Time For Tea!

Winter is fast approaching here in Australia and what is better than a cup of tea by the fire?

And of course our teapots deserve their own special outfit. 

Tea cosies also make a wonderful knitted gift - quick and simple to knit, no real need to worry about fit, and you can often use up those leftover yarn bits that we all have stashed away somewhere. 

So time for a free tea cosy knitting pattern parade! 

You cannot go past a classic! The Classic Pleated Tea Cosy has been around forever. And deservedly so. The pleats work to trap the heat in and keep your teapot warm for quite some time. 

Or this version, with the addition of flowers. 

Another classic looking cosy is the Shamrock Tea Cosy. Knit it in two very similar colours as pictured or use two contrasting colours for a bolder look.

Flowers on a tea cosy are always pretty, such as the Camomile Lawn Tea Cosy.

Or Monet's Garden Tea Cozy. 

Cute animal tea cosies abound, such as Mrs Bunny Rabbit Tea Cozy. 

And the amazing Winter Wonderland Tea Cozy. 

A very simple fox. 

And this adorable squirrel on the Autumn Walk Tea Cozy. 

Cupcakes are a popular theme for tea cosies, such as this one. 

And the I Love You Cupcake cozy.

 Or do you fancy some colourwork? The Fair Isle Tea Cosy would be a great introduction to colourwork. 

Or practice steeking on the Time For Tea Cosy. 

A quick Google search or a scroll through Ravelry will find you many more free tea cosy patterns for the perfect stash busting project. 

I am planning to cast on at least one new tea cosy this year, possibly one for the May coronation. So a tea cosy parade will be coming soon!  

Happy Easter

 

Best wishes for a happy Easter to you all! 

A Whole Lotta Stash Busting Is Required!

Yarn Mountain was commissioned for the Festival of Love 2015 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London Summer 2015. It was part of LOVE the YARN: Lasmin Salmon in collaboration with Celia Pym.

I am actually thinking that my yarn stash would make a bigger yarn mountain than the actual Yarn Mountain! 

I have been watching Retro Claude on Youtube, in particular her stash busting series. Stash busting has been a regular theme here and although I am knitting through my yarn, I am also adding to it. Simple maths will tell you what is happening here! 
So I decided to import my yarn stash to a spreadsheet so I could actually total up the meterage and grams in my stash. And wow, that was an eye opener! Despite the fact that I can look on Ravelry and see that I have quite a few pages of stash, it is not until you add it up in cold hard figures that you get the full picture. And it is a lot! A lot, a lot! 

 Ok, am I brave enough to expose my embarrassingly large stash? Don't get me wrong, I love my stash; it is just that I know some people will find it excessive and wonder how I could ever actually use it. Believe me, I wonder that as well! 

Well, here goes! 
I just have the total for all yarns - all fibre types, all weights, everything mixed together in one total. It would be another whole exercise to divide them out into categories - maybe a task for another day.

Total metres of yarn I currently own: 365,429.9 mtrs

Total grams of yarn I currently own: 116,465 gms

See why stash busting must become a priority?! 
I am also needing to pull my belt much tighter due to future potential financial changes, so no more buying for me - no more books, no more yarn, no more cross stitch, no more fabric. Stash busting or its equivalent is required across all these categories - so there will be more to come on each of these as well. 

A long post to say, let's get knitting! 

1933 Has Finally Arrived!

 It is finally time to begin 1933! 

As I have still been unsuccessful in finding anything to do with December 1932 Stitchcraft (I still hold out hope of one day finding this unicorn!), I have moved onto January 1933. 

I have begun the Jumper That Is Kind To Extra Inches. 

I always love how these size jumpers are described as being for the 'matronly figure.' So different to our modern size inclusive patterns!

Yarn wise, I am using Bendigo Woollen Mills Athena in a colour called Gunmetal. This was a limited edition yarn that has been in my stash for a long time (more on stash busting in another post!) so is no longer available. It is a wool/bamboo/silk blend. The contrast yarn is also Bendigo yarn, the standard favourite Luxury 4ply in Cream. 

Progress so far is on the right front.

It is impossible to see the pattern without blocking and I am also hoping that blocking will improve the way the button band is sitting. Not sure if it is due to using two different yarns or whether blocking will make it look more cohesive. 

While knitting on my 1933 pattern, I have been watching a 1933 movie, as you do! A search on Youtube found many full length 1933 movies available to watch, so I may have a few more viewed before this pattern is completed. Especially as there are a few Clark Gable movies - he was a busy man at the studios in 1933!

The one I was really hoping to find is Dancing Lady, starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford and with Fred Astaire making his acting debut. But no luck! 

It is about a burlesque theatre and is pre-code so would make for some interesting viewing, I am sure! 

Anyway, the movie I am watching is called Deluge, an apocalyptic science fiction in which New York is levelled by an earthquake and subsequent tidal wave and we follow the survivors.

Way before the days of CGI! Models of New York had to built for all the disaster scenes. I hope they managed to get all their footage in one take! 
It is good so far, rather over the top, as you can imagine, but interesting to watch and compare to the plethora of disaster movies that are prevalent at the moment. 

Off to spend some more time in 1933! 

Stitching And Other Updates

 Joining in today with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

The only stitching/crafting I have worked on this week is cross stitching. I have completed one of my WIPGO goals for January, having stitched 14 hours on the 2020 Pandemic Sampler (a free pattern by Sarcy Gurl that you are still able to get here).

My progress at the beginning of January, before the WIPGO call.

My progress after 14 hours of stitching - WIPGO call completed.

I am only halfway to my 14 hour goal on Lavender and Lace's Ice Angel. It just requires more concentration so I have found I cannot stitch on it with a house full of kids. Summer school holidays finish in a few days, so many I can squeeze in a little more time before February starts. Progress photo to come! 


I have also found a fabulous year long free stitching challenge that I think will be amazing for motivation. It is hosted by Creatively Crafting and is very simply called Free Cross Stitch Challenge.
I did invest in their PDF printable planner as I do like to have a printed version of all the challenges and planning pages to mark off physically. And being a PDF, I can just print off the pages I need. I am not fussed on the aesthetic so have designed my own more primitive/vintage cover on Canva. But it has all the planning pages I will need for 2023! 

As January is pretty much over, I will start the challenges in February. You can join the free challenge without purchasing the planner. The link to the challenge page will be emailed to you before the beginning of each month. 
What I like about this challenge is that none of the squares are too difficult or daunting to achieve - ticking off little steps always seems more rewarding and it all adds up in the end. 

For example, some of January's challenges include:

* Stitch with your favourite drink
* Stitch 50 stitches
* Stitch with dark blue
* Stitch a snowflake
* Stitch on a Friday

All the little challenges are super achievable and I feel it will be very motivating to have lots of opportunities to tick challenges off the list. 
There is also a points system for number of stitches completed. I find accumulating points very motivating as well. It must be that I am just a competitive person?! 
Speaking of competitive, maybe I can get a few of January's out of the way quickly before month end?! I need to do some ticking! 

Walking wise, my street view has remained the same for the last few days - the ferry terminal at Dover.

I am currently 'walking' across the English Channel and surprisingly there are no street views along the way! 

Hope you have been getting some crafting or other fun stuff done this week! 

2023 - The Year To Get Stuff Done!

Again, I have been away for AGES - why does this always happen?!

I have started a new job and it is keeping me very busy. After being a SAHM for 25 years, it is taking a little getting used to juggling all the housework, kids' stuff and work.

But I still want 2023 to be the year of getting stuff done. All those languishing WIPs, project plans that I really want to make but never quite got to, books I have been meaning to read for ages, organising the spare (aka junk) room, all the things! 

So let's roll up our sleeves and get to it! 

Knitting

I will be continuing on with my 35c earned per 10g knitted rule. Believe me, there is no way in this world that I need any more yarn, so I may allow my 'earnings' in different categories to be spent across any of the categories. 
It is 38 degrees C here today (100F) so knitting is not really on my mind today! But autumn/winter will be on us soon, thank goodness, and then the real knitting can begin.
And I will continue, slowly, slowly, with my vintage knitting, in particular from Stitchcraft magazines. 

Quilting

While I do not have any specific earning goals for quilting, I certainly have projects that I would like to finish and fabric stash that needs to be used up. Some of this fabric will sneak on over to the cross stitch category to use as finishes. And I really want to make some project bags using Elizabethanncanstitch's Youtube tutorial.

Cross Stitch

Again, I will be continuing on with previous earnings projects for cross stitch, using the guidelines from the Stitch From Stash Facebook group. 
I will also be participating in WIPGO, hosted by Jessie Marie Does Stuff  (this link will take you to the How To WIPGO video).

I do not have enough WIPs (in cross stitch, anyway!) to fill all the squares on the board once, so have chosen to add projects multiple times. Hopefully this will lead to at least a few finishes in 2023.

I will be working on each project for 14 hours in the month it is called.
So January's calls were squares 6 and 10 - the 2020 Pandemic Sampler by Sarcygurl and Ice Angel by Lavender and Lace. 
Ice Angel is one of my oldest WIPs. I couldn't say exactly how long I have been working on this. Let's just say, the last time I remember stitching on it was when I was in hospital for the birth of my oldest son and he turned 18 last year! It needs to be finished! 

This is my progress as at the beginning of January on the 2020 Pandemic Sampler.

And for Ice Angel.

Let's see how far 14 hours of stitching on each can get me! 

I picked up these planners from Amazon (using Christmas gift money) to help keep me on track. 

Reading

I have a ridiculously high Goodreads goal this year - feel free to friend me over there. 

I would like to focus on more Australian authors and nonfiction this year as well as continuing with my reading from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall. 

I participate in a number of reading challenge groups as I always like a list or prompt to follow! 

Walking

Not a crafty goal but I am finding this to be a lot of fun and quite motivating. I found this free app (or you can use it on your computer) called World Walking. It links to the health app on my iPhone so I can add my steps for the day to my chosen walk. 
And always one to take on the biggest challenge, I have of course chosen to 'walk' from London to Lapland! 
It is fun as you can look at a street view of where you are currently (except for when you are crossing an ocean!) as well as follow on the map. 

As you can see, this will take a while! My movement is hardly registering on the map but I am almost at Canterbury. Looking forward to reaching Dover and heading across to the Dunkirk Ferry Terminal. 

You can also set up walking groups, so you can walk with friends.

I may walk Transylvania next - after I make it to Lapland! 

So that is some of what I have planned for 2023 - I will expand on each section soon. I am attempting to publish two blog posts a week - fingers crossed! 

Happy crafting, reading, walking, or whatever you have planned! 

Time For Some More Free Sock Knitting Patterns!

 

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, it is getting cold! So my mind has turned to sock knitting again.

I have been adding so many free patterns to my Ravelry library, and it is time for another free sock pattern roundup.

Let's see what we can find! 

Business Casual by Tanis Fiber Arts, a simple but effective faux-argyle pattern.

Sugar Frost Socks by Marianne Heikkinen provide a pretty backdrop for those gorgeous handdyed yarns in your stash.

Most of us have heard of Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder, but did you know that this designer has other Harry Potter inspired sock designs? Including this one, Socks For The Deputy Headmistress. 

If you like knitting for Halloween or just like spooky knits in general, the Happy Haunts Socks by Valorie Wibbens are super cute.

Hamish by General Hogbuffer is a chance to practice your colourwork knitting skills. 

An unusual pattern adorns the Pumpkin Socks by Debbie Ford. 

Nutmeg Socks by Tania Barley, another pair of socks with a simple texture pattern.

I am sensing a totally unplanned autumn theme emerging here!

The Golden Gardens Socks by Fairlight Fibers are a very pretty and delicate colourwork design.

The Hemenway Socks by All Knit Up Designs feature a simple seed stitch rib which looks fabulous (and much more difficult than it is!)
And do take a look at All Knit Up Designs for more free sock patterns.

The Mad Mix Socks provide a fun opportunity to use up all your sock yarn scraps (we all have them stashed away somewhere, to use some day!) Mix and match to your heart's content! 

And Cute Hearts Socks are just that, cute! 

So concludes another little trip around the free sock knitting patterns of Ravelry. I have tried to find some with fewer projects so you may find something that is not popping up that often. 
Let's give some of these wonderful patterns some love! 

Soon it will be time to start planning for our Christmas knitting - maybe some socks? A post on that will be coming soon. 

Please let me know if you decide to knit any of these patterns. 

Until next time, happy sock knitting! 

It's A New (Vintage) Year - 1933, Here We Come!

 

After finally, finally, finishing my red and white diamonds jumper from the November 1932 issue, let's hop over to 1933!
(I still hold out hopes of, one day, getting my hands on a copy of December 1932 - it is my holy grail of Stitchcraft magazines now!)
But until then, 1933 it is! 

Once again, thank you to Barbara at the UK Knitting and Crochet Guild for scanning this magazine from their archives. Without the access that a very reasonably priced international membership gives me to this archive, I would never be able to afford (or find) all these early issues of Stitchcraft. 
Do head over to see Barbara on Instagram and check out all the amazing pattern photos - believe me, you will want a membership as well! 

Well, let's take a look at the knits in the January 1933 issue. 

OK, the first one is not knitting, but Irish crochet. But this jumper certainly makes me want to learn how to crochet. It is just stunning. It says a novice can tackle it with confidence - I'm not sure but I guess like most crafts, it looks very complicated until you know how to do it. 

Engineering Knits has a video on making an Edwardian Irish crochet lace collar. All her videos are fabulous, if you like vintage knitting and sewing. A particularly fun one was where she taught herself tatting from a Victorian book. Youtube tutorials just make it so much easier for us now! 

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These next-to-the-skin undies were apparently a much requested item, with the original being knitted in a pale green. 

"This engaging little affair is in royal blue and white and the vest goes right up to the neck with a gleaming silver "Lightning" fastener finished with a tassel of blue wool."

Of course, we know these fasteners now as zips or zippers, the Lightning Fastener being a term used from the Lightning Fastener Co in Ontario, Canada. 

The cover jumper is very tempting. But I have already made a leg-o'-mutton sleeve jumper with a tie from the first issue. Hmmm, decisions!

Woollies for the school children, including regulation-shape cardigans and gym knickers.

Another reason for me to learn to crochet! The cherry and grey colour scheme sounds very appealing.

A knitted plaid set which consists of bag, scarf and glove gauntlets. 

This jumper is called 'A Jumper That Is Kind To Extra Inches'. It measures 42". I really like the simple look of this design, the square neckline and the off-centre button band. 

I really love the look of this coat. The original is knitted in navy, red and saxe grey, with navy being the main colour. 

And the last project from the magazine is this simple beret and scarf. Maybe I should give myself a quickie project as I took so long on the last one! And it is knitted in DK rather than fingering like the jumpers are!

Well, this issue certainly has a wealth of projects and there are quite a few I would love to tackle. But I feel that the front runners are the 'extra inches' jumper and the coat with the striped collar. The benefit of the extra inches jumper is that I would not really need to do any resizing of the pattern, maybe I may need to go down a needle size, as I am definitely closer to 42" than the 36" of the coat. 

We will see, we will see!

Do any of these projects catch your eye? Which would you choose and what colours? 

I will let you know which one I think I will make next week!