It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

I'm back but with only a few photos and not many finished objects. I cant believe I have finished a term at Imperial already! Time has certainly flown by! But it means that I have an exam on the 6th January so no time to play, just do the torturous revision. I ask myself at every set of exams 'why am I doing this to myslef?!?!? I hate exams and revision' But hopefully I will get a job I want at the end of the day and earn some decent money.

Anyway enough of me moaning about exams.... So first I got a request off a fellow masters student to make a bdelloid rotifer so he could give it as a gift. So I got him to give me a line drawing and the species name so I could get pictures and set about doing it. I completed it in an evening :) and it was fun to make and I only unravelled it once. How do you crochet a teeny tiny transparent marine animal though and show features?!? It was certainly a challenge but I think it came out quite well.

So here is a picture of the real thing Adineta vaga

And here is my version

Anyway the guy liked it and the receiver of the rotifer did too. I guess its not everyday that you get a crocheted rotifer for christmas. (I should point out that the receiver does research with rotifers).

Next is secret santa time, after finding out we were going to do secret santa I knew exactly what I was going to make! The teeny tiny mochimochi snowman which I have had my eye on for some time. So I bought the pattern and got to it!. Its such a cute pattern and I didnt want to give it away at all once I had finished it! I attached some yarn so it could be hung up as a christmas decoration.

I have quite a few works in progress at the moment. I am halfway through ships and seaside by Tiny Owl Knits. I got the yarn off my brothers for my birthday :)

I have started the baskestweave wrap by debbie bliss in Candy colourway rather than Heather (because candy is much brighter than heather). I got the yarn off my mum and dad for my birthday :)

I have two orchids and fairy lights hats to make, one for my mums birthday and one for my housemate, which I look forward to making.

OOO and Tiny owl knits brought out a little FREE pattern on saturday... look!

Its called heartfelt rings and they are so cute (I think I use 'so cute too much, I need another phrase) So I made a quick one out of chunky yarn (I had no 4ply with me) and knitted it with pencils because I had left by bigger DPNs back at uni... but here it is

Sorry for the crap photo, I took it with my webcam.

If only I could spend all my time knitting/crocheting rather than revising GRRRBLE!

But anyway insects are cool. (thats right I study insects). Speaking of insects look at the AWESOME birthday cake my housemates got me...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Where is the cold weather?!?!

Alright! OK so I'm trying to keep up at least one blog post a month. Where I would like to say that I haven't done much because I have been studying hard, its the contrary :/ So I have completed quite a few projects and have many more planned, but I have to wait til my Birthday for the yarn for them (luckily its not too far away :D )

Queue the gallery of finished objects!

Firstly my orchids and fairy lights hat! WHICH I LOVE!!!!!! I'm soooooooooo happy with how it turned out and the malabrigo yarn is sooooooooooo soft. This hat is like a little piece of heaven!

 

And bonus... it fits :)

I made another Tiny owl knits hat as well. The pattern is free rapunzel and was gifted to me by the lovely LilyLaLu on ravelry. I'm not adding the braids and I'm not sure about the bobble on top but I am chuffed with it despite making a few oopsy daisies.

In the spirit of Movember because I cannot grow facial hair myself I knitted some using the awesome free pattern 

It's a moustache, for your fingers!

it has provided much amusement

Last but not least, I finally got round to doing some crochet again! It feels like it has been forever since I picked up a crochet hook. So I made a Pug from the book Ami Ami Dogs and named him BARRY.

Tadahhhhh.

Ok thats my FO's for now but I'm guessing by christmas there will be many more (as I will have to revise for exams, which usually means I get a lot of knitting/crochet done).

Anywho... I hope you like them and I'll see you next month!

Spiders aren't insects: Spinning workshop and WIPs

Hello again!

Spinning workshop


In september I went to a spinning in Ormskirk, it was taught on spinning wheels and was so much fun! I will definitely be buying a spinning wheel when I start earning money! The lesson was taught by Lazy kate and what a great teacher she was. It took some time to get used to all the things you had to do and be aware of when you are spinning but boy it was fun. At the end of the lesson I had two skeins of 2 ply yarn that I had spun myself :D

If you can get on a workshop with her I recommend it. Check out her blog on the lesson.

Here are some pictures of my spun yarn! It varies in thickness but one ply of it is much more consistently thin which is when I had got the hang of it.

Unlike the others in the class I decided I was going to make something from the yarn. So I made some simple fingerless mitts

They are really snug even though they dont look so neat. I love them as I know I spun the yarn :)

LazyKate also has her own etsy shop where she sells yarn she has spun and roving she has dyed herself. At the class I bought some lovely blue Leicester roving dyed in a beautiful colour. I will spin this on my drop spindle. So check out her etsy shop!

Works in progress


I haven't done much at the moment but here is what I have done:

Left glove of my Noro fingerless mitts

Left glove of my white rabbit wristees

I think I should start making some right gloves now!

Here are a couple of patterned hexipuffs (and a pic of them all):

Progress on the hexipuffs is going slow!

Also my jumper is almost ready to join the body and the sleeves, so I can start on the owl yoke soon!

Finally, I bought another TOK pattern last night! Its orchids and fairy lights hat. I have been looking at this pattern for ages wanting it, so I finally went and bought it. I ordered the yarn too which should arrive this week. Cant wait to cast it on and I hope the weather will get cold enough to wear it!

From Tiny Owl Knits 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/orchids--fairy-lights

Sorry for the quiet!

Wow life has been rather hectic recently! Im currently trying to write a paper for tomorrow :S But I have so much to share with you! So I will definately make time this weekend to blog!

Winter is coming!

I'm sad to say but I haven't been doing any crochet or knitting of late. I appear to have over done it this holiday and as a result I seem to have knackered my hands :( Hopefully though after a few more weeks of resting my hands will be as good as new and I will be able to hook and knit again! I hope by Christmas I will have finished all the projects I have on the go atm! (Which is quite alot!) 

On the brighter side of this I have a spinning class this Saturday, hopefully my hands will allow me to do and enjoy it! I will post all about the class sometime next week.

I am moving to the south soon to start university again so my posts may become fewer and further between but please still check out my blog as I will post as often as possible, even if its to share some crochet or knitting I have seen rather than done myself! I imagine I will start little amigurumi projects again like I did during my final undergrad year.

Happy crochet and knitting!

Finished objects and work in progress!

Crochet FO!

My brothers birthday was this August and so I made him a star blanket, my fourth star blanket! He loves the colour blue and so I went for a sea and sand theme. This is most definitely the biggest of the blankets (I measured) showing that after a long time of crocheting non-amigurumi things my tension has become much looser! I sent the blanket down to him (with the other brother) and got a very happy phone call off him! He was very pleased with it :D 

Crochet WIPs

The toast scarf that I blogged about in what seems a very long time ago has been making very slow progress as I keep frogging it. But alas I have made all 15 slices with the crusts on, so they only need to be buttered and sewn together.

A very squishy looking loaf!

I should really try and finish it but there are currently other projects which I want to do much more. So sadly my toast scarf will stay in this state for a while longer. Poor poor buttered toast scarf!

My favourite crochet project at the moment is my 'Lime'shawl which I'm making in a pale silvery blue. I'm making it from Debbie bliss Angel and it is soooo soft and silky. I love it! The pattern is from issue 20 of inside crochet. It's a slow project as its linked crochet which takes me a while to do! Here is my progress so far....

Only another 31 stars to do and then 27 minor motifs! YIKES

Its definitely a project that will need to be blocked! Maybe this time next year I will have finished it :S I really like the star motifs though and they will really show they shape when they are blocked!

Looks lovely and soft and fuzzy!

I almost forgot (as I haven't touched it in a while) I'm also making a cushion cover using african flower hexagonals!

Knitting FO

I have fallen in love with Tiny Owl Knit designs! I love they fairy tale influence in the designs as she definitely has a great imagination. I started the Beekeepers quilt that I blogged about last but I needed something to store my DPNs in, but don't worry Stephanie had the answer to my problem. Her Gnome homes for DPNs! So I made a gnome home and I LOVE it! Its not quite finished as I need to add elastic to keep the hat on but it works a treat! It was my first time hand felting (so I think I will make another which will hopefully be better) but I am so pleased with how it turned out! So with out further ado may I introduce my Gnome!

Sadly he is currently nameless!

He fits all five of my 3.5mm DPNS nice and snugly :)

I have also got TOK's pattern for Fairy castles to store all my DPNs in and I can't wait to get started on it (yarn bought and ready to knit!).

picture from Tiny owl knit project page linked above

Knitting WIPs

OK so I have mention the owl jumper several times before and well I have started it! I have knitted both the sleeves and I'm about to start on the body. It knits up so fast and the yarn is so soft .

They don't look the same size in the photo but trust me they are. I made the cuffs extra long so I could put a thumb hole in. 

As a first jumper as a beginner knitter I am so pleased with them and can't wait to finish it. It will be a super snug and warm jumper. Hopefully I will finish it in time for the cold weather :D

Finally my last WIP is the beekeepers blanket, I have now made 11 in total and I'm half way through my twelfth. I thought they would be really difficult to make and at first I did find it really fiddly and difficult knitting on 3 DPNs but 11 hexipuffs later and its a breeze and I love making them! So he is a load of pictures of them :P

Rowan kidslik haze hexipuffs, they are so soft and squishy 

I'm going to lots of hexipuffs with little pictures on them

I love the yarn which varies in colour :)

I keep them all neatly in a case which I can use to travel, as its such a great project to take on travels and knit when waiting around.

all the tools to make a hexipuff

Full of all my hexipuffs!

And finally a picture of my hexipuff in progress 

Well there you go all my work for a while! Hope you liked them!

x

Owls and Bees (Knitting)

I don't usually post without pics of FO's but today I have seen a project which I think will be perfect for me whilst I'm away! Its by Tiny owl knits and it the Beekeeper's quilt. Its made up of little 'hexypuffs' which are all joined together in a honeycomb pattern. I'm so excited at the prospect of being able to knit a little hexy a day in my spare time or just before bed. I think it will be a great way to wind down from a study packed day (which will be needed if my masters is as stressful as my final year of my Bsc).

The picture below is from Tiny owl knits finished project linked above. Its so cute and from the video she did on it they look so puffy and cuddly! I definitely thought I should share this for those of you who are busy and like the satisfaction of finishing something, as each 'hexypuff' is a mini project in itself. On the tiny owl knit Ravelry group there is a  KAL for the quilt and a discussion thread where people share their picture charts they have come up with for a 'hexypuff'. 

I'm even more excited now about starting my masters this October!

On another note I have ordered my yarn for the O w l s jumper I mentioned on a previous blog post and my circular needles came today! I am really excited to start it and can't wait to cast on when the yarn comes next week. I'm making the jumper in Debbie bliss donegal luxury tweed chunky  (splashed out a bit!) in a nice teal-ish colour!

I will post some crochet FO's in the next few days :D

x

Gnome dome take two!

I made a second GNOME DOME :D and I LOVE IT!!! Its made in Noro silk garden chunky and I held to strands together to give the right gauge.  It matches my scarf made in same yarn. I can't wait for winter now, sick of summer so bring on the cold! The yarn is so soft too. I also added a few (four I think) knit rows before the decrease because the last felt too small. So it fit great and I am thrilled with it. Cue pictures...

and with the scarf...

and beautifully modelled by Holly...

bless she is so patient :)

Hope you like it, would be great to see more gnomes walking around this winter :D

x

The Fruits of my Spinning

If you keep up with blog you may have noticed that I did some spinning a while back. I spun the remainder of the roving into a much thinner yarn than my other two attempts and it varies from worsted weight to lace! Oops! I guess spinning evenly is a skill I will gradually learn. I have booked myself on a spinning course in hope that will help :) Well I dyed the yarns and crocheted with it! I dyed the yarns using Dylon handwash and the colours I used where Bahama blue and ocean blue. Sadly these weren't the colours the yarn turned out to be. So I have made a note to self next time not to use dylon for my yarn. SO here are the result!

And for close ups!

This is the first yarn that I spun and it was dyed in ocean blue but came out as a lilac :( its a nice colour but not what I wanted.

This is the second yarn and I dyed it bahama blue, which I expected to come out as a deep turquoise, but its very pale.

For my final spun yarn I draped half of it in both dyes.

And then hand wound it into a ball :D

I had a lot fun spinning and dying it even if the colour wasn't what I wanted and will definitly do it again. But I couldn't leave the yarn untouched! so I crocheted as much as I could with the small amounts of yarn!

I hope this inspires you to give it ago yourself if you haven't already done so! I got a great deal of satisfaction when I was crocheting knowing that I had spun and dyed the yarn that I was using.

x