Skip to main content

Weekending - a finished gnome, a variety of crafts and some friends

The last clue for the Gnome Mystery MKAL dropped on Thursday night, so on Friday I did the knitting, and on Saturday I sewed her up. She's pretty cute. I'm going to knit her a matching teeny tiny ice-cream, and then she'll be done and accessorised. 

Every Friday during lockdown Elise and I do a Zoom call, and this week I sewed the buttons on my mother's cardigan during the call. The buttons took a long time to get here, and then I procrastinated sewing them on. Sewing buttons isn't my favourite I'm looking forward to giving it to her and seeing how it looks on. 

I also FINALLY got my embroidery threads and hoop. The post was really slow and then it went to the post office instead of my house. 

I picked it up on Friday, on Saturday I watched the video tutorial on setting up. My aim is to do a stitch every day, after work, but I don't know if that is realistic.

I cleaned the 600 grams of fleece I bought. To wash lanolin out the water has to be above 65 degrees, and our tap hot water is not that hot. I used my dye pot and Leon's brew pot and managed, in batches to get the whole lot cleaned. Once it's dry I'll put it through the drum carder. 

Look at the difference in colour between the clean and dirty fleece! The colour of the water I put down the sink was something to behold.

Sunday was much less crafty. I ran in the morning (17kms) three time around Albert Park Lake. it looks like such a wilderness in this photo, but it's actually very urban, with loads of people.

 Afterwards I made muffins and met Rachey and Raph in the park. I've just discovered the Sweetest Menu blog and I basically want to bake everything! These park meetings are not great for knitting, because it's currently  just a little too cold to knit outside. I brought my oldest blanket, that I crocheted while I backpacked in Europe in 2000 and 2001. We actually had a table, so Rachey used it to stay warm.

I did also start Stephen West's MKAL 2021. I'll post more about that when I've knit more of it. 

So that was my weekend. Lots of bits and pieces, some things finished, some things started and some prep for the future. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises. 

Linky Wednesday - the one with the drama

The drama about the Stephen West MKAL  continues, and I can't be bothered with it. It's meant to be a fun, interesting, communal knit and and that's not what this year has turned in to. Stephen has done his best in a difficult situation, but I'm just not feeling it. Meanwhile, Israel is at war, and we (as a country) are going to vote "no" on a referendum that asks for basic consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders.  So yeah, lots of turmoil here. It's very tiring. I'm knitting a sock and considering what happens next.  Luckily the reading was dramatic in a good way. I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Last Summer at the Lake House and it's great.  Super dramatic family drama about three sisters who loose their father unexpectedly and then find out that the family has secrets. I 've nearly finished it and I don't know what I'm going  to read next. I've got a bit of a break between review books, so maybe Sta

Mussleburgh musings

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right.  It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner