Weekend’s WIP Report

Now now… what have we here?

Nope… we haven’t forgotten this neglected beauty

I am now working on 3 WIPs. The crochet top still needs some cleaning up. It is so boring, I put it away for awhile until I gained some discipline.

The jumper with two different yarn went really well. I really enjoyed making it. The only thing that slow me down is that sometimes when I purl I didn’t catch one of the yarn. Grr…

But it’s fine. I am quite happy doing it, because even with stst, there is enough challenge to keep the project interesting for me. I have to say it again now that I am really happy with the random flecks effect.

The cardigan for my husband is also right on track. One thing that makes the project more interesting than it should be is… that I think I would have to improvise a bit.

I am doing the sleeves now, and I realised I wouldn’t have enough green to make two sleeves. I miscalculated the amount of yarn needed, and pretty much underestimated how my husband XL size would use the yarn. So I decided to make stripes using the same yarn I used for the ribbing, so at least the colour combo would work.

Now, hopefully we could have enough green to make a complete cardigan.

x ❤ x

Sew… Sew… Snip…

My goodness… this is an incredibly slow and boring project. I am pretty sure that there must be a more efficient way to to this. There must be a crocheting prodigy somewhere in this universe discovering a mindbogglingly simple technique that would save crocheters all around the world from having to do this…

This is torture… 

Or maybe I just haven’t researched enough?

Lol. I don’t know. I just found this cleaning and securing the loose yarn like this is one hell of a boring job.

Luckily, I have found a new project to do. Remember I told you that my friend is pregnant, and doc told her that the baby is going to be a boy? Yep, Found a great pattern for baby boy, and have a wonderful yarn for it too.

Did a swatch, and had to use larger needles to get an exact gauge with my normal tension. Which is handy because I don’t need to remember the tension, as it just naturally happens like that.

The pattern is Hazel from Rowan. Ribbing is k1p2. And I have to go to bed…

x ❤ x

Did I Say FO?

I did, did I?

I genuinely think that once the main bit is done, I could claim FO. But that’s never the case with granny squares, or in this particular one, granny triangles. Crocheting and joining the motifs is just HALF the work — the easy half.

I always forget about this bit…

Yes. Tidying up and at the same time, securing them to make sure that it won’t just unravel itself when being worn, or washed. I… hate this stage of this project.

It is going to be a boring work, I better scour Ravelry to get a new project to do on the side… Pff….

x ❤ x

While Blocking…

This pattern doesn’t have blocking instruction, but I think I could do with one just to loosen it up and see its shape before attaching buttons. Don’t know if that’s the correct way to do it…

Oh… the Tubular Bind Off is fab! After awhile, I don’t need to keep referring to the youtube video to make sure I was doing the correct move, and it became quite easy to do. The result was a smooth ridgeless, seamless edge. Love it very much, and I think it works wonderfully with k1p1 ribbing.

While waiting for the blocking to finish, I continue on my other WIP.

Remember this cute one I started as a project on the go, when I went to Edinburgh not so long time ago? I tried it, and I have to say that it does not feel too snug, although I am pretty sure that the size is slightly smaller than what was mentioned in the pattern.

Few more triangles, and I will have another FO! Yay for the productive Piggy!

x ❤ x

Anniversary?!

It’s a what?

I didn’t realise that I have missed this blog’s second year anniversary! I just found out that my first post was on the 7 July five minutes ago, and thought… Oh bugger…. I should have done something to congratulate myself. It’s something worth celebrating! Maybe one or two skeins of nice fluffy wool…

One of the very first amigurumi I made

But I have to restrain myself now, really. Although it was totally and utterly worth every single poundsterling, the last holiday almost cleared me out completely. I need to go back to Indonesia to sort this out, and luckily I have already got the ticket and a departure date.

What do you do to celebrate your blog anniversary, though? Some people don’t take their blog as personally as I do, but I know that for some people their blog is very important. It is kind of a lifeline, the only thing that connects them to the world outside their own. Like me…

How about a walk in the fine city of Norwich?

I’ve been living in Norwich for years now, but staying at home and being a little bit more than slightly introvert makes me no friends. I do have friends I made when I was studying in UEA, but they’re not in Norwich anymore, and it is not the same… really. I have my wonderful sister in law, but of course not only that she works, she also has her own life and social circle to go to, so an occasional visit is probably a stretch for her too.

Oh, anyway… anniversary is not the time for whinging. I might find something nice to do at the end of the day to spoil myself cheaply. Maybe a new pattern from ravelry… considering my current WIP is in the finishing step. Who knows?

x ❤ x

Whoops…

That is not the word you want to hear coming from your own mouth (especially) when you were in the middle of the WIP… It usually means that you either have to frog everything and start over, or you have to think how to wing it…

Now, before I admit what the potential disaster is, I would like to explain what’s going on about this crochet WIP.

In the pattern, the individual triangles should have 9.5 cm length in every side, and 8 cm tall from the tip to the base. I know how important it is to make a swatch, especially when the pattern relies on the number of triangles you made — instead of the length of the piece as you knit it. So, I did measure the triangle, twice, and I even adjusted the size of the hook to achieve the correct size.

You know you’re going to hear a but, don’t you? Yes… BUT, I think the pattern did not take the shrinkage of the length caused by the joining of the triangles as you go.

You see? When you were joining the triangles as you go, by making a slip stitch into the chain space of the main piece, you inadvertently pinched a very small bit of the edge. I don’t know if this happens to other crocheter, but when I do this, it will take some milimetre worth of the edge… times twenty triangles.

That’s the problem. In the end, after they’re joined in the round, I realised that the shrinkage on each triangle is then accumulated into a good inch and a half in circumference. I tried it on and it is still loose in my waist and chest so it might fit. I also count on the size after blocking, but I shouldn’t be too confidence that it will be anywhere closer to the size suggested in the pattern.

Yeah… a big whoopsie there 😦 But I think I am going to go through with the WIP, and see…

x ❤ x

WIPs Progress(es?)

It makes me wonder… if there are more than one WIP, would the progress should be in plural form too? To be honest English confuses me a lot, especially when it is learned properly (instead of the basic one used for daily conversation). But oh well… Let’s not let it distract me from sharing the progress I have made so far…

The first one is the crochet project I made during my trip to Edinburgh. You’d be surprised how much one can make during the train trip. The first few pieces that’s been connected looked slightly wonky, but the latter ones looked much better. Overall, I am loving this project… I think green is good for summer too, don’t you think?

And, I just realised that the other project was also green! It has gone very quickly too… before I accidentally nicked my finger with the sharp edge on the tin when opening a spam. Damn Spam… But the back and the front is done, and I am halfway on the first sleeve.

HOPEFULLY… I would be able to post more regularly again. It is nice to return to a routine…

x ❤ x

This Little Piggy is Participating…

Apparently there is something called Me Made May, to celebrate people to wear something they made for themselves in May — and share it on blogs for everybody to see.

I didn’t know things like this, and how do people know things like this? Is there an official knitting community out there making cool events every now and then that I don’t know about?

Maybe I am a bit late to participate now, but I will participate anyway. Me Made May 2017, this little piggy is participating…

x ❤ x

One Last Spurt…

Anyway… Last weekend was really stressful as it is getting closer and closer to the appointment for my visa application. I think it is helpful to have something to do during the weekend. Much better than letting the mind wander to somewhere murky and scary. Pink*)… is how you do it…

I finished the main part quite easily. Like I said, with st st, it is hard to screw up. The difficult part is the crochet bit. I had to frog 3-4 times before getting it right.

First mistake I made was the stitches to pick. The pattern said that I had to pick the stitches from the back (wrong side), and I was not used to do it so it was really slow first attempt. Then, it is about finding the correct tension as crochet and knitting has different gauge. In the end I found out that picking two for every three rows with smaller hook is the best way to get it right.

Now… there you go…

I don’t have buttons yet. I will let my mum choose it later. Mum has her own garment factory in Indonesia, so she has better and larger selection of buttons than I do. She could do it better than me. So… I am done with this for now 🙂

x ❤ x

*)PS. I love doing this jacket while listening to Pink by Aerosmith. Ah… Bliss…

Hmm… I Wonder…

So, I started this new WIP. I found the pattern from Ravelry — of course. I have to remind you again how dangerous Ravelry is. Once you get in their site, you will get lost in thousands of awesome patterns, and you will stay there for the whole day… none of the household chores would be done. Yes… that place.

I found this pattern, and I love it. So I decide to make this for my niece (again). However, this time I do it for Mum’s request — as if I need an excuse to start a new project. Tee hee.

I didn’t have red wool in my stash, but I did have a bright fuschia baby yarn there. As I have this awesome plan to destash, I decide to use this yarn instead. Mum agreed that it is acceptable for CNY celebration, so I go ahead with the plan.

Right, it is Robin Bonny Babe. But somehow it is not the same with the usual Bonny Babe yarn I used. In the label it is said that it is New Soft Blend, and it was much softer than the usual Bonny Babe I used. And, no, I am not paid to say this.

The pattern is made from top to bottom. I have done it before for my first ever baby cardigan, but somehow I still found it difficult to follow pattern. I think it depends on how the pattern was written, but I also believe that I am still a novice in reading patterns although I have been knitting for 10 something years.

Anyway… Since I have made jackets and cardigans for my niece, it got me thinking… Does she need that many warm clothing? I mean, Indonesia is a tropical country, and it is warm almost all the time. But mum said that babies can’t produce heat like adults from their body, so they need warm clothes to keep their body temperature.

I don’t have babies, so I don’t know anything about how their bodies work. But my mum has four kids, so I take her words for it. But is it true, though? I mean, I don’t mind knitting more for my niece. I just wonder…

x ❤ x