YOP – year 7 week 4

Posted on July 23, 2017 by

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I have missed a few other blog posts this past week between one thing and another but I was determined not to miss an update at least for YOP. Progress has been made on projects and the size of progress well, that’s always relative I think to what is going on around us.

First project up is indeed my Herbarium jumper. It was finished during the week, ends woven in and it got blocked. It just made it off the blocking mats yesterday evening in time for today’s post. I love how it turned out. The size was exactly to what I’d gotten gauge to and I love the fit, the pattern and the colour. Definitely a winning project to my mind.

Herbarium

I’ve gotten the yarn and pattern together for my Grace cardigan by Jane Richmond. I decided to knit this next as it was what I had originally planned to knit next, way back when. I am hoping to swatch for this later today and hopefully at some stage this week to get a start made on it. The yarn I’m going to be using is Eden Cottage Yarns, Millburn 4ply in the Autumn Fields colour.

Grace

I’ve completed both legs of My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth socks and have moved onto adding in the contrasting heel on one of them.

My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth 4

My Gráinne shawl has two more rows of the first lace section left to be completed before I switch back to the next garter section. As I was working the lace section I made a last minute decision to add beads to the first and last row of the lace sections only. This I’m hoping will give a line of colour between the sections, we shall see though as I progress through the shawl.

Gráinne 4

I did purchase this gorgeous skein of yarny goodness and it arrived on Friday morning. It is called Yellow Submarine and this is most definitely going to be socks! I think I may have a yellow sock addiction, hmmm.

Yellow Submarine

And there you have it, short and quick and to the point. Work knitting took over with test knits beginning and other designs needing to be finished and started which ate a little into my personal knitting time but it goes like that at times. I’ve also been reading away, but I just didn’t get time to get a book report blog post done, on Wednesday, and as for stitching, well I’m hoping to get a second post of that up this coming Friday.

So that leaves us with just having to take a look at the list.

A Year of Projects, The List, 2017 – 2018 

Garment Rail  – min 3

  • Herbarium – started Jul 24th/finished July 19th
  • Grace
  • From Way Back
  • Sammal

Sock Box  – min 10

Shawl Drawer  – min 3

My page of current projects for this YOP year can be found here.

To read other blogs taking part in YOP – Year 7 or indeed to take part yourself, check out the Ravelry group here.

Ruth.

Posted in Knitting, Year of projects | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

YOP – year 7 week 3

Posted on July 16, 2017 by

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I did wonder if I would have anything to report on this week. It’s been a busy week with lots of non-project, non-knitting, reading stitching kind of things being accomplished. It’s also the last week of holidays and the two weeks off work has been wonderful. I know being a designer is a pretty awesome job but it was lovely to kick back and not think about deadlines and notes and all the other many things that need thinking about. I’m behind on a few things work related that I know this coming week will have to be dealt with but the break was worth it. It’s re-charged my batteries and let’s just hope that next week I can get back into the swing of work mode.

But you are all here for a Year of Projects post so let’s get to that before I keep rambling on.

My Herbarium sweater made progress. I love this sweater even more, if that’s possible. The rib band is all that remains to be done on the second sleeve and then it just needs a neck band. Those will be completed this week and then comes the decision on what garment, on the list, to start next. At the moment I haven’t decided but hopefully by next weeks post I will have.

Herbarium 3

I’ve made some progress on the second leg of my My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth socks. I didn’t make as much progress on these as I had wanted to this week, but after the busy week I’m just glad I made some. I love the colours for these and I really can’t wait to have these off the needles and able to wear them.

My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth 3

The last project I made progress on was my Gráinne shawl for the Go Your Own Way Shawl KAL that I’m running in my Knitterarium Ravelry group. I’m finished the first garter stitch part which I’m working in the Rambling Rose colourway and I’m about to introduce the second colour, Briar Rose, for the lace section. This is my weekend relaxing project for definite and I’m going to be kicking back later this evening and working on it.

Gráinne 3

So there you have it and now that just leaves me with showing you what my YOP list looks like.

A Year of Projects, The List, 2017 – 2018 

Garment Rail  – min 3

  • Herbarium – started Jul 24th
  • Grace
  • From Way Back
  • Sammal

Sock Box  – min 10

Shawl Drawer  – min 3

My page of current projects for this YOP year can be found here.

To read other blogs taking part in YOP – Year 7 or indeed to take part yourself, check out the Ravelry group here.

Ruth.

Posted in Knitting, Year of projects | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Book Report – week 2

Posted on July 12, 2017 by

Reading

“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever”

This week I’ve made progress on Pride and Prejudice, really it should be finished but I’m in those last few chapters, you know the ones. Bingley has just proposed to Jane, Lady Catherine has called on Elizabeth and Darcy and Elizabeth have gone for that walk. You know the one…surely you must know the walk. You do…oh great.

Pride and Prejudice

With sentences like what you read at the start of this report, I think you will forgive me for dawdling my way through these few chapters in order to savour them. The words and phrases so memorable and enough, even now, to make a girl swoon.

I will be back next week with hopefully Pride and Prejudice finished because really I’m so near the end that I cannot live any longer amongst those pages and so onto the next book needing finishing I will go.

Ruth.

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YOP – year 7 week 2

Posted on July 9, 2017 by

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Dropping in for week 2 of the YOP year and a little update on the progress made on various projects.

First up is my Herbarium jumper. We have been out and about on day trips this past week so I’ve only managed to make a little progress on the second sleeve. I’m just about to start the fourth and last skein of yarn for this jumper.

Herbarium 2

Most of the progress this week with on going projects has been made on My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth socks. They have been the perfect out and about day tripping project. One leg has been completed and I’m working away on the second. I love the stitch definition I’m getting with this Eden Cottage Yarns tempo yarn.

My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth 2

Lastly I started to work on my Gráinne shawl which I’m knitting as part of the Go Your Own Way Shawl KAL being run until Aug 31st in my Knitterarium Ravelry group. The lovely easy relaxing garter section made a great relaxing project last weekend and I’m hoping to relax some more with it today.

Gráinne 2

This past week I’ve had two other blog updates, one on what I’m reading HERE and one on what I’m stitching HERE.

That just leaves me with showing you what my YOP list looks like.

A Year of Projects, The List, 2017 – 2018 

Garment Rail  – min 3

  • Herbarium – started Jul 24th
  • Grace
  • From Way Back
  • Sammal

Sock Box  – min 10

Shawl Drawer  – min 3

My page of current projects for this YOP year can be found here.

To read other blogs taking part in YOP – Year 7 or indeed to take part yourself, check out the Ravelry group here.

Ruth.

Posted in Knitting, Year of projects | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Stitching Update

Posted on July 7, 2017 by

This week seems to be the week of returns, returning to regular blogging on projects, reading and now stitching.

It has been many years from I had cross stitch out and having recently come across a tub of projects intended to be worked on, I decided now might be the time to get working some more on these.

I went through the various projects and have selected two to work on.

The first project I’m working on are the Cottage of the Month series from Country Cottage Needleworks. I’m using 40ct linen and I’m making a large sampler of all the cottages on the one piece of linen. To ensure the project wouldn’t be too big I went down to a 40ct linen. Progress on this is happening but it’s slow as I had quite forgotten how small 40ct linen is but I do love the fine needlework effect I am achieving.

January

Cottage of the Month – January

The second project I’m working on at the moment is Rosey by Little House Needleworks. This project is easier on the eyes as it is being worked on 30ct Cocoa linen. It took some time to find the threads as for some strange reason they were put in a different place to the project itself. All has been found now and I’m hoping to press on with this particular project ad it’s a little over half finished.

Rosey

Rosey

In the tub of projects in a separate folder I came across this finished piece. It just needs to be pressed and framed. I can’t remember the name of the piece, I’ve been calling it Beds of Roses from I discovered it. I can’t recall what count linen it’s on either. I do think I used my Belle Soie silk threads on this piece, but it was a happy discovery as I had quiet forgot about it and it is a lovely piece.

Beds of Roses

Beds of Roses

That is where this weeks projects are at, until next week.

Ruth x

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Returning to my love…

Posted on July 5, 2017 by

Reading

For too long I’ve allowed my books to lie unopened, unread, and gathering dust. The book shelves still overflow and all that cannot fit upon them stand in stacked piles around the floor. They have been silent, their wonderful magical worlds quiet and for a time no longer beckoning as the present world filled my days with hustle, bustle, noise and chatter. But they have been quietly biding their time. The bond is too strong for it to ever die and eventually the yearning returns to be with your love again.

The shelves have been dusted down and many happy hours spent finding all the old familiar loves and the smell….oh the smell of those pages, I am in love all over again!

To read

I recently purchased this wonderful cloth bound copy of Pride and Prejudice and I have been happily lost amongst its familiar pages. It’s characters and story as familiar to me as the letters of the alphabet.

Currently Bingley has returned to Netherfield and Elizabeth has just had a letter from her aunt explaining as to how Mr Darcy was present at Lydia’s wedding.

Books that were started and need finishing are Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry and on my Kindle is Hammered by Kevin Hearne.

This makes up my reading stack for the moment and I will be making weekly Wednesday posts on my progress through these and the many more books that make their way through my reading stack.

Ruth x

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YOP – year 7 week 1

Posted on July 2, 2017 by

YOP 7 banner 2

 

It’s that time of year when we gather our to do lists and mix them up with our crafty wish lists and come up with our planned list for another, Year of Projects list, more affectionately known as YOP.

I may have fallen off the blogging wagon for YOP but I didn’t fall off the knitting wagon and I found last years set up for a list worked for me. It concentrated on those main areas that I wanted to work on, garments, shawls, and socks. I added in design work because lets face it that’s going to be going on anyway and is my working week. If you missed my wrap up post and are wondering how I did with last years list, then check that out HERE.

While I want to keep a similar layout to last years list, this year I want to concentrate more on garments. This is the one area that suffered with last years list and I want to concentrate on it more this year. I’m carrying forward my Herbarium jumper as a WIP and adding into it the three other garment items I’ve purchased yarn and patterns to make. As the Herbarium is so close to being finished I don’t think it should count towards this years minimum list, so I am leaving the garments section at wanting to knit a minimum of three but those are three new garments started and finished this year. These are the main focus of what I want to complete this year.

This is my Herbarium today.

Herbarium

Yarn for Grace.

Grace

Yarn for From Way Back.

From Way Back

Yarn for Sammal.

Sammal

I’m keeping the Sock Box section, to mix it up with a few things and keep it interesting, and who just doesn’t need more socks. I tried to knit some of the various sock challenges last year and I may attempt to try and co-ordinate with one of those challenges again because let’s face it, I’m going to be knitting them anyway. I just need to pick a sock challenge that is going to work for me, if you have any ideas or recommendations, please do let me know in the comments section. I have no patterns or yarns picked but I am hoping to knit a minimum of 10 pairs of socks. If I am attempting a sock challenge and need particular patterns or colours used I will pick those when I decide and add them to the list.

For now I am carrying forward one sock WIP from last year and that is My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth socks.

My Dearest Loveliest Elizabeth

The Shawl Drawer is staying for this year where I have committed to the shawl KALs I’m knitting in my Knitterarium Ravelry group. This commitment is up until Christmas then it will be easing off and I can see the amount of shawls I knit also easing off as I concentrate more on the garments I’m knitting. For this reason I am aiming to reduce the minimum knit in this area from 4 to 3, this 3 will include a shawl WIP that I have.

The shawl WIP that I am bringing forward is Twilight Dying of the Light, this is where it is at the moment and I’m unlikely to get working on this until after Christmas.

Twilight Dying of the Light

I am casting on Gráinne this weekend. This is part of the Go Your Own Way Shawl KAL that I am running in my Knitterarium Ravelry group. I am choosing to knit a two colour version of Gráinne and I’m using beads.

Gráinne

I am removing the Design Corner from my list. While I am a designer and this is my bread and butter and it makes up the majority of my working week. Mostly I can’t show what I’m working on fully and I don’t think it should count towards my YOP year. I will show you releases as I have them but I just won’t be counting them towards the YOP year. There are also a number of ways to already keep up with what I am working on, such as Instagram, my Ravelry Group, my podcast and my  website, either on the words tab or the newsletter ( Never Miss a Story, at the bottom of the main page) and I feel I would just be repeating the same information again.

So there you have the ideas and plans behind the sections. What I want to accomplish and what I aim to do. I have set up a folder on my projects page for YOP 7 so all projects this year will be visible in it. Links to it will, as usual, be after the list which will appear at the end of every post as well as the links to the group if you are interested in joining in the fun at any stage, it’s never too late. In the sections of my list I’ve provided links as usual to each of my project pages and these are all linked to patterns available.

So that just leaves me with showing you the official YOP  year 7, 2017 – 2018 list.

A Year of Projects, The List, 2017 – 2018 

Garment Rail  – min 3

  • Herbarium – started Jul 24th
  • Grace
  • From Way Back
  • Sammal

Sock Box  – min 10

Shawl Drawer  – min 3

My page of current projects for this YOP year can be found here.

To read other blogs taking part in YOP – Year 7 or indeed to take part yourself, check out the Ravelry group here.

Ruth.

Posted in KAL, Knitting, Work in progress, Year of projects | 18 Comments