Happy New Year and Project Update

Hello again!  Happy New Year.  Hope your 2015 is going well so far.

I'm having a very quiet day today and just sitting in my flat knitting and watching knitting podcasts.

I've managed to get lots of projects finished since my last post including this lovely jumper which I finished only this morning.  Ravelry project page here.

The pattern is Snug by Kim Hargreaves and the yarn is Sirdar Escape Chunky in colour 0197

I crocheted a tiny little monkey as a present a while ago using 2 different crochet patterns.  Ravelry project page here.

I also made a Honey Cowl using the yarn from Wild Wood Wool I bought at Yarndale.  Ravelry project page here.

The last WIP I mentioned (a long time ago) was my Age of Brass and Steam shawl which I was speeding through so finished soon after.  Ravelry project page here.

I received a request to make a knitted clanger from the old childrens TV show using the original pattern from 1972.  Ravelry project page here.

I got around to making the colourful armwarmers I had been planning to make for ages.  Ravelry project page here.

I knitted myself a toy robot using the Louie the Lovebot pattern by Rebecca Danger.  Ravelry project page here.

I am currently working on a few knitted WIPs.  The first is something I started a while ago but stopped halfway through.  My first pair of socks!  Ravelry project page here.

Yup I have second sock syndrome but I cast on the second sock on Friday

I started another Trillian shawl project which will be my handbag project as it was last time.  This time I'm using the Laalbear yarn I bought at Yarndale in the colourway Gandalf. Ravelry project page here.

My final WIP was cast on on Thursday night as part of a live knit-a-long on Instagram.  Dan from the Bakery Bears podcast decided to start a knit-a-long for the Bankhead hat pattern because he loves it and I couldn't resist joining in. Ravelry project page here.

Here's to a productive 2015 - already off to a good start!

Exhibiting an Awareness Blanket

I wrote a while ago about making squares for blankets with a Ravelry group to raise awareness for various illnesses.  I had volunteered to host 2 awareness months - stroke awareness and mental health awareness.

I had seen that there was an exhibition from the Creative Arts Support Team (CAST) coming up in Sheffield called 'Rhythms of Identity' which supported arts for mental health and my friend Hudson & General would be a part of it.

Hudson & General is an artisan crafter who makes vintage inspired and truly unique handmade timber crates. He asked the organiser if the blanket I had made with the help of the Ravelry swap group could be exhibited and she kindly agreed.

The exhibition started on Thursday so we went to set up our stand to display our work.  

Here is the finished awareness blanket - made of squares made by knitters and crocheters from all over the country.

This is our stand at the CAST 'Rhythms of Identity' exhibition - isn't the crate lovely!

It was lovely to meet the other local artists and hear the inspiring stories behind their artwork

The Yarndale Picnic and WIP Wednesday

In my last post I mentioned that my Instagram friends had agreed to meet up at Yarndale for a picnic. People were taking photos of the whole group during the picnic and someone was kind enough to send me this photo for my blog.

Unfortunately some people had left the picnic just before this photo was taken but there is still a pretty large group of people!

I also wanted to share the progress I've made on my Age of Brass and Steam shawl - because of the lovely yarn and the super-simple pattern - I've been so engrossed in knitting the shawl that I haven't worked on another project for the last 2 weeks.

I did have to rip back more than half of my shawl (twenty rows) because I had the wrong number of stitches but I've managed to catch back up and it's making good progress.

Awareness Blanket

The Ravelry swap group I'm part of has a sister group that is making awareness blankets for the various awareness months throughout the year (link to the group here).  Well, May is Stroke Awareness month and I've volunteered to be the host for this month.  The poster for the group is below.

As the host it's my job to collect the squares that people make, make them into a blanket, then donate them to raise awareness to a charity or ward.

So far I've got 13 squares - they are actually more red than this photo makes them look.

If you want to contribute to the stroke awareness blanket please email me for more information or visit the Ravelry group for details of the other awareness months

Graduation

In my last post I said that I was about to graduate from university.  My graduation ceremony was lovely - mostly just getting to see all of my friends and knowing that all the effort we put into our degree over the years has now paid off.

We had to wear full robes all day even though the weather was so hot.  The colour of the hoods of our robes signifies the type of degree - in the case of our uni orange is for engineering.

Outside my department before the ceremony

On the stage accepting my degree

Rob was also graduating at the same time as me

Me and Rob both in our graduation gowns

Now that university is officially out of the way I can get on with thinking about work and my new flat - too exciting!

Today I ordered a sofa, armchair and a futon to be delivered to my flat in September.

I had already decided on what colour furniture I wanted so when I was in town last week I bought a cushion in John Lewis because it was nice and bright (and reduced).

Anyway this then inspired me to crochet a cushion-cover to match/complement it and got making it straight away.

I'm using the join-as-you-go method to crochet the squares together.  The cushion will be 25 granny squares on one side and one big granny square on the other side.

I've also finally cast-on the first sleeve for Rob's jumper but then the weather turned warm again so I've not got much of that done.

The friendship blanket I'm constructing from squares swapped with other crafters on Ravelry is making progress though:

It is looking good so far and I'm meeting lots of new people by taking part in the swap

The fun of a crafty swap!

I recently received a Ravelry message inviting me to join a new group that swaps 6 inch blanket squares to create 'Friendship Blankets'.  I had been wanting to make another blanket for myself and this seemed like a fun way to do it.

My request for squares asked for bright rainbow colours and purples to be used.  I was initially bombarded with messages from people wanting to swap squares with me resulting in me having 7 swap partners simultaneously.  I managed to make all the squares for these partners (14 squares in total) and got them sent off on Thursday.

So now I'm waiting for squares in return and busy finding new swap partners.  I received my first parcel yesterday which was a bit too exciting for me!

Here is a photo of the lovely squares along with some extra treats - a sachet of hot chocolate and a few pretty buttons.

If you are interested in joining the group or finding out more information then you can find the group on Ravelry - The Global Square Exchange