Stitching and Bitching…

Continuing on my quest to master knitting, I went along to my first Stitch and Bitch group today. It was unofficial, very informal and great fun. I didn’t actually manage much knitting but I did chat and eat lots of cake so I feel it was a morning very well spent. Crafting can be such a solitary activity at times, so groups like these provide a much needed opportunity to meet people, chat about your crafting, share ideas and learn new skills…oh, and eat plenty of cake. What better way to spend a morning?

Colour Therapy

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted as I’ve been busy having a major sort out of my craft room which, after this week, will no longer be ‘my craft room’, but the guest bedroom – sob! Although it was nice to have a designated crafting area, to be honest, I haven’t been using it much since I gave up cardmaking and it had become something of a dumping ground for anything that I couldn’t find a place for elsewhere in the house. Anyhow, I’ve cleared out a load of craft materials which I’ll be freecycling and ebaying and have just kept enough to make the odd special card for family and friends. I must say, it feels remarkably satisfying to have a decluttered space.

I’ve also been keeping myself busy with crochet. I have 4 WIPS on the go at the moment and they all involve yarn in various berry shades. I didn’t consciously plan to be working on four reddish pieces at once, so perhaps it’s a subconscious response to all the grey, dismal weather we’ve been having here in Wales recently. It certainly produces a nice cosy feeling when I cuddle up on the sofa with a glass of red wine and a ball of berry-bright yarn and watch the rain pour down outside. In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmas recently and I wonder if this is why…… Anyhow, enough musing – onto the projects:

The first is a remake of the Lacy Cardigan for the babe. This time I’m making it in crimson for Christmas and am actually using the right hook size. It’s going very well and I’m roughly half of the way through.

The second is a stash busting exercise. I have some lovely laceweight Crystal Palace Kid Merino that has been languishing in my stash bag for some time. I’m hoping it will be just enough for a scarf. I wanted a nice airy, lacy look so I tried out a few stitch patterns then plumped for this one:

I’m making the scarf in two halves so that the stitch pattern will be the same at each end and I’m about a third of the way through. I’ll write up the pattern when I’m done and post it here. I’m really enjoying working with laceweight yarn and am planning to use it a lot more in the future. I already have about 5 or 6 designs rattling around in my head am I’m eager to try them out!

Next up, I’m working on a red and cream stripy jumper for the babe, although I’m in a quandary how to do the armholes – whether to shape them or to just go straight up (as in my ruffle sweater design). As a result, I keep putting this aside to work on more straightforward things. If I’m honest, I’m tempted to give up and use the yarn for something else but I think I’ll give it one last go before I admit defeat.

Finally, I’ve just received the yarn for my first knitting project, so I have no excuses now not to get knitting….gulp! I’ve tried to teach myself knitting a few time before without much success. I’m hoping the lovely pattern and gloriously glossy yarn will inspire me to actually finish a knitted project!