on the road.

We arrived on time to allow us to have some dinner before going to bed. Win!

The following morning we started out early. We had been invited by our friends to meet this at the British Airsoft and Shooting Show. Our very clever friend at Beltec has partnered up with Red Wolf to create some amazing Airsoft products.

This amazing contribution from Beltec to Redwolf's stand definitely stole the show.  It is a seriously amazing bit of kit. It stands over half the height of an average man and is fully controllable with a remote control. Thankfully it did not fit in our car - although if you added a chair it would be an awesome alternative for getting to work.

Here's a preview of it heading around the airsoft hall at the show. It clunks as it hits the floor as there is a concrete floor hidden below the carpet!

As part of RedWolf's stand they had also set up a home invasion game. Here is where my airsoft inexperience was made evident. Although, I managed a head shot on the first shot, my time was a fairly unimpressive 36 seconds. My husband managed a rather more impressive 14 seconds. That's why he runs an airsoft company and I help with the marketing/admin. Playing to strengths and all that....

We arrived home (after grabbing some cheeky takeaway food) late. We were both exhausted. To my utmost excitement we were met to a pile of post! 

One of the first things I found was this amazing core professional development certificate from the Institution of Direct Marketing. So this was pretty exciting. My results from my Professional certificate in Social Media Marketing should be through in the next couple of weeks. 

Another super exciting package that arrived was this box. It's got my 2 & 3rd issues of the Art of Knitting. It also has my freebies of some new knitting needles and a free pattern for a beanie hat with the required wool!

My Sunday was suddenly planned. With the arrival of the 10mm needles and my chunky emerald wool (which had turned out the week before) I suddenly had all the ingredients to make my cowl scarf. Having never done any chunky knitting before this was pretty exciting. On Sunday I managed to finished about half the rows.  I was feeling really pleased with my colour choice!

The issue I was starting to find on Monday morning was that the needles were about half the length I needed to cope easily with 150 stitches. Highly recommend longer needs (min 40cm) for attempting this chunky knit! We had a few holes in holes in the finished piece as I didn't notice when I dropped stitches. But I am rather proud of it!

It's super warm as well. Which was really useful as Tuesday and Wednesday have been really cold! 

Jan blog update 2015 - Craft update

Last year did not see much progression of any of my craft projects. I spent so much time planning on Pinterest and not much actual doing. This I did feel quiet disappointed about as I had wanted to get back in to crafting after uni.

That is why I am vowing to actually do and finish projects (or at least significantly progress in them).

Project 1: That Scarf

I'm not going to lie. The scarf is currently in the state it was pre-Christmas. The feature wall took up a lot of my time this month (not an excuse). Now that the big decorating job is finished I am hoping to have more time in the evenings to get this finished.

The work in progress scarf

Project 2: Fabric Patchwork Quilt 

On some positive note, I did manage to find a few spare hours to get on with my patchwork quilt (yay!). So I am feeling rather pleased with myself.

The design is inspired by something I found on Pinterest. However, rather than being seperated by white crosses, all of the crosses will be patterned. My thought was that this would be the best way of mixing the pattern fabric as individual squares might look a bit overwhelming.

Cross quilt patterns

Here is a quick sample of some of the fabrics that are going into my quilt. I've got a mix of fabrics I have brought and some that have been donated by friends and family for the project. The plan is to mix the block coloured fabric with the ones that have more white in the design.

Work so far...

I have started sewing them into crosses and used a large white sheet to formulate my design. The plan is to use the sheet as an extra layer below the patched side between the stuffing. I'm hoping this will secure the patched design.

Fabric Samples

Samples of completed crosses

For the back of the quilt I have a red piece of fabric with a printed image of the Hindu God. I brought it in Portugal as I wanted something in the blanket to remind me of the holiday. It will also give me the perk of a reversible quilt! I'll give you a sneak preview of it further into creation - so watch this space!

January progress...

So post Christmas work on the blanket has progressed from pieces to some of the crosses of the fabric actually sewn together! Originally I had began the design sewing together using invisible plastic thread. During this stage I discovered that that was not my best plan as some of that stitching is coming apart. So I am now using white cotton thread and make small repair stitches where necessary.

So here is a photo of my progress so far! I've given up on pinning them onto the sheet. This was manly because I was being an bit impatient. I really needed to see some progress to get my motivation going on this project.

Some of the more eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that my attempt at free wheeling this without a pattern needs more focus. The bottom cross with with flowers needs to be unstiched and moved across and up one square. Apparently spending a bit of time doing a line drawing pattern could be a good move.

Project 3: Learning to Knit - New magazine subscription to "Art of Knitting"

The art of knitting

In another attempt to get my creative juices flowing I have also subscribed to a knitting magazine. "Art of Knitting" - if you want to know more about it this is a really good review of the first issue. I've been knitting for years (hence the resolution to finish the scarf) but have never progressed past the basic cast on, knit stitch, cast off. So when I saw this I figured this would be a great opportunity to learn some new knitting skills! :)

The first issue (as you can see) is only 99p, the second issue is £1.99 and then every issue after that is £2.99. So, in comparison to other similar magazines it is really cheap. Part of the method to teach you every stitch is to use a different stitch for coloured squares. Eventually over the course of the series I'll hopefully knit myself a throw.  I will keep you updated on my progress. By subscribing you also get some free gifts as well - I love free gifts.


As you can see I have finished the first square! It is white and garter stitch. As this was a stitch I was familiar with it was pretty quick to do. However, I was able to make use of the video tutorials to learn how to cast on properly! So I felt rather pleased with myself.

Garter Stitch Square

This magazine also includes patterns to help you learn other skills. So I will get started on those once the wool arrives. My plan of not starting new projects might flounder here.... But I'll hopefully learn some new skills and create some funky knits! So watch this space.