Thursday 21 April 2016

Enjoying the Sunshine

There are times when I feel that I devote too much attention to the weather - but I'm British and that's what we do.  So yesterday was gorgeous and unbelievably hot and sunny.  Yes, I should get outside and do some gardening.  Well I made it outside, but somehow the gardening just didn't happen.  It was far too nice to worry about gardening, instead I sat and read and did another row of knitting... and another.  So the gardening never got a look in.  But I did get my first suntan of the year!

Anyway, enough about the weather, let's move on to more important matters - knitting and crochet!

This week has been another productive week. I'm in such a good creative place at the moment, everything seems to be flowing along.  Firstly, the socks for April were finished. I used the yarn Grace bought me for my birthday.


I endeavour to try something new each month with my sock knitting.  It's just over a year since I started knitting a pair of socks each month and I feel I've still got so much to learn.  This month I was trying a new heel.  I find I'm drawn to toe-up knitting rather than cuff-down, so I'm trying to find a heel that works best for me with this method.  So these socks were knitted with a Fleegle heel.



And I must say I loved it.  It was a great heel to knit, I loved the process.  I'm not sure about the finished look of the heel yet.  I think I need to explore some more styles of heel before I settle on my perfect sock "recipe" but this is one that I will knit again.  You can see full details of this project on my Ravelry page here.

I've got the sewing machine out at the moment.  There's a dress in progress, but still a way to go with that.  I'm taking a leisurely approach to sewing it up so that it doesn't feel too stressful - it just means the dining room is littered with fabric and sewing patterns.  In between sewing the dress, I ran up a work-in-progress bag for one of the shawls I'm knitting at the moment using leftovers from last week's Dottie Angel dress.


I also found a sample of some crochet flowers I had made years ago that was hanging around, being idle, so I put it to use as an embellishment for the bag.



I should then have been concentrating on completing one of the two shawls that are on the needles, but there was a distraction!  And I blame Meredith - yes, you Meredith.  I sat drooling over your South Bay Shawlette and saw that you were making another one (and had got Lynne to join you).  How could I resist making another one myself.  It is a great pattern, so easy and it grows quickly.

 I had some lace weight yarn in my stash that needed some attention.  I knew it wasn't enough to make a full sized shawl, but there was still enough to make something of a decent size that would satisfy my South Bay Shawlette distraction.  And here it is.



It took two evenings to make and used up 27g of Regia Lace.  It's just the right size for a doll or Teddy Bear and I know just the bear who would appreciate it.  So I'm gifting it this weekend to someone's well-loved and cherished companion.

The squares for my crochet blanket were also completed this week.


I have 11 squares in total now, only 5 more to go to get the size of blanket I want.

So that's it for now.  The sun has come out again, so I'm off into the garden - to actually do some gardening this time.  Then later it will be back to the dressmaking and in-progress shawls.  (Actually yesterday I started a new crochet along for a blanket, but I'll tell you about that another time).  I hope the sun is shining for you.  Enjoy your week.

16 comments:

  1. So many things to look at and admire I had to scroll up and have another look. You have certainly been one busy lady. The embellishment on the bag was stunning, I really was impressed. Although the sun is shining it is still feeling quite cool. Enjoy your garden.

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  2. I love your socks Janet, lovely colours my sock knitting is at a standstill at the minute. The sun is shining here too and I did go out and do some gardening but not much, I felt tired so quickly I fear I'm so out of condition and lets face it we get so little sun one should really just sit and enjoy it while we can. Your squares are lovely. :) x

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    1. Thank you Linda. My gardening today was minimal, like you I feel we should enjoy the Sunshine when we have it, so some outdoor knitting was what I opted for.

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  3. Love your new socks, such great colours! The shawl is lovely too isn't it, and great use of your crochet flowers to decorate your bag. Happy yarning! xx

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  4. The flowers look perfect on your bag! How did you attach them?

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    1. Thank you Lesadora, I attached the flowers with some tiny slip stitches around the outside.

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  5. Goodness you have been busy. Love the socks I really need to have a go sometime. I just need to find where I put the needles I bought to make them xx

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    1. Thanks Jo. I hope you do find your needles eventually, but I warn you, sock knitting is strangely addictive.

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  6. I take full blame and cannot believe you worked that out in just two days, it is gorgeous. I am also in love with the project bag, its perfect. You amaze me with all you get done!
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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    1. Thank you Meredith, you're an inspiration, so credit not blame is due to you. X

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  7. What a lot you always get done. The April squares look so intricate, and the shawl in 2 days is just amazing. Why has it been sunny all week, and then as soon as Friday (my day off) the weather turns bad. Typical. The socks are lovely too. I had started a pair, but have completely unravelled them, as they just seemed to be going wrong.

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    1. Thank you Ginny. I hope the Sun shines on you this weekend.

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  8. Hi just discovered your blog through a blog hop :) Wow what fabulous makes. I have only ever knitted socks cuff down but want to try to up some time. The squares for your crochet blanket look lovely. Looking forward to seeing your finished blanket make :) Leah xx

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    1. Hi Faith, welcome to the blog. I hope you continue to enjoy reading it.

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