I'd like to say that things have been easier this week, but... the lurgy has hit the small one so she's currently sat next to me kicking off every time I have the audacity to dare to move off the sofa. Poor little monkey obviously doesn't feel well and just wants mummy.
Crafting wise I'd been making some good progress on my jumper and have completed the body up to the armholes and then I hit a stumbling block. I was/am knitting on circular needles but as the sleeves only call for 48 stitches at cast on, I'm going to have to invest in some double pointed needles. Not ideal on two fronts; I've never used them before and it's not quite near enough to pay day so I'm going to have to wait a week or so before picking them up (even if I did slide in to Dunelm Mill yesterday to see if they stocked them - they don't). So I've had to pop the jumper to one side until I've picked some up. I'm not
too worried about using them as I understand the concept and I'm sure once I get going on them it'll be fine. Anyway, there's always YouTube if I get really stuck.
Speaking of YouTube, I've been having a bit of a look through some crafting videos this week. I discovered the fabulous Bella Coco, crochet queen extraordinaire and have plans to have a go at one of her corner to corner blankets at some point. If you're new to crochet, her videos are fantastically clear and well explained. She really slows things down for you which when you're just starting out can be really helpful. (Does anyone else get really annoyed that
they can't hit the pause button fast enough on some videos or is it just me? Some crafters just go too fast for me to follow along with them.) I was primarily looking for a video on how to finish the jumper off, specifically around the neck shaping when knitting in the round and from the bottom up. They were scarily sparse and while I think I've got my head around what I need to do, I'm contemplating doing a how-to video as I knit that section of my jumper. It may be that I'm just not putting in the right search terms - it has been known - but I guess there can never be too many videos on this kind of thing. I'll certainly be taking a leaf out of Bella Coco's book in so far as the speed of the 'tutorial'.
Right, what else have I been up to? On a shopping trip at the weekend due to my pesky children insisting on continuing to grow and needing new clothes as a result, we slunk into Hobbycraft for a mooch around. I hadn't gone in with the intention of getting anything (hahahaha) but I picked up a larger hoop for my cross stitching as the 8" hoop I have just isn't really big enough for the Lake Baikal. With not being able to do any more knitting at the moment I've picked up the hoop and needle again and, while I'm not loving it at the moment as there is a lot of 'half a dozen stitches, change colour' going on at the moment, I am making progress with it again. Then
may have fallen into my trolley. It wasn't until I paid that I remembered I was supposed to be keeping the shopping under budget. Oh well! They were too cute and I would certainly have regretted not picking them up. That's my excuse anyway! The plan is to turn them into a quilt for my gorgeous cousin's new baby (If you're reading this lovely lady, let me know if you would prefer a zoo animals theme as I may have those in my stash too).
when I went food shopping yesterday I spotted the most adorable set of Bambi themed cotton fat quarters and they
Right, I'm off to play nursemaid to the small one again. Have a great week.
Until next time,
M x
Working on double pointed needles hasn't been as scary as I thought it would be. In the same way as when working with a circular needle you need to make sure that you don't twist the first row when joining it in the round (I learnt that mistake the hard way). The only other thing I've felt I need to bear in mind is to keep the yarn fairly taught when moving from one needle to the next to maintain tension. It's knitting up well though. I'm writing the pattern up as I go along, checking things are correct with what I had originally planned out and tweaking where needed.
Master L has been getting in on the act with craft this week too. We spent a few hours last weekend happily stitching side by side as he worked on his little cross stitch and it was really nice to have someone to stitch with. He also got crafty for his homework, making a stone age inspired necklace from salt dough. He was ever so proud of the results, as he should be, having made the salt dough himself and then fashioning the shapes all on his own. Even though he is the grand old age of 8 I forget sometimes how capable he is and really should let him take the lead with his craft projects. Especially as I have removed all glitter from the house so won't have that trauma to contend with 😉.
