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

It Might Be A Boy… I Need Help!

I just realised that I have never even tried to find a knitting or crochet pattern suitable for baby boys. Not that I have a personal preference for baby girls, but I never had to make any knitting stuff for boys. Now that I know that my best friend is pregnant, and the baby might be a boy, I am in trouble…

Wait… You don’t think it’s my baby, do you? Of course not…

Anyway, do you have any simple jacket pattern for baby boys? Or your favourite jacket pattern for baby boys?

I always love it when the yarn finishes in the end of the row…

Right… while looking for a pattern, I have a WIP to show off. Apparently the Gosyo pattern is not as difficult as I think it would be. It goes really quickly, I think I quite like the yarn too. What helps me a lot is this link… https://dancingbarefoot.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/shaping-notation-in-japanese-patterns/

Wish me luck…

x ❤ x

Pierrot Gosyo Pattern

I have seen their patterns a lot in Ravelry. I really want to do them as they really look cute. But every time I see their patterns, I backed down again. They are confusing for me.

The patterns are usually made of pictures with very little instruction. You will have to decipher what the notation means, and you might have a different interpretation from your other fellows doing the same thing (at least, at that time I thought so). There are so little information — or I just didn’t see it…

k1p1 rib… not to difficult to understand so far…

But the pull is too big, and I thought I might want to give it a try. So, I started with this simple stockinette project. If I have known how the basic pattern works, I suspect I would be able to make it with the more complicated project.

Wish me luck 🙂

x ❤ x

 

P.S By the way, have any of you work with Japanese knitting patterns? How’s it?

Steady On!

I quite like it when the project just goes smoothly. Which means no frogging, nor pretending not to notice that I have accidentally skipped one yarn over in row 14 — or trying to convince myself that every tiny mistakes in handmade stuff is what makes it unique. Yes… that defines a good day for me.

In those kind of day, I would end up with FO, or at least something that resembles an FO.

I would love to call this an FO, mainly because I have done all the important things. I have knitted all the pieces, and sewn them all together. I have tidied up the loose dangling yarn, and it actually look finished for me. Problem is…

It doesn’t have buttons too!

I have ordered buttons for the previous almost-FO, but the buttons haven’t arrived yet. Now, I have two almost-FOs, waiting to be buttoned up. Of course, I am not going to let the buttons situation ruins my day… I don’t think you would let that either. Instead… I am starting another WIP…

Don’t you think this heart lace pattern looks good with white wool?

x ❤ x

 

WIP Weekender…

Okay… I have to admit that picking up a title for a post is getting more and more difficult. Of course I can always use “WIP update” or something generic like that, but I don’t like using it too much. It sounds so… meh. How do you creative people make up titles for your posts anyway? Tell me tell me tell me…

Anyway… Weekend! Again! This time it is this wonderful Bank Holiday weekend… apparently. Usually… there are two things that might happen in holidays and weekends: 1. You have a lot of activities — going to the city, shopping, dining out, or even getting a day trip to nearby historical towns. Or 2. The plan is to do as little as possible, and only move from your sofa when it is needed — and knit all day and all night, while having this crime drama on the telly.

Of course you can always have something else in between, like having fun in the allotment plot when the weather is less crappy, or banning husband from the kitchen while baking some awesomeness in the kitchen. Or combination of everything…

But I am glad that I have time to blob in the sofa for a long time and knit without any husbandly intervention. It does feel like a holiday when I slouch, and knit, and every now and then there is a husband approaching and offering some hot drinks. Gosh! Luxury…

Look what spoiling can do to the progression of a WIP…

x ❤ x

The Curious Case of Buttons

I have plenty of buttons in my sewing box now. After few years of knitting, crocheting, and some failed attempts on sewing, I finally gathered quite an amount of different types of buttons. But, somehow, every single time I finished a project, it seems as if I don’t have the correct buttons to finish up the project.

Like this one for example.

Seems as if it begs me to order something else than what I have already got from Amazon. Weird eh? No wonder my bank account suffered…

Anyway… While I am deciding which buttons to use, I start a new WIP, which basically is my attempt on reusing the yarn I used in the last UFO. I quite like the heart pattern, although it is slightly more fiddly than the last lace pattern. But that’s always the case with lace pattern, isn’t it?

They seems to be fiddly to start with, but once you’re used to the pattern, you don’t even have to look at the step by step instruction, and just go on with it. The next thing, you find yourself knitting it while watching NCIS rerun on telly.

Wish me luck with my new WIP, as we are going to have this bank holiday weekend. I might end up blobbing around and not doing anything *gasp*.

x ❤ x

A Surprising Museum Visit

I haven’t gone to museum for a while, and I have to say I kind of miss it. So, when my husband offered to take us to this Norwich City Aviation Museum, I didn’t think twice to say yes. And I am glad I went with him because the museum is unexpectedly interesting.

I am not a huge fan of aeroplanes. And, I have this nagging suspicion that my husband who happens to like aeroplanes might have an ulterior motive when he asked me if I wanted to go to this museum. But really… going a museum is probably as amusing as seeing your husband turning into a schoolboy version of himself when he saw these iron birds…

You know what? I don’t usually promote something like this, but IF you are interested in aviation, and you happen to be in Norwich, I think it might worth it to go and see this place. It is run and managed by volunteers, but it was done incredibly well and very professional. The entrance ticket is cheap and unlike a lot of museums, you are actually allowed to take as many photos as you like and you can even touch some of the articles in display.

If you are in luck, you can even get an extra guided tour for a fee to enter one of the historical planes outdoor. Sorry I cannot remember the name of the plane — like I said, I am not a huge fan of aeroplanes — I might remember stuff a bit better if it is a yarn museum and we’re talking about wool and spindles.

Talking about wool and yarn and other nice things… My WIP is actually progressing well. I have to say that I do really enjoy this project much more than the previous one, and I am now about to sew it up together and finishing a project. What a happy news!

Having a next project in my head now… Hope this knitting bug doesn’t leave anytime soon…

x ❤ x

Knit, and Meditate, and Mindfulness

Just few days ago, I found this link hovering over my facebook news feed. Actually, I lied… it was more than few days ago, and it’s been there for a while. I was just not bothered until few days ago, and finally read it properly.

If you, just like me, can’t be bothered to read all articles popped in your way while doing your thing on the internet, I can save your time and tell you what that link was about. Basically it is about how baking for other people is actually good for our mental wellbeing.

Baking is good for your mental health. Especially when you are baking for people you care about…

Baking, just like knitting is actually good for our mental health because of its therapeutic effect. It is not only giving us a sense of achievement when finishing it the way we want it, it also keep us focus to the task, and keep us away from negative distractions. It is a kind of mindfulness training.

What is mindfulness? It is a new trendy buzzword. From what I understand it is basically meditation, but trying not to sound as serious as that. So, what they’re trying to say is that baking, or knitting gives the same kind of therapeutic effect just like meditating.

They just cannot say it like that, because it doesn’t sound scientific enough.

But this is my problem…

Imagine when you are meditating. People know you are meditating, and in the process you are healing yourself. NOBODY, would ever come to you and say: “Good morning… Do you want a cuppa?”

it definitely helps when people just leave you alone when you’re knitting… you make a proper progress when they do

Of course not.

But, why don’t they do the same when you are counting stitches? Why won’t they leave us alone when we were reading that bloody lace patterns (which row we were in again?)? I mean… we were practising mindfulness and in the process of healing ourselves too, weren’t we?

I think we knitters need to educate people of how knitting is related to mental wellbeing. By educating them, maybe… just maybe they will know why we go ballistic when they’re talking to us when we are in the middle of counting stitches….

x ❤ x

WIP Again…

I am quite happy with the progress with this project. It is going slow, but of course I don’t mind starting slow with this as long as I will finish this in the end.

I did this project before for my niece, but it was in white because I made it for her baptism/christening thing. I am proud to say that she has worn the jacket again several time after that and still loving it.

This time it is for some family friend 🙂 It is surprising that even though this is my second time making this pattern, it is still as enjoyable as the first time I did it. I wonder if next time I make it again, I could change the lace pattern in it? Something to think about while finishing this project 🙂

x ❤ x